I stared incredulously at the bill in my hand. American Express (spit on them) had charged me $197 interest for a payment that arrived 1 day late. They had increased my interest rate 300% as well as charging a late fee of 5% my balance.I stared, guffawed, huffed, and cursed. Then I called another credit card company.
“Hi!” I said cheerfully. “I am extremely unhappy with one of my credit card companies. Would you like to be the proud owner of my debt?” The nice customer service rep ran a quick credit check, returning momentarily with an enthusiastic yes.
“What kind of deal can you offer?” I asked. “I’m accepting nothing more than 10% interest. I trust that credit check showed you….” The intelligent customer service rep praised my FICO score. She transferred me immediately to her manager who arranged a fee-free transfer, 0% interest for 6 months followed by a 6.99% fixed interest rate for the life of the balance.
“Now you realize that if you’re late….” The manager began her spiel.
“If I’m late and you do what American Express did, I will do exactly what I’m doing now and you will lose your chance to get any interest off my debt. I will not reward unconscionable business practices meant to capture people in their weak moments and lock them into impossible financial situations wherein their only hope is to declare bankruptcy.”
The manager fell silent. “I think I can arrange it so that your maximum interest rate is no higher than prime.”
“We’ll be doing business together for many years,” I replied quietly, allowing her to finish the transaction.
American Express informs me that they behaved in line with industry standards. Well, it’s wrong. I don’t know what people without my amazing FICO score do when these things happen to them. Do they just keep paying and paying with no hope of eliminating their debt? What about the people not well-educated in finance who don’t know that you can ‘shop’ for an interest rate? Are they just stuck in this black hole?
Practices like this led to the Great Depression. Banks drove up interest rates on homes to the point that people couldn’t make their payments. Here we are again. Is America condemned to repeat history? Well….it’s in the hands of the consumers.
Take home message? I am a barracuda in business (and SceneIt!) and I hate American Express. I spit on them. Pitooeey. And I laugh as I hear the CEO sobbing at the loss of my sizable debt. Ha, ha. I hope the other company called to gloat. Pitooey!
12 comments:
you go, girl. now will you call MBNA and ask them why the hell they keep raising my interest rate, even though i haven't missed a payment in full in YEARS?
The businessman in me can't resist saying... the payment was late. One day or 10 days. They're in business to make money, yo.
That said, nice work!
Radioactive Spouse understands these principles, even if I don't. Cell phone companies are almost as bad. When there's something wrong on a bill - happens roughly every month - she calls to get it fixed, usually with some credit or feature gift. If the rep doesn't cooperate, she hangs up, calls back, gets a different rep and almost always gets a different, better answer.
Nice distance on that spitting!
I didn't know you can shop for a credit rate. I just always pay in full. I need to find someone to manage my finances; I don't understand $ at all.
I don't have a credit card. I'm living under a rock, but I'm very comfortable there. But when I do get one, I'll be sure it's not American Express (they're gooey now) and consult you before taking my first baby steps.
...yet.
Hey, we can hope. Such a fine suggestion deserves ... I don't know. Something.
MC - will be happy, too. Classes are free. I am still so annoyed at AMEX.
'Diz - gladly. I'd transfer that debt and tell them exactly why.
Omar - so not talking to you anymore.
Cate - I've been practicing.
Lia - Go shopping. You can get much better offers than you likely have.
katie -stay clear. Evil beings, those credit cards. Although you need one for credit purposes - but you never need use it.
Dem - That tape is private use only.
RaJ - It's nice. Oh, yes. Very nice.
Hey man, don't hate the player. Hate the game.
Rats! My comment is too late! The author already posted! Now I will not get rewarded for the awesome things I say. Anyhoot...I bet you have changed at least 5 peoples lives with this one post.
where's the sugar daddy when we need him?
Can I hand you my CC bills and let you call? Capital One (MC & Visa both) has the rudest people I've ever spoken to...most of them I can't even understand. Trying to get thru to a human is impossible...I've cut up the cards, not that they were doing me any good anyway.
Speaking as one of those people you mentioned (not able to pay the bills but this is due to my sheer stupidity although they were stupid to give someone like me a card in the first place), I'm grateful to people like you for taking a stand...I'm too chicken :)
And yes, that is all very personal to share...thank heavens for aliases...whoo hoo!
Spend on Glo, spend on!
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