I'm tired of this crap. I just got off the phone with my sister. She didn't pay her credit card for 6 months and went into default. She finally worked out an arrangement with the bank where they close her account but they remove all negative reporting from her credit and only charge her 2.9% interest while she pays off the balance. They'll pretty much do anything to at least get a payment every month. On the other hand, I've never missed a payment on anything in my life. What did my credit card company do for me? They raised my rate from 7.9% to 19.99%. Why? "Extraordinary circumstances in the credit market." What does that mean? It means that thanks to people like my sister and thanks to Bank of America stepping on their dick with the real estate market I'm going to pay for it because....wait for it....I actually pay my bills! I just paid my health insurance....$400 for 3 months. What's a better solution? Just be an illegal alien in the US and get health care for free. Literally. Just say you don't have a social security number or address when it comes time to pay then just walk. No taxes, too! I was thinking about picking up a condo in the US to rent out while I live in Japan. But with the lending standards now it's going to cost me a lot more to get into it. A better solution? I should have bought it 3 years ago with nothing down then defaulted and applied for the mortgage relief plan that's about to be passed in the US. Once again I would have literally been in a better position by acting like an irresponsible idiot. I'd have a condo now and others would be paying for it for me. I'm starting to feel like a sucker for actually playing by the rules. Honestly there are times when I feel like I'd be better off just not paying and getting things for free (or at 2.9%). I'd ruin my credit rating but needless to say I'd have a lot more cash in my pocket right now. Having enough seems to be a lot worse then not having enough. You're basically working to pay for other people. In the end, who really is smarter? End rant.
Call them and they will lower it, they are counting on the kind who will just accept the raise. I had a similar situation, called and I am back to my original rate.
Didn't work for me. I called BoA and they wouldn't do anything. Luckily I got it paid off all at once so it wasn't too bad.
I called, too. They wouldn't lower my rate. I have a credit score of 720 with an interest rate of 19.99%. It's just stupid.
Bank of America laid me off on Xmas Eve some years ago. Realize these are the people you are dealing with.
Stupid question but as there are other credit card companies out there, surely a threat of lower my rate or i'll find someone else would work?
That's the truth.. :nod: Going slightly of topic here.. I had toothache some time ago,so i went to the dentist and was told i needed Root Canal treatment and it would cost me £390..grungely i paid it(in 2 easy installments lol)..by the way that was for only one tooth.. Then i find out that some guy who i went to school over 15 years ago(who hasn't worked a day in is life,cos he is always in the nick)got all his bloody teeth fixed for nothing,,,,so he's walking about like Tom Cruise flashing his teeth everywhere and there's me, with my teeth like a row of condemned houses....All because i have a job..
I threatened to close the account but they wouldn't budge...not at all. In reality I'd rather not have a closed account on my credit record even if I initiate it. Your score is partially determined by how much credit you have vs. how much you're using. I only have $1,700 on the card and my limit is $10,000. If I close the account my credit score actually goes down since my ratio changes. Oh, and if I miss one payment, my new rate will be 29.99%. Or I could just stop paying and get 2.9% in the end. Again, the banks are literally making good customers pay for the deadbeats as well as their subprime fiasco. I'm paying it off for them.
If it were me I'd close out the account and take the hit as there is no way I would do business with a company that treated me with such disdainment.
My CC still charges me the same 11% when I got it from them back in 2003. It is with BoA. Personally, I'm satisfied with them. Do call them, try and talk to another person and simply see if your rate can be changed, especially if you are in great standing with them. Eventually they will treat you as a human being rather than just a number. I've heard things about Capitol One, however, mess with them and Jimmy comes to your house and breaks your legs, metaphorically speaking.
In november past the Bar i worked for was taken over and turned into an Indian restaraunt/bar, the new owners said they were going to keep me on full time so obviously i was very thankfull and glad. Then came payday, they had not sorted out my PAYE number or been paying taxes. when i asked them about this they said it would be sorted inside 2 weeks, this went on for to months with me asking to go legit and them promising it was going to happen soon. So in the end i had to leave the job before i ended up getting in to much shit with the taxman. So off to the jobcentre for me then but due to the current climate there was nothing so ended up having to claim benefits. after a couple of weeks of getting benefits i get a letter from the department of work and pensions stating that because i chose to leave my illegal job i was not Entitaled to any benefits but the drugged up lowlife's who haven't worked in years (if ever) manage to get their drug money every week without fail because they are sick. Obviously i appealed against the decision and just received a letter back yesterday, not asking about the fact my ex-employer refused to put me through the books or what i did to find more work before leaving. No apparently i'm being punished because i did not benefit my financial situation by leaving my job. Not once did they mention the fact that if i had continued to work there i would have been breaking the law and ripping off every tax payer in britain.
Money stuff sucks. I hope I never have to take out a loan or get a credit card or anything but I'm guessing someday I will. Fuck it.
What often happens with these big companies, much like the phone companies, is that they will say they're not budging/it's policy blah blah blah, but once you tell them you want to close the account, and ask to be put through to the account termination people, they will transfer you to what they term the 'customer retention' department (or similar). Anyway, this department's sole job, as the name suggests, is to retain you as a customer, and they are authorised to offer you far better deals than any of the standard drones in the call centres. They don't want to lose you as a customer, because then they will be making 0% interest off you – 7.9%, while not 19.9%, is still a lot more than 0%. I'd be surprised if, when you threaten them with account closure, they don't buck up their ideas.
I piss on anything Bank of America when I have the chance. Some of my friends still work there. I saw one at a poker game. I was like, "So how is Bank of Shit doing?" He was there when I got axed, so he's understanding.
I used to work for the DSS and I do recognise the leaving a job because the employer was not paying taxes and you being refused benefits. Although it seems insane, it basically boils down to the fact that you should have contacted your tax office or the national tax line and reported your employers for not paying your tax and national insurance. The number to report employers for possible tax fraud is 0800 788 887, if your employers then sacked you for reporting them then you would be entiled to full benefits. However if your household is earning under a certain amount and you have savings of less then 6000 pounds then you should be entiled to income support, although that requires filling in more forms and jumping through more hoops but you are entiled to some money to live on.
I did report them on the number you gave, i also checked the governments own website for advice before leaving and their advice was to leave and report them which was exactly what i did. I recieved my first check this morning and i have been given £70 to survive 2 weeks.
