Tips for Credit Card Owners
Posted by thecrookedmailbox on 20 March 2009
Recently I’ve been taken advantage by own bank, so in celebration of that I thought I would post some tips for those who have credit cards.
Tip #1: You’ve been vacationing and you realize while you were gone that you forgot to pay your bill. You call your credit card company because of the messages left on your answering machine, or you’ve notice an odd 1-800 # showing up on your cell phone. So you speak with an associate, or most likely an automated system and you make your payment thinking that everything is okay. WRONG. Here is what happens when you miss a payment. 1) you receive a 39.00 late fee on your account 2) your interest shoots up to 29.99 without you knowing. So here is what you need to do: Talk to a live person, don’t make a payment online, or by any other means. If you don’t, no adjustments can be made to your account. Once you speak with a person, request that the late fee be removed and that your interest rate be repriced back to what it was previous to your mistake. Here is what is important to know. If you have received a late fee adjustment, or an APR reprice within that last 6 months a normal associate will not be able to remove the late fee or adjust your interest rate. In that case ASK TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR! Because a supervisor can make those adjustments.
Tip #2: CIT-in other words CHANGE IN TERMS. You know the irritating mail you receive from your credit card company? You thoughtlessly throw it away thinking it is another “offer” and it’s not important. Well, IT IS! Read everything you get in the mail from your bank. Why? Because banks have taken on an interesting trend to reduce their losses. They INCREASE your interest rate based upon the economy. It doesn’t matter that you’re a perfect credit card owner and you pay your bills every time, each time, on time consecutively each month. Banks are trying to increase their revenue; in order to do that they increase ALL account holders interest rates. The way they get away with this is they send you a notice within your statement informing you that your APR will increase to 14.99 if you don’t “opt” out within a certain time frame. They give you the option, but if you “opt” out when your card expires your account will be closed. So you do have a choice, but not if you don’t read your mail. So read your mail from your bank.
That’s all I have for now. Tune in for more informative tips on how to manage your credit cards….if I have any… 
P.S. You can ask for a late fee adjustment for other purposes also. Say you forgot one month and never have, or there has been a medical issue in your family, or a death, or a reduction in income…several reasons are available for late fee adjustments….just remember! TALK TO A LIVE PERSON! An easy way to accomplish that goal? Hit 0# when you get an automated system asking for your information. Just keep hitting 0#, you’ll get someone.
P.P.S. If you have excellent payment history and you notice that your interest rate has gone up…call in. If the associate says they can’t lower your APR ask to speak with a supervisor. Here is the hint, if you don’t ask for a manager the associate won’t transfer you to one. Customer Service protocal is that if a client doesn’t ask they won’t transfer. SO ASK!
