RSS
Home
Credit card horror stories – what’s yours?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
It’s amazing what credit card companies are doing to increase profits. Just as President Obama signed a new law on credit card reform, credit card companies are devising ways to get their money before the final stages of the reform are put into action. Here are actual posts of credit card consumers with their personal horror stories.
Note: Names have been changed.
‘Jason’
“My credit card company raised my minimum payment 400%. I have always paid my bill in full every month. I have never paid any interest to any credit card company EVER (I am 62).”
‘Karen’
“I once had three credit cards -- lost my job during the downturn in 2001, and did not get re-employed (although I worked hours a day trying) for 13 months. I was getting 45-50 calls PER WEEK, from 6 in the morning until after midnight. By FCC standards, and by Texas laws, that is considered harassment, and it took a lawyer to get them off my back.”
‘Mark’
“I have had my AmEx closed after 27 years. I was late with Citi and I went to 29.99% and I have had over a million air miles on that card. My others went from a 0% interest rate to 29.99% with massive late fees on a ZERO interest card. I just stopped paying them and told them to use the bailout money they got and write it off. Boy do I feel great!!”
‘Bob’
Earlier this year, Citicards, which manages Sears credit cards, arbitrarily raised the interest rate on my Sears Gold Master Card account which I'd closed three years ago to avoid an interest rate hike. I had "opted out" to avoid the rate rise, and understood that I'd pay the account off at the current rate. But the Citicards account managers said they can raise the rate whenever they please not only for active but for closed accounts as well. I had never missed a payment nor paid late, but it made no difference.”
‘Sammi’
“I am one of the .5% consumer accounts which BofA has decided to stick with a new annual fee (on a previously fee-free card). On the first page of their letter they cited "market changes" as the reason for the fee, but on the second page they cited "my account history" as the reason. This infuriates me since for the 5 years I've had the credit line with them I have ALWAYS paid off the entire balance of my credit card, never once making payments.”
‘Don’
“One of my cards, which I was saving for emergencies, had its limit cut by literally 88% overnight.”
‘Jodie’
“My October''s Capital One statement had an increased APR from 4.9% to 29.4%% and a yearly membership fee of $39. I cut my card up, taped it to a copy of the statement with ACCOUNT CLOSED in red letters on it and a week later received a legit email from them asking why they got my card back and the address where they could return it! Every time I get a notice of increase of rates from a credit card company I return the cut-up card and close the account. I'm trying, and succeeding in most cases, to pay them off but if they want to be a loan shark they can find somebody else to extort because I'm not falling for it.”
‘Leon’
“I only have one CC company that hasn't screwed me over yet. What kills me is that they are the ones who have destroyed my rating by slashing my limits by over half in some cases, thereby lowering my credit score, then raising my interest rate because my credit score fell. What's wrong with this picture? I called one of the reporting agencies for my "free credit report" after one of these letters came. I received it without one negative comment (and BTW they don't actually give you a score on those freebies). So even though they referred to my credit rating, the report I received doesn't reflect any negatives, huh?”
‘Becky’
“This is ridiculous! I recieved my letter in the mail as well stating that my rate would be changed! I contacted the bank and was told that the reason my rate was being increased was because on time paying consumers would be taking up the slack for those who have been delinquient on their payments. Isnt that a crock.”
‘Ginger’
“U.S. Bank upped our interest rate to 20.99%, effective this coming December. We had the option to "opt out", and continue paying off the balance at 8.15%, which we did, even though it will affect our credit rating. The two young women who were handling my inquiry seemed completely oblivious, no sense of comprehension--obviously newly hired, just doing a job without the ability to discern what their jobs mean as a part of the whole. So it isn't possible to even reason with anyone, their skills simply do not exist.”
‘Jeffrey’
“I keep one GM credit card with a very low maximum to order work books and other items on the internet. Last month I found unauthorized charges on my card. The fraudulent charges were from IDPROTECT 877-974-1563 (19.95) each month. I called the credit card company (HSBC) and they have given me the runaround for the last 6 weeks. When I called the third time, the Call Center from India tried to sell me credit card protection again!!!! Now I know who placed these unauthorized charges on my Credit Card and they won’t remove them!”
‘Todd’
“First, Bank of Omaha jacked my rate to 19.99 %. I have had them for 9 yrs and never missed a payment...... when I called to cancel they had a 2 minute recorded speech I got to a customer who asked for my password and processed my request without asking me any questions or trying to retain my business...... screw ‘em, you can charge people who pay late rates like that but my fico is over 800 and I bet I will find another company that wants to have me as a customer.”
‘Theron’
“We used the Citi Shell MasterCard because frankly the 5% rebate on gas was great for us. Paid the balance in full each month and have earned over $500 in rebates since July 2007. We were hit with the sudden and unannounced closure of the card on 10/14 when we tried to use it on 10/15. Some lame excuse about serious delinquency in my Equifax report. So I pulled that report and no drama. So just an excuse from Citi to drop a customer who paid in full each month, never late, so no interest, no fees for them. If my credit was so bad, why was I able to get a Chase Freedom card approved that very same day, with 3% cash back on my three highest purchase categories? Citi was hurting for money and didn't have the courtesy to call me and say, ‘Theron’, we aren't making any money from you, so this can't continue, we would like to end the cash back or close your account, which do you want? Nope, instead, some made up story about serious delinquencies and finding out at the gas pump. Bogus!”
‘Patrick’
“I was in a Branch yesterday of a large London based Bank, the customer ahead of me deposited $3,000.00 in cash, he was a small business owner. The teller informed him that for every $1,000.00 deposited, The London based Bank collected a %.02 fee. For small buisness , the %.05 profit they would make per every $1,000.00 became smaller with no benefit to the business. The customer mentioned that he will have to move his accounts, the teller responded with "that may be the best". This Bank is moving its Global center to Hong Kong to be in the next capital of finance, (it appears NYS and London are in decline) where returns are high and regulation low.”
‘Joseph’
“I just got yes ANOTHER notice of rate increase to a 26.99% variable from Chevron (owned by GE Money Bank). Thank the Lord it won't affect me, because I pay that each month. But, it really makes you want to screw them back. This is less than a month after HSBC raised their rates, as did Capital One. For those of you who feel the need to judge my expenditures, let me break it down for you: $3,500 was for vet bills, $2,500 was for dental work (no insurance) and $1,500 for car repairs. Not easy to keep an emergency fund when your monthly income was reduced by 33% one year ago.”
‘Hayden’
“There used to be "Usury Laws" in the United States that restricted interest rates to 12%. Our wonderful Congress repealed them. Now we are paying 33% interest rates even with good credit. The Credit Card companies are now legally the "Loan Sharks" that the usury laws were meant to protect us from.”
‘Chris’
“I have never missed a payment on the two cards I have, yet they jacked the interest on one (Capital One) from 9.9 fixed to 18%. I will never charge another dime on that card. Chase raised my fixed rate from 7.9 fixed to 12% - never been late on that one either. These companies have no soul and our only defense is to stop using their cards. I know I will.”
‘Anna’
“My credit card of 20 years has gone from a fixed rate to a variable one! so I am canceling it!”
‘Paula’
“Citibank has raised my rates from 14.9 to around 18 over the last year. I just got a letter in the mail saying they want to raise them to 29%. I have been with them for over 15 years, and have made my payments on time. It amazes me that after taking the TARP money that they would treat their customers like that, and with the rate that they can barrow being close to or near zero I think it should be criminal that they are allowed to have rates that high, they are no better than loan sharks.”
‘William’
“My card issuer decided to jack up my rate and switched me to a variable because they could. I called and asked why and was told because they could. Simple as that. Come to find out their profits have dropped 21% in last quarter due to delinquency. Yes I carry a balance, not large. I suppose that being a customer for 12 yrs and never missing a payment doesn't matter. Customers with great credit are getting raped because of those whom cannot act responsibly. I am going to pay it off and cancel all of my cards except my credit union card. Take that TBTF banks!! Your great reliable customers are going to drop you as a business partner. Where will that leave you then? Even less profit with a really crappy portfolio of bad customers. I can make it without your credit just like Dave Ramsey states.”
‘Robert’
“Citi just raised our credit card rate to 29.3% APR...that's after spending several hundred thousand dollars with this card over the last ten years with no late payments...is there another word for usurious? We will cancel this cruel joke of a credit card and encourage others to do the same. Why be punished for a good credit history to pay outrageous executive compensation?”
‘Danielle’
“They pushed me into a debt management plan with CCCS. I was doing fine until the new law passed and all of my creditors raised my rates and minimum payments. I know I shouldn't have had so much credit but I was handling it until the credit card companies changed my deal.”
‘Connor’
“We made a payment 1 day early on a Chase card. We were assessed a late fee for the following month, our limit was reduced, and the rate was increased from 3% to 23%. After a couple of calls to nasty, uninformed "customer service" folk, we got a supervisor who reduced the rate back to 3% and removed the late fee. The $300 interest they'd charged at the higher rate they would not return. We paid off the card and filed a complaint with the OMB... at which point they refunded the $300. After it was done, we got ANOTHER bill for the interest they'd charged between the bill being sent and us paying it off. It took another round of phone calls to get them to remove that. How do people with less banking experience than we have navigate this kind of underhanded-bordering-on-fraudulent behavior? It's shameful.”
‘Jacqueline’
“I was a good standing client, until one month I was late 1 DAY, not ONE MONTH and they raised my rates from 8.99% to 29.99%. I was more than willing to carry a balance at 8.99% because my investments paid more than 8.99%. However, when they increased my rates, I got fed up and paid off the balance and closed the account. I tried to come to a mutual agreement on rates without any results. So they went from 8.99% profit to 0% profit. Great decision Chase. Will never be a Chase customer again for as long as I live.
‘Denita’
“I used my credit card as a line of credit to get my business up and running. Paid off 2/3 of the debt the first year at 7.9%. I got a notice a few months ago that my rate was going up to 39% on the balance. Never a day late with a payment anywhere, anytime in the past 30 years.”
‘Stuart’
“My FICO is 733. Chase sends me a letter in February "we are raising you from 6.9% to 10.9% or opt out."Ii didn't respond fast enough and now it 10.9% well the story gets better. April comes along and Chase sends me another letter, "we are raising your rate from 10.9% to 19.9% or opt out" Well, I tripped over the couch running to the post office to send the certified letter opting out to keep the lousy 10.9%. I got duped into 2 months prior."
‘Sheredian’
“A credit card company I worked for (6 days) used a psychologist to research the proper demographic vulnerable to accepting credit card, likely to run up balances and pay interest, and likely to be bailed out by wealthy parents. It was disgusting; they probably do even worse now.”
Related Articles:
Comments
