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Credit Card Company Rant (1 Viewer)

Steeler

Steeler

Footballguy
I have a question as well, but let me rant first.

I have excellent credit, have 3 separate CC accounts, and use each account for a specific purpose.  I never carry a balance on any CC account and pay every one of my bills on time (credit card and other bills).  One of the credit cards is used primarily by my wife and we get a paper statement sent to us each month which prompts me to pay.  We have some smallish expenses on this card nearly every month ~200 or less but sometimes we have zero for a given month.  I just realized today that we haven't made a payment since May (April statement) and started looking into it.  Long story short (too late), somehow the account was changed to "paperless" billing so I never got a statement for May, June or July, we had expenses on that card each month, so my account was marked as "past due".  Total amount for the 3 month period was $180 + $65 in late fees and interest.  I call them to see if they will waive the fees/interest since my account was inadvertently changed to paperless, and if so I'll square up the account right away.  I've been with the company at least 10 years and pay on time every single month.  I had to talk to 3 people and the last guy was able to waive the most recent late fee of $37 but that was it.  I said, you are willing to lose a customer over $28 and he said "we treat all our customers the same, we don't give special treatment to any customers".  That's a pretty stupid way to run a business, but whatever.  So I sent them the $208 and will be closing the account in a few days.  Yes, I am wiling to change CC companies over $28 given these circumstances and the crappy customer service I received.  I'm not a typical customer - I have a 10 year track record of paying my balance on time but they won't waive $28 in late fees/interest when I tell them I will cancel the card???  Very lame.

So two separate questions:

1) Any recommendations on CC cards?

2) Am I a bad CC customer because I pay my balance every month?  I really don't understand why they didn't work with me more since I've been with them so long unless they don't like that I pay off the balance every month.  $28 seems like a small price to pay to keep a long time customer.

 
Steeler said:
2) Am I a bad CC customer because I pay my balance every month?  I really don't understand why they didn't work with me more since I've been with them so long unless they don't like that I pay off the balance every month.  $28 seems like a small price to pay to keep a long time customer.




 
Click to expand...
In their eye's you are the worst kind of credit card customer.  All they make off you are processing fees and if its a rewards card that diminishes quickly.

 
I recommend the Citi double cash card. Earn 1% on purchases and another 1% when you pay. No bonus categories to play around with. Just simple 2% assuming you're paying off monthly. 

 
When you call to cancel, I bet they will offer to remove the additional fees.

If so, you should agree to their offer. Then cancel next month.

I have no specific recommendation for credit cards, only to say that I have no problem churning them for fun and profit and my credit score has not been permanently affected.

 
Steeler said:
...I never carry a balance on any CC account and pay every one of my bills on time (credit card and other bills).  One of the credit cards is used primarily by my wife and we get a paper statement sent to us each month which prompts me to pay.  We have some smallish expenses on this card nearly every month ~200 or less but sometimes we have zero for a given month. ...

So two separate questions:

1) Any recommendations on CC cards?
The Points Guy has good write-ups on reward CCs. However, if this would be the typical usage on the new card, I'd probably just take any old 0 fee card. Do you really need 3 cards?

2) Am I a bad CC customer because I pay my balance every month?  I really don't understand why they didn't work with me more since I've been with them so long unless they don't like that I pay off the balance every month.  $28 seems like a small price to pay to keep a long time customer.
Looks like they make about $5 a month from your account and have a long enough history that they have no reason to expect more. They probably don't care that much if you leave. Account longevity helps your credit rating. I'd probably just set up the account to be automatically paid in full each month and be thankful that they gave me some relief. 
Click to expand...

 
If it's straight cash back you want (not travel rewards), I'd recommend a combo of the Citi Double Cash (straight 2% on all purchases), the Discover, Chase Freedom (both 5% rotating categories, and the Amazon Prime Visa (5% on Amazon, 3% on some other stuff). I average a little over $100 a month cash back with that line-up. Not bad for stuff I'd be buying anyway. I think I know where my debit card is, but I'd have to search around for it a little. 

Also, pretty much every card nowadays allows for automatic payments. Personally, I wouldn't even activate a card until I had that part set-up. My credit is good now, but had to be rebuilt a little from the days of paper statements (and dumb decisions). I'd be better at it now, but I'd rather not have to rely on getting a paper statement, my somehow holding on to it without accidentally throwing it in the trash before I had time to fool with it, and I absolutely am not wasting time writing checks. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
brun said:
Do you really need 3 cards?
Click to expand...
Yes.  This one is used for a specific purpose and only that purpose so I can track and keep records.  The other cards are rewards cards and I actually have 3 of those types for a total of 4 :thumbup:    One card is from my bank and it has 3% cash back on gas, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else.  Also have a Discover card that I use mainly for online shopping but (as someone else pointed out) they have a rolling 5% cash back on different categories each quarter - last quarter I got $75 cash back for buying groceries!  And we have a Hilton Honors card which is awesome - spent 4 days in NO over the summer in a suite and paid a total of $50 - the rest was paid by points.

Maybe i don't spend enough on the one card in question to make it worth their while - still not happy about the situation  :)  

 
pollardsvision said:
Also, pretty much every card nowadays allows for automatic payments.
Click to expand...
I have zero accounts setup on automatic payments - I like being in more control and I'd be afraid of overdraft if everything was on automatic payment.  I pay everything online through my bank so I'm not writing checks, I just manually do it each month rather that setup the auto pay.

 
Churn cash bonus credit cards.  For example, the bank of America premium rewards card gets you $500 and $100 travel award after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.   Depending on your monthly spend, you can make over $2,000 a year doing this on four similar cards.  

 
Walking Boot said:
Every other kind of customer is better than you
Click to expand...
You mean the customer that defaults on their $10,000 outstanding debt?  

What OP should have done is when he talked to the second or third person, said okay, I'd like to talk to whom I need to to cancel this card straight away.  If your CC company doesn't waive the late fees then you can very easily find a more accommodating CC.  It was three months past due so in some cases, hands may be tied, but they don't want to lose your business, no matter what others above have posted.  If you pay your bills on time and are charging stuff on a monthly basis, they are making money off you.  Sure, there is little reward for them, but there is very little risk for them too.  Plus, they are always looking to cross sell products or steer your towards partners, etc... which is another way they make money.  

If it's only a few hundred bucks a month, I doubt any rewards programs they offered would be making a dent in the revenue they make in processing fees from you.

They want you to use their card.  They want you to use it more often.  They don't want to drive you away over $25.  Do they make a ton of money off of interest and late fees from other customers?  Sure they do, but those are also the one's 100x more likely to default.  

I have 6 credit cards, and haven't paid a penny in late fees or interest in over 10 years now.  I still get tons of solicitations and offers from my current cards.  Not as if they don't want my business, quite the contrary.

 
Discover has a 5% cash back promo every quarter based on a certain category (one quarter could be gas, another could be restaurants, etc).

It really just depends on  how much are you spending each month on the cards (or willing to) and what benefits you looking for.

 
Steeler said:
I have zero accounts setup on automatic payments - I like being in more control and I'd be afraid of overdraft if everything was on automatic payment.  I pay everything online through my bank so I'm not writing checks, I just manually do it each month rather that setup the auto pay.
Click to expand...
You may want to consider auto payments for accounts, such as this one, that always have small balances and are always paid in full. You'll never fall behind on those accounts and can focus your attention on the accounts that require decision making.

Of course, I see this from the POV of an old guy who is more forgetful than he'd like to admit. 

 
If you travel a lot I'd look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  There's an annual fee of $450 but every calendar year you get $300 of travel costs free (includes things like hotels, airfare, taxi, uber, etc...).  It's a great card if you plan to travel a lot as they have a lot of travel perks.  Those perks include:

  • Airport lounge access,
  • 2x points for travel costs.  Includes expenses like food and grocery delivery services, tolls, uber, etc...
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Primary rental car insurance (even in countries where they don't take normal credit card insurance)
  • $100/day if your baggage is delayed (up to $500)
  • Trip delay reimbursement
There's lots more but those are the ones that I've used so far.

 
Kanil said:
If you travel a lot I'd look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  There's an annual fee of $450 but every calendar year you get $300 of travel costs free (includes things like hotels, airfare, taxi, uber, etc...).  It's a great card if you plan to travel a lot as they have a lot of travel perks.  Those perks include:

  • Airport lounge access,
  • 2x points for travel costs.  Includes expenses like food and grocery delivery services, tolls, uber, etc...
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Primary rental car insurance (even in countries where they don't take normal credit card insurance)
  • $100/day if your baggage is delayed (up to $500)
  • Trip delay reimbursement
There's lots more but those are the ones that I've used so far.
Click to expand...
Wanted to clarify the fee a bit.  The $450 fee is charged right away and hits annually and the $300 is refunded as you charge for travel but resets every Jan1.  So you could sign up now, pay $450, get $300 in credit before Dec 31, taking that fee to $150.  You could then get $300 back on Jan 1 which would put you $150 in the green until this time next year when you pay the $450 again.

 
They probably have a ton of people that say they will cancel the card unless the fees are waived, and probably very few of them actually cancel.  If your account went to paperless, didn't you get an email when the bill was due?  

 
Steeler said:
I have a question as well, but let me rant first.

I have excellent credit, have 3 separate CC accounts, and use each account for a specific purpose.  I never carry a balance on any CC account and pay every one of my bills on time (credit card and other bills).  One of the credit cards is used primarily by my wife and we get a paper statement sent to us each month which prompts me to pay.  We have some smallish expenses on this card nearly every month ~200 or less but sometimes we have zero for a given month.  I just realized today that we haven't made a payment since May (April statement) and started looking into it.  Long story short (too late), somehow the account was changed to "paperless" billing so I never got a statement for May, June or July, we had expenses on that card each month, so my account was marked as "past due".  Total amount for the 3 month period was $180 + $65 in late fees and interest.  I call them to see if they will waive the fees/interest since my account was inadvertently changed to paperless, and if so I'll square up the account right away.  I've been with the company at least 10 years and pay on time every single month.  I had to talk to 3 people and the last guy was able to waive the most recent late fee of $37 but that was it.  I said, you are willing to lose a customer over $28 and he said "we treat all our customers the same, we don't give special treatment to any customers".  That's a pretty stupid way to run a business, but whatever.  So I sent them the $208 and will be closing the account in a few days.  Yes, I am wiling to change CC companies over $28 given these circumstances and the crappy customer service I received.  I'm not a typical customer - I have a 10 year track record of paying my balance on time but they won't waive $28 in late fees/interest when I tell them I will cancel the card???  Very lame.

So two separate questions:

1) Any recommendations on CC cards?

2) Am I a bad CC customer because I pay my balance every month?  I really don't understand why they didn't work with me more since I've been with them so long unless they don't like that I pay off the balance every month.  $28 seems like a small price to pay to keep a long time customer.
Click to expand...
You realize they likely reported you to the Big3 agencies to screw up your credit?  I'd be more concerned about a 60-90 day delinquency on my credit report than $28-.

 
Kanil said:
If you travel a lot I'd look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  There's an annual fee of $450 but every calendar year you get $300 of travel costs free (includes things like hotels, airfare, taxi, uber, etc...).  It's a great card if you plan to travel a lot as they have a lot of travel perks.  Those perks include:

  • Airport lounge access,
  • 2x points for travel costs.  Includes expenses like food and grocery delivery services, tolls, uber, etc...
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Primary rental car insurance (even in countries where they don't take normal credit card insurance)
  • $100/day if your baggage is delayed (up to $500)
  • Trip delay reimbursement
There's lots more but those are the ones that I've used so far.
Click to expand...


Kanil said:
Wanted to clarify the fee a bit.  The $450 fee is charged right away and hits annually and the $300 is refunded as you charge for travel but resets every Jan1.  So you could sign up now, pay $450, get $300 in credit before Dec 31, taking that fee to $150.  You could then get $300 back on Jan 1 which would put you $150 in the green until this time next year when you pay the $450 again.
Click to expand...
This is actually the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  There's also a 50,000 point promo right now (equals $750 when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95, waived the first year. 

 
Bob Loblaw said:
This is actually the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  There's also a 50,000 point promo right now (equals $750 when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95, waived the first year. 
Click to expand...
You're right, Reserve is the name of it.  I should have looked at it.  :P

 
Chemical X said:
You realize they likely reported you to the Big3 agencies to screw up your credit?  I'd be more concerned about a 60-90 day delinquency on my credit report than $28-.
Click to expand...
I'm not too worried - I'm a baller and my credit is excellent - how much can this ~$200 snafu really affect my score?  This is literally the first time something like this has ever happened to me.  I've missed due dates by a couple days before but even that is rare.  During this same time I've paid every other debt on time including my mortgage and other credit cards balances that are over 2K to 3K - I'm sure I'll be fine.

 
Steeler said:
I'm not too worried - I'm a baller and my credit is excellent - how much can this ~$200 snafu really affect my score?  This is literally the first time something like this has ever happened to me.  I've missed due dates by a couple days before but even that is rare.  During this same time I've paid every other debt on time including my mortgage and other credit cards balances that are over 2K to 3K - I'm sure I'll be fine.
Click to expand...
amounts are irrelevant.  it's the delinquency that will lower a score upwards of 100 points.

"Because scoring systems are focused on predicting whether or not you’ll go at least 90 days late, a 30- or 60-day late payment that occurred long ago is actually not that damaging to your credit scores, as long as it is an isolated incident. It’s when your accounts are recently reported 30 or 60 days past due on your credit reports that your credit scores plummet temporarily."

 
Chemical X said:
amounts are irrelevant.  it's the delinquency that will lower a score upwards of 100 points.

"Because scoring systems are focused on predicting whether or not you’ll go at least 90 days late, a 30- or 60-day late payment that occurred long ago is actually not that damaging to your credit scores, as long as it is an isolated incident. It’s when your accounts are recently reported 30 or 60 days past due on your credit reports that your credit scores plummet temporarily."
Click to expand...
Just to go off topic - I recently received a credit score notification where I was 2 points less than the listed max credit score.  Below, it stated that I had 2 things negatively affecting my score:  Revolving credit balance was too high and I can't remember the other issue.  My credit card probably has a $200 balance on average and is always paid off every month.  I love that they feel they have to list something, regardless; can't just say, "you're good".

 
Vanilla Guerrilla said:
Just to go off topic - I recently received a credit score notification where I was 2 points less than the listed max credit score.  Below, it stated that I had 2 things negatively affecting my score:  Revolving credit balance was too high and I can't remember the other issue.  My credit card probably has a $200 balance on average and is always paid off every month.  I love that they feel they have to list something, regardless; can't just say, "you're good".
Click to expand...
so, you have an 848?  that is almost impossible.  i go between 850 and 838 and get the same comments.....never saw 848.

 
Steeler said:
Long story short (too late), somehow the account was changed to "paperless" billing so I never got a statement for May, June or July, we had expenses on that card each month, so my account was marked as "past due". 
Click to expand...
You generally (always?) get an email if you go paperless. Who was getting the emailed statements? Did you use some email account you never check when you signed up or something?

 
I'm at the point where if I can't get 2-5% off a transaction via some form of credit card rebate, I won't do business. Cash earns a 0% rebate and doesn't build your credit score. Be responsible with the credit you open, pay it off before you accrue any interest, and enjoy the kickbacks for doing just a smidge more than nothing for it.

 
Chemical X said:
so, you have an 848?  that is almost impossible.  i go between 850 and 838 and get the same comments.....never saw 848.
Click to expand...
Ours has floated around 815 for several years but the most recent jumped to 830. No idea why it would suddenly jump. We use our Discover for everything and run up pretty decent size balances each month but it gets paid off every month.

As an aside, we have several store cards (e.g. Target, Home Depot, etc) laying around that we (meaning wife) signed up for to get one time discounts. I don't like doing that even for the immediate savings. I'd like to close them all but I've read that this will hurt your score. Is this true?

 
Kanil said:
If you travel a lot I'd look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  There's an annual fee of $450 but every calendar year you get $300 of travel costs free (includes things like hotels, airfare, taxi, uber, etc...).  It's a great card if you plan to travel a lot as they have a lot of travel perks.  Those perks include:

  • Airport lounge access,
  • 2x points for travel costs.  Includes expenses like food and grocery delivery services, tolls, uber, etc...
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Primary rental car insurance (even in countries where they don't take normal credit card insurance)
  • $100/day if your baggage is delayed (up to $500)
  • Trip delay reimbursement
There's lots more but those are the ones that I've used so far.
Click to expand...
That's the reserve you are talking about.

 
Bob Loblaw said:
This is actually the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  There's also a 50,000 point promo right now (equals $750 when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95, waived the first year. 
Click to expand...
The CSP 95 fee is no longer waived.

 
Kanil said:
Wanted to clarify the fee a bit.  The $450 fee is charged right away and hits annually and the $300 is refunded as you charge for travel but resets every Jan1.  So you could sign up now, pay $450, get $300 in credit before Dec 31, taking that fee to $150.  You could then get $300 back on Jan 1 which would put you $150 in the green until this time next year when you pay the $450 again.
Click to expand...
This is not true anymore either.  Some of you need to read your terms and conditions more closely. 

 
Vanilla Guerrilla said:
Just to go off topic - I recently received a credit score notification where I was 2 points less than the listed max credit score.  Below, it stated that I had 2 things negatively affecting my score:  Revolving credit balance was too high and I can't remember the other issue.  My credit card probably has a $200 balance on average and is always paid off every month.  I love that they feel they have to list something, regardless; can't just say, "you're good".
Click to expand...
Having a low balance on a high credit line can actually ding you quite a bit.  Utilization is a major factor.  Showing you use a card at all, versus a 0 balance is a big knob.  

 
Ranethe said:
Ours has floated around 815 for several years but the most recent jumped to 830. No idea why it would suddenly jump. We use our Discover for everything and run up pretty decent size balances each month but it gets paid off every month.

As an aside, we have several store cards (e.g. Target, Home Depot, etc) laying around that we (meaning wife) signed up for to get one time discounts. I don't like doing that even for the immediate savings. I'd like to close them all but I've read that this will hurt your score. Is this true?
Click to expand...
you need to calculate your credit utilization %.  for people with high running balances that close available credit, your score will reduce more than someone in your situation, since this will increase the balance vs. available credit.

 
So sorry to hear of your impending divorce.  It's clear to me that your wife changed the card to paperless to hide all hotel charges, 

 
Steeler said:
I have a question as well, but let me rant first.

I have excellent credit, have 3 separate CC accounts, and use each account for a specific purpose.  I never carry a balance on any CC account and pay every one of my bills on time (credit card and other bills).  One of the credit cards is used primarily by my wife and we get a paper statement sent to us each month which prompts me to pay.  We have some smallish expenses on this card nearly every month ~200 or less but sometimes we have zero for a given month.  I just realized today that we haven't made a payment since May (April statement) and started looking into it.  Long story short (too late), somehow the account was changed to "paperless" billing so I never got a statement for May, June or July, we had expenses on that card each month, so my account was marked as "past due".  Total amount for the 3 month period was $180 + $65 in late fees and interest.  I call them to see if they will waive the fees/interest since my account was inadvertently changed to paperless, and if so I'll square up the account right away.  I've been with the company at least 10 years and pay on time every single month.  I had to talk to 3 people and the last guy was able to waive the most recent late fee of $37 but that was it.  I said, you are willing to lose a customer over $28 and he said "we treat all our customers the same, we don't give special treatment to any customers".  That's a pretty stupid way to run a business, but whatever.  So I sent them the $208 and will be closing the account in a few days.  Yes, I am wiling to change CC companies over $28 given these circumstances and the crappy customer service I received.  I'm not a typical customer - I have a 10 year track record of paying my balance on time but they won't waive $28 in late fees/interest when I tell them I will cancel the card???  Very lame.

So two separate questions:

1) Any recommendations on CC cards?

2) Am I a bad CC customer because I pay my balance every month?  I really don't understand why they didn't work with me more since I've been with them so long unless they don't like that I pay off the balance every month.  $28 seems like a small price to pay to keep a long time customer.
Click to expand...
Let me get this strait, you spend a whopping 200 per month then don’t pay your bill and expect favors?  Believe me they don’t care if you walk away or not.  Good luck with this one.

 
Steeler said:
Yes.  This one is used for a specific purpose and only that purpose so I can track and keep records.  The other cards are rewards cards and I actually have 3 of those types for a total of 4 :thumbup:    One card is from my bank and it has 3% cash back on gas, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else.  Also have a Discover card that I use mainly for online shopping but (as someone else pointed out) they have a rolling 5% cash back on different categories each quarter - last quarter I got $75 cash back for buying groceries!  And we have a Hilton Honors card which is awesome - spent 4 days in NO over the summer in a suite and paid a total of $50 - the rest was paid by points.

Maybe i don't spend enough on the one card in question to make it worth their while - still not happy about the situation  :)  
Click to expand...
If you use this for a specific purpose how did you not realize the bill wasn’t paid?

 
Steeler said:
I have zero accounts setup on automatic payments - I like being in more control and I'd be afraid of overdraft if everything was on automatic payment.  I pay everything online through my bank so I'm not writing checks, I just manually do it each month rather that setup the auto pay.
Click to expand...
Well that just cost you late fees - win/win?

 
Kanil said:
If you travel a lot I'd look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  There's an annual fee of $450 but every calendar year you get $300 of travel costs free (includes things like hotels, airfare, taxi, uber, etc...).  It's a great card if you plan to travel a lot as they have a lot of travel perks.  Those perks include:

  • Airport lounge access,
  • 2x points for travel costs.  Includes expenses like food and grocery delivery services, tolls, uber, etc...
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Primary rental car insurance (even in countries where they don't take normal credit card insurance)
  • $100/day if your baggage is delayed (up to $500)
  • Trip delay reimbursement
There's lots more but those are the ones that I've used so far.
Click to expand...
Really, he spends 100-200 per month? 

 
Steeler said:
I have zero accounts setup on automatic payments - I like being in more control and I'd be afraid of overdraft if everything was on automatic payment.  I pay everything online through my bank so I'm not writing checks, I just manually do it each month rather that setup the auto pay.
Click to expand...
Well, if you don't have automatic payments this is the risk you take

 
So lets talk about this automatic payment setup.  Do you set it up at your bank?  Or do you set it up at each of the credit card/utility/mortgage/etc. companies?  The later seems really tedious, plus I don't want to expose my bank account information to all those companies.  The former seems OK but a 5 minute search at my bank says I can't setup "whatever the balance is" each month.

 
Vanilla Guerrilla said:
Has to work for a bank with that take on things, right?
Click to expand...
I think any business owner or creditor would have this take on things.  There are good customers and bad customers.  You need to have more good than bad to stsy in business.  Pretty simple concept right?

 
Steeler said:
So lets talk about this automatic payment setup.  Do you set it up at your bank?  Or do you set it up at each of the credit card/utility/mortgage/etc. companies?  The later seems really tedious, plus I don't want to expose my bank account information to all those companies.  The former seems OK but a 5 minute search at my bank says I can't setup "whatever the balance is" each month.
Click to expand...
Set it up with the company that you are paying.  I suppose there is some risk but, it is worth it imo so that payments are never late.

 
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