Comments on: My Credit Card Experiment

By: greg

greg — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:24:31 +0000

I received a letter from capital one saying that the interest rate was going up on my card from 9.9 to 13+%
I called to have it reduced but they refused but i could lock in the rate of 9.9 so i did then canceled it…

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:01:10 +0000

Makes sense to try. Of course I have a couple Chase cards, so it might not be worthwile. May be worth trying with Discover. All this bad talk about Chase makes me wonder if I should switch banks.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:00:12 +0000

I just paid off a card with Chase at an orginal balance of $1900 interest rate of 12%. After the grace period of 6 months my interest rate defaulted to 26%. I called to request a lower interest rate and was denied. Bastards.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:12:54 +0000

Chase and Washington Mutual won’t budge. Not even with the threat of transferring balances! I guess they don’t care about losing a customer. But then again, why would they? I’m one in a hundred million!

By: Max

Max — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:31:17 +0000

So is it better to pay your cards off in full each month or carry a balance? I would think creditors like to see that that they can make money on you from charging interest on balances, not that you pay them off completely and they get nothing from you for using their card. Plus your debt management payment history is more revealing if you pay down something as opposed to using the card for cash substitution I would think. That’s only true if you don’t carry a high balance of course. I don’t know the answer but if paying in full is just as good as carrying a balance I will charge no more than 10% of my new card limit each month and pay it off completely. Hopefully in one year I’ll have some good history to show.

By: ines

ines — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:27:39 +0000

It Worked!! I’ve tried in the past, with various other credit cards, to get them to lower my rate and it NEVER worked. I opened this time w/ the script you mention and voila – DONE. I was on the phone less than 10 minutes! they lowered my rate to 9% – SINGLE DIGITS – and got them to remove a late fee i had been disputing unsecessfully before (it was one day late, and they charged me $39.00)! The funny thing is how they laid on the charm so thickly. Began telling me how good a customer I am and how they appreciate me, etc. Complete differnt experience than ever before. Really felt like I was in control for once.

By: sd

sd — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:19:01 +0000

capital one visa switched me from ~19% to ~14%

discover presented me with 2 options: promo 3.9% on purchases made the next 6 months OR a new 14.9% rate (down from 18.9%) which would also affect my current balance
after the giggly woman chatted with me about the weather & restaurants, i chose the latter, since i’m only charging ~$100-200 per month AND i just opened a card with a 0% intro rate

the life of a completely-broke recent college grad is a great one. i long for the days where my expenses were as limited as my income, & i was able to pay off my small balance every month, so it didnt matter that my interest rates were high.
i’m 23. i got my first credit card at 17. i didnt carry a balance until age 21. my main purchases are gas & automotive. awesome. i always pay on time, though — &, thanks to this article, i will be making the same phone calls again in a few months, making the same requests

By: Kiara

Kiara — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:24:47 +0000

On all of my credit cards, I have a 3.49% interest rate, so I am definately keeping this company. :-D

By: Lily

Lily — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:16:27 +0000

I just tried calling my card company to get my rate lowered and even with the script and sweetness in my voice, I was rejected. I’m carrying $1800 at 11%; I think I’m just going to switch cards.

By: donner

donner — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:33:48 +0000

Oh, I still HAVE my card…just cause I’ve paid it off, doesn’t mean I’ve cancelled it…I prefer to use it in emergencies when travelling, or when my cat breaks his leg and needs costly repairs…I don’t mind putting small amts on it, but I will admit that its nice to have it paid off…being completely debt free is liberating…