Positive Credit Card Stories (Full Version)

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Galilee -> Positive Credit Card Stories (5/9/2008 5:20:11 PM)

I thought I would start a thread on positive credit card experiences. I had one less than a month ago, and I think that for all of the negative press credit cards get (and they deserve a lot of it), that there are good, positive experiences, and we need to share those, too.

Mine came with my Discover bill this past month. The bad news is, Discover did up the % of balance due each month, so the payments are higher than they used to be, but that is not that big of a deal.

Anyway, I went online to check a bill that I figured had come out, but I hadn't received in the mail yet. After looking at it, I thought I would check Discover as well, which comes out later in the month, but would have been out by then.

Imagine how shocked when my amount due was over $600!! I looked further, and my 5.9% interest until 2010 was now 25.99%. I had no idea what happened.

I loooked at the actual current statement (which I hadn't received in the mail yet), online, and the amount received last month was $0.00. I completely spaced it. No excuses, I just missed it. It wasn't even that I didn't have the money, I just forgot to pay it.

So I called. I said that I had messed up, and it was very bad. I asked if I could possibly get the 5.9% back. Now, by the rules, they could have left it alone. It was my fault. The lady says "No problem. I see you have been a customer for 7 years, and this is the first time you have ever been late. I will remove the $39 late fee, and put the balance interest rate back to the 5.9%. And tomorrow you will get credited for the interest you were billed last month at the 25.99% rate, to bring it back down to the 5.9%."

I thanked her over and over, and realized that I had dodged a bullet. I even went on line right after that and paid last months and this months to get it caught up. I also set it up to remind me by e-mail a week before the bill is due if I haven't paid it yet. I have that on all my accounts now.

So, I don't think I will get rid of Discover any time soon. I have heard horror stories about them from others, but, when I needed them the most, they came through for me in a big way. That will keep me as a customer for life. Sure they could have made more money in the short run, but they did the right thing. And I will never forget that.

What positive credit card stories do other people have?



reach -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/9/2008 5:55:15 PM)

My positive story is that I had a lot of debt, and I was moving the credit cards around to 0%, but getting caught with a high interest when the time came up. Then I got an offer from citibank for 1.9% until the card is paid off. I was so excited. That is like nothing. So I moved all my debt to that card and have been slowly paying it down. it is almost paid off. It has been like 5 years and they have never increased the interest rate. I have paid on time and never had any issuses with them. It has been awesome and I was able to make a lot of headway each month on my credit card debt.



Galilee -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/9/2008 6:42:46 PM)

Similar to what you said, Reach, Chase gave me 2 choices. Zero % thru August of 2008 and then regular rates, or 4.99% until it is paid off. I took the 0% only because someone was going to buy our business in April and pay us back the money. But it all fell through, which is actually a good thing. But I stil have this debt I am sitting on.

Well, a month after I took the 0%, I got another offer of 3.99% until it is paid off. I managed to get the money to pay it off at no cost to me, and the day I went to pay it off, I got another offer for 2.99%. So, by messing up the first time, in the long run I am going to save myself some serious money.



PizzaPam -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/12/2008 6:56:39 AM)

Nearly two years ago, I was 6 grand in debt with several credit cards.

After listening to an advertisement on KWVE about Christian Credit Counseling, I called CCC.

On May 07, 2008 I made my FINAL PAYMENT! I am permanently out of credit card debt. Praise God!

It really is God's money, which He provides us as His stewards.



P31W -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/12/2008 9:15:56 AM)

I honestly don't have any negative stories.

Mine give me five percent off fuel purchases and one percent off all other purchases. That's resulted in lots of cash savings for me.

I also told in another thread about a store making an unauthorized charge on my card. I contacted first the cc company who 'took the change off my account" and then the store who "credited my account" by that much money. Meaning "I" made money.[:D]

I have two store cards that give me money back on my purchases over a certain amount, free gift wrapping, free shipping and allow me to shop for sales before they go public.

For me it's all good. No negative to date. I don't pay any annuel fees to have any of my cards and have no clue what the percentage of interest is on those cards. By now if I did mess up and pay late or something like that I would still be "dollars ahead".



kernsfamily -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/12/2008 9:35:05 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: PizzaPam

Nearly two years ago, I was 6 grand in debt with several credit cards.

After listening to an advertisement on KWVE about Christian Credit Counseling, I called CCC.

On May 07, 2008 I made my FINAL PAYMENT! I am permanently out of credit card debt. Praise God!

It really is God's money, which He provides us as His stewards.


I also have a very similar and positive story.....as a credit counseling organization was able to work with the companies to get my % rates down from some astronomical rate (after a long stint of unemployment)...into something that was more "realistic" and manageable...

We made OUR 'final payment' december 2007.....(the cards themselves were shredded long ago....4 or so years ago)....and, we've POSITIVELY learned, over the past 4+ years, that one really can live quite well without them.

great to hear another POSITIVE story!....



Single4Life -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/20/2008 3:37:41 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: kernsfamily

I also have a very similar and positive story.....as a credit counseling organization was able to work with the companies to get my % rates down from some astronomical rate (after a long stint of unemployment)...into something that was more "realistic" and manageable...

I was actually scammed by one of those credit counseling companies. They suck you in w/ the promise of negotiating lower rates on your debt. They promised to drop mine from 18% to 6-7%. After I signed up, it only dropped to 16%!! So, I demanded my $$$ back and they refused until I reported 'em to the Better Business Bureau. Soon after they were being investigated for fraud. [:D]

I contacted my credit card company to tell them I would no longer be using that counseling company and THEY LOWERED MY RATE TO 6%!! I didn't even ask for it!! I discovered that you can call the credit card company on your own and negotiate a lower interest rate! They just wanna get their $$$, so it would behoove them to work w/ you.



stellaluna -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/20/2008 9:06:11 AM)

I am here to give kudos to Capital One.

I actually had a maxed out credit card from another company that I couldn't get on top of. I had lost my job and they were not cooperative at all and had tacked on all kinds of late fees and minimums and I simply couldn't afford to pay what they were asking for each month. Each month the balance was growing by leaps and bounds and I just didn't know what to do.

Well, one day I had a letter from Capital One. I don't know how they found me or why they thought I would be any kind of good risk, but the letter offered to buy the debt from the other card and let me pay it off at zero interest. I thought, "Yeah, right." But I figured I didn't have anything to lose by calling them. Sure enough, they were prepared to give me a $50 credit line and allow me to pay off that balance at 0%. The only catch was I had to make a minimum payment of $45 each month. I decided to go with it.

I was obsessive about making those payments! [8D] My starting balance was right at $2,200. After I made six on-time payments, Capital One forgave 10% of the original debt. That took me down to about $1,700 in just six months. Woohoo! After another 12 on time payments, they forgave another 10% of the original debt. That took me down to about $1200. I paid off that entire balance in a little over three years.

In the meanwhile, every few months Capital One reviewed my account and adjusted my credit line upward. Now eight years later, I'm still a customer--but now I have a platinum card with low interest, high credit line and zero balance! [:D]



Galilee -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/20/2008 2:33:31 PM)

I wish I had a positive story about Capital One. I have a bad one.

Capital One gave my Gluten Free Bakery a credit card with a $2,500 creit line with 0% interest for 1 year. We used it, never made a late payment, and we have a creedit score of 749.

When the year was up, we were told the interest rate was going to be 23%. I almost got rid of it right then. We decided to use it for certain things and pay it off each month, so the interest rate wouln't matter. Toward the end of the year, we did end up carrying a balance, but, again, no late payments (on anything), same credit score.

So, a year later, we called again, asking them to lower the rate. They again said no, it would stay at 23%. We told them to go ahead and cancel the card then, and we would just pay it off. This month or next month it should be a zero balance.

I just can't understand why they would do that. They have lost a customer for life now. Just as Discover gained one in my first post, Capitaol One lost one.



kernsfamily -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/20/2008 2:35:54 PM)

quote:

Capital One gave my Gluten Free Bakery a credit card with a $2,500 creit line with 0% interest for 1 year. We used it, never made a late payment, and we have a creedit score of 749.

When the year was up, we were told the interest rate was going to be 23%.


What was the justification for raising the rate?

Because they could?



creationtalk -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/20/2008 5:18:15 PM)

I have been a citibank customer for several years. I put my second mortgage on the card and have been paying it off for the past 6 years. There have been two times I was late on payments over the past 15 years. Both times when I realized it and called, they kept it off my record and did not increase my rate (VERY low).

However, FLEET once offered my a card at 7.99% "permanent" (when mortgage rates were 6-8%), I took it, planning to use it to purchase materials to build a (very small) house. Several things kept me from making the major purchase, then after 6 months with the card, payments always on time, etc. they raised the "permanent" rate to 9.99%. I dropped the card like a hot potato...later they called me back and tried to get me back saying they would reinstate the original offer. I told them I would never deal with them again.

A 'general" positive story of credit cards: I have a credit card that pays cash back--1% or 5% depending on what the item is to a certain max. value. I purchase most things on the card and pay it off monthly. I just got my cash-back check and applied it all to my truck loan...So I have saved money on my purchases because I'm not paying interest on them, AND I have saved money on the interest on the truck. I have no idea what the interest rate on the card is because I've never paid interest on it in the 5 years I've had it.



Galilee -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/21/2008 3:00:11 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: kernsfamily

quote:

Capital One gave my Gluten Free Bakery a credit card with a $2,500 creit line with 0% interest for 1 year. We used it, never made a late payment, and we have a creedit score of 749.

When the year was up, we were told the interest rate was going to be 23%.


What was the justification for raising the rate?

Because they could?


Esssentially, yes. They gave no justification. Even when I pointed out the credit scores, the payment history, they just said that 23% was the rate, and that was it.



car2ner -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/22/2008 5:38:39 AM)

Discover had been good to me. I liked the cash back option. I always paid the balance off so I never checked to see what the interest was. I was never paying it. I had an OOPS on month, missed the pay by date by a day. I called and they cancelled the extra charge but told me to be careful, next time I'd have to pay it. Fair enough.

I closed it because once I got married, I started using my husbands cards. Again, we pay off the balance... using them like a debit card. We both were very uncomfortable one month when we had to leave a part of the balance on the card. Our only debt is the house.



Annie64 -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/27/2008 11:51:54 PM)

My positive credit card story comes after we had taken out a second mortgage to pay off our credit cards, and had totally quit using them. We canceled most accounts, but not all of them. We thought we'd keep one and only use it if absolutely necessary, but we'd try to see to it that it was never necessary. So far, it hasn't been.

Some time after we had done this, we got a call from a credit card company saying they'd gotten a couple charges from us that looked out of character for us. Sure enough, it was fraudulent. We weren't liable for anything, and I was thankful that the credit card company was proactive about it. Otherwise, we wouldn't have known until we got the bill, and who knows how high it would have been then!



Pamsy -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/28/2008 4:55:04 PM)

quote:

I thought I would start a thread on positive credit card experiences


Was your point of the thread really about more positive credit card companies?
I have a discover card too, and Ive noticed they are a more scrupulous company. Unfortunaly Ive had 12.99 % with them for years and they wrote me a letter saying that it couls stay at 12.99 % if I closed the card and could pay off the rest of the balance, or it would go to 17.99% It may sound funny, but I was saddend and kind of hurt (lol) to see them go. I really loved that 12.99% I was paying minimum on them while getting a different one payed off faster at the 0% rate. I even wrote them a letter saying so and told them I hoped they would stay that way. lol. I got a letter back too from the president saying I could reopen a card at any time and rejoin the discover family. lol. I looked them up online and read how they basically needed to raise the rates--I dont recall the whole story. I found it by looking up the presidents name on the search engine.



uponeagleswings -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (5/30/2008 1:58:02 AM)

We have a Citi and a Discover card that both have the cash back option. We've cashed out several hundred dollars in rewards and have only run a balance for one month. The credit cards have made us money.



Galilee -> RE: Positive Credit Card Stories (6/3/2008 7:28:21 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Pamsy


Was your point of the thread really about more positive credit card companies?


Yes, it was. There was another thread talking about Credit Card tricks, and after I had the experience I had, I thought I would see about some positive credit card stories, since 90% of what we hear about credit cards is bad.

quote:


I have a discover card too, and Ive noticed they are a more scrupulous company. Unfortunaly Ive had 12.99 % with them for years and they wrote me a letter saying that it couls stay at 12.99 % if I closed the card and could pay off the rest of the balance, or it would go to 17.99% It may sound funny, but I was saddend and kind of hurt (lol) to see them go. I really loved that 12.99% I was paying minimum on them while getting a different one payed off faster at the 0% rate. I even wrote them a letter saying so and told them I hoped they would stay that way. lol. I got a letter back too from the president saying I could reopen a card at any time and rejoin the discover family. lol. I looked them up online and read how they basically needed to raise the rates--I dont recall the whole story. I found it by looking up the presidents name on the search engine.


I had that happen with Chase. It was a fixed rate of 7.99%. They sent me a change of terms saying if I kept it open it would go to 22%. I told them to get lost, cancelled it, and kept my 8% until I paid it off 6 months ago. The thing is, my wife's Chase card has a fixed 2.99% until it is paid off, so we are taking advantage of that, but my card is cancelled. And my credit score is higher than hers, and no late payments.



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