Account history: 3 years, no lates ever on any account business or personal. 18K credit line. Utilization on all cards 17%. What happened: Advanta offered a 0% cash advance for 5 months. I accepted the offer, wrote myself a check for 9K and made minimum payments during the term of the offer. It expires in November. Last week, I called to ask for a "go-to" APR reduction from 15.94 to 9.9. They said they couldn't do that but would change the rate to 13.9 immediately. I said "fine." A few days after the call, I received a notice of change of terms jacking my rate to 27% effective 11/1. I called to ask WTF. The rep. first said they are doing this "across the board." and then inconsistently stated that the rate was changed because of a periodic account review. The rep explained that I could close my account and keep the same terms, i.e., the 13.9 rate. I guess the account review showed that I owed them 8K at a teaser rate that was set to expire and that they could reap huge profits from charging 27% on that amount of money. But due to the knowledge I've gained from reading boards like this, I would never have borrowed this amount of money without an escape plan. I will pay the account off in full before November as I have always intended to do. I considered closing it but decided I'd rather leave it open to help my balance to limits ratio. The card will go into a deep freeze while they continue to incur account maintenance costs. Their astonishing greed and stupidity cost them a customer who paid $700 in interest charges last year alone. Stay away from these fools!
THEY ASSUMED YOU WOULD JUST BEND OVER AND TAKE IT... PAY IN FULL and use it once or twice a year...($10-$20)---ALWAYS PAY IN FULL!!!
Dave, Your go-to rate of 15.9% is high for Advanta. I think they had you pigeonholed as subprime from the start. The 0% for only 5 months is also a bit short. I think it was just a trick to get your balances in their hands so they could profitably raise the rate. I think a year in the "cooler" is just what those idiots need.
