Chase upped my APR in May, because I had three late payments the previous three months (they claim). This was arguably due to the website errors I was experiencing while I was out of the country for those three months. When I realized the stiff APR increase, I called customer service to see WTF happened. The CSR told me that this is the penalty APR (26.99% at the time, now 27.74%) for having made three late payments. He told me to make on time payments for 6 months, and they could lower the payments. Unfortunately I did NOT document this conversation. I have now made my sixth on time payment, which will post today. I called customer service again, and Nina said that they do not currently offer a lower rate, and that it takes 6-12 months, and that the offer to lower the rates was not "carved in stone." "Well I guess then, my business with you is not carved in stone either." The CSR didn't even budge, she just told me thanks for the opportunity to serve me. My balance is just under $7,000. I currently would not qualify for any kind of consolidation loan, nor 0% balance transfers to other cards. Is settling an option? Or should I just continue to make inflated payments? Any help would be great, thanks in advance.
At 27% on $7000, any BT at a lower rate is better. Even a transfer to a card at 18% saves you $50 per month. What problems did you have making payments while overseas? If it was a problem on their end, I would send a letter to their executive offices requesting that the normal rate be restored. I would still BT to anything else.
Well, I'd love to make a balance transfer to a card at 18%. The only problem is that I don't have the credit needed to get another card. I just now made a BT to one card for $1500, which was the scope of my remaining credit limit, and that's at 15.4%. I have another card good for $2000, and they are offering a BT APR of 19.99% until March 2006, at which point it will drop to 11.99% (sounds strange to me). I have an additional $1800 in my checking acct. that I'm using for living expenses. I am on a student budget and have very little income. One of three late payments was my own fault. The other two were problems with their website. I submitted payment via the web twice that never made it through. Once was because their site locked up (another CCC's page worked just fine from the same computer minutes before). The other just didn't go through, to my recollection. Is there any way to settle the remaining amount? Would it be a wise decision to close the account and attempt to convince them to settle and remove their account from my CR?
You are in the strongest position to negotiate anything with the account open, but with no balance (hence no risk to them). You might try to get the lates corrected thru a letter to their executive offices, indicating you had repeated problems with their web site. Whenever you have a billing or payment problem with any CC company, it is best to try to resolve it as close to the time of the problem as possible. It is also useful to document any call about the problem with a followup letter, establishing that it was brought to their attention in a timely fashion. The ability of CSRs to waive or override late fees fades quickly after the time of a problem, requiring pushing it up the decision hierarchy .
