I have a citibank credit card and had an interest rate of 8%. I accidentally sent a payment which was 2.00 short so they raised my interest rate to 18%. I've called twice to ask if it could be lowered as the $2.00 was an obvious oversight. The first time they told me no but to call back in a couple of months. I waited and called back and they said it could never be lowered again. I am not late on my payments and have a balance of 4,000.00 which I would like to pay off. I'm no longer charging on this account, and the minimum payment is around 100.00 sometimes it goes up to 120.00 (which they have yet to be able to explain since I'm not charging!) My question is this, how do I get an affordable payment? I would apply for another card and transfer the balance, but I'm sure it would still be 18% since due to my recent divorce, my fico score is 620.
If a company did that to me, as long as the interest rate was the same I would balance transfer and then tell them that I am closing the account unless they lower the rate. If they lower it, then pay off the other card, if they don't, simply close the account. Deal from strength, exercise your credit. http://www.creditsense.com
A regular representative does not have the power to lower your interest rate unless it has been at least six months from the time your payment was less than what it was supposed to be. try calling again to see if they can lower it. if they can't ask to speak to a supervisor. A supervisor does have the authority to look at you account history and make a decision using that. They probably wont be able to lower it to 8% again but they might be able to lower it to something comparable.
