My Providian Visa account was opened in Nov.of 1999, and I was approved for an Aria Portrait in Nov.2000. The rep lowered my apr on the Aria card to 17.99, but my Providian rate is 23.99 and the interest is killing me. Providian reps told me that Providian would most likely lower the rate on the Visa because of my great payment history of ontime, large payments. But I got the run around talking to the retention department on my anniversary date. I was told a manager would call me back and he never did. They refunded my annual fee, that's all. I guess I am not good at negotiating. My limit has gone from 1k to 4k on the Providian, and the retention people say I am lucky because of that due to my bankruptcy in April of 1999. That line of logic makes me angry, and I want to stand up to them. Do I have any leverage to force Providian to lower their rates as they promised to?
