CardRatings.com Monthly Newsletter October 2003
October 1, 2003
Which Credit Cards Are Better for your Credit Report?
Do certain credit cards look better on your credit report and thus improve your credit score? Scott Bilker, the author of the best-selling book "Credit Card and Debt Management", discusses this engaging topic. Includes tips on paying off credit cards.
The Best Ways to Consolidate Credit Card Debt
Read this article before you fill out another credit card application. Includes information about balance transfer offers, low rate credit card offers, and fixed rate credit card offers.
Free Credit Related Articles:
You are welcome to print a copy of any of the articles listed below and distribute them freely for educational purposes. We only ask that you reference our website (as being the source for the articles) when you distribute the articles. If you are a webmaster, you are also welcome to post any of the articles listed below on your site provided that you include a link to our site between the title and the body of the article (stating that CardRatings.com produced the article). If you would prefer to have the articles in MS Word format, then please contact us and we will e-mail you any article that you are interested in as an attachment.
Dealing with Christmas Credit Card Debt
America's Love Affair with Card Rewards/ Rebates
Don't Let "Spring Break" Expenditures "Break" You!
Is it Wise to Make Your Tax Payment with a Credit Card?
Fixed Rate vs. Variable Rate Cards
Demystifying the Credit Scoring/ Rating Process
Credit Card Cash Advance Pitfalls
Teens and Credit - A Recipe for Disaster?
Credit Lessons for Retirees
Debit or Credit? Which do you Vote for?
Card Registration Services
Credit Insurance
Disposable Credit Card Numbers
California Legislation Helps Curb Card Fraud
Credit Cards can Help Reduce your Rental Car Bill
Credit Cards for the Rich and Famous
The New Travelocity Credit Card
Forum topics...
Guest, qwerty, asks "I've had a Fleet Mastercard with a 9.9% fixed APR for about 4 years. On my last statement for some reason they hiked it to 17.99% without explanation. I've read they have done this frequently to other people. How is this legal? What recourse do I have aside from transferring my balance? I'm going to file a complaint with the BBB at least. Any suggestions for which card to transfer the balance to?"
Reply from guest, Rick "Please DO NOT use MBNA. Their record of questionable business ethics is well documented. You would be better off with a loan shark!"
Reply from Senior Member, Ira "Did you do the basis, such as call customer service and politely ask them why? Knowledge is strength and unless you know the reason you haven't a leg to stand on when fighting something like this."
Guest, Annieoakley, asks "I paid my credit card (Chase) off in July. I made no new chages. I forgot I had paid it off & sent them another check for the balance ($6,300.) I have repeatedly asked them to refund the money & they refuse to do it. They keep asking me who to make the check out to & where to send it. They also told me it had been approved & the next time I called they said the check was in the mail I called again a few days ago & they said they wanted to know where to send it & what name to put on the check. I told them again that either my husbands name or mine was fine & to send it to the same address where they used to send the bill. I also got very angry & told them off. I really need the money to pay my property taxes. What can I do to make them give it back?"
Senior Member, Verne, replies "What happened to the overpayment? Does it show up on the Chase statement as a credit? You should be able to work this out with them but it may take a few weeks. The law probably allows them to drag their feet and do their "who me?" Alfred E. Neuman imitation. What continues to baffle me is why Chase and other credit card companies are so anti-consumer, and so dense. You sound like a good customer and they treat, even you, like crap. I've mixed it up with Chase and found them to be the most profoundly, deeply stupid, sadly retentive, slightly amusing, sitting-on-the-potty, worst excuse for a bank. After three weeks you need to notify the bank regulator, FTC, state attorney general and anyone who will listen. If Chase cashed the check what did they do with it? The problem is that state or federal law may actually allow them to take their time in getting this errant over-payment back to you. Having been through some small claims disputes, getting back an overpayment may take months. But I want to believe Chase isn't that stupid, like I want to believe the wizard will finally give me a brain - or maybe, a brain stem - or anything that will enable me to crawl out of this drainpipe and evolve into a higher form of credit life, to crawl, and evolve, take huge risks like breathing without gills, and finally circle the Chase Headquarters on my knees in complete submission and, yes, even gratitude."
Guest, Smart Investor, advises "Being of good credit and sound mind, I most often allow the credit card issuers to pay ME to use their money. Am I in a league of my own? First, I am considered a "convenience" customer by the banks. This means I pay off balances monthly while taking advantage of whatever offers come my way. The YOU PAY ME offer is as follows: Use your entire credit limit in a no transaction fee, full grace period (treated as a purchase) balance transfer check. The offer is not written this way, but it actually works this way. Always read the fine print and call if you are not sure. If you have a $30,000 credit limit then you have up to 60 days (depending on cycle and date of the balance transfer check cashing) to use the banks $30,000.00 for free. Putting it into a guaranteed interest-bearing account allows you to earn money on their money. When money market and no-penalty CDs were paying interest rates in the teens, this was quite an offer from the credit card bank! It's hardly worth the effort today, but the principle is valuable!"
Senior Member, Eugene, replies "What world do you live in, Smart Investor? Can you let me in? Short term CDs did not pay interests "in the teens" since, like, when? 80s? (Mostly because of high inflation, which is not pretty). I don't think money market accounts even existed then. Grace perod balance transfer checks have been gone for years as well, as far as I know. And grace period themselves are mostly in 20 to 25 days territory, so good luck getting 60 day float. It's more like 50 days maximum now even on purchases."
Senior Member, Ira, answers"Eugene, he DID say that it's hardly worth the effort today. You have to read the whole thing (g)! Smart Investor, I've been singing this song on this board for a few years now. I go one further, though. I dote on zero interest, no transfer fee, intro balance transfer offers. In one case I took a balance transfer of $9,500.00 against a $10,000 limit and immediately put it in an account offering 2.2% (it's since gone 'way down!) for 9 months. I made about $200.00 in interest. I have another offer which allowed me to put6 $17,000 in an interest bearing account for a year. Of course I never use these cards for anything else, and since we're talking 0% finance charges, all I pay is the required monthly minimum until the offer expires, at which time I will withdraw the principal fro the interest bearing account and pay off the credit card. Not too bad!"
Visit our active MESSAGE BOARD! Ask a question, give your opinions. Select questions answered by our board monitor. Our board currently has over 11,500 posts (since May 2000) and new posts are added daily! We are seeking new consumers like you to become involved in our board community.
| Recent Credit Card Reviews by Consumers Like You! |
Following is a very small sample of the newest cardholder reviews that can be found by clicking the "Consumer Reviews" link above. We take pride in the quantity (our site offers 11,500 + reviews of 700 different credit cards) and quality of the consumer reviews that can be find on our site. The cards are rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest recommended. Credit Card: Diners Club® Card Review: I started with diners years ago and now of course have CarteBlanche -- there more exclusive card and compariable to American Express Platinum. I have visas and mastercharges -- all platinum and an amex platinum and nothing shines more that dinersclub. The rewards program is a winner (Freddie Awards for years in a row), their customer service is so professional and personal that you would almost believe it is not a credit card customer service department. Disputes? I had a large monetary dispute and they settled it in no time and with apologies for my inconvenence. Yes you cant use this card at Walmart as someone posted, but if diners keeps up the good work, you are going to find this in more and more establishments in the future. Thank you dinersclub. We are all proud of holding your card, and even prouder when it is CarteBlanche. Cheers. Review: Diners Club is perfect for the business traveler. Club Rewards is a great program, and the 60 day grace period is unbeatable from an expense reimbursement perspective. They will even extend this grace period if you are not a frequent offender and explain to them that you have not been reimbursed for a particular expense Credit Card: WorldPerks® Visa® Classic Card Review: I have been very pleased with my Northwest WorldPerks Visa credit card. Of ALL the other credit cards I've had over the years,(I have had them ALL!) my Northwest WorldPerks Visa has, by far, been the most valuable! I use it to pay monthly bills, buy gas, pay for doctor's visits, and at the grocery store, to accumulate as many air miles as possible. I then use the air miles for free airline tickets with Northwest. At no cost to me, I have flown family and friends, as well as myself, home for the holidays, or for a weekend visit. My experience with customer service has been excellent. They actually addressed me by my name and spoke to me as if I was a valued customer instead of a burden to them. I love my Northwest WorldPerks Visa credit card! Review: I recently tried to redeem my miles for a airline ticket for Hawaii. Well forget it. I called one year out, and they told me that I can not book the flight until 352 days out from the return flight. So mid-way through the week, one year from the trip I called back to see if I could book the flight, all of the outbound flights are booked even though the return flights are not available. So long story short, my trip dates are August 12-21 2004. I have a trip booked with the outbound flight may 20, 2004, and the return flight is okay. Now I have to call back at 331 days out and try to book the outbound flight with their partner Delta and pay a $50 change fee for each ticket. Royal pain the the butt. I am cancelling this card and getting a different card. $55 annual fee, high interest. Customer service is bad, I used to work for USBank. Credit Card: Discover® Gold Card Review: My husband and I try to use our Discover Card exclusively. We put just about everything on it. We really like that we can double our rewards at places like Borders Books, The Olive Garden (via their Red Lobster reward card), and Blockbuster. Say, if we have a $20 check due to us, we can choose to double it for $40 gift cards instead. We consider this our "fun" money and love going out to dinner and buying books, while not paying a single dime! We do pay our balances off every month. Their customer service is good, and their web site is great. I would highly recommend this card to anyone who pays their balances in full every month and likes places such as Borders, etc. Review: If you missed even a day late, it will deactivate your charging privilages. Even spoke to the manager about the 13 dollar balance and my situation that I rarely use the card except just recently because of a special deal which resulted in that small balance. She would not even consider anything. Just tells you that doing business with Discover, THEY TREAT YOU BY THE NUMBER AND THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP NOR LOOKING AT YOUR PROFILE TO STRAIGHTEN THE MATTER. After being 10 year using the card, I glad cancelled my account. The Cardholder Review section is a unique feature of our site and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no other organization or company that offers more consumer reviews of credit cards. It's all about consumers helping other consumers. As your might expect, this section of our site has been one of the most popular sections of our site since it was introduced in the summer of 2000. New reviews are posted on a daily basis! We hope that you will find this section of our site useful and that you will visit it on a regular basis. |
Important Note! The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
You are welcome to print a copy of any of our articles and distribute them for educational purposes. If you are a webmaster, you can post any of our articles on your site provided that you include a link to our site. Please click here for more information about free credit card articles.
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