Credit Card Issue: Advice

[Ksandra]

They card issuer said it was a $30 "gift credit" that I was given but did not use.

but if you didn't use it...then are they going to reverse it back? or reissue one or something? Never heard of them doing that but for sure demand the money back and ask to be noted you don't want those in the future.

[Zigma]

I have a question. I paid off my credit card (wasn't a big credit card or balance), and all i had on it was like .50 cents of interest chillin on it. Next month comes around and I have 30$ charged to my account. They card issuer said it was a $30 "gift credit" that I was given but did not use. I didn't get anything in the mail about it, or any type of email. Has anyone else had this happen? I paid the $30 again, and once that went off my account, and was sitting with another .50 cent in interest, I just decided to send in another $1 because fuck it.

But if I see another god damn "gift credit" pop up once i pay off my card this time i'm gonna be pissed.

Sounds fishy... I would just stick with major credit cards like American Express.

[Zigma]

I put everything on my two cards too, $2k+ a month is common. Get dat cash back son!

fk the cash back. I like my Amex points :D

[archibaldcrane]

Never heard of a "gift credit"...that you had to pay for? Sounds like a charge, not a credit to me.

[archibaldcrane]

fk the cash back. I like my Amex points :D

2% on everything son. It pays to Discover.

[Headspace]

Never heard of a "gift credit"...that you had to pay for? Sounds like a charge, not a credit to me.

It wasn't a "charge" because I haven't used the card since August.

Here's what customer service said back in to my inquiry

Thank you for your response, we strive for great Customer Service. The $30 credit was a special offer being given to you if you used the credit card by 05/31/11. Because the card was not used by this date then the offer became void and the credit was reversed.

I was pretty pissed. If it's a gift credit or whatever it is, I shouldn't be paying for it. I emailed them back saying how I didn't understand how I'm paying for something like this, because I didn't charge $30 to the account, so I shouldn't be paying the $30. They never emailed me back, and if it happens again I'll call, I just didn't feel like dealing with some schmuck who didn't speak english and was going to push some shit on me.

I want to cancel the card once it's paid off, because of this shit. But I've had the card for 4-5 years now, and that shit is supposed to look good for my score.

[Ksandra]

ya that makes no sense you going to have to call someone on that. they're retarded sometimes.

[Headspace]

It's probably too late to call about it, but I will if it happens again. I've wanted to get a new card with a lower interest rate or some kind of cash back or rewards system, because this card fucking blows now.

I manage my money fairly well, I don't do a lot of investing (which I should but I don't know much about it), so I won't go crazy with a new card or anything.

but idk anymore, shits all a racket.

[Ksandra]

It's probably too late to call about it,.

no offense but it's attitudes like that that let CC companies get away with too much shit and probably why they allow that shit to happen. It's definitely not too late. That wasn't even a full month ago. I know you want to be lazy but shit take a stand and get that money back. Then take some hot chick to a dinner and a movie or something.

[Penthesilea]

I'm a fan of my Chase Freedom card to be honest. Prolly spend around a grand on it a month and this month is 5% back on gas. 1% cash back unlimited, select products like house wares, gas, groceries, which change monthly go to 5%.

Anyways, my question is how the hell do you guys carry that much debt and have such shitty scores?

I've got 25k in student loans, 20k left on my car, and approx. 1.5k between two credit cards (pay em off monthly, but that's my current balance) and my credit scores are 750+.

[guartz]

Go to bank. Tell them your credit card sucks, see what they will offer in small personal loans.

[Meresgi]

Go to bank. Tell them your credit card sucks, see what they will offer in small personal loans.

I had not thought about this, but it may be worth it. I guess ill try monday if i'm not working. I would hope I could get something with less APR then the near 30% i'm paying now.

[Ddz]

2% on everything son. It pays to Discover.

Alaska Airline miles <3 upgraded to first class for free to Hawaii in Feb.

I was in some pretty harsh debt after college ($8,000) and I have paid it off. I got a second job, ate cheap, drove a shitty used car, and paid off my debt in 5 years. Now I have a credit score of 750+ and I use my credit card to buy everything, and pay it off monthly. Rack up dem miles :D You are just going to have to suck it up and throw money at the card to pay it off. Don't miss your due dates, and your score will go up, and APR will go down eventually.

edit lol typos

[Zigma]

2% on everything son. It pays to Discover.

My amex blue is 5% on everything. How is discover in terms of customer service? I kinda want to get one.

[archibaldcrane]

My amex blue is 5% on everything. How is discover in terms of customer service? I kinda want to get one.

2 years+ deep, never contacted customer service - they have a website, what do i need customer service for?

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[archibaldcrane]

Also i don't believe you about 5% cash back on everything.

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[Furtwangler]

Discover customer service from my experience so far is nice. They always do exactly as you ask, and are fairly easy to work with. They always do try to sell me some protection plan or this plan or that plan, so I always have to say no, but they are nice about it and I'm sure it's just procedure for them. No complaints here, and cashback on everything + 5% cashback on select purchases every month is boss.

[Skyylya]

I had not thought about this, but it may be worth it. I guess ill try monday if i'm not working. I would hope I could get something with less APR then the near 30% i'm paying now.

Personal loans are good if you're looking to consolidate debt. But with a credit score that's low and if you have other negative things on there, any delinquencies for example will make it extremely unlikely that a bank would approve you. Your best bet is with a credit union. Go into one today and open up a savings account to start building a relationship with them, maybe put 25-50$ per paycheck into it and ask for a small personal loan in the range of 1k-1.5k and pay that on time every month. Once you've proven yourself you can likely take out a much larger loan at a decent interest rate to completely pay off your credit cards. Trick after that is, do NOT use your credit cards until that personal loan is paid off and you get yourself situated. If you take out a personal loan to pay off your cards and then use your cards again...well then you are financially irresponsible and there's no hope for you.

In my last post I said to get below the 30% threshold because that's where it really negatively affects your credit. You want a 0 balance of course, but mostly your score is calculated overall not necessarily card for card. So you want to get your overall debt:credit available below 30% usage. so if you have 10k in available credit, get yourself below 3k of it used even if you have 2 cards with a 0 balance and one card with a 3k limit maxed out or if it's 3 cards all with 1k on each it'll affect you the same. The only difference is the interest rate on each card you'll probably want to pay off the highest interest/balance card first.

BTW, seconding USAA. I've had a card with them for the last few years with a 6k limit and sub 10% interest rate the entire time. They are awesome. that's my last real big credit card balance and for like 5800$ i only get charged 49$ a month in interest compared to my bank of america that i had a 1400 balance on getting charged 60$ a month in interest. Thankfully the BoA is about paid off.

[Omnipotent]

My amex blue is 5% on everything. How is discover in terms of customer service? I kinda want to get one.

Just opened a discover card, cancelled my citi, loving it so far. 2% back on gas this month, 5% back on most retailers and 10% back on some online stores as well! Good customer service as well.

[Headspace]

So how do you guys manage your credit in the way of getting points and not paying the interest?

Do you go purchase gas, and then immediately pay that shit off?