Background: Called Discover to cancel card; hadn't used it in years. Previously used it only at Costco, but later Costco only accepted cards from AmEx. We moved, and are now closer to Sams Club. Gal at DC let me know, offered $20 to keep card. I said OK because I could use it at Sams Club.
During conversation, she talked about Balance Transfer. My husband and I pay credit cards off each month and don't normally carry a balance (because we DON'T PAY FINANCE CHARGES). However, we just bought a new house, had charged $12K of furniture on another card, and were going to sell some Disney stock to make the payment. She said we could get 0% rate for 6 months, and only had to pay a $60 transfer fee. I made it clear that I DON'T PAY FINANCE CHARGES but thought the $60 transfer fee would be reasonable because the stock had taken a recent dip and I felt it would recover in the next six months (a gamble, I know, but a reasonable one I think).
I started using the DC; the balance transfer hit, and I continued using the card. Last month I had charged around $800 so I sent $1000 as a payment to be sure to cover the $800. Well, I just got my new statement and was charged $23 in finance charge. I phoned them, and they said that the $1K payment went towards the balance with the LOWEST INTEREST RATE (the balance transfer); in other words, in order to NOT pay any finance charges, I must now pay off the balance transfer as well as regular charges.
I WAS NOT TOLD THIS. When I called, both people I spoke to said "it's in your cardholder agreement." I looked at everything I had received, and found in my balance transfer confirmation letter, received *AFTER* THE BALANCE TRANSFER HAD BEEN MADE AND OTHER CHARGES MADE, a paragraph telling the customer that payments are applied to lowest APRs first.
I made it VERY clear to the person selling me this balance transfer that I DON'T PAY FINANCE CHARGES and she did not tell me that if I use the card after the balance transfer hit that the entire benefit of the 0% financing is lost. This is ridiculous. If I had known this, I would have put my card in the drawer for 6 months and not used it. That is the only way to avoid this scam, and I truly believe this is a major league SCAM.
So now I'm out not only the $60 transfer fee, the $23 plus whatever other finance charges they end up charging me, but I now have to scramble to sell the stock. If they do not rectify this, then I will absolutely be canceling this card. Even though I pay my balance in full each month, I use my credit cards each month and they earn (what is it, three percent?) of the charges they make from the vendors. This is not a wise move on their part. I am just as happy to use my Visa or Mastercard when making my monthly purchases (a minimum of $2K per month).
I will update this post if/when any progress is made.
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