I received a letter from Citi yesterday (12-22-08) stating they had closed my account due to serious delinquincies on other accounts reported by Equifax.
True, I have not paid Bank of America since December because of egregious practices such as raising my interest rate to 31.74 percent after I forgot their payment and then paid over double the minimum plus all late fees.in other words, I accepted responsibility for my error, and that high interest rate was my reward. Six months later in an attempt to settle the account with them, I agreed to a certain monthly amount, the first payment of which was deducted from my bank account only to have one of their reps call two weeks later and say it wasn't enough—by federal law they could accept only over twice the amount they originally agreed to take monthly. I asked the rep to cite the law. He could not do so. I asked to be transferred to someone who could cite this "law" and he refused. Finally, I was tranferred to his so-called "supervisor" and the long and short of the story is that they lowered their demand, which was still almost twice the agreed upon monthly payment amount. (What happened to the "law"?) They then refused to live up to their end of the bargain, and made the rep who originally made the deal with me call to tell me they wouldn't accept the deal. So, I have since refused to pay them without all terms spelled out in writing beforehand, something their collectors say they cannot do. So that's one.
Second, I refused to pay Washington Mutual when they raised my interest rate in the same month that Bank of America did (December) a full ten interest points, just because they could. This was during the subprime mortgage crisis and about six months before WaMu went broke. So, that's two.
I recently refused to pay HSBC because after I did the responsible thing and called them to let them know my payment would be one business day late due to a new bookkeeper with the school system I worked for, they charged me late fees anyway, then after a series of emails, finally rescinded the late fee only to try to extort more money from me per month in an either/or scenario. Either you pay 27.9 percent interest versus the 15 I was paying, or keep the 15 but close the account. I told them repeatedly (and I still have the email correspondence) that if my business wasn't good enough for them, my money wasn't either.
You see, I'm sick and tired of being treated like crap, used and abused, by credit card companies and banks just because they can.
Now, since I received this letter from Citibank closing my account, well after they thought I had mailed my monthly payment since I was always on time and always paid more than the minimum, I called them to ask them what I ever did to them and got no satisfaction whatsoever. So, I stopped payment on my check. I will call them today to let them know this. And I firmly believe they did this in response to the new credit regulations due to take effect in July. My interest rate was only 9.99 percent, which bespeaks my good history with them and others who haven't tried to screw me. But now, since they will not be able to raise rates at will, Citi and others like them will be shedding themselves of all their good customers who have earned a low interest rate by virtue of always paying on time. Watch and see if more reports like this surface.
To my way of thinking, I only have one recourse with banks and credit cards that refuse to treat me with respect—I keep my dollars in my pocket. I don't care what happens to my credit rating as I believe the whole credit rating scam is just a tool to keep the easily frightened from protesting in the only manner these companies can understand—money.
They have all taken advantage of the bailout and now, too, with others refusing to pay, and others forced to default, they will have an excuse to go back to the Federal trough for even more. This is probably part of their plans as well, although I will keep watching and studying their behavior, keep following the money, to uncover the true scheme they're working now. Believe me, we've all been scammed. These new credit card regulations are merely a thinly-veiled attempt to absolve Congress of any show of enacting laws designed to protect the consumer.
The only recourse we have against these wolves is refusing to pay. And that's what I intend to keep doing, or not doing, as the case may be.
Novelator
Vaughn, Montana
U.S.A.
0 comments