Was late on 2 payments back in 2006 while I was unemployed, so Chase jacked my Platinum MasterCard interest rate from 12.99% to 29.99% as punishment.in January I called to ask for a rate reduction after two years of renewed on-time payments, at which time they lowered my rate to 19.25%. They also said that I should call back in the next 4-6 months to request another reduction after continued on-time payments.
Well, I called back in April and by then, the banks had begun their "reign of terror" on rates & increased minimum payments. Every call was met with the same vague refusals that "there are no lower rates available for you right now, but you can fax a letter to this [generic department] number to request it anyway."
The final straw appened today when, after balance-transferring 1/3 of the balance to my Credit Union's card (which is at 9.9%, with NO balance transfer fees), I gave them one more shot. The call center clerk, "yasmin, " repeated the same script and said that "for 'certain' reasons Chase is not reducing ANY rates at this time, but you should call back in a 'couple' of months". Since they announced that the call WOULD be recorded (not "might be"), I responded, "yes, I know the 'certain reasons' are to make sure the higher charges are grandfathered-in when they credit laws change in February" (no response from yasmin, of course - the bosses are listening in).
Suddenly, she started talking about SIX months down the line, and I said, "just a moment, SIX months? You just said "a couple months" a moment ago." She said, "yes, by 'a couple' I mean six." With math skills like this, no WONDER credt is so screwed up.
In response, I requested a reduction in my credit line by $5,000. She calmly asked if I wanted to be excluded from future automatic credit line increases, so I replied, "No, I want to be *IN*cluded on future automatic interest rate *DE*creases!"
Current plan is to transfer the last of my Chase outstanding balance to the Credit Union, and then reserve the Chase card for Freeloading (balance payoff monthly). If Chase doesn't like that, I'll be happy to cut the card into several sharp ragged pieces and mail it to them with detailed instructions on what to do with those pieces.
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