I received a "replacement card" for my Home Depot card. The card came from Citi. $8k limit, interest rate 28.99% with 0% intro offer on purchases.
It said "as we previously notified you, we are replacing your Home Depot card". It also said "If you do not want the CitiMasterCard, call 800-432-0282 and we will close your account." But I thought it replaced my Home Depot card so I didn't worry about it.
Got a report from MyFico.com showing a new card opened and it affected my credit rating. It showed CCSMC as the name with no phone number, no account number, only a PO Box.interesting that they "forgot" their phone number.
I searched online and found these reports about CCSMC being Citibank and opening accounts for people without permission. I remembered this card and went and looked. Sure enough, in the "Frequently Asked Questions" insert (one of 7 inserts in the envelope) it answered questions about "Why is my HD card being replaced?" It said that they had closed the Home Depot account and opened this account. That doesn't make it a replacement card.
It's funny timing because I had just run my free credit reports for the year. I also received a new Sears card and a new Chase card. These two were replacement cards but for accounts I hadn't used in many years (like the Home Depot card.)
I called the 800# and it only took a minute to cancel the card. Seems Citibank is all set up to cancel the card but they are hoping that people will use it before they read through everything in the envelope.
28.99% interest... On $8k limit... That's $2,300 a year in interest had I used it. No wonder people get in financial crisis...
0 comments