Credit Card Rate (Hi) Jackings

[madison]

What a load of @%#$^&.
Pure greed.

I know, people will say; "don't use them".
Agreed and I wish!
But, it's a plastic world anymore.
Hard to make a purchase anywhere without VISA or MC on the receipt, especially on the net.

Pay in cash?
Haha, what are you, some sort of criminal?

Rant over, for now.

[Bassmanster]

Isn't loan sharking illegal for a reason?   

[Shrapnel]

Isn't loan sharking illegal for a reason?   

Supposed to be, but remind your government of it and they won't recognize Mr. Credit Co. as such. The same goes for Mr Pawn Shop and Mr Payday advance (although some State governments seem to have made a ceiling for them, still not as low as they should be IMHO.) Mr. Credit Co. is supposed to have some limits put on them real soon, if not already, but that doesn't mean greed hasn't stopped them from getting away with what they can/could before the limits take/took effect.

[FYL]

Easy : use your plastic as a debit card by paying your balance in full at the end of each billing cycle.

Oh, and pay cash whenever possible.

[EL34]

I love credit cards. I use cards for everything.
I don't remember the last time I paid with cash.
They let you have detailed listings of everything you purchase.
I have looked back at old statements to try and remember where I had purchased an item that I wanted to purchase again

The secret is to use them and then pay the whole bill off every month.
I have not paid credit card interest in many years.

[GroundhogKen]

I've never carried a balance on my card and I've never paid interest.

I still use cash a lot, even though some gas stations etc. treat you like second class citizens if you use cash.

I think it's mean when banks hike the rates on existing balances.  But it's even more amazing to me how stupid people are with credit.

Card users who don't read the fine print deserve the economic hardship they incur.

Credit cards are SERVICE provided by banks.  Banks are in business to make a profit.  Profit is not a dirty word.

In recent years banks have extended credit to unworthy customers and we've all paid a price for it.  Government and stupid consumers share just as much blame for it as the banks do.

I don't work in govt or the financial services industry.    And I try not to be a stupid consumer.


Ken

[Frankenamp]

I've never carried a balance on my card and I've never paid interest.

I still use cash a lot, even though some gas stations etc. treat you like second class citizens if you use cash.

I think it's mean when banks hike the rates on existing balances.  But it's even more amazing to me how stupid people are with credit.

Card users who don't read the fine print deserve the economic hardship they incur.

Credit cards are SERVICE provided by banks.  Banks are in business to make a profit.  Profit is not a dirty word.

Ken

Agreed for the most part. However comma, the atm card is a slightly different critter. They were created to save face time with a real flesh & bone teller that has to be paid, and takes days off, and might even want things like 'benefits'. The ATM was created as a profit machine, and it is. As long as it is supplied with a roll of thermal paper, and a thick stack of $20's, some electricity, and it's happy. What I object to is going to ARCO and certain "convenience" stores and getting hit with a .45c atm fee! I do a little mental math each time I need gas to see if the ARCO is enough cheaper (per gallon) that it's worth it to pay the fee, most of the time I go to Costco or the Beacon, or even the Indians on the corner before I pay that fee! And it's not limited to gas and convenience stores.


I've been looking at the zero percent come-ons and sending then to the shredder- it's the fine print every time. Miss a payment by a minute, and your'e thwacked with 29.999% interest instead of zero percent, and after a year or more of perfect payments... you might get it knocked back to 18.99995% if the stars and planets are in correct alignment.

Somebody needs to rewrite Pete Townshend's anthem to reflect curent financial dealings-"Won't Get Screwed Again" comes to mind! My wife has a nice situation (that she thinks I don't know about) where she got suckered in with a low interest rate, made some charges, kept the payments current, and still got yanked with higher interest because they didn't think she made enough. (a few other factors are in play- but that's the thumbnail sketch)

 I feel a little lucky, because for a long time I couldn't qualify for a card- now that I do, I've been so ingrained that I still pay cash or debit with funds available. It comes mostly from having parents that lived through the GREAT depression as young adults. Those lessons they learned stuck, and they made damn sure I heard about it too. (Till the day she died, every apple my mom ever ate was left as as stem, seeds and the vestigal petals-  precious little else.) That philosophy stuck.

[rafe]

It's a great tool, but like any tool if improperly used it will rip you to pieces. Pay the balance off every month.....they actually owe me a couple of hundred dollars.....Now I'm not saying they aren't crooks, I'm saying don't get on the alligator's back.

[Bassmanster]

All good advice for us individuals (or preaching to the choir), but for the economy overall it is good to regulate bad debt schemes away.
Because to some degree, that kind of activity affects us all.

Which was my original point.

[rafe]

  Aligator is pretty good eatin'

[FYL]

Aligator is pretty good eatin'

Florida has ample stocks of frozen alligators as well as frozen oranges, frozen snowbirds and other local delicacies.

 

[madison]

All good advice for us individuals (or preaching to the choir), but for the economy overall it is good to regulate bad debt schemes away.
Because to some degree, that kind of activity affects us all.

Which was my original point.

Agreed completely.
Personally, I am not in that bad of a position.

I just can't help but think of those who have been forced into circumstances beyond their control (layoff, health, etc) and had no where else to turn.
Gotta eat.

[Shrapnel]

I agree that it's good practice to pay off the cards ASAP. (Thus, trying to NOT live beyond one's means.)

But at one point, and I don't know if they pulled it off for certain or not, they were talking of some "fee" or "charge" for those who were paying off the cards fast enough so that they didn't get to enjoy the gains interest rates gave them.

<rant>
I also agree there's nothing wrong with making a profit... but when making that profit comes at the cost of not caring about anyone or anything else but that profit... That's another story. (Look at Walmart's push on getting everything made in China. for what purpose? HUGE profit at the cost of American manufacturing jobs. Ok, now I don't work manufacturing, I personally never have, but when you do, and your job goes overseas, what are you supposed to do? Probably just suffer as you have become an age that, while illegal to discriminate at, is still discriminated because you'd "cost" too much or too old to "train" their way, so therefore they'll call it, "not a good fit" or some other excuse statement.)
</rant>

[zendragon63]

I don't usually jump in on the rants but this one is a pet peeve of mine. Some folks just should not have credit cards. The credit card companies--like the morgage companies--have no trouble offering credit to and gigging those who cannot afford it or are betting on something with someone elses money. But whose fault is that really?  I suspect (respectfully) that for every true down on your luck case--and Bassmanster has it right--there is a hundred 'why not' and live beyond our means folks that those of us who do use it judiciously are increasingly having to underwrite. Based on the accumulated credit debt to date, it has been a deal with the devil.

MC and VISA are not public services and should make their cut on transactions they cover but there's also something to this personal responsibility stuff... YMMV

(Kind) Regards

dennis

[jjasilli]

Your gov at work:  WASHINGTON – Today, President Obama signs the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, marking a turning point for American consumers and ending the days of unfair rate hikes and hidden fees. . . Principles for Long-term Credit Card Reform . . . •Bans Unfair Rate Increases  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Fact-Sheet-Reforms-to-Protect-American-Credit-Card-Holders/

As a direct result of this legislation, and to avoid claims of "unfairness" in targeted rate increases, the credit card companies raised rates on everyone, even good payers, prior to the actual effective date of this law.  You may look upon this as corporate greed; but it is nonetheless a textbook example of breathtaking stupidity in government.