Lets rant about banks. (The bailout bitches)
So…
Where do I start?
I have a Visa CC through a large bank. US Bank, to be exact. I don’t care that you know that, because I have been planning on cancelling it anyways and moving on to a better credit card now that I have a good start in my credit history.
So I look at my balance, seeing how much I want to pay off this month. Keep in mind, after the holidays, I have been paying it off at an incredibly fast pace, always keeping it below half a balance, always paying more than the minimum (minimum of 19.00, I pay 200.00). My card is almost paid off. This is to be my last payment. Yay!
I mean, c’mon, I work at a bank. They checked my credit history before I got the job. Trust me, if I had shitty credit, I wouldn’t have a job at a bank right now…
So, not so much yay. I still have the same balance, sure. But for some ODD reason, my credit line has decreased by more than half. Now, why would such a wonderful bank full of “Five Star Service Guaranteed” go and decrease my credit limit, when I’m probably one of the safer customer they have in this economy?
Well, according to them, “As a result of a recent review of my account and my overall credit history, they are decreasing my credit line effective immediately.”
See, funny thing is, I recently called them. I talked to a rep about lowering my interest rate (which is at a whopping 20.99%!) to something more becoming (even though I usually just spend about 6-8.00 per statement on interest… ha!). I also asked them to remove the annual yearly fee of 30.00 because I didn’t sign up for that and now they have a special going on.
Do you think I pissed them off?
Maybe they noticed I just started paying off at a faster pace to end this credit card, so I could cut it up ASAP and burn it to a crisp. Maybe I pissed off the rep enough that he decided to make me sound like a bad guy. Or maybe, just maybe, the economy is SO BAD that I am finally beginning to feel the kick from it.
I’ve heard of CC agencies suddenly lowering credit lines to reduce their exposure to fraud and debt, and to look better, especially after the bailout.
But seriously? Blaming a customer who’s never had bad credit with anyone??? Not like I have a lot of bills to begin with, so it’s pretty easy to manageably pay off everything I have months in advance.
I just LOVE the way US Bank has made it sound like my credit is horrible and they can’t be seen with me. Have they even checked my score recently? Because, oh ho! I have! And it is just peachy keen.
So don’t go pointing fingers at me, Mr. Big US Bank Five Star Service bullshit. You know perfectly well I am an A+ member of your credit card holders. Next time you decide to lower someone’s credit, maybe you shouldn’t choose the person who has many viewers worldwide. Because oh yes, my voice will be heard.
Oh wait, it just was.
If you are interested, here is US Bank’s website: http://www.usbank.com/
And just check out all the yummy stories on google. I’m so happy I work at a bank that wasn’t included in all that crap.
March 05 2009 06:57 pm | e-life
March 5th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
They’re a bank; banks are in the business of lending money for profit. Their primary concern isn’t typically customer satisfaction, because people will deal with shitty service if the rates are good or they will offer services.
I feel this is probably how the financial sector will always operate, unforunately.
And you work at a bank yourself, so please correct me if my opinions are incorrect.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Well, the larger banks most definetly don’t care about their service and satisfaction of their customers. They have such a broad range of customer loyalty that they can just slide by on things such as proper training for good customer service.
Smaller banks, however, live off of customer satisfaction. Although sometimes they might just have to take the bullet, they will if it means they can keep a customer. If one of my customers says he’s about to leave cuz he got a better offer, my company will beat it, no matter what, even if we lost a little bit of profit.
Sure, small banks still make profit off of noobs who go negative in an account. The whole reason for fees on neg accts is because the bank ends up eating that money that a customer owes to someone. So they make it up by making a customer owe a fee. Fees=profit.
March 6th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Hey Snubs, I have never owned a credit card. Even so, my credit rating is a 760. I’ve never had trouble getting a loan. $15,000 car loan, $110,000 home mortgage, etc.
The trick is to always pay your debt payments on time, or off early.
When you apply for loans, they typically check your emplyoment history, W2, pay stubs, and rental history, and your credit score is only a formality. As long as it’s not bad, they’ll give you the credit, if the other factors check out good.
You don’t need a credit card with a high limit. Credit card companies… Fuck those bitches, I say… they only want to get rich off your money and then squander it and bring the US economy to its knees. Don’t give them your money, or your debt. They don’t deserve it.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I got something in the mail from my CC co. too, randomly lowering my limit on certain things on my account, when ive been with them for well over 10 years, and have GREAT credit. Maybe it’s a policy change from the top-down thats affecting banks…coming from the whole economic dip? o.O
customer service rep 1′s are nothing more than phone monkeys…..theyre job is to field calls and direct them appropriately, according to company policies that are already in place. I don’t think arguing with them as though they’re a cell phone company, saying you’ll switch to a different company will have much effect on their mood towards your situation
March 6th, 2009 at 11:24 am
You’re not the only one this has happened to, and you won’t be the last, either. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/business/21credit.html) This is all part of the banks’ plan to reduce their liability in the current economic apocolypse. They take those who don’t use their cards often, and pseudo-randomly pick them and drop their limits close to what they owe. I do think you complaining to them made them decide to drop your limit; that’s certainly not past them.
Also, Spadina.
March 6th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
@Ansichid- Applying for loans is like applying to accept a credit card at your place of business. As a merchant payment systems tech, we check all of that too.
@Beast- Generally, when a customer tells a company in advance that they’ll be leaving, that company will do at least something for the customer. Sadly, not so much the case in bad economic times like this.
@IW4- I know, it’s sad how it’s happening to so many people. I talked to my bank’s branch manager where I work, and she said it’s happening with CC’s home equity, etc. She calls it the “Fear factor” for agencies. They even squash their most reliable customers.
Little update: Did check my credit score today along with some other info. No fraud detected, and everything is above average as far as payments and things go. Also checked with my current bank. Seems I was right about them outright lying on my statement, saying it was because of my credit history.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Banks are so great. There is no oversight and I think that is apart of the problem. The banks are running wild or something. You would think with the government giving them money that you know limits would increase.
I think customer satisfaction is dead. It’s all about the bottom line.