I thought I would take a moment to remind those of you that read this blog that it certainly pays to be persistent with credit card companies and to ask questions. My recent personal experience illustrates that point quite well.
Now, right away I knew that this was a ploy from this card issuer to get me to throw my business there way. You see, I have rarely used the card despite the fact that it has a very generous credit limit because I have rewards credit cards with lower APRs. Not that the APR on this card is bad, it is actually only 9.9%. But, when you have reward cards in your wallet with lower APRs, it certainly doesn’t make sense to use the other card.
Since I hardly ever use this credit card, the company has been regularly sending me convenience checks with low APRs. I shred them and throw them away because I have no desire to pay the fees for the “convenience” of using these checks.
At any rate, this new credit card caught my fancy because it offered the same APR as the card I currently have with the company but it also featured a travel rewards program. Since I love to travel and the APR was no different, I thought I would check into the card.
But, here is the catch: I didn’t want a NEW card. I already have more than enough credit cards and I don’t want to get to the point where I have too much credit out there. So, I called the number and asked if I could switch my current card to be in this program.
The guy I was talking to was foreign and, although he tried, I don’t think he quite understood what I wanted to do. He told me that it would be no problem for me to get this reward credit card without having too many cards because I could just cancel the other one. Well, I didn’t want to do that either because I wanted to keep my credit history that I had built. The guy left to talk to someone, came back, and told me that he couldn’t just switch my card over to the program.
I wasn’t satisfied with that answer, so I called the 800 number on the back of my card. The representative I got a hold of this time had a much clearer understanding of what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it. So, now I am officially enrolled in the rewards program, my APR stays the same, and my credit history remains in tact. Not bad, huh?
Now, the next time I call, I think I will have to negotiate an even lower APR….
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