Help! 3.9% credit card rate jumped to 18.9!

[unfreshdiva1]

Had transfered credit card balances to Chase card at 3.9% until balance paid off. I've been paying on time and just received this month's statement where rate jumped to 18.9% as they had received last month's payment late which then nullified promotion rate. I called Chase and they said payment posted two days late and I could not do anything about it. Balance is pretty high and now paying ton of interest. Any help/ideas on what I could do to get Chase to re-instate rate or am I stuck? Any help would be appriciated.

 

[LoraJ]

Tell them you are going to transfer the balance elsewhere.

 

[Free4Life11]

There's really not much you can do. I would suggest paying your bill online -- you can transfer directly from your checking account and they usually post in a day or two. You could try calling and asking for a lower interest rate, but they have no obligation to give you one and since you were late, I doubt they'd give you one. I would absolutely make payments on-time and maybe try calling in a few months for a lower rate.

 

[Aidensmom]

I always pay my credit card on the internet because I do not trust the post office to get it there on time.

I would call back and request to speak to a manager (and that person's manager if necessary). In most cases, the first person you get on the phone is not authorized to make that kind of change. Persistance can sometimes help. If you sent it with plenty of time to get there by the due date, and the post office just didn't get it there (or the people at the credit card company did not post it on the day it actually came in, but the day they were entering the data to the computer), I would emphasize that point. I would also threaten to transfer my balance to another account and to close that one.

 

[tmt martins]

I can tell you now you might be out of luck they hope things like this happen thats why they give you these offers.

 

[Mom2be]

Quite simply find another credit card to transfer the balance to. 18.9% is ridiculously high when you consider that Prime is at 7.25%

~Amanda

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

Having worked for Capital One, I can tell you that you are most likely out of luck. The promotions are set up with the hopes that you will screw up and miss/be late so they can jack up your interest rate.

That being said, you can request to speak to a supervisor. Explain the situation, you did mail it out, (and I hope you gave it at least 7 BUSINESS days to get there) and due to the seasonal slow down due to the volume in mail it did not get there in time. You would be greatly appreciative if they would lower the apr back to the original rate, or if not to 3.9, then perhaps to a better rate (say 9.9)

Good Luck.

 

[WeLubDeeDub]

I'd call and ask them if they can reinstate your promo rate. This seems to work for me pretty well. I think the keys are: having a long account history, good credit score, never being late (this time being the exception), and kindness. This has worked for me when I was late (by 1 day, and I meet all of the above criteria). I'd also state that you have an offer from another CC for X.X% on balance transfers, and that you are looking to exercise that option.

If they don't or won't do it, transfer your balance. But beware: if one credit card reports you as being late to the credit bureaus, ALL of your credit cards have the ability to hike up the rates to the max.

Good luck.

 

[Tiggeroo]

this just came up in the local paper. They suggested continuing to call up the chain at the corporate office until you get a decision maker in person. Point out your good payment history, the short amount of late time. You don't want to call billing you want to call the corporate offices. This woman had the exact same problem, good history, long time of timely payments with this company. They brought her rate back down to the promo.
If it doesn't work you transfer to another company.

 

[richiebaseball]

Not a whole lot of advice to offer except what already has been. Transfer the balance to another card, threaten to transfer the balance to another card, or try to go up the chain of command to get a better deal.

If only Alan Shore was available.

 

[jfulcer]

Had transfered credit card balances to Chase card at 3.9% until balance paid off. I've been paying on time and just received this month's statement where rate jumped to 18.9% as they had received last month's payment late which then nullified promotion rate. I called Chase and they said payment posted two days late and I could not do anything about it. Balance is pretty high and now paying ton of interest. Any help/ideas on what I could do to get Chase to re-instate rate or am I stuck? Any help would be appriciated.

And don't forget - Jan 1 your minimum payment doubles!

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Also, did you mail it late, or did they just say they got it late? If you certify your payments with a return receipt or send them Priority with a Delivery Confirmation, you can find out when they 'actually' receive a payment. Credit and finance companies are notorious for saying they got something late, when they really got it on time.
Kim

 

[Pin Wizard]

And don't forget - Jan 1 your minimum payment doubles!

That's enough to get me to close them all! Working on it.

 

[aprilgail2]

And don't forget - Jan 1 your minimum payment doubles!

Thats when you see a big jump in people going into credit counceling and then bankruptcy!
I had one low interest credit card that i was paying on...I missed the due date by a couple days and it jumped to 30 percent!! I ended up just transferring that balance to a low interest one and cancelling it.

 

[tmt martins]

Thats when you see a big jump in people going into credit counceling and then bankruptcy!
I had one low interest credit card that i was paying on...I missed the due date by a couple days and it jumped to 30 percent!! I ended up just transferring that balance to a low interest one and cancelling it.

No they did this because of the new Bankruptcy laws protecting the CC companys that just passed and went into effect.


This is why I pay my 1 CC on-line as soon as it hits I make min. payment .Then before the close of that month I use to pay it off however due to some larger purchases(DVC<PAP,)I just dump whatever I can on the second payment of the month.This way if anything happens at least they got the min. on time.

 

[disneygals]

This is why I pay my 1 CC on-line as soon as it hits I make min. payment .Then before the close of that month I use to pay it off however due to some larger purchases(DVC<PAP,)I just dump whatever I can on the second payment of the month.This way if anything happens at least they got the min. on time.

This is a great idea!

 

[Tigger_Magic]

The best option is to transfer your balance to a new card and cancel your Chase card. But be aware that what Chase did is quite common with most cc companies that offer low promo rates. My DW and I pay all cc's online now. It's the best way to ensure the payment is received on time to maintain the rate.

 

[Good Ol Gal]

And don't forget - Jan 1 your minimum payment doubles!

why is that??

 

[Toby'sFriend]

why is that??

right after the new bankruptcy laws went into effect that make it much more difficult for the average credit card user to declare bankruptcy and run away from their debt -- most credit card companies changed the terms on their cards and upped the amount of their minimum monthly payment from around 1% to around 3%.

 

[Chicago526]

Thanks for the reminder, I just paid my bill online. Wasn't due until Jan. 1 but with the holidays, it would have been easy to forget!

That said, I have a question and wonder if anyone here can help. I have a high balance on a card with high interest. I signed up for a new card with a low balance transfer option, but the credit limit is only a fraction of what I'd need to transfer the entire high blanace. I haven't used the new card yet. If I call the new card, and explain I want to transfer a high balance, do you think they would let me? I have a great credit score and pay my balances on time.