I bit the bullet and called the credit card company

[binny]

and guess what?
They lowered my interest rate by 8%!!!!



I have been putting this off and now I dont know why. The conversation was easy, I just told her that we've been customers for a long time and have kept up with the payments, and is there any way they could lower my interest rate? She looked at my account and said " yes, that no problem"



YAY


I guess this just goes to prove, You dont know unless you ask!!


Anyone else done this with success?

 

[mtemm]

yep, we did this years ago when we were trying to get a handle on debt. amazing, isn't it? all you need to do is ask

 

[DisMN]

Is it a temporary reduction or permanent? I tried it with one of our cards and they would only let us have the lowered amount for 6 months then it would go back up to the usual percentage rate.

We took the 6 months, paid that sucker off and then cancelled the card.......wonder if they thought that would happen? LOL LOL

 

[binny]

she said it was permanent. And also offerred me 3% on all balance transfers.
That is REALLY going to help!!!

 

[ladydancer]

I've done that before too. I just tell them "if you don't lower it to xx amount I am cancelling the card. I only had one card that wouldn't lower to my satisfaction, so I cancelled it.

 

[janette]

Originally posted by binny
she said it was permanent. And also offerred me 3% on all balance transfers.
That is REALLY going to help!!!

Usually though the payments are applied to the lower interest rate balance. So the promotional balance with the 3% would be paid before the balance at 8%. Just something that can make a difference in how you pay the card, if the 3% isn't for the life of the balance and there is a transfer fee sometimes the offers aren't as good as they sound.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I should try that. I only have one credit card that has a balance and I've never missed or been late on a payment.

I think I'll call them Monday.

 

[ZachnElli]

Yes, we did it a few years ago. All of our credit cards (we had a lot )said they would lower the rates. But we noticed, some didn't actually follow through and do it. So watch your statement and make sure they follow through! We canceled most of our credit cards and I don't let dh carry them anymore (he's the charger in our house!).

 

[Kallison]

No we pay in full every month.

 

[mmexpress]

I just did a balance transfer to one of my cards and got 2.9% until the transfered amount is paid off.

 

[diznygirl]

That's great! Is it for the full balance, or only on purchases from here on out? I was tricked that way once.

I've got to make some of these calls. I'm always getting those offers in the mail - we could transfer balances every six months - think they would catch on?

 

[Pin Wizard]

I once called a credit card company on both my Visa and MC accounts I wanted to cancel. Instead, they raised my limits and reduced my interest rates on both!

Just last week I ran a credit report online, then called the cards I never use any more and canceled them. Ha! They weren't happy. Tried anything and everything to get me to keep them.