OT: Who helps the little guy?, Against bastards like Bank Of America Options

[bondo]

Back story:

A few years ago I had a high rate credit card, and got an offer from fleet/fusion for a credit card with a promotion of a low rate on balance transfers, and the rate on the interest of the balance transfer was good for the life of tha balance, as long as stayed within the limit, kept the account open, and made payments on time.

It seemed like a good deal, so I applied and got a $8000 limit, which I filled with a balance transfer from a higher rate card. All was good, and it's saved me plenty of money.

A couple years later, I get a notice from B of A saying they bought fleet/fusion. They also sent me a bunch of "terms and agreements", but of course it gave no choice. It was "Agree or close the account". I couldn't close the account because I didn't have $7000. I didn't really "Agree" any more than a mugee agrees to hand over his wallet to a mugger. One of the things they change was my purchase intrest rate, which went from around 18% to 29.24%. It was pretty obvious that they didn't really want me as a customer, but I came with the package from fleet/fusion. I didn't use the card for purchases, so the change in rate didn't affect me.

Fast forward to last month:

The due date (to bank of america) was 9/20. I sent the payment on 9/15. They say it posted to my account on 9/27. They charged me a $39 late fee, and said starting next month the rate on my promotional balance would revert from 8.25% to my regular purchase APR of 29.24%. My balance has been paid down to about $6k at this point.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowup.gif)

Of course I call to complain. They happily remove the late fee. They won't budge on the killing of the promotional rate. I did the standard "let me talk to your supervisor" bit. They say that in their terms and agreements they have up to 7 business days to process the payment, not including usps transit time. I went on to promise them I will do everything I can to fight this, and that they would be much better off having me as a happy customer than an unhappy ex-customer. That was met with silence, and then a "Is there anything else I can help you with"?

So I'd like to do whatever I can to make B of A hurt as much as possible. (Within the law of course) I'm tempted to file bankruptcy, just so I wouldn't have to give them any more money. Heck, it may come to that because of this highway robbery intrest rate jump. It just went from being my lowest rate card to being my highest. Getting another loan/card isn't really an option as my debt to income ratio is terrible right now.

There are so many experts in so many fields here on this non-club-club-LLC, I'm hoping somebody will have some advice for me. I also of course want to get the word out to AVOID BANK OF AMERICA at all costs!

[riverman]

A friend of mine did something once that 'sort of' screwed the credit card company and the bank at the same time. I don't know if it will work in your case, but I thought it was kind of neat.

He had his pay-check automatically deposited onto his credit card and carried a positive balance on his card at all times. He did all his purchasing and bill payments on his credit card, plus they had free checking so he wrote all of his checks on his credit card as well. He paid zero bank fees plus the credit card company had to pay him 3 percent interest on positive balances. I have no idea what your agreement says, but it may be worth looking into.

[JPB]

A friend of mine did something once that 'sort of' screwed the credit card company and the bank at the same time. I don't know if it will work in your case, but I thought it was kind of neat.

He had his pay-check automatically deposited onto his credit card and carried a positive balance on his card at all times. He did all his purchasing and bill payments on his credit card, plus they had free checking so he wrote all of his checks on his credit card as well. He paid zero bank fees plus the credit card company had to pay him 3 percent interest on positive balances. I have no idea what your agreement says, but it may be worth looking into.

Cool crap my brotha from tha cold country!! This is a must look into situation which will build up my FICA score rate sky high ASAP!!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) Molson Canadian, keeps on tasting great!! Ya.

As for bankruptcy on your card, I don't think you can do it anymore, on credit cards, and thats not enough to go bankrupt on anyways. I think the minimum is like 20K. Get a lone from someone else to pay this thing of at a lower interest rate.

CREDIT CARDS ARE A NEW FORM OF SLAVERY AND A SCAM WHICH ARE SUCKING OUR COUNTRY AND IT"S CITIZENS DRY. A debit card with money in that account is a wise way to manage spending. If you are late on any kind of bill not related to your CC allows the CC company to charge YOU the maximum interest rate they can with no cap on interest rate increases they will charge you. The government do not want to take any action against this kind of theft and won't let you go bankrupt if things get out of hand since you willfully allowed yourself to sign the CC contract and have full responsibility over your spending habits. If anyone needs to go bankrupt, ITS THE SCAMING CC COMPANIES.