Closing Your Credit Card Account
By Joseph Kenny
info[at]insure121.com
Advertisements:
It is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. You’re
trying to rid yourself of your debts. You’re putting more and more
of your paycheck towards your credit cards. You’re gradually paying
them off. Finally, the day arrives when you clear the entire outstanding
balance. The card is finally cleared. A huge weight has been lifted
from your shoulders and you can go to sleep at night knowing that
you’ve got one less worry in life.
Credit Card Company
Does your credit card company share your joy? Do they congratulate
you on taking care of a pressing anxiety in your life? In fact they
do the exact opposite. It’s not really surprising, after all you’re
their customer and they’re losing your business. But who would have
guessed the lengths they go to stop you closing your account. Recently
my wife has been closing a couple of credit card accounts and when
she zeroes out the account and calls to tell them to close it, she’s
sometimes insisting with them for ten minutes that she doesn’t want
the account any longer, she doesn’t need it for emergencies, she
doesn’t want a lower interest rate, and she doesn’t want any special
offers. She just wants to close the account.
Our Personal Experience
Bad as that sort of behaviour is, it’s not the worst. On one of
her credit cards, she had a magazine subscription. She had tried
cancelling the subscription but the company involved refused to
stop charging her account. So when the time finally came that she
could close her account she paid them off, paid off all her other
bills, and told the credit card company that she wanted to close
her account. After the usual to and fro, they finally agreed to
close her account for her.
Hey! We Cancelled!
Thinking all her accounts were closed we went on a trip. When we
returned two months later, two bills were awaiting her from the
company. The magazine company had not surprisingly attempted to
bill her again. She thought she was free of them by closing the
account they had access to. Well, the card company, without notifying
her or conferring with her in any way, simply paid the magazine
company, and billed my wife. When we didn’t pay they that they allowed
a charge from the magazine company for the next month and added
a late payment charge. When we returned she owed over $100 on an
account they had confirmed with her they had closed.
We’re still disputing the charges but the bottom line is it’s pretty
hard to escape the nasty clutches of credit card companies.
About the Author: Joseph Kenny is the webmaster
of the UK credit card comparison site http://www.creditcards121.com/,
where you can find a selection of credit card advice. For US visitors
there is also the comparison site http://www.credit-cards-info.com/
for all US interest free offers.
Source: www.isnare.com
Published - December 2005
|
