Apparently, I am not the only person dealing with loan-sharkian credit card companies. For not taking out – or late-paying – loans.
One of my readers describes an abuse letter she received from American Express, peremptorily advising her that the interest rate applied to purchases with her card would be summarily raised to more than 19 percent – not because she was late with her payments, not because of her credit score (700) but just because. She relates that after calling customer non-service, she was told they would lower it – provided she dramatically increased the balance she carried on her card.
Prudence punished – not dissimilar in its fundamentals from the punishing of healthy people who are healthy because they take care of their health – and for that reason do not think it prudent to risk their health (and surrender their bodily autonomy) for the sake of people who aren’t healthy or who are obsessed with the hypothetical health of other people, which they assert presents a “threat” to theirs. 
I got similar treatment recently from Bank of America. I’ve been a card holder for more than 20 years. I have never missed a payment or carried a balance. Obviously, I had to be punished for it.
In my case, it wasn’t usurious interest – that had already been applied but didn’t bother me too much since I never carry a balance. But that is a problem, for Bank of America. Which doesn’t make interest off me.
So they applied it just because they could.
I received my usual monthly statement via the mail and – as is my habit – put the check in the mail with 24 hours of receiving the statement, which I do with all my bills because I’m absent-minded and divorced and absent-minded, divorced guys sometimes forget to do things like pay bills, otherwise. My way of not forgetting is to do them immediately. I’ve been doing so for more than 20 years. It is why BOA gave me a credit line of more than $20,000 – which I never tapped but which is an indicator of their opinion of my creditworthiness.
Well, the next month I got a statement with a $41 interest charge tacked on. Despite my having paid the previous month’s balance in full, as I always have done. I called – and waited for about half an hour, listening the most obnoxious, tinny canned “music” – punctuated by even more obnoxious “messages” from BOA – before a drone picked up the phone. 
I explained my issue. I told the BOA person I assume they received my last payment late because of the mail – or they processed it tardily. I asked – as a courtesy due (I maintain) a customer of more than 20 years’ standing who has always paid his bills – and always paid them on time – the BOA person to please remove this charge.
The BOA person on the other end of the phone – was it human? – read from an obviously canned script that she (I think it was she) could do nothing. I was dumbfounded. I asked to speak to her (his?) supervisor, who was apparently no more empowered to do anything other than read the same canned script.
The charge would stay.
Whereupon I told them I’ll be leaving.
That I herewith cancel my account with BOA and not only would I never transact business with them again but will encourage everyone within the sound of my voice and the reach of my keyboard to stay away from BOA – as one would any other predatory organism. 
They are worse than a mafia, which is at least run by human beings. Corporations run human beings, turning them into script-reading automatons incapable of engaging in any kind of human conversation. One can only imagine being in thrall to these creatures. Of actually owing them a sum one might not be in a position to pay. Which is precisely the position these predators work night and day to get their prey into.
Nineteen percent interest – compounded monthly? Hell, that’s a good deal, as far as corporations such as BOA offer. Some apply interest approaching 30 percent – something any upright mafiosi would be ashamed to apply. And even if he did apply it, at least you could have a conversation with him. It’s true he’ll probably still break your legs. But isn’t that almost better than a phone tree and a canned script?
Lesson: Don’t deal with these corporations, which are the undoing of everything.
My gripe transcends this business of being jacked for $41. It is much bigger than that. It is these same no-respite/no-discussion inhuman corporations that dehumanized life in this country. It is also the corporations that are implementing Jab requirements – subverting the “democratic process” Leftists love to warble about when it suits their interests.
And it now suits their interests to use corporations to stick a knife in the back of the “democracy” they pretend to admire.
It’s high time to end the hold these corporations have acquired over practically everything – and the most effective way to do that is by simply not doing business with them.
Let them starve – and we’ll be able to live, again.
. . .
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The banks became too big to fail back in ’08. Now they’re too big to grow. They’ve reached saturation of the market, and there’s no way they could get away with another merger round, so they’re stuck with trying to get a few more pennies out of every accountholder. Otherwise the trading desk computers AI will run their stocks into the ground in seconds. And since every layer of management is on some sort of stock option bonus plan, they can’t let that happen.
As one of our city’s great radio personalities and prude has said for decades: “It’s not IF the big banks will screw you, it’s when?”
The bigs are gonna push easy credit now before inflation skyrockets because they want people in debt. How else are you going to wipe people’s debts free and make them own nothing if you don’t get them into debt?
EP: “That I herewith cancel my account with BOA…”
You may want to check out Penfed Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature® Card 1.5 or 2% cash back, best card I’ve found, been using years. https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards
“$100 Bonus Statement Credit when you spend $1,500 in the first 90 days”
Thanks, liberty – I will check it out!
I only use cards for certain things, usually business related (for tax records purposes) and always pay the balance in full. Credit cards are tools, like guns, that must be handled carefully!
RE: “Credit cards are tools, like guns, that must be handled carefully!”
I do not think that is a true statement.
They are only a tool for The Bankers & The Power Elite, it’s an illusion they are a tool for the average guy. Credit cards are more like a banker’s & Power Elite’s super-sticky fly ribbon. A fly ribbon hanging in your doorway which you cannot touch or move, only avoid (for now) as best you can.
I have a fly ribbon in my garage, it’s jam packed full of flies, every time I look at it now I think of this article & how credit card companies are just like that fly ribbon. They stick unaware people.
And, they are the foot in the door (conditioning) to digital cash-less tyranny.
They are not tools which flies or everyday bears can use.
Credit cards may be legal. That does not mean they’re moral.
Some people may say they provide a service. That does not mean they are ok.
Some people may even be able to get things they want by using them. That does not mean their use won’t come back to bite them, or others.
They are not to be viewed as a tool to be used – if they further your enslavement. …They are traps.
Perhaps, it’s not evident on the surface, or right away, they are traps none the less.
…Just the view from here, expressed in under 15 minutes,… before being late for dinner.
Hi Helot,
I understand your points – and agree, in general. That said, a credit card can be a beneficial tool. The key is to never carry a balance. Then you never pay interest. You can use the card to give yourself a free 30 day loan, for instance. And you can use the card to avoid the need to carry a large sum of cash, which can be dangerous these days (viz, civil asset forfeiture). Also, there is a value in having certain purchases verifiable for tax purposes. For example, I deduct the cost of paying for the servers/hosting for this site, which requires a receipt from the company. Besides which it is simply not possible to pay for such services using cash.
I had a similar situation several years ago and subsequently received a call from a collection agency. When I said I was not going to pay a bogus charge, the agent told me, my Credit Score would be negatively affected which could give me problems the next time I wanted to purchase a car or home. I told him, I couldn’t care less because I pay cash for everything I buy – including homes. He hung up without a come-back because he knew he had no leverage. I still don’t know what my Credit Score is nor do I give a shit.
Same here. Have not applied for any kind of credit in something like 40 years now and don’t owe a dime to anyone. Cash is king, why would I want to have some damned bankster involved in every transaction down to every cup of coffee and pack of gum? (Not to mention that gives ’em the power to cut off the ability to buy anything sans cash.) I have no idea what my “credit score” is and don’t give a damn about it. Could be zero for all I care. Feed the bastards fish heads as far as I’m concerned.
‘They are worse than a mafia, which is at least run by human beings.’ — eric
The bankster mafia was consolidated as the ‘Federal’ Reserve in 1913, as G Edward Griffin documented in his classic The Creature from Jekyll Island.
When it comes to its dual mandate (an impossibility to start with) of maximum employment and stable prices, it is failing spectacularly.
In comparison to the Fed’s (constitutionally unauthorized) goal of 2.0% inflation, this morning’s Consumer Price Index clocked in at 5.4% year-on-year.
And even that ugly number is obviously, unapologetically FAKE. It includes a 2.9% increase in Owner’s Equivalent Rent — a ridiculous opinion survey (not actual prices) of what owners *think* their house would rent for. And OER is a fat 23.6% of the total CPI.
Fun with numbers: substitute the 19.7% rise in the Case-Shiller house price index for the ludicrous 2.9% rise in OER. Recalculating … *ding* … 9.4% true rate of rise in CPI, year-on-year.
That’s the toll the officially-licensed counterfeiters take by printing fresh digital currency for their criminal cronies and henchmen like B of A, while devaluing the worthless scrip used by the little people to buy their scraps of bread and vegetables for pottage … oh, and pay their thousands in property taxes.
FTF (Eff the Fed) … with a red-hot poker.
Bite-me has proposed a full on communist for treasury comptroller: Saule Omarova. Maybe B of A should have thought it through before supporting Bite-me by feeding the alligator thinking the alligator would eat them last. She wants to do away with all banking and just have all accounts run thru the Fed Reserve. Their plan all along.
I hate BOA. Closed my accounts 12 years ago.
In preparing a Last Will & Testament, one should take care to express the following:
“I hereby prohibit any bank, commercial bank, credit union, savings bank, investment bank, national bank, savings and loans association, insurance company, mortgage company, mutual fund, pension, pension administrator, broker dealer, trust company or any other financial institution (hereinafter referred to as a “banking institution”) from ever serving as the Personal Representative of my estate, it being my intention that no banking institution is ever to be in control of any asset of my estate or to possess the power to make any decision concerning my estate or its administration.
I hereby declare that a failure to abide by the provisions of this Article 4.3(b) constitutes a purposeful frustration of my testamentary intent.
Therefore, I demand and expect that any arbitrator, master, or tribunal which may be called upon to make findings of fact and / or rulings of law concerning my estate, including entertaining any petitions made by or in behalf of a banking institution to be appointed Personal Representative of my estate, to respect and give literal effect to my testamentary commands and intentions, including my determination that no banking institution is ever to serve as Personal Representative of my estate.
The Testator simply rejects the proposition that banking institutions make good, never mind ideal, candidates to be managers of estate assets, or to be honest and loyal stewards of the same. In fact, the Testator submits that the appointment of a banking institution as the Personal Representative of an estate is a poor decision given the propensity with which banking institutions underperform the market, require taxpayer bailouts, and tend to be allergic to furnishing outstanding customer service.”
If one’s lawyer does not recommend that the above be incorporated into your Will, fire her.
Excellent advice, Mike. 👍
When Hugh McColl (Huge McCash?) was running North Carolina National Bank and gobbling up any and all competitors through leveraged buyouts it was obvious where this was headed. Huge eventually leveraged BofA. If he could he would have just declared himself King of All Money. I used to say he was going to take over global banking so you’d be better off putting your money in a Bank of Earth instead of giving it to him and his henchmen.
This former jarhead had a handgrenade on his desk to show how tough he was. He was, is, one of the most arrogant, ruthless pricks to ever trod the earth.
Indeed, Mark –
On a purely psychological-emotional level, I do not get it. This urge to be a “king” – of any kind. This sick desire to lord it over others. To possess not merely more than others but to arrange things such that others have less. I have never understood it. Once one has earned enough money to not have to worry about money anymore, why the urge to earn more – to see to it that others do have to worry about money? It is worse than sick. If I sold a book that earned me enough money to not have to worry about money, I’d give myself the gift of time – to pursue my homestead farm, to write more books and – above all – to appreciate the things I have and the time I have to appreciate them. I cannot fathom leveraging wealth to instill poverty.
It’s called Evil.
No credit cards here. Debit card with a community bank tied to a checking account. Only use it for things where a credit card is more convenient like buying gas. Or for things where they don’t like cash too much anymore like a hotel (that needs to change too, another way they track you).
Instead of declining large purchases ( like when i was renovating), they have actually called to ask it the charge is legitimate. They do recommend giving them a call if going out of town to prevent out of town declining from happening. I have called them when taking trips and they haven’t given me any problems with that too.
The nice thing about it, my employer uses the same community bank instead of a big bank too so I don’t mind my paycheck gets direct deposited, and on the day its posted, not the following day like most banks. So my HSA (health saving account) is with that community bank too and it comes with a debit card for paying co pays, etc with pre tax income.
Big banks suck and you really don’t have to do “business” with them. Find a community bank. Most places still have at least one. If not there has to be a credit union, which can be ok (though stick with smaller ones, some of the bigger ones have become like big banks).
“It’s high time to end the hold these corporations have acquired over practically everything – and the most effective way to do that is by simply not doing business with them.”
It’s happening, Eric.
They told us to make brick without straw, and we are telling them to build cities without brick.
Their silence on why things grind to a halt now is deafening. It’s beginning to penetrate. We don’t even need cheesedick leaders lick Abbot to decree “Illegal!” decrees which were actually never even decreed.
People are actually showing their absence to be a sword. The “Left” used to champion that idea, too.
As for the banks, I gave up the Reich of Chase a decade ago for a “credit union”. They seem to play much more nicely. 😉
It is better credit score wise to leave the credit card account open with a zero balance and NEVER use it. Especially if it’s an old account. I also think it annoys the bank more than closing it.
I did have one get closed on me that I wasn’t using because I didn’t use it when they sent me a warning. But it wasn’t one of my older cards, one of the youngest.
Hi Brent,
A few years ago I would have agreed with you. Now, I ask why are we playing the game? After I paid off my mortgage last year my FICO scored dropped 55 points. It plummeted. Why? Because I paid off debt.
The FICO score is meant to control us. I no longer care about it. That we have to keep cards open, but unusable, that we lose points for paying off installment loans, that we have to open an optimal number of revolving accounts to fit into some calculation declared by the unknown. Screw them. I am out.
The only thing that should matter is if the individual pays their bills on time and the amount of debt that they carry relative to their income. The rest is balderdash.
Amen, RG (and Brent)…
Like you guys, I have lived below my means all my life; saved rather than spent – and never incurred revolving debt of any kind. I bought a much less expensive house when I moved out of my last house. My newest vehicle is almost 20 years old. But everything is paid for. Yet people such as ourselves are punished for our prudence; our responsible actions held against us – often by irresponsible people. This has metastasized into all aspects of life; the current pathological situation being the most obvious manifestation. Fat, sedentary people who never gave a damn about their health – except in the abstract – now insist it is our obligation to “care” about their health. By wearing idiotic, servile “masks” – and submitting to dangerous Jabs.
As regards money: I am puzzling out a way to go Silver (and Gold). One still must maintain a bank account to get paid in “federal” money – and there is no realistic alternative as far as paying certain bills is concerned. But I want to pare it down to the bare minimum – and keep the rest in hard money, for the days to come.
I may write more about this, as I suspect it’s a topic of interest to many.
Fwiw, when considering a pile of AUsomeness, go with small denomination us Eagles when possible, like 1/4 and 1/10th ouncers.
Costs a bit more but if barter and metals become a thing, the smaller coins are more flexible.
The only thing about Au is the depressing physical size of 100k’s worth of current usd.
But it will fit easier in your prison purse if need be. So there’s that.
tip – gold and silver bullion can be purchased cheaper over spot on ebay than the big seller websites.
Hat tip, Dan!
I’m relatively new to the precious metals scene, so advice/tips from those with more experience is welcomed and appreciated.
Be very careful- scams abound and Ebay leaves little recourse if something goes wrong. I do buy lots of mech parts on the bay, but I assume a couple percent is going to be a loss and I’m likely to just eat it.
If you’re converting your hard earned wealth to real currency, it’s probably wiser to deal with a local dealer- their markup is honest, and you have the whole internet to check spot price and coin markup.
Plus you can deal in cash and leave less of a paper trail- increasingly important!
Having been debt free for more than 20 years, and never owning a credit card, I have no credit rating at all. Which is a thing to be aware of. There are an abundance of situations where your credit score is looked at. Some having nothing to do with credit. Like applying for a job. Be sure to mention your debt free lack of a credit rating on your application or resume. The major cell phone companies will require a deposit since you are not “credit worthy”. The entire US economy depends on debt. That’s the sole purpose of fiat currency, to loan more money than actually exists, and to punish saving with inflation.
Yep.
If you have a “high balance,” as a percentage of your credit line, they say you have “too much debt.” If you pay off the outstanding balance, they now say you have “too few accounts paid as agreed.” If you charge $65 on a dormant (zero balance) department store credit card, on which you have *NEVER* made a late payment, and also have *NEVER* carried a balance, your FICO score will drop by 15-20 points, and will stay there for a month or more, even when you pay the credit card balance in full, on time.
It is all a scam.
It is their business model, which dictates that dumb-ass consumer-depositors should voluntarily endure a constant drain of usurious interest charges … but never run up such large balances as to threaten the lender’s recovery of principal.
Just as Report From Iron Mountain advocated that massive, useless defense expenditures be used as a brake on the national economy, FICO implicitly enforces debt slavery as a brake on lowly consumer-depositors ever accumulating any capital.
Were the undeserving masses to amass any actual ‘FU money,’ the stability of the system would be threatened.
Thus, FICO’s merciless yoke of usury — for the greater good.
You are pre-approved for the prestigious CuckMaster Card. Apply today!
Point taken, Jim H.
It took me ten years to dig myself out from under the debt avalanche caused by the so-called “Great Recession.” NF, but I paid back every last cent (with interest, of course, that being the point, as you have noted).
Now, with no mortgage payment nor auto payment, I am able to live quite comfortably on very little money.
Subversive, I am. Bring it on, fokkers.
The problem is always the move from place to another. I’d rather have a mortgage for a short time than to have to deal with prospective buyers wandering into my home.
Amen, Brent –
But there is a way to mitigate this, which I have “practiced” previously. When I decided to sell my previous house in Northern Virginia, I did not have to sell it. Accordingly, I put it up for sale on my terms. No “open houses.” The place shown by appointment only to serious prospects vetted by my realtor. And the price not negotiable. Take it – or leave it.
I intend the same again, should it become necessary.
It is a racket. I have never paid interest on a card. Pay the balance every month. I have one with B of A, a business card. I occasionally, like once every 4-5 years am late on a payment. I have always called and explained and always the charges have been waived. I am surprised that you had such a bad experience.
The real problem as a self employed man is the charge to the merchant. A couple percent of the purchase to accept the card. I insist on cash or a check. I occasionally accept cards but charge more to cover the cost which I explain to my clients.
Perhaps you have been targeted. I am in my 60’s and I remember the first time I saw someone use a Credit Card to pay for groceries. Probably in the 80’s. It did not happen prior to that time. Cash or a check. I think those times will recur. Once the real reset happens not the one the global shmuctmeisters are talking about, (Bankruptcy) probably accompanied by a real big war. We are living the Chinese Curse, “may you live in interesting times.
Who in the hell would ever even think of doing business with the Bank of A Mafia? You know who founded that thing right? No really. Cancel all of your business with the Mob and find a community bank or credit union.
>Bank of A
You mean, “Bank of Italy,” right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Italy_(United_States)
>the merged bank took the Bank of America name and operates under the original charter for Bank of Italy.
“Bank of Guido” would be more like it, IMO.
(apologies to all honest citizens of Italian heritage – you know who you are) 🙂
My contempt for Bank of America reaches back many decades, is unbroken and unwavering. Without question, they earned it.
Ever see the movie “House of Strangers”?
https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4024960025?playlistId=tt0041487&ref_=tt_ov_vi
The Vampire Squid is CEO of Banksters, Inc.
Banks are open 24/7 these days. You can get money from an ATM at any time.
Quit credit cards quite a few years ago, a pain to pay off and you are always rushing to fall further behind. Closed my the savings account, keep my money in bags and cans at home. I can pay myself one percent interest on savings easy.
If you have a credit card at 20 percent interest and carry 1000 dollars in debt, pay the minimum payment each month, 40 dollars, after a year you make 480 dollars in payments, 200 in interest charges or so, you’ll owe 720 USD balance. 480 dollars the next year, add another 140 in interest in a year with a balance of 380 dollars still owed on the card. Year three you pay off the 380 dollars plus some more interest, 75 dollars, total of 455 dollars in payments and interest, you have paid an amount of 1415 dollars in payments interest accrued.
If you carry a 1000 dollar running balance for five years, you’ll be hating it.
Not as simple as that, I know, but the point is made, the bank makes 415 dollars for money loaned from thin air where you have to work to repay the amount borrowed plus interest and fees. If you have 2,000,000 accounts that will have a 1000 dollar balance, you can have return on the money loaned totaling 830 million dollars after three years time.
You can do a lot with an extra 830 million in three years loaning 2,000,000,000 dollars to 2,000,000 people.
Build a new bank, pay yourself a few million, buy a new house.
Pages of information in the agreement with a credit card are no help at all.
Avoid credit cards and loans, pay them off as soon as you can and never use them.
Credit card? Why the f$@k would I want a credit card? And why the f$@k would I want debt, period? My ex was an exorbitant spender, and I learned a lot from that experience. The most important lesson – debt is slavery. Credit cards are evil, the spawn of the devil. Absolutely not, no way, no how, never again.
Off topic, just for haha’s, you know how some websites have “polls”… well I posted to one such software platform’s support forum about how their polls are calculated incorrectly — instead of dividing each item’s votes by the number of voters, they divide by the number of votes for all items which is 100% insanely illogical. But, guess what, the numbskulls think it’s okay and refuted my post with lots of nonsensical BS. They are totally retarded people working in the software industry now — all of the younger people in software are literally brain damaged retards now — they all got so many brain-damage-injections since they were a little kid, that they can’t understand simple obvious logic anymore! What the heck is the future going to hold — no-one will be competent to do anything … we’ll be lucky if they can change the oil on our cars!
Example: if 3 voters are voting on 3 items (apples, oranges, or pears), and all 3 voters voted YES for apples, then it’s obvious the win percent for apples is 100% (3 votes divided by 3 voters =1). But instead, these numbskulls won’t do that, noooo, instead lets say oranges & pears got 2 votes each, so for apples they calculate 3 votes divided by 7 votes (43%). So, even though everyone voted for apples, apples still loses! They get 7 from 3 apple votes + 2 orange votes + 2 pear votes. They divide by all the votes for all the items, instead of the number of voters. This doesn’t even make any sense. That’s how retarded they are. SIGH. And I couldn’t convince them otherwise. Somehow, complete total horseshit is what makes sense to them. OMG. This world is doomed now unless non-brain-damaged people take over.
BOA charged me an errant $4 fee due to a “computer” error once.
I canceled my card due to it.
I expect a bank to be able to do math.
I am becoming disillusioned with corporations in general. While they serve a useful purpose by combining the resources of many, beyond the life of each owner, which leads to wonderful enrichments of our lives; they are now very much a cause of what is wrong today.
They bribe and corrupt politicians. they rent seek and use their purchased politicians and regulators to destroy their competition.
Some even suggest they manipulate data and push a narrative via these same regulators and the media they spend millions of advert money on, to further fear and keep sleeves rolling up and the profits rolling in.
When we get going, we’re probably going to seize all of these treasonous companies and turn them over to the employees — the owners will be asset-stripped and probably go to jail, and it will become an employee-owned company.
BTW, I closed my BOA account a while ago based on their horrible treasonous behavior violating bill of rights and basic business ethics.
The card companies call people who pay off their balance every month, so they don’t incur an interest charge, “dead beats.”
The banksters want all electronic payments. Less overhead and easier track ability. Even knowing this, I had made the move from all mailed checks to all electronic payments on my own accord last year due to the convid insanity at my local post office. However, about a year ago, I had a very similar thing happen with a mailed payment I happened to make. The only difference was, due to unrelated bank business on the card due date, I noticed my account had not been debited for the card payment. I called the card company and they said they had not received payment even though I mailed it 24 days prior. So, I cancelled the check and made an electronic payment. The issuing bank charged me a $40 fee for the cancellation, probably similar to the interest charge but less than an additional late fee and additional consequences. At the time both the bank and the card company blamed the USPS (many mail related issues reported, due to convid supposedly). Next month, I get a statement showing both the check and electronic pmt rec’d on the due date. It was only corrected to one pmt the following stmt, due to the check being cancelled. I am still a customer.
A coupla postscripts. First, the USPS has just announced a plan to deliberately slow the mail (Startpage it). Second, the local postmaster who is an actual commie and union captain and who was totally insane about diapers and my refusal to don one, now cares not one whit about diapers and is now super nice and friendly and like “how are you and your family doing, sir?” now that his union is fighting vax mandates. I still remember, though…
>USPS spokesperson Kim Frum
Must be John Frum’s sister.
I wish you good cargo.
If you are looking for an alternative to USPS, I heartily recommend you avoid FedEx.
FedEx delivered a Chewy package that I ordered to my neighbor (I am assuming. I saw the damn truck sitting in front of our houses for 10 straight minutes waiting, only to get bored and take a piss.)
The tracking number said Delivered! but it was not at my house. I would have asked these neighbors, but they are lefty, diaper wearing, Rona fearing tardos. So I tried calling FedEx (sweet Jesus don’t ever bother). It took 40 minutes of bullshit robot prompts to just get a humanoid slave and he was of no help.
I ended up calling Chewy and the woman said ‘oh I’m so sorry to hear, why don’t we just ship another box to your house at no charge?’
Well be still my heart! I almost proposed marriage to her over the phone.
Yes, AVOID FEDEX. Plus, they have their name on the ‘WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM’ stadium. They had a heavy hand in removing the Redskins name, no doubt.
Ah, Bank of America. I have nothing nice to say about them either. I had a BOA early on (during my late 20s) with a credit line of about $7500. Well, hubby and I went to a very nice, very expensive dinner for Valentine’s Day (it was in 2007….I remember it vividly). I had two credit cards, an old Amex (that I have had since 19) and Bank of America, which I only used when Amex was not accepted. Well, we get the bill and of course, they don’t take Amex so I pull out the BOA.
Five minutes passed and our maître d’ returns stating my card has been declined. I had nothing on this card so I could not believe why it would be declined. Here I am sitting in this swanky establishment and I cannot pay for this meal. Hubby and I were sitting there absolutely horrified. We had some cash, but no where near enough to compensate for this meal. I am anticipating washing dishes to get through the evening. So we get up walk outside to the foyer with the maitre d’. I explain the situation and the maître d’ sympathizes with us. The gentleman was very nice and said this happens occasionally let’s try running it again, but he will have to override it for it to go through. I said fine do whatever is necessary. I think he ended up breaking it into smaller amounts, but it did go through.
Well, once hubby and I reach our car I am on the phone immediately with BOA. I was pissed. They ruined my night, I was going to ruin theirs. So customer no service answers and explains the card was declined because they believe fraud was taking place. Fraud? I am twenty minutes from my home, not in Ghana. Did they call me? Nope. Did they email me? Nope. They just declined the card. I cancelled the card that night.
That is my lovely experience with BOA.
the level of intelligence applied by some of these card companies is crazy… I have a card whos sole key feature was to be used while travelling…. the card was always initially declined when I travelled !! Which I never got….
I do have to commend Amex with this. They never declined my card….in the USSA or overseas. I learned the first night that I spent in Saint Martin – never bring your debit card with you outside the USSA….absolutely pointless to try to use it.
I have an Amex card that I use for travel. I used to call them before my trips to avoid any problems. Then they told me not to call anymore, said they can figure it out based on patterns. I read that they can predict your next transaction with 80 percent accuracy, so they know where you’re going to shop before you do!
It is better to pull out cash, not a credit card, at a restaurant. You have no idea where they are swiping it and who else is going to be using your credit card number. I can understand the average fluoridated water drinking American taking those types of risks. but someone who posts here? Unbelievable.
Plus with cash the waitress/waiter gets the cash tip. That’s all I do.
Unfortunately, I only had a couple hundred dollars on me, not the $500+ needed. I wasn’t worried about the staff at the Inn at Little Washington swiping my credit card information.
Lesson learned.
Similar to the toll lanes on I395 and I95 allowing the swamp creatures of DC to nest in the VA countryside, toll lanes on I77 are pushing up from Charlotte to turn that portion of North Carolina into suburbs and exurbs for the banksters at BofA, First Union, and other financial institutions.
The Woods might be a bit far for an exurb, but not for vacation homes.
Eric,
I used to have a BofA card too. They offered an interest-free cash advance, so I took out $10,000. When the statement came, BofA had charged interest and fees, contrary to their written offer.
To maintain a paper trail (which phone calls don’t do), I disputed the interest and fees in writing. No response. Next month, after a second statement, I wrote again. No response. On my third letter, I also proactively copied BofA’s legal department. Again, no reply.
So locked in was BofA to its ‘phone service only’ model that it literally couldn’t produce a written reply to me, despite federal law requiring it to do so.
So I kept the $10,000, cut up the card, and didn’t pay a dime.
My account was turned over to a series of collection agencies. After a couple of years, one of them offered to settle for $3,000, which I accepted. But this produced $7,000 of income reported to the IRS for the written-off portion of the debt.
In retrospect, the only thing I would do differently is not to settle. Pay zero, and your gain from the written-off loan never gets reported to the IRS.
This is a satisfying double win: screw the bank and screw the government at the same time.
As for judgment liens which get recorded against real estate, upon selling I ‘accidentally’ transposed two numbers in my SSN. Episodic dyslexia, you know — it can strike without warning. The attorney’s judgment lien search turned up n-o-t-h-i-n-g. And the house sale proceeds reported to the IRS disappeared into the void …
In Australia, once a debt goes to a collection agency, that debt is legally and officially paid. That’s because the CA buys the debt at a reduced rate. Also if you ever deal with a CA, do so only in writing and with a contract, which the CA ignored. In my case a $600 phone debt on a phone I did not own was sent to a CA. I sent them 2 letters from the Banking Secrets Revealed Book, and the CA bombarded me with phone calls and messages. I never answered their calls or messages and a few months later the calls ceased. I paid nothing. I did have to file a police report on the phone bill and the police found in my favour.
Banks have a racket way better than the Mafia; at least if a Mafia boss somehow lost money the government wouldn’t bail him out, unlike the banksters in 2008. I wish I had a business where I could get money from the Fed for zero interest and then loan it out for double digit rates. Nice work if you can get it.
With fractional reserve lending, you don’t even have to get money from the Fed.
You borrow 100k to build a house. You put that money into a bank account. Depending on the current fractional reserve ratio, if there is one, (I don’t keep track of such things) they can loan out a multiple of that deposit. If the fractional reserve limit is 25%, they can loan out 400k. And that 400k they loan out also goes into a bank account, and then that bank can loan out 1600k. All because you borrowed 100k. So it ain’t just the fed printing money that’s a problem.