Comments on: Someone Who Was Successful at Getting a Promotional APR Reinstated

By: D.A. Slinkard

D.A. Slinkard — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:52:16 +0000

This is an awesome site and I am definitely adding it to my blogroll. I am in the ad hoc stage of where you are with your financial diary.

I think it is tremendous what you have been able to accomplish and I hope my wife and I are able to say the same things.

If you would like, feel free to add me to your blogroll.

Sincerely,

Midwestern too (Missouri)

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:11:34 +0000

I’m glad someone was able to get something out of Chase. I had a problem getting on the website to pay my bill (the only thing I did wrong was waiting until the last minute) and I could not get on. It kept telling me that I needed to respond to an email, which I never got. I couldn’t find the credit card to call the 800 number, and I was on “paper-free” billing so there was no bill to refer to. I ended up paying the next day on my work computer (funny enough I got the email that time…) but it was one day late. Chase withdrew my promotional rate and raised it up to 12.99!!!! I even sent a very similar letter to the one mentioned, and I sent it certified mail. Chase replied, basically, “no way, Jose”. Needless to say I transfered most of my balance and am about to pay off the remainder. I think they were not happy that I had paid down a substantial amount of my debt.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:46:55 +0000

That’s a great letter. Promotional APR’s are great, and getting harder to find, or keep with the downturn. If you’ve got it protect it!

By: Claire

Claire — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:39:34 +0000

I just started reading the blog and you are so positive. Keep up the good work. It keeps me motivated!

By: MrPlasectomy

MrPlasectomy — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:17:00 +0000

I have to agree we are doing the same thing to. Using the 0% promotional offer on some of the cards to limit the amount of finance charges. Nothing more disheartening knowing that the minimum payment you make to a card gets eaten up by that finance charge.

We also have a 3.99% for life card that we utilized and we stay on top of that one as well.

I would highly advise using your cell phone calender, if you have a cell phone, to act as a reminder of the credit card bill due date. This has saved my butt a few times over the last year. Juggling several is a nightmare.

By: Starving Artist

Starving Artist — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:02:26 +0000

Hey Tricia, you’re doing the right thing by going for the lower rate. Going for the lower rate was one of the biggest boons to help get me out of debt. Also, when I made a payment mistake, I was able to get the company to give me back my 0% APR. They were pretty reasonable. I pretty routinely open a new 0% APR card to float my school loans until my company pays me the money back (I usually have to float the loans for 4-5 months). Despite the frequent balance transfers and opening/closing of cards, I still have a credit score somewhere around 775. I avoid interest like the plague, these days. Good luck!