Well, my bank did it to me, figured it was coming.

[John Schmidt]

Got a notice they were upping the APR by almost 6%, has been single digit for years. They're blaming it on the "economy." The papers said I could opt out and pay off the balance at the original APR which I ended up doing. The card was my AOPA(Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc.) card which I've had for years, never been late or over limit, i.e., a perfect record. A year or so back, it was formerly under MNBA but was taken over by Bank of America. I also have one under Bk. of Amer. but that wasn't jacked up....yet! Here's the thing that PO'd me more than the increase...which I opted out of. When I called to go through the "opting out" process, they offered me a new card with a different name, the same single digit APR, everything identical to the AOPA card. All I had to do was transfer the balance over to the new card and pay a nice sized fee for doing so, but the interest on the balance transfer would be 1.99% for a year. After that it would revert to 9% fixed. I asked why don't they just leave it alone, let me keep the AOPA card at the same rate, don't change anything, instead of going to a new card where they'll be making less money on interest. She..the acct. rep., got a little flustered then got real testy with me, so I said "screw it, just opt me out of the old card with your new usurious rate." She agreed and I hung up. What a bunch of crap, the dummies lose money by switching me but I couldn't get them to admit to it. Don't really need the damn thing anyway, was just handy and I've had it for years. Oh well, the public can't fight the big corporations, all we can do is bend over and grab our ankles.

[Zorba]

Yep , taking advantage of the economy excuse to rip of the working man!

[Tonysax]

I sympathize, and were going to hear more and more of the same. Be responsible for yourself and yours. The big companies can't live without   being greedy. Start trying to stash away cash if you can and tighten your belt. No handouts . The storm will pass.

Tonysax

[Robert]

Thats just the attitude that they count on. fine Americans John, I canceled one card and haggled with another to get the rate back down. The current interest rate that is being charged to the banks is below 1% they got the bail out and now they turn around and charge me 14%, I don't think so. Not after all these years of telling us that a good credit rating was the basis of their rating system. This means that it purely arbitrary no basis in anything. The worse the credit the higher the interest. Same scenario they are loosing money so your the bank and this is happening to everyone, a friend of mine has American Express with a 35k limit now they called and the limit is down by 15k maybe even more. If we cannot do this with our credit cards how are we going to do this with our government? Also if you travel with a laptop It may be confiscated by the government and all your personal info will be looked into. The net regulations are being proposed now too so the government can turn off the Internet or any address plus much more in the new bill that Roosevelt is proposing. If you can restrict how the people communicate and what they see as our news does now then you are pretty much god.

[Probie (Scooter57)]

I have an AMEX Blue card, have had it for years and they have dropped my limit twice. If they up my rate next an don't  reduce if I call and tell them to, I'll just tell them to start the process to send it to collections cause I'm gonna default...

[Tropic traveler]

I hear you Stuffy!
BOA raised my interest rate so I called them & griped. They lowered it after transferring me to "the supervisor". This has all become a moot point as we have paid off all CCs except one & it's a 3.99% life of the balance transfer Amex card. I transferred a BOA loan that I took out to buy my parents a car with last year & it can't be changed. It will be paid off this summer, then it's NO MORE CC debt for us!
I saw this economoic slowdown coming last year & decided to clean up our finances. It has paid off for us as my income is down about 20% from just 3 years ago. Eating out a lot less, trimming telephone expenses both cell & landline, trimming car insurances & just living a more frugal lifestyle has allowed us to give the finger to the CC companies.
Also sold this truck>>>>


Then bought this truck & pocketed nearly $5K on the diff, all going to CC debt.>>>>>>>>>>>



Sold the Rocket>>>>>>>>>>


And bought Kim her Valk with a $3K difference pocketed there too.


Now that we have learned to do with less we can tell the CC companies to kiss our you know whats.
BTW, if you want to get even more pissed at the CC companies look what your cancelling does to your credit rating! Hopefully we can make them suffer back by NOT letting them make any interest from us!!

[big d]

Not to mention a $2.00 surcharge tacked on to your cell phone bill. It is going to pay for cell phones for wellfare recipients.

[solo1]

No problem with my credit union.  They didn't make any subprime loans and kept completely out of trouble, unlike banks.    My credit card max has never changed.  The APR is around 6% but I pay it off each month.

I can get a low interest loan anytime but I don't borrow money anymore. 

[Casper96]

John, RememberBamk of America is the Bank of Opprotunity......they were the first and only bank that I know of that was giving credit cards to illegals with no social security numbers, oh yeah and home loans too....Good be why someone that was never late and all with their card they want to close it and open a higher rate someone has to pay for their blunder of giving money to people that were here illegally. I will never do anything with bank of america ever. if they were the only ones left I would keep my money at home.

Oh and scooter can you email me that thing with the chick flipping the bird I love it. Thnks

and thank you for listening I will not complain now, except for the weather here is chicago, the only nice days are days I am working, well most of the time tonight they are calling for snow again......

[Tundra]

Tropic Traveler, You are ahead of the heard! I saw this over a year ago, we sold of "wants" and kept "needs". I'm sure glad my Valk didn't sell, I refused to negogiate on my price, now I'm stuck with it   We also paid off all credit cards last year (didn't cancel) We paid off our vehicles too, working on a plan to pay off the mortgage when BAM we both got laid off the same day in January. Needles to say we are certainly living more frugal now. Sure glad I prepared for this! This is a differant world than I grew up in, our government is running amuck, unchecked, too much control. When the "sheep" wake up It'll be too late. They won't know what hit 'em.

Solo1, You are a wise man who has made good decisions and you are in a good place!

[Jack]

Chase raised my WAMU card so I paid off and canceled.  F'em.

[John Schmidt]

I'm not really concerned with that at this point. I've been retired for a few years now and we're not planning on buying a new home, just bought a new car last year so don't need that either. Although the house is paid for, we have a small line of credit available on it that we use for emergencies if we can't pay for it up front with other funds. So far that hasn't amounted to much, had some expense with the hurricanes four years ago but not much else. And, the same bank has my wife's trust fund that more than covers it in case of her passing. It just blew me away when they offered a different card for a balance transfer, and it had exactly the same features and single digit APR. And, the interest for a year would be 1.99% on the transfer....how dumb can they be. I decided to not take it since they wanted a (quote) "small fee" to make the transfer. I said dump the card, at my age I don't need the big FICO anyway, mainly because I don't need anything. I could pay it off in one payment, but that dips into my investment fund and it's making money for me now which I'd lose, so I'll just keep my money and pay it off monthly, jacking up the amount substantially until they're history.

In closing, refer to Scooter's visual representation concering his sentiments to the banking industry....I second the motion. 

[Tropic traveler]

Thanks Tundra! I hope to be like Solo1 in the future, that is no loans needed. It is getting pretty bad when the banks don't trust a guy like John Schmidt & treat him badly as they did! I hope you guys can manage through the lean times & come out ahead when things settle down a bit. I'm very glad you decided not to sell your Valk. If you are like me your Valkyrie & the riding you do on it has become your main source of entertainment & a great stress reliever too.  
I guess maybe we should take the silver lining view to all this economic mess & the nasty fallout that hits us, kinda like a jolt to make us return to our conservative financial ways. I am guilty a bit of using the "easy money" that presented itself over the last few years for non essential wants. Making the moves we made last year has put us in pretty good shape right now. We have a son graduating HS & starting college this year so we need to stay financially ready. Our house mortgage will be the only debt we owe in a few more months & it is a VERY good loan, 4.38 fixed APR with 9 years to go only $534 a month.. I can do brake jobs in my driveway to make that payment if I lose my job!
We have some home fix up projects that we hope to tackle this year & next. We intend to pay cash as we go along NOT using the CCs! We will also build up the cash reserve a bit for any extra college expenses pop up that inevitably will.
Good luck to you guys & anyone else hit by the economic problems of late.  

[mr6pack]

the credit card industry is really screwing over the american people. especially, those of us who have used them for all of our lives and either paid them off each month or made our payments on time. the same happened to us, on them raising the interest and fees. they told me that i was a high risk because i had too much available credit. the worst ones to deal with are bank of america!!!  these people burn my a_ _ !!  because of these bank institutions giving credit to people who weren't credit worthy and abused their credit, they want the good guy to pick up slack and pay for their bad lending practices. my wife and i decided that it was time to give up the plastic. we cut up all of our cards, paid some off and are continuing to do so. we carry one card. it is called a debit card. plain and  simple. you don't have the cash, you just don't buy it.  beleive me, it feels good not using plastic and we don't miss it at all.     joe

[Ted_N]

Not the other way around.  The changed their name to the better known one.  So the bank that raised your rate is the same one you had before.  Most banks are raising rates and/or reducing limits since bank card bad debts are increasing. 

I'm doing the same thing others have listed.  I use the cards to get the rebates then go online every Saturday and pay them off.

[joker]

wow... i havent checked my rates. better do it soon. thanx for the heads up.

[Tundra]

If you are bothered by occasional or frequent constipation, look in the mirror and repeat the following phrase three times in succession when symptoms occur:
 
"My financial and personal well being are totally in the hands of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Geithner, Rahm Emmanual, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Al Gore"
 
If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, then you are probably destined to be backed up for the rest of your life.
 
There is no need to thank me  for this advice, I'm just doing a public service.
 

[John Schmidt]

Just copied and sent it to a very LIBERAL ignoramus that happens to be a relative. Thank goodness it's only by marriage, sure wouldn't claim the dumbass on my family tree. 

[Master Blaster]

Happened to me last year, Had a low rate "Whats in your wallet?" Capital One card for years, used it regular, and never carried a balance, and credit limit was I think $30,000.00.  Got my monthly bill and for some reason I checked the wad of junk they include in the envelope, and there was a slip saying they were going to double my intrest rate.  This was hidden among all the junk offers they stuff in there.  Even tough I never carried a balance, it pissed me off, and I called for an explanation.  Got some dufus that tried to give me a hard time, and said I could take it or leave it, but my rate was doubled, so I cancelled on the spot.   Wasnt two months untill they offered me a new card account with the same intrest as the old.  Told them to stick it.  Think its going to be the common way of doing business soon.

[SgtBunny]

Next month I will pay off my last credit card.  The only thing worse than the cc companies is the darn contractor that ran off with $30k of my money and did not finish my house.  He is the cause in my credit card debt.  He took off and filed bankruptcy, my lawyer said there was nothing he could do about it as the money he would charge would be more than what he could get back.

That's fine.  My plan is to do everything on a cash basis from now on as much as possible.