An Offer I CAN Refuse
April 30, 2006
I have started recieving credit card offers that have actual cards in them. They want you to call and activate it. Problem is I never asked for the card and wouldn’t use it because the paper work is confusing at best and interest rate is high as a kite.
I did stop to wonder though about those who choose to use and activate the card. Do they realize they will end up paying a lot for the “honor” of recieving it?
Another one I recieve is the secured credit cards. The ones that act like a checking account. You have to put money on it before you can use it and then you can only use up to the amount you have on it. Once again I never asked to recieve them, but I get them anyway.
Number of Credit Card Offers Reached Billions
April 29, 2006
The numbers are in and in the year of 2005 more than six billion credit card offers were mailed to consumers. Yes billion. That’s a lot of paper.
I find this ridiculous like all junk mail. Don’t they think that if you or I wanted a credit card from them, the phone and/or internet is close at hand. We don’t need ten offers sent to us a week.
They know this of course but they will keep sending to tempt you. Someone I know finally got her credit cards all cleared up and was home free. Then she recieved an offer too good to be through and even with our objections ringing in her ears she has signed up for and recieved her pretty new life destroying card.
Deceptive Credit Cards and Companies
April 29, 2006
There is another credit card scam going around and this one comes directly from the company. First it’s not actually a credit card that can be used to purchase anything you want. You can only purchase items from the companies catalog.
Second, it comes unsolicited to your home and tells you in the same line to call and activate the card AND to call and cancel. If it’s not activated why are you calling to cancel?
The wording in the papers sent to you are very confusing and many have sent in complaints due to the fraudulent letters. Some have called their Attorney General because after they signed up they were later charged $200 for not using the card within the first 10 days. If that alone doesn’t show you something is just a bit weird with this credit card then gullibe is the name.
Home Depot Card Card Woes
April 28, 2006
Home Depot is going to pay back $672,000 to consumers and state officials due lawsuits over their store credit cards. More than 8,000 shoppers of the retail store says that they were unfairly charged higher interest rates without warning.
Home Depot recently decided to settle, probably in hopes that it will eventually all just go away.
A Flood Of Credit Card Offers
April 28, 2006
We usually see a lot of credit card offers letting us know were pre-approved and some other non-sense but now there being sent in even larger quantities than before. More than 5.2 billion were sent to consumers last year and the number has already jumped by 15% and the year isn’t half over yet.
If you want to stop or at least lower the volume of these mail and your headaches try to opt out of recieving the offers. This can easily be done but most consumers don’t seem to know about it.
Opt Out - 1-888-5-OPTOUT
Sky’s the Limit
April 26, 2006
I recently added up all of my credit limits (not my debt…that’s not so bad) but basically my potential debt if I were to, say, go to Vegas, go on a shopping spree and max out all of my credit cards. The total was frightening! Especially since I was three days away from getting on a plane to go to Vegas!
It’s easy to forget, when opening credit cards or just keeping them over the years, the total credit limit that accrues. But what happens if you keep a balance on each card. That could really add up and that’s when your debt becomes unmanageable. My sister told me to rip them all up. “You know yourself. You’ll get some wild idea and go to Paris. Not the casino. The city.” She might be right. My financial advisor (yes, I have one…which is probably why they are all not maxed out right now) gave me a bit more realistic advise. He told me to take one care…one with a reasonably low limit. And to spend wisely, even when intoxicated, which is probably easier said than done when considering the location.
I made it out of Vegas without entering bankrupcy. But as for going to Paris…
Sucked in again
April 24, 2006
Yup, I got sucked in again. I had been doing so good. I had all of my credit card debt paid off and hadn’t opened a new card in what seemed like ages. But then, in a moment of shoe-shopping-induced weakness (feel free to read any of my posts on the High Heel Blog) I was asked if I wanted to open up a Nordstrom VISA account. And, I would be sent a $20 gift certificate. Seemed cost effective, right? Spend $100, get $20–good deal, right? Plus future points and incentives…who could resist?
Perhaps the best part was when the sales associate handed me the card and told me that I had no credit limit. “Your credit is so good that you have no limit” is what I think she said. I immediately called my mom. “Mom, Nordstroms seems to think that I can impose a limit upon myself. Nordstroms is sorely mistaken,” I told her.
Here’s the thing–I’m good about credit card debt. I tend to pay my balances and keep it all in check. But I also know that one or two bad months (or a really hellacious couple of weeks) could knock me way off track. My sister told me to cut it up…
But of course I haven’t. I just mind find some shoes that I like.
College Students Out Highschoolers In
April 23, 2006
Credit card companies have been dishing out their plastic to college students for years. Their young and sometimes stupid and careless with money and looked upon as easy pickings when it comes to interest rates and other such terms they know nothing about.
Now it seems that these caring companies are going after an even younger crowd. Highschoolers. Eighteen year old high school students are having credit cards before they even graduate and the number is increasing. The biggest problem is in the past students needed a parent to sign on the dotted line, but that has long since been tossed by credit card companies.
A survery shows that one third of highschool seniors are already using credit cards but the real disturbing news came from an even younger age. Kids only 13 to 14 years old are also on the rise when it comes to having credit cards. Experts say most kids and teens are fine until they get to college. That is where everything usually spirals out of control for way to many of those young adults.
Their Credit Becomes Your Debt
April 23, 2006
If you have a credit card then you might be aware that you can add another person onto your account as an authorized user. They can use the card like you can and purchase anything they want to. In the end however you are responsible for paying off the card since your the primary cardholder. There is no application to fill out.
The other way to add someone is for them to fill out and application to get on your credit card account. This makes them a joint cardholder. They can make purchases but they share the balance. They are just as responsible to pay it off as you are.
I am talking about the two differences because you should know your rights as a credit card holder. Let’s say you are just an authorized user and the primary card holder dies. An unscrupulous debt collector could then try to make you pay back the debt saying that since the deceased isn’t here to pay it back then the responsibility is yours. It is not. It is only your problem if it was a joint account.
This is also a warning for the living credit card holder friends and even family can leave you in a bind by running up the card you share with them and then leaving you stuck with the huge bill.
Credit Card Throw Away Rewards
April 22, 2006
A lot of credit cards offer rewards and many consumers get them for just that reason. You can get cashback, airmiles, products and more. However a recent survery has shown that a huge amount of card holders don’t even bother to use or get their rewards.
I wonder if people just don’t feel like going through the extra steps to collect their rewards. But then I have to wonder why they got those cards in the first place. Credit card companies makes millions and sometimes billions from you with late fees, and interest rates among other things. So why on earth would people turn down most of all their cashback rewards?
