Fuck you, Fleet Credit!!!!

The BBQ Pit
1

This happened yesterday, and I have calmed down now, but yesterday I was so pissed I was shaking.

So my honey and I are going to get married in Vegas Thursday Feb 12. We are leaving Wednesday the 11th. So I figure on my Friday off, I would go to the bank and get a cash advance from one of my credit cards. I called the 800 number on the back, and found out my balance, and my amount of cash advance available.

So I cruise on down to the bank, hand the teller my credit card, and explain I want a cash advance. (I’ve never done this before, anyway.) She takes the card, calls various numbers, and then comes back and says it was denied! I was very confused.

So I call the 800 number again, and the woman who answered said that everything is fine, and implied that the teller did something wrong. Hmm. So we tried it again. Still came back denied. So I get on the phone again.

The new lady says you don;t have that much credit available! What do you mean, I ask. Not 15 minutes ago the woman said I had a balance of $1080 with $6100 credit available, with $2400 cash advance available. No, she says. You have a balance of $1080, with available credit of $119!

I am stunned. There must be some mistake. So she transfers me to the Security department. It seems I am not trustworthy anymore, since I tried to get a cash advance on my card. They have lowered my credit limit! Never mind that I recently paid off the entire card, never mind that I have had this card for 3 years, never mind that I always pay more than the minimum, on time, every month. Cash advances are too risky, he says! WTF???

I go into the bank, and these fuckwads embarrass the fuck out of me! I am so mad I could spit nails at these bastards. I realize it’s their credit card, but fuck! I shouldn’t get treated like slime, just because I wanted to use a service that they provide! How dare they do this!!!

So fuck you, Fleet. I will be paying this card off, and cutting it up. After I send a scathing letter to the president of the company. If this is how they treat loyal customers, they can just suck my asshole! Fuckers.

2

That’s fucked up. But cash advances are not a particularly good idea anyway.

Congrats on the nuptials. I always wanted to go to Vegas. Maybe I should convince someone to marry me.

3

If I may suggest Lake Tahoe (where I wed my bride)

I had the same problem with Fleet (diif situation). Dump them. We went Bank One and never had a problem.

Just be glad you didn’t wait till getting to Vegas before trying to get the cash. Of course, if you have a knack for verbage, you can use this as leverage to get a better higher limit and better interest rate. This works better if you can play them off another lender, but if you tell them you’re now shopping rates and posting to public boards, they tend to do what they can to keep you.

(Yes, I speak from experience)

4

I wouldn’t count on it with Fleet. I had a card with them for several years, usually carrying a moderate balance so they were getting some interest for their trouble. When I called to ask them to waive the $20 annual fee they wouldn’t do it, even when I told them I’d cancel the card if they didn’t. So I cancelled the card.

5

Hi Dolores! I’m sorry to hear about your credit card troubles.

Unfortunately I have no advice to offer in this situation, credit card companies love to be contradictory. The only thing I can think of is to keep going higher. Whenever I know I am in the right, and a customer service representative refuses to help me, I ask to speak to their supervisors, and so on. I would think you would eventually find someone that would be able to help you.

~J

6

Not exactly legal, but if you’ve got to have that cash for your trip, and don’t plan to shaft the company… Do you know anyone with a Merchant account? Maybe they could be persuaded to ‘sell’ you something that just happens to cost the amount of the cash advance you need?

7

Credit Card companies HATE people who pay on time, and even pay a bit extra. They want people who ring up massive debt, pay the absolute minimum, and appreciate it even more if you’re late with payments. Not only do they get to wack you with extra fees for paying late, but they get to raise the % rate you owe on money you already spent. Whether you’re paying the money back or not, it goes on the positive sign of their “profit” sheet. It may not be money they HAVE, but it’s money they can report to their stockholders that they’re gonna get!

I’ve had the same issue as someone else posted, where I had been told, “No minimum fee, EVER.” About 5 years after having the card, and paying the entire amount faithfully each month, I saw an annual fee on my bill. I called, and a very nice lady waived the fee. The following year, same happened. Annual fee. Called and got a snotty young (or so he sounded) man who told me he couldn’t (read, wouldn’t) waive the fee. I told him that the company had 2 choices… Waive the fee or cancel the card. Now, this was a Shell Gas card, and I had over $40 worth of free gas built up. This b-stard said, “Fine! I just canceled your card.” When I told him I was not cancelling it until I had spent my gas money, he informed me that he had already cancelled it (in 2 seconds, mind you, on that same computer they all say runs so slow they can’t help you quickly) and if I wanted to get it back, I’d have to re-apply for a new card, complete with approval process, fees, and such.

Needless to say, my language was not appropriate. I wrote (USPS - not e-mail) to the head of the company, and received dead silence for my report.

I do a ton of research on banks before doing business with them now. There’s a small bank in the NJ, PA area called PNC that’s been good to me, and Sovereign’s not bad, so long as you READ and AGREE with their fine print…

8

Interesting comments because I found Bank One to be one of the worst, at least when I had one of their credit cards in the mid-90s. An ex of mine worked for them and needed to meet her quota so I got a CC from her. Holy freakin shit, did they ever slap on extra charges to my account. It seemed like everything I did with the card carried some extra charge.

Sorry but I feel the need for a CC rant…please…forgive…me!

I hate CCs. It is unbelievable how easy it is for people to ruin their credit history with those damn things. High schools need to have a mandatory class called something like “Real world things you must know” which can include topics like, “Don’t borrow money at 19.99% interest to buy shit you’ll forget about in 3 days but pay interest on for the next 10 to 20 years” OK, long topic but kids need to learn this. Hell, include it as 5 minutes of lecture each morning in homeroom. Yes, I am saying all of this as a former CC addict who ran up massive bills while in college so I’m not putting myself above anyone.

To quote the “Hillbilly Credit Card”

Spend money you haven’t earned,
To buy things you don’t need
To impress people you don’t like

For this I give you credit!
Sorry, one more thing. The dumbass commercials where people are thrilled because they pay off their CC debt with home equity loans are really bad. I’d wager that 90% of people who actually do this will just run the CCs back up and be much worse off. I know plenty of people who have done this and I always want to smack them with a clue stick when they complain about having no money.

OK, I’m going to stop now and shoot some Nyquil before I get into the “A car is NOT an investment” rant.

9

About 8 or 9 years ago, Fleet bought the bank that issued my Visa card and sent me a replacement Fleet Visa card. They then abruptly raised my APR from 12.9% to 24.9%! Since I was pretty sure I had a good credit record, I called them up to complain. They refused to budge. I immediately transferred the balance and cancelled the card. I haven’t done business with Fleet since, and don’t intend to.