Merry Christmas, Citibank

by Francine on December 25, 2009

Maybe you will be smarter in 2010 than you are in 2009. This year,
during the worst financial times of my adult life, I managed to pay
off all your cards (three) and asked for my interest on the oldest
one, the American Airlines Platinum, to be reduced from 29.99%
interest to something reasonable. I never understood why you raised it
in the first place, since I never paid late or defaulted, except that
you were having more trouble that I was and wanted to protect your
bonuses and your “shareholder value.”

Oh, and your lobbyists own the Congress, so you thought you would
raise it before the regulations went into effect. In short, your
small print, transparent papered correspondence to me basically said
you raised it BECAUSE YOU COULD.

In a secure email, you said no, that the card was currently in
default. I looked, and sure enough, I had a $.50 balance. I’m not
sure where that even came from, because I paid the entire card off
months ago. You probably charged me a fee for responding to my email.

Do you really want me to send you a check for $.50? I have a $10
credit on one of my other cards, and you could just help me by
transferring $.50 to that account. Also, I try to zero these cards
out every month, I never use them; yet they still come out with fees
that put me in the default status because I think the bills are paid
since I don’t use the cards. Then they have these little balances on
them that I never see.

In the spirit of Christmas, how can we fix this? If I close the
accounts, you ding my credit. If I use the cards you ding my credit.
You are the only people charging me 29.9% interest, which is why I
never use your cards. Is that what you want? Does that serve you any
better than it serves me? Use your head. Be a little more tolerant
and you will get more business, not less.

Merry Christmas. Perhaps a moment of contemplation is in order for
you before the new year.

Posted via email from Not Really Stealthmode

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  • http://www.twitter.com/kriscobbaert k

    The people behind those banks voted for change like so many others, but they knew what the outcome would be.

    Something really disruptive needed to come along for them to change.
    That something happened early 2009.
    But they got bailed out even though as a group they're bigger than most governments around the world.
    I'm not saying that was a bad thing to do, but it came without the right kind of regulation.

    Now about that 29.9%
    The government gave those banks a zero % interest rate.
    Without regulation that's like telling them to keep doing what they're doing.
    The difference pays for their bonusses.
    And whatever is left goes to the shareholders.
    The ROI needs to remain as high as it used to be, so when they lower that 29.9%, they will get it from somewhere else.

    But wait a second, that's a ROI on whose money?
    Next time the govern. ought to go direct.
    What's holding them back is not the 'series of tubes' , it's those who already know what they outcome will be.

    Not trying to spoil to party but we've come full circle.

  • http://www.stealthmode.com hardaway

    I plan to call out the banking system all this year. Last year I took
    on health care. I never succeed, but it feels good to be an activist.

  • voceman

    Years ago Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) almost cost me a mortgage over 35 cents due. Especially comical because I had carried a positive value for months and cashed that in but left 35 cents to be paid. It was years before they got a dollar from me and I still avoid the stores even though they are now owned by Sears. You would think that when you are carrying less than a dollar anyone could assume that some rounding error was more likely than any deliberate action, certainly not a cause for penalty. Because you can is no way to treat customers.

  • http://www.stealthmode.com hardaway

    Exactly, and that's why I'm going to get vocal.

  • wangshumei

    In the spirit of Christmas, howuggs outlet can we fix this? If I close the
    accounts, you ding my credit. If I use the cards you ding my credit.
    You are the only people charging me 29.9% interest, which is why I
    never use your cards. Is that what you want? Does that serve you any
    better than it serves me? Use your head.

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