OK, I'm 'resurrecting' this old thread to give a little closure to those who were kind enough to offer advice.
The $79 AF finally posted over the weekend, and as much as I really don't enjoy dealing with CSRs I 'ripped off the bandaid' and made the phone call.
I was fortunate enough to get a U.S. based CSR, who answered with her name and title of "Customer Service Supervisor". I don't know if all CSRs are now referred to as 'supervisors' or if I just got lucky.
I asked right away if the account could be 'upgraded' to a regular QuickSilver, and she struck that down immediately without a second thought. For what it's worth, she was very, very pleasant, and after placing me on hold for a few minutes she came back and told me there were no 'offers' to waive the fee altogether, however she could credit back half of it. I held my nose, and accepted.
After completing a few keystrokes, she told me I would be able to view the credit online in a couple of days (yada, yada). In closing, I asked her if there was any 'hope' for this account to ever be eligible for an upgrade to do away with the AF completely, being that it is 8 years old this month. She emphatically told me to keep calling in, that the eligibility could change at any time. I thanked her, and we hung up.
I could have played the "I want to close it" game - yet again - and been transferred to someone in retention and tried my luck there, but I guess I just don't have the 'will' anymore. Actually, last month I did a secure chat hoping for some luck there, and when I mentioned closing the account the chat CSR promptly offered to do it for me, going so far as to say "Once the account is closed, it is final and can't be reopened. Do I have your permission to proceed?" I stopped him at that point (obviously he called my bluff) and told him I wanted a few more weeks to think about it, and that was the end of the chat. There's also my positive, but fruitless experience with a very nice lady at one of the backdoor numbers, which I detail above.
Now that we have the ability to 'merge' accounts, that's always an option for next year. This account, a QuickSilver One Mastercard, started off as an Orchard Bank account with a SL of $300, and over the years I've worked it up to a CL of $2920, with the most significant CLIs being over the last two years. (My very first CLI when the card was still Orchard was for $20, thus the odd CL now). Also worth mentioning is the account has an APR of 14.9%, which is the lowest in my portfolio. My four month old QuickSilver Visa Signature has a CL of $7K at 17.9% APR, so it's not that far off, and I generally PIF on all accounts anyway, unless there's a 0% promo.
Hopefully next Spring when my last two 'baddies' age off I'll be offered a card with a more attractive APR; although I don't generally carry a balance it's nice to know if I ever do I won't get 'reamed'. Until then I'm in good shape, and in the 'big picture' paying $39.50 to retain a $2920 CL isn't the worst I've ever done.
Big thanks to all who gave input on this; it's folks like you that make this forum worth coming to. I've already learned a ton, and I plan to stick around a while longer so I can continue 'fine tuning' my finances, as well as contribute my own data points when I can. 
@UncleB wrote:OK, I'm 'resurrecting' this old thread to give a little closure to those who were kind enough to offer advice.
The $79 AF finally posted over the weekend, and as much as I really don't enjoy dealing with CSRs I 'ripped off the bandaid' and made the phone call.
I was fortunate enough to get a U.S. based CSR, who answered with her name and title of "Customer Service Supervisor". I don't know if all CSRs are now referred to as 'supervisors' or if I just got lucky.
I asked right away if the account could be 'upgraded' to a regular QuickSilver, and she struck that down immediately without a second thought. For what it's worth, she was very, very pleasant, and after placing me on hold for a few minutes she came back and told me there were no 'offers' to waive the fee altogether, however she could credit back half of it. I held my nose, and accepted.
After completing a few keystrokes, she told me I would be able to view the credit online in a couple of days (yada, yada). In closing, I asked her if there was any 'hope' for this account to ever be eligible for an upgrade to do away with the AF completely, being that it is 8 years old this month. She emphatically told me to keep calling in, that the eligibility could change at any time. I thanked her, and we hung up.
I could have played the "I want to close it" game - yet again - and been transferred to someone in retention and tried my luck there, but I guess I just don't have the 'will' anymore. Actually, last month I did a secure chat hoping for some luck there, and when I mentioned closing the account the chat CSR promptly offered to do it for me, going so far as to say "Once the account is closed, it is final and can't be reopened. Do I have your permission to proceed?" I stopped him at that point (obviously he called my bluff) and told him I wanted a few more weeks to think about it, and that was the end of the chat. There's also my positive, but fruitless experience with a very nice lady at one of the backdoor numbers, which I detail above.
Now that we have the ability to 'merge' accounts, that's always an option for next year. This account, a QuickSilver One Mastercard, started off as an Orchard Bank account with a SL of $300, and over the years I've worked it up to a CL of $2920, with the most significant CLIs being over the last two years. (My very first CLI when the card was still Orchard was for $20, thus the odd CL now). Also worth mentioning is the account has an APR of 14.9%, which is the lowest in my portfolio. My four month old QuickSilver Visa Signature has a CL of $7K at 17.9% APR, so it's not that far off, and I generally PIF on all accounts anyway, unless there's a 0% promo.
Hopefully next Spring when my last two 'baddies' age off I'll be offered a card with a more attractive APR; although I don't generally carry a balance it's nice to know if I ever do I won't get 'reamed'. Until then I'm in good shape, and in the 'big picture' paying $39.50 to retain a $2920 CL isn't the worst I've ever done.
Big thanks to all who gave input on this; it's folks like you that make this forum worth coming to. I've already learned a ton, and I plan to stick around a while longer so I can continue 'fine tuning' my finances, as well as contribute my own data points when I can.
My QS1 was from Orchard and merged that into my QS no AF last night...I less card and no AF, that is great!!
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:OK, I'm 'resurrecting' this old thread to give a little closure to those who were kind enough to offer advice.
The $79 AF finally posted over the weekend, and as much as I really don't enjoy dealing with CSRs I 'ripped off the bandaid' and made the phone call.
I was fortunate enough to get a U.S. based CSR, who answered with her name and title of "Customer Service Supervisor". I don't know if all CSRs are now referred to as 'supervisors' or if I just got lucky.
I asked right away if the account could be 'upgraded' to a regular QuickSilver, and she struck that down immediately without a second thought. For what it's worth, she was very, very pleasant, and after placing me on hold for a few minutes she came back and told me there were no 'offers' to waive the fee altogether, however she could credit back half of it. I held my nose, and accepted.
After completing a few keystrokes, she told me I would be able to view the credit online in a couple of days (yada, yada). In closing, I asked her if there was any 'hope' for this account to ever be eligible for an upgrade to do away with the AF completely, being that it is 8 years old this month. She emphatically told me to keep calling in, that the eligibility could change at any time. I thanked her, and we hung up.
I could have played the "I want to close it" game - yet again - and been transferred to someone in retention and tried my luck there, but I guess I just don't have the 'will' anymore. Actually, last month I did a secure chat hoping for some luck there, and when I mentioned closing the account the chat CSR promptly offered to do it for me, going so far as to say "Once the account is closed, it is final and can't be reopened. Do I have your permission to proceed?" I stopped him at that point (obviously he called my bluff) and told him I wanted a few more weeks to think about it, and that was the end of the chat. There's also my positive, but fruitless experience with a very nice lady at one of the backdoor numbers, which I detail above.
Now that we have the ability to 'merge' accounts, that's always an option for next year. This account, a QuickSilver One Mastercard, started off as an Orchard Bank account with a SL of $300, and over the years I've worked it up to a CL of $2920, with the most significant CLIs being over the last two years. (My very first CLI when the card was still Orchard was for $20, thus the odd CL now). Also worth mentioning is the account has an APR of 14.9%, which is the lowest in my portfolio. My four month old QuickSilver Visa Signature has a CL of $7K at 17.9% APR, so it's not that far off, and I generally PIF on all accounts anyway, unless there's a 0% promo.
Hopefully next Spring when my last two 'baddies' age off I'll be offered a card with a more attractive APR; although I don't generally carry a balance it's nice to know if I ever do I won't get 'reamed'. Until then I'm in good shape, and in the 'big picture' paying $39.50 to retain a $2920 CL isn't the worst I've ever done.
Big thanks to all who gave input on this; it's folks like you that make this forum worth coming to. I've already learned a ton, and I plan to stick around a while longer so I can continue 'fine tuning' my finances, as well as contribute my own data points when I can.
My QS1 was from Orchard and merged that into my QS no AF last night...I less card and no AF, that is great!!
It's awesome to know that the card being a former 'Orchard' doesn't cause a problem with merging!
Since I just paid the fee, I'll probably see about getting another CLI or two before doing the merge. The card I'll be merging into has a slightly higher APR, but but it doesn't have an annual fee, so in my case it'll be worth it. 
@norhplatter wrote:i had two cap one cards with AF and talked to reps through chat who said i wasn't eligible to go to none-AF. So I emailed the CEO and had a return call. Both cards had the AF permanently deleted.
It seems my 'mistake' was calling a backdoor number instead of doing the email. The folks who go the email route tend to get results. 