I fired BoA last evening...

[Anonymous]

History - I have had my TL with BoA since 1998.  Current CL of $25,000.  Anyway, the APR used to be fixed at 6%.  I received the rate jack notice a while back - new rate would be variable, @13%.  I always PIF.

Over the past few weeks, I have made several calls to BoA asking if I can keep my low APR.  No, Ms Scout, you cannot keep your low APR even though your credit report is great.  The current economic climate, blah, blah.  So, I made up my mind last night to call and request the old APR of 6% or close the account.  No luck.  Sorry to see you leave Ms Scout, and would you like to apply for a different CC?  No.  Bye, and thank you.

I still have plenty of available credit, and my Amex rate jack from last November has already been lowered to the old rate.  None of my other card issuers are jacking up my rates:  Citi, Discover, and Chase. 

So, goodbye BoA.  I will not miss you or your APR.   The way I look at it, one less CC account to keep track of.

[Itsmeagain]

I see by your scores that you can make such decisions without regard for the consequences, but why didn't you just SD the card until they come to their senses?

Just curious.

[Watchmann]

I don't get it.  Other than making you feel good for having the last word what did you gain?  You should have just kept the card until things settle down.  Everything is in a state of flux right now, and in that kind of environment you need to keep your head down and your powder dry until everything is sorted out.  You PIF, so even if the rate was a million % it has no effect on you.  Losing a $25k CL to stand on principal is an expensive purchase, imo. 

[Anonymous]

I was initially just going to sock drawer the account.  But, given how aggressively BoA has been raising APRs and slashing CLs, I did not want to give them the chance to (1) cut my CL or (2) close the account due to inactivity.  

Anyway, I did not agree with the rate jack.  The card was used often and PIF.  BoA made a lot of money on the account - just not in interest charges.

I will refrain from having any sort of credit relationship with BoA in the future.

[Anonymous]

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@Watchmann wrote:
I don't get it.  Other than making you feel good for having the last word what did you gain?  You should have just kept the card until things settle down.  Everything is in a state of flux right now, and in that kind of environment you need to keep your head down and your powder dry until everything is sorted out.  You PIF, so even if the rate was a million % it has no effect on you.  Losing a $25k CL to stand on principal is an expensive purchase, imo. 

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Watchmann,

Not trying to have the last word.  Just decided that I no longer wanted to give my CC business to BoA.  BoA, as a banking institution, is in deep &%*(.  I am choosing to NOT do business with them.

Simple as that.  I have several other large CLs.  Don't need BoA.

[slipp3ry]

Good for you.  I did a similar thing to Capital One a year or so ago.  They jacked up my APR almost double (7% to 13 or 14%) and I paid it off that month and promptly closed it.  I called them to let them know why I was cancelling my card, so I did get a little satisfaction of "getting the last word".  I don't really care what effect it had on my credit score, I didn't want to stand by and do nothing while they treated me poorly.

I won't be a slave to an arbitrary credit number.  If these behemoth companies choose to flex their muscles, I choose to never do business with them again.

[athensguy]

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@slipp3ry wrote:

Good for you.  I did a similar thing to Capital One a year or so ago.  They jacked up my APR almost double (7% to 13 or 14%) and I paid it off that month and promptly closed it.  I called them to let them know why I was cancelling my card, so I did get a little satisfaction of "getting the last word".  I don't really care what effect it had on my credit score, I didn't want to stand by and do nothing while they treated me poorly.

I won't be a slave to an arbitrary credit number.  If these behemoth companies choose to flex their muscles, I choose to never do business with them again.

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If the ratejacks were isolated incidents, this would be a good tactic, but unfortunately, they are widespread and you could end up with no cards if you opt out of every card that gives you a ratejack.

[Anonymous]

Good for you, if enough people refuse to take this BS then they will have to rethink their policy. State Farm tried to scr*w me in the '70s, I fired them and haven't dealt with them since nor will I ever.

BOA and other banks are burning bridges on good customers they may never get back. They're borrowing money at less then 1% and loan sharking it out via CC's at 17% -- 25%, plus getting another 3%-5% on the front end from the merchants. It may not be fair or moral, but it's one h*ll of a return on investment for them.

Unless that account was your oldest by far, it won't do much age damage when it drops off in 10 years. I have a 4-1/2 year old Cap1 account I'm getting ready to kick to the curb. After running it through my accounts spreadsheet I see that it will only drop my TU AoA from 13.14yrs to 12.94yrs when it drops off in ten years, that's including all of my closed accounts dropping off as well.

[My2cents]

Do CCC really get 3 to 5% from merchants when we swipe our cards?  I always wondered how much they got.

H*ll that's better than my2cents

[Anonymous]

Congrats! We need to start letting these CCC's know they need us more than we need them. With your scores and your history I would do whatever it takes to keep you as a customer. Now they lost you to a competitor.