Hello there! New to the forum, though I have been reading topics like crazy the past few days. So much info to take in!
Here's my deal: I've had a (then Providian, now) WaMu CC for the past seven years. To tell you the truth, I don't know what my original CL or APR were. CL was 2630. I've had some late payments and overlimit fees in the past (including 1 late payment in March), and usualy had very high UTL on it. Because of these issues, my APR went up and up and up. When I had that late payment in March, it went to 31.49%. That's when I got disgusted with myself. I paid it off in full, they almost immediately gave me a CL increase - now it's 4130. I did end up using it a bit after that, but I'm around $300 on it. They then started badgering me about balance transfers (as if I would transfer something to a card that is at 31.49%!) and offered me a 1% cash reward program.
I decided to call them and see if I could get my APR lowered. I called, spoke pleasantly, told them that I would love to use the card more but the AF ($59, which I paid in July) and the APR were too prohibitive for me to do so. I was told the party line about they want to build long term customers, blah blah blah, they regularly review accounts and therefore, I do not need to ask them about lowering my APR because they will notify me automatically when they can lower the rate. Yeah, suuuuuure. SO then I ask "What's regularly? Every month? Three months? Six months? A year?" She could not answer my questions, reiterated that she couldn't do anything , etc. I told her I would have to look for a better deal somewhere else, but still nothing. That was the end of that call.
I was ticked and immediately applied for a CC with my CU with a 12.9% APR, no annual fee, no balance transfer fees and a CL of $2500. And was approved!
I tried calling WaMu a few days later, basically saying the same thing. When I was told the "we review regularly" schtick, I asked to speak to her supervisor. I then went through the whole spiel again but got the same party line from him.
So, where do I go from here? Have people had success getting their APR lowered from WaMu? If so, what number did they call? Am I not saying the right things? It's so hard for me to call these places - it makes me feel ill! Perhaps I'm not coming off forceful enough. Should I have asked for someone even higher?
I appreciate any advice.
Tess
