Sub-prime cards suck!

[Anonymous]

Well I got a letter from Tribute about my Gold MC stating that they were going to impose a monthly maintenance fee on my account starting Nov 1. So I called to see if I could get it waived. They said no. I said waive it or cancel my card. They offered to waive it for 1 month lol. I closed the account. It won't hurt me as it was only for $350 and had a 0 balance for the last 4 billing cycles. My CLIs from AMEX more than make up for this.

It feels so good to tell a sub-prime card to pound sand when they won't budge and try to gouge you. This was the second sub-prime card I've canceled in the last month. I only have 1 left.....an HSBC platinum MC with a $300 limit. I'm hoping they give me a bump to 2k or more and waive the $39 fee so I don't have to cancel them too. As a side note I also got applications from Crap 1 for a platinum card and from Fidelity for their BoA Visa today......

[Anonymous]

Good for you for telling them where to shove their monthly fee!

I can't wait for the day when I have nothing but prime cards and I can tell Cap1 and Household Bank to kiss my arse! Luckily though, I managed to get cards with them respectively that have no annual fees and semi-decent interest rates (16% and 15%).

::sigh::

I want an AmEx...

[Anonymous]

I've got 3 (1 corporate) and I love mine. I'm waiting until I can apply for a Chase, Citi and BoA card next year. I've got 6 new accounts this year even though I close 2 of them already. By April I will have my new house and will start applying with them....probably a Home Depot one from Citi and maybe a United card from Chase along with that Fidelity Visa from BoA.

It seemed like it was going to take FOREVER to get to this point but it was really only about 4 months. Keep your chin up, you will get there too!

[Anonymous]

I know, it seems like I have been at this forever but in reality it has only been 6 weeks. In that time my scores have gone from EQ 610 to EQ 637 and EX 585 to EX 633. TU is at 580 but I still have not updated...

I would like to app for a store card soon but I can't find anyone in SC who exclusively pulls EX, because EQ has too many inqs (for my liking) already and I already have another inq planned for them in a few months...

I know Time is Fico's best friend, I am just so impatient! Sorry didn't mean to steal your thread with my self-pity

[indyhotmama]

I canceled my card yesterday. $500 limit, never even used it. I received the same letter and called them. They offered to waive the fee but I said no. The CSR told me the fee had to be assessed because it helped to pay the maintenance cost of my card. What the heck?!!???!! I said no thank you. It is showing closed when I log in. I printed the info just in case.

[Anonymous]

I'm closing my HSBC in Feb if they don't raise the limit AND delete the whole 59 AF. Already tried to close it and they took my measly limit from 300 to 500. It is one of my lowest cards besides store card limits.

[Anonymous]

Talking only about the Chase cards ... I have a platinum card with them and they are my *ONLY* creditor that reviews my credit history with soft pulls and adjusts my interest rate depending on what they see. They actively review all accounts for credit problems which may or may not arise. Since the card is variable rate they can elect with notification of course to raise your interest rate depending on what they find in their account reviews. If you use your credit cards expect to have your interest rate adjusted by these folks and if you carry a balance expect to see your monthly payments rise sharply during these rate increases. It has also been my experience with them that rates always go up during reviews and never down, you have to call for those. In my case each time they do this rate increase I have to call the credit department and after a manual review of a new soft pull they've reverted the APR increase, but what a hassle. I've since PIF my Chase account and sock drawered the card. This is my personal experience with Chase, they are a great CCC I just have a difference of opinion on how they interact with their account holders. By far the best two cards I have are an AMEX Plat Optima and a BofA Plat card. If you can pay your bills faithfully and aren't a *needy* customer with CLIs these guys routinely review with CLIs and APR offers. Again just my personal experience.

- AZQ

[Anonymous]

hey BAM  I have chase and I HATE them!!!!  good move  a paid for use card!! They can pound dirt

[Anonymous]

Everybody has an issue with some bank. I don't really plan on carrying a balance on any of my cards except to keep 1%-9% utilization so apr isn't a big worry to me. I basically use what I have as a charge card but use them to gain rewards when I pay my bills etc. I figure one card from each of the big banks will let me apply to any of them if something special becomes available for a special offer like the BoA no fee mortgage etc. Having them doesn't mean using them and carrying a balance on them every month.

[Anonymous]

This time last year I had nothing but sub-prime cards and Orchard had just ratejacked me to 29.99%. I've been able to tell them all to go sit and spin now that I have such cards as a $10K chase and a $15K Amex Blue.

I do have one card left from my sub-prime days, Wells Fargo Financial. But I paid them on time for a year (at 23.24% APR) and threatened to cancel. They permanently waived the AF and dropped the APR 11 POINTS. That card is now at a 0 balance and it is the lowest permanent APR of any card I have.

Sub-Prime is kind of like training wheels on a bike - there is nothing like the satisfaction of taking them off and moving ahead!