Debt Help - Credit Card Zappers
Date: Tue, 06/17/2008 - 12:00
They are supposed to remove different fees, like late, overlimit, interest, etc...
That's a new one on me, if I were you I would check the BBB and
That's a new one on me, if I were you I would check the BBB and make sure they are legit, also you can find out if there have been any negative complaints against them. :)
Their website looks extremely shady. They advertise Quote:OU
Their website looks extremely shady. They advertise
Quote:
OUR REPUTATION: Customer Satisfaction is our number one priority. We take pride in our spotless reputation through the Better Business Bureau as we are ranked higher than any other financial company with zero complaints against us. |
Give me a break. They have only been in business since December 2007. 6 months in business is not long enough for the BBB to truly get a good track record for these guys to be bragging about having the best record in the industry. I would stay away.
Do it yourself
OK, this Credit Card Zapper website claims to negotiate with your creditor to waive fee charges from your credit card. They charge $10 (on all fees except over-limit and balance transfers) or 50% (for balance transfer fees). While it might be worh it for balance transfers, which can be in the hundreds, I'm not sure I would trust my credit to a company with a black and pink website (just me).
You can do this yourself. Here are a few articles about this:
http://www.texpirg.org/home/reports/report-archives/financial-privacy--security/financial-privacy--security/deflate-your-rate-how-to-lower-your-credit-card-apr
http://www.texpirg.org/uploads/M2/0M/M20M_zRyyyLqFQq1BQo_4w/deflateyourrate3_02.pdf
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/19980120.asp
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7299407
Essentially, you'll need to be in good standing with the creditor and use an offer from one of their competitors as leverage (and you must remain calm and ask them what they would do). For exmaple, you would say something like, "My rate (or fee) is currently ____ with my account. But I just received an offer from XYZ-Competitor to transfer my entire balance off of your card at (a much lower rate). That just sounds like a really good deal, doesn't it. What do you think is the smart thing for me to do? I mean, what would you do if you were me: keep my balance with you at (higher rate or with fees) or move my entire balance to this new card with (a much lower rate/fees)?"
They would be hard-pressed to advise you to keep your money where it is at the higher rate. So, you would follow-up with "What can you do today to make sure I don't move my balance to this other card?" and wait for the lower apr (or fee waiver).
It does't always work, but it's worth a try. I tried with one of my accounts and followed through with my "threat" to transfer my balance when the creditor refused to lower my APR (they claimed they didn't have any lower APRs in "inventory" !!! Can you believe that?). They almost immediately lowered my APR after they saw my balance reduced to $0 (must have received a new shipment of low APRs). Now I have a respectible APR on that account and a low-APR balance transfer offer.
