Called Credit card company to reduce rate; they refused

I've been told that they automatically periodically review accounts is what I was told by several companies. Or are you saying that they reviewed it and you don't qualify to have your interest reduced?

I asked them to help me out by dropping the interest rate; they said I already have a very low rate of 9.99% - so they would not be able to help me reduce my monthly payment. I mentioned I am one step away from bankruptcy and would not be able to make the next payment. They maintained their ground saying...once payment is not received, they will call me and make alternative plans.

One more note: I emailed a company called debtmerica...and they said the only way they can help negotiate the debt is for me to stop paying (hence default the loan); They charge about 15% of the total debt... did not give me the warm and fuzzy feeling...
Now trying to take a few steps with the help and advise of others in this community. Is there any hope? :)

You will be hard pressed to find a rate lower than 9.9%, even most non profit consumer credit counseling services only get your rate to 9.9%. The only way a company lowers your rate for you is if you have fantastic credit and call them to close the account because of the high rate. If the account if exceptional and they don't want to lose it, they will run the account through a computer program - a retention wizard and it will tell them a lower rate they can offer if you don't close the account. Not all companies even do that.

Once you do go past due, some companies will offer you 0% interest for 6 months to a year but even that is rare. Many inhouse programs will only go down to 9.9%

Thank you, this is very helpful information!

My lowest card is 9.99%, the others between 14.99-16.50%, so I agree that you are fortunate to have that interest rate. What is the credit limit, and what is the balance amount on the card? How long have you had the card? Have you been late or have you always been paying that card on time? Are there any credit blemishes on your credit report? Depending on all sorts of factors, if you are overall pretty clean, you could always think about checking into balance transfers to a 0% introductory apr on that balance maybe?

Hi, I have perfect credit score and a clean report. That is the sad part. Limit on this card is about 37000 and I have about 30000 on it. I have other cards that are at 8% with under 3000 debt on them. I got divorced and ended up with 100% of the debt :(
Today I closed one of the accounts since they did not offer to help. I also got very helpful info for free federally approved help:
takechargeofyourmoney.org

Hi, I have perfect credit score and a clean report. That is the sad part. Limit on this card is about 37000 and I have about 30000 on it. I have other cards that are at 8% with under 3000 debt on them. I got divorced and ended up with 100% of the debt Sad
Today I closed one of the accounts since they did not offer to help. I also got very helpful info for free federally approved help:
takechargeofyourmoney.org

To make it a little worse, I got wiped out in the stock market last week, thanks to the bail-out plan. So I need to come up with a strategy quickly. Bankruptcy is not favored, but may be one of the few choices left. I still hope I can pull through this :0)

When my business closed, I had nine cards I knew I was going to default on eventually. I called all of them, and Advanta was the only one that lowered my interest rate, plus also gave me a one-time credit of $200 (my monthly bill at the time was close to $600). Credit card companies generally feel that as long as you are paying, you don't have a problem. After you haven't paid for a few months, it is easier to get into a hardship program. BUT, if you continue to keep current, your credit score will drop anyway if your income to debt ratio declines, or if you have high balances. Please check out debt settlement also, it is a good alternative to Bankruptcy. I went with a company, but if you only have a few cards you can do it on your own as well. There's a lot of good info on this site regarding your options.

Thank you so very much SusieQ! Your information matches what was being said between the lines by the credit card company. But I was not sure if I was getting the msg correctly. You have an excellent point regarding credit score dropping due to income to debt ration! I was not thinking about that at all! I think it is my ego that is getting in my way. I am divorced now and a ton the dept (set back) is related to it. I like to think there is light at the end of this very dark tunnel! :0) thanks very much for sharing your thoughts! I is most appreciated!

There certainly is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it makes it easier to sleep at night! Going through this is tough, no matter how you choose to deal with it, but as one account gets taken care of, then another, then another, and you can see the progress being made, it gets a lot easier!!

You can call consumer credit counseling and they'll lower your rates for you and just combine what you have into one payment, you can give them a call and they can do a free analysis with you to see if it would be something that would help. I used them a couple years ago and they helped me, i'm almost done paying off everything right now! 877-343-5830

The one monthly payment for a counseling or consolidation program can still be more than a lot of people can afford though, if they are going through a hardship with lack of income, and if they have a huge amount of debt. I looked into a similar program, and my monthly payment would've been nearly twice what I am setting aside for settlement. I agree though, that it's worth checking out every option before you decide, because everyone is in a different situation.

I called a federally approved counseling firm and they just replied saying they would not be able to lower my debt, but they are willing to talk about how to remove my expenses or how to generate more income. It was a little discouraging :( Another place I called said they may be able to reduce the amount between 40-60%; however, they charge 15% of the total debt and my monthly payments would not go down that much. May be by $40 max.

15% is pretty standard for a settlement company. But if you can get settlements for 40%, you're still only paying 55% of your total debt, which isn't bad. And often, as in my case, the settlements have been less than the 40% so far. By the time I'm done, though, they could average that. And my monthly payment is about $1000 less per month than paying on the credit cards would be. BUT, a lot of people do settlements on their own, thereby saving that extra fee. It's not a walk in the park, but it can save you a lot.

and some companies won't apply benefits of lower interest rates/etc for 6 months after being on a program. no guarantee of a lower payment. didn't realize that when I signed up. however, companies can't promise what cc companies will do.

Does it pretty much boil down to stop paying CC's for now just to "force" them to negotiate?

I used a calculator that was provided on ACCC site; it seems like the monthly payment will increase a little, but the number of payments will decrease by about 8 years or so. Does this make sense? I am hoping to be able to reduce the monthly payments if I can. Am I too optimistic?