Credit Card Opt Out Mistake
Date: Mon, 02/09/2009 - 14:12
I am writing to hopefully get a glimpse of the caca I got myself into by opting out of Chase's rate increase. I am normally not so rash, but in anger I canceled the card over the phone. Here's the story:
In Dec. 2007 I successfully battled a rate increase on my oldest and highest balance card (Chase). Today I received the same memo (they say it's different but I have the last one and they are identical) with a deadline to opt out by Feb 20 (15 days EXACTLY). I was on the phone with their customer service dept for 55 minutes where I asked for a supervisor oh....10 times and the guy kept telling me 72 hours and one will call me back.
In the heat of it all he said "Would you like me to cancel your card now on the phone?" and without even thinking I said yes... I have worked my butt off in these trying times to not damage my credit and here I sit typing this. I get that I am an idiot and it was a horrible mistake. Does anyone here have any idea what range of a drop in my fico score I might expect? The guy told me that it would be reported to the credit bureaus as "Closed by creditor due to rate increase opt out." The limit was $17,500 and due to college expenses that balance is in the $16k range so as you can see I am expecting the worst...
Total debt from previous marriage = $34,000
Thanks in advance for your time
- Royally Messed Up
In Dec. 2007 I successfully battled a rate increase on my oldest and highest balance card (Chase). Today I received the same memo (they say it's different but I have the last one and they are identical) with a deadline to opt out by Feb 20 (15 days EXACTLY). I was on the phone with their customer service dept for 55 minutes where I asked for a supervisor oh....10 times and the guy kept telling me 72 hours and one will call me back.
In the heat of it all he said "Would you like me to cancel your card now on the phone?" and without even thinking I said yes... I have worked my butt off in these trying times to not damage my credit and here I sit typing this. I get that I am an idiot and it was a horrible mistake. Does anyone here have any idea what range of a drop in my fico score I might expect? The guy told me that it would be reported to the credit bureaus as "Closed by creditor due to rate increase opt out." The limit was $17,500 and due to college expenses that balance is in the $16k range so as you can see I am expecting the worst...
Total debt from previous marriage = $34,000
Thanks in advance for your time
- Royally Messed Up
Correction
"Closed by creditor due to rate increase opt out."
should read
"Closed by consumer due to rate increase opt out."
There is no such comment, and it won't show closed due to "opt o
There is no such comment, and it won't show closed due to "opt out". It should simply say "closed by consumer."
Don't bow to your fico score.
Of course we all know that opting out of a credit card because of a rate increase is NOT a valid reason to have one credit rating dinged. Showing good common sense in reducing your debt obligations by preferring to keep a lower interest rate is good judgement. In general, good judgement should not lead to a punishment, in a civilized society.
Don't be so accepting of stupid rules put in place by evil people.
daily-protest