I have a Price, and Chase Bought Me

A few weeks ago I finally came to terms with the fact that my interest rates, based on the universal default clause and thanks to a single late Sears card payment almost six years ago, were killing me.  Even though I was able to pay more than than the minimum on both of my cards (the only two I carried at the time), the interest rates, both at 20% or more, were eating my payments alive with interest.

So I started looking into my options.  I looked at debt settlement (no; I’m current; I pay my bills; settlement is a step away from bankruptcy, in my book, and defaulting on my word, and I won’t do that if I can avoid it), debt management (they wanted my AmEx, even though I didn’t want to enroll my AmEx – just pay it – how can you enroll in debt management when they want to take your livelihood?), a personal loan (took several days and came in, finally, at 8.99%), and I took a chance on my credit, enabling me to get two new cards at 0% interest for 12-16 months, with interest rates fixed thereafter at 6.99 and 9.99%.

In short, I was selling my loyalty to the highest (or lowest, depending on your point of view) bidder.  Whoever gave me the best deal would win.  Maude knows my current cards had no chance – my rates were so high because of universal default.  Even though I’d always paid my Discover bill on time, and more than the minimum, Discover jacked my rate up to more than 30% when I was late – once – on my Sears card (for a purchase I didn’t even know my husband had made on that card).  I called to get the interest rate reduced; Discover wouldn’t budge and didn’t care.  MBNA followed shortly thereafter.

You know, if I’d been late on the cards that jacked me up, I’d've understood, and dealt with it, but I was current on those cards.  I was late on a store card, whose balance I didn’t even know about originally, for a freaking $300 vacuum cleaner.

So.  Credit cards suck.

In any case, after all of this 20-30% interest which pushed up my balances even though I was paying more than the minimum, my loyalty was for sale.  Give me a card with a reasonable limit, for a reasonable rate, for a reasonable time, and you’ll have me.  Chase gave me that – enough to transfer the ridiculous “universal default” MBNA charged me after the late payment on Sears, and more than that – 0% n purchases, too, with 1-6% back, depending on the nature of the purchase.

I know many people have many problems with Chase, but when my loyalty was for sale,  they went out of their way to buy it, so once I’m purchasing on credit cards again (with every intention of paying it off monthly) , Chase will absolutely get my business.

 Now, I get that, despite my ignorance, I was responsible for the payment to Sears.  But since my husband was not an authorized user of my card, it would have been nice if they’d have at least called me before they charged the amount.  I bet, like Dolores Claiborne, if it had been a woman trying to charge her husband’s account, that there would have been at least some sort of notification before the charge went through, and especially before they reported it as late.

But hey, I’m just a girl consumer.  Beyond what card I’ll use to stuff another t-shirt in my drawer, what do I know?

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Somebody Acitivated a Card in my Name

And I’ve no idea who it was.

Apparently, I’ve an old Chase account that’s been open since 2002.  I don’t remember ever having this account, it’s still tied to my previous address, and apparently there’s never been any activity on it.  I only discovered it because Chase automatically linked all open credit lines associated with my SSN when I set up the online account to deal with the new card.

I’m on the phone with the “Welcome” lady, activating the card, when I ask her about this weird other account showing up in my online profile.  She asks me about a previous address and I give it to her; sure enough, they sent a replacement card there (out of state, and I moved over six years ago) and somebody who was not me activated it.

So I had to talk to the fraud people to report the card as lost or stolen, and asked them to close the account rather than issue a new card to my current address.  I know it’s going to hit my FICO, but the credit limit was so low ($1000, and I have one card alone with a limit of almost $30k), and I have several older accounts, so I don’t see those dings being so bad.  

However, when I couldn’t sleep last night, I started pulling my annual credit reports, and this made me wonder how Chase would choose to report the closure – as lost or stolen (a wash on the FICO), or at the consumer’s request (better than credit grantor, but not quite a wash)?  So, at 4:00am this morning I gave them a call and asked.

Imagine my surprise when Friendly Neighborhood Chase Employee Working the Graveyard at the Call Center says, “well, you asked for it to be closed, so it says closed at your request.”

Me: Yes, I know I asked for it to be closed.  The number was stolen and someone who was not me was able to activate the card.  I would prefer it if you would report it as closed due to lost / stolen.

Completely Nonplussed Call Center Guy Who Clearly Thinks Evgren is Just a Little Too Picky About Stupid Closed Accounts: *sigh*  Okay, we’ll just say it was lost or stolen.  Did you need anything else?

I know it seems silly to care about something as minute as the difference between the two reasons for closing the account, and the old me probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought (never did even give it much of a first thought to tell the truth), but it was all too briefly ago that I learned, in a very visceral way, the meaning of that three digit number and the extreme, pervasive affect it can and does have on my life.

So I am totally wigging out over how Chase reports this closure, and I think that’s a good thing.

Besides, what better things are there for an insomniac to do at 4:00 in the morning?  Shop?  Yeah, that is one option, I guess.  BTDT.  I probably even have the t-shirt stuffed in a drawer somewhere.