OT (mostly): Darn credit card company ...
by azalea (Login azalea-va)My credit card number recently sent me a letter saying they were changing the rules as to how the credit card operated. It is a cashback card and instead of getting a cashback bonus for the three
categories of purchases I used the most, I would get cashback for categories they picked. (I should point out at this point that this is not "free money". The cashback is a benefit but it is paid for by the merchant fees paid when the card is used and also paid for by the credit card owners when they pay interest on their balances.)
The unilateral decision to change the rules occurred on June 30. So today I went to the website to find out what the categories were that were getting the cashback bonus. The website did not have that information, it still had the bonus information from before June 30. So I called and asked where I could find a written listing of what was getting the cashback bonus. I was told that information was not available. I was told what categories got the bonus verbally, the trouble is I talked to two different customer service people and got two different verbal answers. Hence my desire to see it in writing.
So this seems to be the principle that Chase is working under. We are going to have a business arrangement with certain rules, Chase can change the rules at any time, and Chase does not even have to tell the customer what the rules are. How arrogant!!!
Note that the financial system also makes you pay a penalty for just switching to a different card. Cancelling an existing card (or just keeping it dormant) and applying for a new card can adversely affect your credit score which could cost you money in other ways.
What I might do is cancel electronic statements so they have to send me my bills each month. Then make a very small charge on the card each month. Make them pay for the postage of sending a bill each month for an account that generates less than 10 cents worth of income.
In a very minor way this is on-topic. I am preparing for a canoeing adventure next month which had Chase not done what it did, would have been at least partially paid for with their credit card.
And obviously, this is minor compared to the more serious things some credit card companies have done, like jack up the cost of their cards with virtually no warning (or cause). But that action has received widespread attention and I felt this other act, which appears to me stems from the same arrogance, was also worthy of some mention.
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