Monday, April 20, 2009

Closing Accounts

I received notification from my GMAC card that my newest statement was available. I called and found out that I had a balance just under $3. I sent in the latest due amount about as quick as I got that bill and thought I had zeroed out the account. The frustrating thing with charge cards is that it appears that they make just as much on late fees and fines as they do charging interest. The reason we transfered the balance anyway was that the initial 0% went to 17.99% and they refused to lower the rate. When I called tonight to get an official payoff without getting another bill for 2 cents or so the lady acted surprised and wanted to know what they could do and asked why I was interested in closing my account. DUH? I talked to them about 6 weeks ago and even told them I'd close the account if they couldn't help us. She then went on to try and sell me the service that pays your bills if you become unemployed. WHAT? I have a $3 balance and she is trying to sell me payment protection services that helps me avoid late fees and such.

I can't wait until we climb out from under the credit card demons. They are evil!

3 comments:

Erin said...

It is an awesome feeling! Keep plugging away at it!

Bill Victor said...

They don't have to be evil. If you can do it, you can earn all kinds of rewards if you can be disciplined enough to pay off the balance every month. Paid for over half of our trip to Disney World that way (along with a few car down payments). I don't advise doing this if you can't discipline yourself to only use your card on things you have budgeted for though.

The MAN Fan Club said...

Billyv, maybe once we get out of debt and can use it as a tool to our advantage. I'm not disciplined enough to keep track of my balance and would end up with late fees as well.