Friday, May 15, 2009

Fia Card Services - fail.

After doing a bit of googling - I found that if you close your credit card with a zero balance, it doesn't tag your credit that hard. So today I call up Fia Card Services and ask for my balance. Which is $203.42. I do use the card, I've just been using my other credit card more because it offers much better fraud protection.

Anyway. Of course the rep asks why I'm closing the account.

So I tell him - the company arbitrarily lowered my credit card limit, and if I have to re-apply for my high balance, why should I choose your company?

Him - Well, do you understand why the bank did that?

Me - Yes, I do understand why they did it.

Him - You don't think that should make some difference.

Me - No, I don't think it should make a difference. I think maybe 5% of your customers are like me. You can see my history for 20 years. You can see my extremely high credit score. And if 20 years means nothing to you. It doesn't mean anything to me.

Him - oh okay. Here's your balance.

Now, at this point you might imagine I'm just being pissy. Which I am. If they take away the incentive to stay with them, why wouldn't a choose a company that better fits me?

If my 20 year history with them can't prove my level of risk. Well, the whole system is broken. Additionally the company has stopped denying that lowering my credit limit is just an attempt to verify income. They have already admitted "they will probably just take my word for anyway". Which really just makes me think this credit card company is in so much trouble, maybe I'm better off just jumping ship.

I could say my income is anything I want to apparently. Which could go to zero tomorrow due to the economy. So, yes - I think a long history of payment is a better indicator of risk than what you say your income is. Not to mention a long history of paying the balance every single month. Its been a lot of years since I've held a balance. Maybe I have a rich uncle. Which I don't - but as long as I'm making the payments the rest is sort of bull-shittery.

I don't need the credit, and I'd rather take the temporary hit on my credit score than give them any money. My score will recover fairly easily. If I can help it, they are never getting another dime from me.

Now, the economy might take a complete dive, and this might bite me in the ass. But, over 20 years my husband has held this card - he has been a good risk through a few recessions. It was the first card he ever got after school. So I'm willing to take the chance.

10 comments:

  1. I have started a war against FIA (Fucking Idiots and Assholes) and Bank of America.

    Please visit www.fthebanks.net

    blogger@fthebanks.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is almost exactly my story. I googled FIA to see if I was alone and found this blog. I would encourage everybody to dump FIA cards as soon as possible. The story I got is because they took Federal bailout, so the Fed formula obviously trumps your credit history/risk and value as a customer - well I should change that, your not so much a customer but a number.

    But check this out - I had called to increase my measly $1,000 limit on a card I hardly use. They checked a card in my wife's name and lowered that limit from $24,000 to $5,000 based on the info I gave them to increase a card in my name!!

    So SCREW THEM! I have the cash to pay down my credit and increase my limit. So, I will let FIA know that I've done that and chosen a more reputable company. This is what happens when a socialistic government takes over private companies! Watch out - more is coming!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The replies I've gotten on this post are really, really interesting. I hope more people post their stories.

    Every since I posted this story I've gotten tons of hits, and I haven't been able to figure out why - as most people don't comment. It is really interesting to see the spectrum of reasons they give for yanking credit lines.

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  4. I have a FIA card I got through Wahcovia who was bought by Wells Fargo. When Wells Fargo took over they obviously no longer had any use for FIA so Wachovia dumped FIA. Wachovia sent me countless letters to drop FIA And start a new card with them. I, at the time, had no qualms with FIA. I decided to ignore these letters, dismissing them as your everyday pleas for patronage and stuck with FIA. Keep in mind that I make the absent minded professors brain seem like a steel trap, I am the very definition of scatter-brained. Also note that I very infrequently make use of this card. I had assumed, as I'm sure most people would, that FIA would send me some sort of notification that they had seperated themselves from Wachovia and were happy to have me remain a customer. At the very least I expected them to send me a statement, perhaps even the very same style of statements I had been recieving for years. HA! Since the seperation I have to this day not recieved a single letter, note, statement, post-it or carrier pigeon from FIA. Obviously having such a terrible memory I had forgotten all about the card. Well as luck would have it, I recently applied for a loan to finanace a new vehicle. The credit union I have had all my vehicle loans with for YEARS called me and told me I had an outstanding balance on a credit card that was more than 60 days past due.
    I said youre kidding. No, she replied, It says here you have an outstanding balance with FIA Card services.
    My brain came to a screeching halt. I stood motionless, mouth agape, shocked to my core. The woman asked if I was still on the line and I snapped back to reality.
    It had been over 60 days without any correspondence from FIA. I admit I dropped the ball and forgot about the credit card that I keep stashed away in a drawer in the desk at which I always pay the bills, but for some reason I just cant help but feel completely abused and neglected. How could a credit company forget that I am in fact a real person
    (in that I have mass, occupy space and time, breathe air, have a pulse and most importantly a mailbox) and yet not forget that I had a 60 dollar purchase on the card.
    They then managed to turn that 60 debt into a 200 dollar debt, never once thinking to notify me of the swelling charges.

    I would like to congratulate FIA on swindling an already poor shmuck. I laud their ability to scam people out of hard earned money.
    I wonder how many people they did this to. To their credit, they must have made a fortune. They got an extra 140 from this sucker.
    FIA = CONARTISTS

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  5. I got my FIA card through Charles Schwab; which I consider a venerable institution.

    There is no way to print the FIA statement from the Schwab website. My print spooler dies or something like that. If I save the statement as a PDF and try to print the PDX, the spooler dies again. I cannot even COPY the information out of the PDF and paste it into something else!

    Am I alone in this?

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  6. Not had any problems with FIA lowering my credit or raising my interest but will keep a close eye on my account.
    I also want to respond to Ken H's comment about FIA and Wachovia. Wachovia had MBNA as their card servicing company once upon a time until Bank of America bought MBNA. Of course Wachovia was not going to allow their biggest competitor to 'do' their card servicing. So Wachovia then went back into doing their own card servicing. That is when Ken H. started getting all those letters asking him to come over to the new Wachovia card.
    I still have a balance on the FIA card and will have it paid off soon and then FIA will no longer get another dime from me either.

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  7. switch to HSBC
    the world's local bank...

    cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I highly DO NOT recommend HSBC!

    They harrased me over a 20 dollar bill, calling 20 times a day then trying to force me to pay them over the phone, How do I know who they are for real!? Screw that.

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  9. I find it interesting that everyone wants to slam the credit companies for tries to collect their debt that you racked up. They are offering you a service by fronting you the money to purchase goods and services. When you cannot pay them back you point the finger and say the big bad bank is out to get me. Perhaps you are not smart enough to be using the credit you signed an agreement for in the first place.

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  10. I'm certainly smart enough to have a credit score of 814. How about you? That score says to everyone - I pay my bills in full every month. Again - how about you? Or are you hanging out in your parents basement with no assets?

    So, why not try again. This time under the knowledge that credit worthy customers are also getting screwed in this mess. Or is that too big for you to comprehend?

    I am more credit worthy than 93% of the people in the US. Surely even more than you. Huh Big man.

    Since this was the criteria you came in under "will fia card services ruin your credit". I'm guessing you aren't so credit worthy. Take care of your own house before you start trying to judge mine.

    ReplyDelete