Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Credit Card Fees

Credit Cards

Today I applied for a credit card that offered 0% APR for the next year. It all went well until I asked them to do a balance transfer. Well, she said, there will b a 3% fee on the balance transfer. Fine, I said. I understand that. So she began processing it and then said, well now your balance is $X, which my math skills told me was the balance transfer amount, plus the 3% fee, plus another $52. What’s with the $52? I asked. Oh, that’s a finance charge. What do you mean a finance charge? I thought this was 0% for a year. Yes, that’s right. The interest is 0% This is a finance charge. Remember when I read [the fine print]—and she reread it. When I protested, she instantly dropped the 3% transfer fee, leaving this “finance charge”. But now I do not trust this company. I canceled the entire thing.

The moral of this story, though, is that hidden fees, buried in language you are not supposed to understand, seemed to be part of this company’s method of doing business. Buyer beware, I guess.

1 comment:

Monnik said...

Yep, you have to read EVERYTHING in those agreements. I get a paycheck from a company who makes lots of money from people who don't bother to look at those fees, rates, and other disclosures.