A young woman loses her job and calls her credit card company to ask for help. In the eight years she has used the credit card, she has never missed a payment. Her credit record is impeccable. She explains the situation to the credit card agent and asks for a reduction in the extremely high interest rate, which would help her until she gets back on her feet. The agent says the company can’t offer any reduction at this time. The young lady hangs up frustrated that a company she’s been with for so many years doesn’t care about her plight.
Let’s have a little flashback here…When this young lady was about to enter college, she received countless offers from credit card companies enticing her to select their credit card over others. She did her research and chose a company that she believed had a good reputation. In the past eight years, she has had her credit limit raised several times because of her good standing with the company. She never requested any of the raises. Though she had the extra funding available to her, she continued to use her card responsibly, not wanting to go heavily into debt.
I called several credit card companies and shared the story with them. According to what I was told, an agent would not have had the authority to lower the interest rate. The consensus was that the young lady should have been transferred to a supervisor or manager for help with her situation. They seemed surprised that this option was not made available to her.
I am not surprised at all. I don’t believe that most credit card companies care whether or not you lose your job, your home or are sitting on death’s bed. They are only interested in one thing…Making money off consumers!
If you find yourself in a similar situation, never take no for an answer! Always ask for a supervisor, insist they pull up your credit history and if it is above reproach, do not be afraid to ask for help!
Learn to be your own consumer advocate!
