Your Credit Card Company - 10 Reasons To Hate Them

1. Many credit card companies charge ridiculously high interest rates. Some credit cards interest rates of over 20%! You will be paying for years and years to pay off the charges on those credit cards.
2. Sometimes credit card companies do not approve you for the credit card you were pre-approved for. We all receive those credit card applications in the mail that say something like this, “You have been pre approved for a new card with 0% interest for 6 months and a £5,000 credit limit. You complete the application, send it in and receive your credit card. Only, it isn’t quite the card you are expecting. You receive a card with an interest rate of 12% and a credit limit of £500. So what happened to the card you were “pre-approved” for? Well somewhere on the pre approved letter in very small, microscopic print it explained that you only pre-qualified and that your applications was subject to final approval based on final review of your application. There is no guarantee that you will receive the credit card you were pre-approved for.
3. The credit card company changes the terms on you using very fine print. When they are making changes that you are not going to like, the credit card companies puts that information in very fine print. For example, if they are raising the interest rate or other fees
4. The credit cards will absolutely charge you “an arm and a leg” for penalty fees. If you are late making a payment you will be penalized and it may not just be a late fee. In fact many credit card companies have a policy allowing them to raise your interest rates if you are late making payments. Some credit card companies raise your interest to as much as 23%!
5. Your credit card company may make it difficult for you to contact an actual person if you have questions or concerns. You call their customer service number and can only seem to access automated information. There is a menu allowing you to check you account balance and other account information. It takes a great deal of time and many automated options before you can speak to a customer service representatives.
6. As with any business, some credit card companies can be deceitful in their offers. They will send you an offer and then when you try to take advantage of that offer, they will deny you the offer or attempt to relinquish the offer saying for some reason you do not qualify. In return they may then offer you a credit card offer that is substandard to the offer you applied for. This may mean an offer of higher interest rate or with an annual fee.
7. Credit card companies want to make it harder for consumers to discharge their debts under bankruptcy and yet they facilitate one of the major causes of individuals going into debt. No it is not the credit card company’s fault a person goes into debt. Ultimately a person makes their own choices and should act responsibly and not live beyond their means. However, credit card companies make it easier for people to act irresponsibly by doing things like offering a credit limit of £50,000 to someone who only makes £14,000 a year.
8. If you have had difficulty or been delinquent on credit card payments this can cause problems if you apply for a mortgage on a home. Credit card companies report to credit agencies and this is reflected in your credit report. Also, sometimes, credit card companies report something to a credit agency that is incorrect. This will be reflected in your credit report and it will be your responsibility to locate the error on your credit report, dispute the error and have it fixed.
9. Credit card companies charge an abundance of fees. They charge late fees and over limit fees. If one month you forget to mail your bill or send it a couple days late, you will be slapped with a late fee. Some credit card companies charge monthly maintenance fees and our annual fees, too many fees!
10. Credit card companies indirectly can cause you more problems. You must keep tract of your bill each month. It is another bill that must be paid on time. If you forget, you will have late fees to pay. You need to keep tract of your card to make sure it is not lost or stolen to prevent someone else from finding your card and making fraudulent charges; it creates more work for you!

There are many factors that you have to consider with credit cards that are outlined above, but why be so negative? As with many things in life there are good and bad points to most things so if you are disillusioned with credit card companies, try reading our other article 10 Reasons to Love Your Credit Card Company