"Benefits" of cancellation (or attempting to cance

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arun

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I have a Citibank Platinum card and experienced a number of issues with customer service. I asked them last week re: balance transfer and they said that there is no special interest rate on balance transfers - it is the same 18%. With my North American trip I have a quite a bit balance on my multitude of credit cards, and I was looking for a real cheap balance transfer. So naturally, Citibank response was disappointing.
My annual fee of $250 is coming up in the next bill. So I decided to cancel the card. I called today and the customer service referred me to the customer relations officer. I gave all the instances of unsatisfatory service.

With some mild negotiation, she has now offered:
1. 8000 points
2. 4.9% on the life of balance transfer
3. Annual fee of only $119.00 dollars (I asked her if it is 190, but she said it is 119)

Not a bad deal. (I was using my AMEX and CBA Platinum). Now I will pay off the balance in this card (which is up to date), and transfer some big amounts from my CBA and AMEX to enjoy the 4.9% rate (until I pay this off in full).
 
It has happened to me on a number of accassions now. Just when I am ready to pull the plug and find another credit card I am amazed at some of the deals they come up with like what you have mentioned. It would be a much better world if they offered these deals as part of the standard package (then there would be no need to shop around) but there are a lot of unsuspecting clients they can take advantage of.
 
Re: "Benefits" of cancellation (or attempting to c

JohnK said:
It has happened to me on a number of accassions now. Just when I am ready to pull the plug and find another credit card I am amazed at some of the deals they come up with like what you have mentioned. It would be a much better world if they offered these deals as part of the standard package (then there would be no need to shop around) but there are a lot of unsuspecting clients they can take advantage of.

Can't say I blame citibank for not offerring it as a standard thing, but cough, why not ...churn and burn...then fix it up later is a fantastic business model.

Does anyone have a foolproof way to threaten a card cancellation?
It would kinda suck if they just said "ok, cancelled, done. thanks"
 
I have a friend in the UK who has had a revolving debt of around 10K Pounds. He basically goes from card offer to card offer, usually he has been paying it down at 0%.

There is so much competition there between Barclays, HSBC and this card called an 'Egg' he finds this easy to do.

Even Amex offer here a balance transfer of 5.99% for six months, without even asking. Perhaps we should have a section for 'good credit card' deals. 8)
 
bambbbam2 said:
I have a friend in the UK who has had a revolving debt of around 10K Pounds. He basically goes from card offer to card offer, usually he has been paying it down at 0%.

There is so much competition there between Barclays, HSBC and this card called an 'Egg' he finds this easy to do.

Even Amex offer here a balance transfer of 5.99% for six months, without even asking. Perhaps we should have a section for 'good credit card' deals. 8)


I do exactly that, i make enough money from it to fly back to the UK every year. I earn 5.35% interest from the money I borrow at 0%, however this is becoming increasingly more difficult to do since the card companies are catching on to it. The best deals are the ones which offer a special rate for the life of the balance, I just got one of these from Citibank UK the other day at 4.9%. There is even a company that send reminders when you introductory rate expires, see below

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1100005324,69788,
 
Re: "Benefits" of cancellation (or attempting to c

[quote="d00t]
Does anyone have a foolproof way to threaten a card cancellation?
It would kinda suck if they just said "ok, cancelled, done. thanks"[/quote]

With Citibank, If you say you are going to cancel, they will pass you on to another officer. In case (very unikely) the relationship officer says : "okay, we can cancel" just ask "what will happen to my points?". Then whatever answer they give, you can say, "I have not yet decided what to do with my points, I will call you in a couple of days".
 
Re: "Benefits" of cancellation (or attempting to c

arun said:
[quote="d00t]
Does anyone have a foolproof way to threaten a card cancellation?
It would kinda suck if they just said "ok, cancelled, done. thanks"

With Citibank, If you say you are going to cancel, they will pass you on to another officer. In case (very unikely) the relationship officer says : "okay, we can cancel" just ask "what will happen to my points?". Then whatever answer they give, you can say, "I have not yet decided what to do with my points, I will call you in a couple of days".[/quote]

stupid question...can u cancel a card with an outstanding balance?
If so.....I've got an $idea$ ;)
 
johnsmith said:
I do exactly that, i make enough money from it to fly back to the UK every year. I earn 5.35% interest from the money I borrow at 0%, however this is becoming increasingly more difficult to do since the card companies are catching on to it. The best deals are the ones which offer a special rate for the life of the balance, I just got one of these from Citibank UK the other day at 4.9%. There is even a company that send reminders when you introductory rate expires, see below

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1100005324,69788,
Please define life of the balance?

I have a gold amex card and if you make a balance transfer to this card then this transfer needs to be paid off during a certain time. Not sure of the time frame we are talking about!!!! I also have an outstanding balance but they said that I will need to make my minimum monthly commitment plus pay a certain percentage off the balance transfer each month.

I don't think that you can get the very lowest possible interest rate on balance transfers forever. If anyone has had a different deal please reveal details.
 
Usually Amercian Express and other bank low rate balance transfers are valid for a certain period of time, ie 6 months from the date the transfer was drawn upon. After 6 months, you have to pay the account in full otherwise the higher interest rate will be charged. With life of the balance transfer offer, The interest rate will remain constant until you pay of the balance transfer but any further charges to the card will attract the higher interest rate and WILL not be paid out first. Therefore you can have the 4.9% balance transfer from Citibank for a few years or more depending on your credit limit :eek: . Any payments such as monthly repayments goes out to reduce the balance for the lowest interest rate charges first then retail after.[/quote]
 
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