Cancel Your Credit Card
My wallet was feeling a little too heavy, and it wasn't because of all the money stuffed in there. So I decided to lighten my load and cancel a credit card that I hadn't been using. Here's a great little shortcut I learned that might help you, too...
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"You Wanna Cancel Your Credit Card?!?"
Have you ever tried to cancel a credit card, close a bank account, or (shudder) terminate your AOL service? Some of these companies can really put you through the ringer with their "customer retention specialists" who ask you endless questions, then try to talk you out of your decision to cancel. They lay on the guilt, question your sanity, and make it sound downright unpatriotic.
I had such an experience today, when trying to cancel my Amazon.com Visa card. There's no balance on the account, so I figured I would call the number on the back of the card, tell them I wanted to cancel the card, and that would be it. Not so...
The first person I spoke with after navigating a few levels of voice prompts asked me if I was having a wonderful day. I told her yes, and that I would like to cancel my account. She transferred my call to someone else, and after being on hold for a short time, I was greeted by "Randy" (name changed to protect the guilty).
Randy identified himself as a Customer Support Supervisor and asked how he could help me. I told him I wanted to cancel my card. That's when the dark coulds rolled in. Here's how our conversation went from there:
Randy: Can you tell me why you want to cancel your card?
Me: I have no further use for it.
Randy: You have no further use for the card??
Me: That's right.
Randy: What was it that made the card "unbeneficial" to you?
Me: Can we skip to the end of the questions and just cancel the account?
I recently read the story of a guy who called to cancel his AOL account. They kept him on the phone for 15 minutes, asked endless questions, insulted him and then demanded to speak to his father. (The guy was 35 years old.) I knew I wanted to cancel, and I didn't want to participate in a pointless Q&A session. So I persisted...
Randy: Nope. (long pause)
Me: Can I speak to someone else who can help me cancel?
Randy: No, I'm the only one. Just me.
Me: Okay, Randy, I'm going to start recording this call now. Will that be alright?
Randy: No, that's not alri...
Me: Okay, I just started recording.
(Click!) Randy hung up on me.
Resistance is NOT Futile
Apparently it's okay for THEM to record calls for "training or verification purposes" but they sure don't want YOU to record what THEY'RE saying. Maybe it would prove embarassing to them if folks knew what a hassle it really was to cancel an account.
I called back right away, punched in my account number, and the next thing I heard was "Your account is closed. The balance is zero dollars." Well that's exactly what I wanted! So it seems that if you tell the phone rep you want to cancel, and that you're going to record the call, they can cancel your account in under ten seconds. That's good to know... I have another card I need to cancel. :-)
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Posted by Bob Rankin on July 29, 2006 11:10 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Cancel Your Credit Card (Posted: July 29, 2006 11:10 PM)
Printed from: http://askbobrankin.com/cancel_your_credit_card.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Cancel Your Credit Card"
(See all 40 comments for this article.)Posted by:
Doug
18 Nov 2006
Well are you sure the card is really canceled? I have just been dealing with Amex. My card was cancelled in 2005. Our company travel agency gave the hotel my old card number. The hotel tried to used the card 12 time and it was rejected the hotel then did a manual transaction. I ask Amex if the merchant got a authorzation # from them for the transaction and Amex told me No. But the charge did go through because I just received a new statement last month(remember this is a cancelled card). My statement said this card is cancelled but please pay this charge immediately. Looks like Amex can only track electronic transaction not manual ones. I asked Amex can you cancel this card for electronic and manual transactions and was told no.
So are you sure your card is really cancelled ?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Wow, that's incredible. I would call them and ask to speak with a supervisor.
Posted by:
Brenda
18 Feb 2007
I just got a bill from a credit card company on an account closed for over 6 months. The charge was an automatic renewal (they had sent me a note that said my credit card was expired and that they would not renew unless I updated the information.) I had closed the credit card account when it expired in June. The credit card company told me that if a charge is made on a closed account that I am responsible to straighten it out. I have called the company that had the automatic renewal but I will be sending the credit card company a dispute letter. Anyone else had this problem? What can I do about it? Is it true that I am perpetually responsible?
Posted by:
Dale
27 Mar 2007
If you use the internet to check credit card balances, etc. it should be easy to verify your account was closed.
I have 5 cards with Chase (that I know about) and only use one of them for ebay business. I am in the process of closing the other 4 with a certified letter, and reminding them 'customer's request' to be noted in credit ratings.
One of the reasons to say you want to cancel (besides the obvious financial ones) is tell them you don't use these cards anymore and have a real concern about the greater security risk if you leave them open and cards get lost, etc.
Posted by:
johnny
02 Jun 2007
for those who do want to cancel their aol account you can finally do it online: just go to this url and change it from a paid plan to a FREE plan (you can keep using the account and software on that as long as you dont use dialup)
http://changeplan.aol.com
Posted by:
Jon
01 Apr 2008
Well, if you think you've canceled your card, think again. I canceled my Citicard two years ago and they still charge against it. They are saying that any recurring agreemens can be charged even if the card is canceled. The probelm is that I never bought the product they claim I did and here is the best part, the product they claim I purchased is owned by citi itself called "Citishoppers". I asked for the proof of purchase which they claim is the signed agreement but they kept giving me the run-around. This is beyond evil, they are charging me for a product which never bought and charging to an account which i canceled two years ago.
Posted by:
Daniel
10 Jul 2008
Hi,
When canceling a card you should be aware of its terms and conditions about charges. I think this is the better way to cancel a card. I still don't understand why you should cancel a card?
Posted by:
Jay
29 Jul 2008
Daniel, are you kidding me? Are you saying that forever I'm stuck with AMEX charging me over and over again by a company that I authorized but no longer want to come from my AMEX (which was canceled in FEB). They say they have to accept recurring charges no matter what. That is INSANE!!! And by the way, talking to a Supervisor does not help.
Posted by:
Luis F Florez
16 Sep 2008
Cancel my AOL Chase Credit Card
EDITOR'S NOTE: Pretty sure you're in the wrong place...
Posted by:
sherrelle
13 Jan 2009
Now that I read all these comments I'm kind of nervous about canceling my macys card =(
Posted by:
vid
28 Jun 2009
Some hacker is using my compromised cancelled amex card as well. the hacker is smart and charged only less than $20 but luckily I checked my statement and saw this and called amex. they were good enough to refund the money but said any electronic transaction will go thru and there is no way to stop that with any credit card...
I am disappointed and cancelling card does not even give you peace of mind...
any idea how to permanantely block all transactions on cancelled cards? is there a way or will this glitch will continue??
EDITOR'S NOTE: That seems totally unacceptable. I'd check with your state attorney general.