Cancel Your Credit Card - Comments Page 1

You might want to be sure that your credit report indicates that the account was cancelled at your request and that "Randy" hasn't put any negative information about your account in your credit report. You'll probably have to wait a month or so to order one of the free annual credit reports since the credit bureaus only update once a month.

The humorous thing is, how could he possibly know that the 'recording' threat was a ruse? Why he didn't want to skip down to the bottom of his script is beyond me, they must dock workers for letting too many people cancel their accounts. Thanks for the tip.

Dear Bob,

I ALWAYS do this sort of task when I have plenty of free time and am in good spirits. Then I try to turn the books on them. I slowly and methodically answer their questions with nonsense and counter-productive (false) information. I figure the longer I tie that guy up, the less time he has to hassle other unsuspecting callers. If he has not met his daily quota of calls because I wasted his time, he's going to manage the next request a lot faster. I employ the same practice with unsolicited telemarketers and surveyors. It can be fun waiting to see how long it takes these "sharpies" to realize they're being had!

Bob,

Great post. I do believe that cancelling a card is not in one's best financial interest, as the credit scoring agencies take that into account when looking at FICO scores, it lowers your debt ratios etc. I try to have low or no fee cards and get the banks to lower the rates. It's just a matter of asking. Anyway, keep up the great work, I'm a big fan.

EDITOR'S NOTE: They also frown upon "too many accounts" so it may be a toss up.

Well there you go... just another example of corporate greed from Amazon.com Visa card. Stand up... fix America! Do what's right!

I had recently applied for a WA WA credit card which was actually a CHASE credit card. I thought it would be nice to have becasue it paid back some credits on purchases. I immediatley got the card upon application on the Internet. Then the PHONE CALLS started. They would call and ask us to verify our credit card number and other information. I told them right out I would not verify anything on the phone for a credit card and hung up. In spite of this the calls continued and I continued to hang up. I finally had it with them and called their offices and explained my discomfort with these repeated calls (they even asked for our SS #). They said they would take us off the "call" list. I said fine - yet the calls continued. I then called them back and told them I was cancelling my credit card. I got little resistence but when I sent in my balance due and cut up both cards and included them in the envelope with the billing (wanted to make it clear wanted nothing more to do with them) I find I still have an account with them. What to do? What to do?

EDITOR'S NOTE:There is a HUGE fine for not honoring the Do Not Call list. Call your state attorney general's office.

Great idea! I always say i can't afford it or i'm going on a strict budget.

Sure would check your credit report after that call! :)

You've touched a nerve! When my mother died I had to send AOL a death certificate and they sent her a "welcome to AOL" letter! Next time around they sent ME a letter saying I had "indicated interest in maintianing the account of your loved one" and instructions on how to "expedite the transfer of the account to your name".

MCI was even better. After I notified them of her death they sent HER a letter with "You recently contacted MCI to discontinue your long distance service. At your request, and because you verified that you had already switched to a new carrier, we have processed your cancellation... We strongly recommend that you cntact your long distance carrier of choice today to ensure that you receive their services"

Hmmmm - I wish I knew which service she is using; I would love to talk to her again.

I've found it's a lot easier to cancel something if you do it by mail or fax. I cancelled two AOL accounts via the fax option they outlined on the "how to cancel service" page and both went through in two days time.

I've also had no problems cancelling credit cards by mail. A formal letter has always done the trick for me, and small cost in writing and sending a letter is worth it to not deal with the hassle on the phone. I think I even had luck with cancelling AOL this way, though we still got a gazillion "come back!" calls from them after.

Good advice. They do get testy when YOU say that you are going to record THEM! "Sir, "that" is not legal." I guess that equates to "Do as I say, not as I do."

That being said, if it's a service that I kinda / sorta still like, calling to cancel may get an offer of months of free service or a discounted rate. Before I got broadband, I used this trick on AOL and got 8 months of free service, two months per call. :) Heard that Netflix does this too...

"There is a HUGE fine for not honoring the Do Not Call list."

True, but NOT if you've established a "business relationship", which you have if you've accepted a credit card.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm sure that a specific request for Do Not Call must be honored, even if you have done business with a company.

I had no trouble cancelling a MSN free trial five years ago. They offered me 3 months free to stay and I said, "Lady, the trial alone was hell. You couldn't pay me enough. If it were free forever I wouldn't take it." Cancelled stat. I never had to resort to "What part of 'No' don't you understand?"

AOL had some TOS items I questioned which their phone people (from India) couldn't answer; they suggested I write the home office (in Florida). (Ditto Wal-Mart Connect, which resells AOL for $10 a month.) I did. No reply. Gave it another month, sent a copy of the letter. No reply. AOL may be hard to cancel, but it's also hard to get if you don't do it exactly their way. (Example: It is impossible to read the Terms of Service off the disc without first giving them your credit card number. How'd you like it if a store owner made you put money on the counter just to walk in?)

I love your idea to announce you are recording the conversation! You might also tell them you work for NPR and promise to put them on the air, as if you're their ticket to show biz.

Good idea about recording the call, I like that. Some benefit of keeping credit cards:

About 3 years back I got a credit line of $20,000. from one CC Co. and they sent me a cash advance (cost $75.) with "0"% interest for 6 months. After 5 1/2 months I answered another of those "0"% interest and transferred my balance again for another 6-8 months for ($40. transfer fee). Recently, I was able to transfer my now $12,000. balance for "0"% Int. for 11 months. As long as I pay my bill on time (Principle Only) I never have had to pay interest.

I call this system Credit Card Tennis. As long as you stay on top of payments, this may lower your credit score a little, but it works very well until they stop offering "0"% Int. I have been through 4 Credit Card companies, 2 of them twice. I will be playing Tennis until I run out of balls.

Cancelling Credit Cards by postal mail is an excellent choice. You can specifically mention that you expect the account to be closed at the request of the consumer on your credit report. You also now have a copy of the letter you sent.

While I would not go to the extreme of sending it registered or anything, I have almost always cancelled by mail...unless I am trying to make other arrangements with the card as well.

To cancel AOL (after 3 months) I finally called the bank and said Do Not Pay AOL Ever, not authorized charge. How many phone calls does it take, or emails, or letters...

I believe that if you have a credit card with a bank, you have in the Terms of Agreement somewhere in teeny letters a statement along the lines of, "I agree to be pestered at Bank's discretion with junk mail trying to get my into credit card-induced bankruptcy."

On the topic of "I'm recording you" I've had great fun with asking folks that call to verify their mother's maiden name... That almost always brings the conversation to a halt...

" I need to vefiy to whom I am speaking, please verify with me your mother's maiden name ". Usual response is a long pause and a click when they hang up. Have fun

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That's very odd that he got upset when you said you were going to record the call. I have worked in a couple different call centres, and representatives are always told that if the customer states they want to record the call, they should let them. (After all, it's not like the rep is doing anything illegal or immoral...right?) These companies were large, American, and dealt with both individual consumers and businesses.

As a side note, unelss someone is a paid telemarketer, "wasting" their time by keeping them on the call probably doesn't bother them that much. Most of them get paid hourly wages. Many don't care whether they spend an hour talking to you or an hour talking to ten different people. Call centres will have metrics they want the reps to strive for, but unless you're in a commission-based telesales environment, missing those metrics for a day really has no consequence.

Oh, and they ALWAYS have a supervisor. My husband once had to call a regional plan coordinator (halfway across the country) to get out of our university's health and dental plan. He spent twenty minutes on the phone like so:

Husband: Well if you can't take me out of the plan, I want to speak to your supervisor.

Him: I don't have one.

Husband: Do you own the company?

Him: Well, no.

Husband: Then I want to speak to your supervisor.

Eventally the other guy just gave up and took him out of the plan.

Phone solicitations and snail-mail offers all fall in the

same category. When talking to phone reps, make a note of the persons name, the date and time of the call and if possible, the location where he/she is located.

Follow up with a letter to AOL or who-ever. Show details of your previous attempt(s) to cancel and be sure to indicate on the bottom of the letter that you have forwarded a copy to your State Attorney Generals Office. For written offers of credit cards, CitiBank, Chase Manhattan or whoever, send them a letter similar to the AOL letter. Finally, do, absolutely do, get on the do not call and do not mail lists. These will help preclude lots of offers that you really don't want to hear or see. As a plus, it offers a legal financial stinger (possible fines) to your request(s) against companies that are harrassising you.

Konrad L.