rising_score Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 I have a Visa card that currently has a balance of $2000 and an interest rate of 23.9%. The account has been closed for years, and I am working to pay it off. All payments to this card have been ontime for the past 6 months, but I have been late in the past. Do you think if I call and ask for a lower rate, they may agree? What if I politely threaten to transfer the balance to a lower rate card? Does the fact that the account is closed have any bearing on this decision? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_score Posted April 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 Well, I called Visa and Discover, and this is what I was told:I called Visa first. They said that since I have been paying ontime for the past 6 months, they will automatically lower the rate to 21.7% on my next statement (May). They did say that they will do a credit check, and to get this decrease, you have to pay all creditors ontime. She also said to call her back in a couple more months to see if they can do anything else for me. This is not much of a decrease, but at least it is promising. Discover Card was not so friendly. The associate just said to me, "Actually at this time, there is nothing we can do for this account." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracle Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 Good news for you! Even a couple of percent is better than nothing. I would wait a couple of months and try discover again.. ya never know and it never hurts to ask Good Luck! -Jenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_score Posted April 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Well, I called Visa and Discover, and this is what I was told:I called Visa first. They said that since I have been paying ontime for the past 6 months, they will automatically lower the rate to 21.7% on my next statement (May). They did say that they will do a credit check, and to get this decrease, you have to pay all creditors ontime. She also said to call her back in a couple more months to see if they can do anything else for me. This is not much of a decrease, but at least it is promising. Discover Card was not so friendly. The associate just said to me, "Actually at this time, there is nothing we can do for this account."Just a little update: I just received my Visa bill, and I was expecting to see the rate lowered to 21.7%. Well, they lowered it to 15.74%!!!! I guess that the threat to balance transfer worked afterall!!!! Like Jen said, it never hurts to ask. I cannot wait to get this thing paid off!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenous Wolf Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 If you don't ask, you don't get...That is perhaps the BEST piece of advice that has ever been given to me. And afterwards, I realized that the worst possible thing that could happen is to get "no" for an answer...Back in my single days, plenty of women told me "no" so getting a "no" from creditors is a snap for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts