Consumers Need To “SPEAK UP” More Often
Our hats are off to Ann Minch who creatively fought back on YouTube.com (watch “Debtors Revolt Starts Now”) when Bank of America raised her credit card interest rate from 12.99% to around 30%. Despite the fact that poor practices on Bank of America’s part and less than stellar leadership from their executives required the US government to “bail them out”, Bank of America’s business practices haven’t improved when it comes to their customers. This is just one example.
Ms. Minch claims her history had reflected timely payments and an effort to reduce her outstanding debt as she had already paid off one account. In a 9/29 article on CNNMoney.com, a Bank of America spokesperson stated that a customer receives advance notice of rate hikes and, therefore, the customer has the option to pay off the card at the current rate and close the account. In most cases, if the consumer had the ability to pay the card off, they wouldn’t have an outstanding balance in the first place.
Unfortunately, Bank of America is not the only credit card company that will suddenly raise a customer’s interest rate without warning causing a significant and often unbearable payment increase. Many customers with steller credit histories and excellent payment histories find themselves receiving notices of ridiculous rate hikes on credit cards they’ve often had for many years.
Consumers must start taking action against this type of creditor abuse and speak up. Consumers should make calls, write letters, go on YouTube.com or whatever it takes if they feel they are being taking advantage of like Ms. Minch. While there are consumers that default on their unsecured debt, most people are like Ms. Minch and are simply trying to get their debt paid down or off despite difficult economic circumstances or job loss.