Raining Credit Cards

[imoldernu]

Started a month ago. At least a dozen offers from credit card companies... Open a new account and... wow, get 1%, 2%, 2 1/2% on purchases, ... no charge, zero interest rates, forgiveness, etc, etc...
Now, it's getting worse... Karen from some credit bureau called to warn me that my account might be compromised... then went on to say it wasn't, but it could be... Julie called the day before yesterday to let me know I could consolidate ALL my credit cards and not pay a penny in interest for six months... (I only have one credit card with a zero balance)...

The one I loved the most, was the BLACK card, which only costs $365/year plus $65 for DW, and gives us privileges at Spas, (that we don't go to), Airline club rooms, (we don't fly), and Concierge stuff (whatever that means) at Hilton Hotels and other places that cost more for a night, than we spend for a week in Super 8's. Plus some wording that I can't remember that indicated that when we used the card, people will look in awe and bow down.

Stop... enough already... too many temporary cards, "Urgent -Open Immediately", letters sent from no-name suites, and ways to "Save".

I think they have me mixed up with someone else... maybe the same name.

 

[timo2]

Started a month ago. At least a dozen offers from credit card companies... Open a new account and... wow, get 1%, 2%, 2 1/2% on purchases, ... no charge, zero interest rates, forgiveness, etc, etc...
Now, it's getting worse... Karen from some credit bureau called to warn me that my account might be compromised... then went on to say it wasn't, but it could be... Julie called the day before yesterday to let me know I could consolidate ALL my credit cards and not pay a penny in interest for six months... (I only have one credit card with a zero balance)...

The one I loved the most, was the BLACK card, which only costs $365/year plus $65 for DW, and gives us privileges at Spas, (that we don't go to), Airline club rooms, (we don't fly), and Concierge stuff (whatever that means) at Hilton Hotels and other places that cost more for a night, than we spend for a week in Super 8's. Plus some wording that I can't remember that indicated that when we used the card, people will look in awe and bow down.

Stop... enough already... too many temporary cards, "Urgent -Open Immediately", letters sent from no-name suites, and ways to "Save".

I think they have me mixed up with someone else... maybe the same name.

I would think it is a sign the economy is getting better. In the last year I had in increase in credit solicitations, and now realtors are sending blanket mailings looking for houses to sell in my neighborhood.

 

[Chuckanut]

That call makes me suspicious. Be careful. It may be an attempt to get information from you.

 

[mpeirce]

The great thing about freezing your credit is that you don't get any credit card offers.

 

[H2ODude]

Yeah, I just realized that while we used to get a ton of these in the mail, since we blocked credit reports a few years ago that's dried up. Now if I can just stop the recorded phone messages!

 

[powerplay]

Thank goodness Rachel doesn't have your number. She used to call me several times a week from something like credit card services.

I got an offer for that Black card a time or two. They forgot to put a warning on their to sit down before opening and reading. I was laughing so hard when I read the card fee that I almost fell over.

 

[Meadbh]

What a pain, imoldernu! A colleague of mine once got scammed when someone went through his recycling bin and applied for a credit card in his name. I recommend that you shred any forms or literature with your name on it.

 

[imoldernu]

I recommend that you shred any forms or literature with your name on it.

We burn them in the kitchen sink...

 

[timo2]

What a pain, imoldernu! A colleague of mine once got scammed when someone went through his recycling bin and applied for a credit card in his name. I recommend that you shred any forms or literature with your name on it.

you just don't know where the contents of that recycling bin goes. I recall reading a few years ago where some of the recycled documents from Washington D.C. were being collected by a company that sent the material to China, where they went through it. But it doesn't have to be that dramatic, it could just be a local criminal getting that stuff. I shred anything with any identifying information on it.

 

[HFWR]

Rather than shred everything, I just use scissors to snip off my name and address, shred those, then recycle the rest.

 

[Sesq]

I sometimes get automated scam calls saying my mastercard is compromised, just enter the number in the keypad. I will key in some random # starting with a 5 (mastercard=5, visa=4, amex=3) just to see what happens next, but they always ask me to re-enter. I am surprised that their phone software is programmed to compare the input to a luhn algorithm. Thwarts my attempt to mess with them back.

That said, I like getting targetted offers since I churn credit cards for rewards averaging 8-12 new cards per year.

 

[braumeister]

There are a couple of them.
The Visa Black Card has a $495 annual fee.
The AmEx Centurion (black) card has a $5K initiation fee and $2,500 annual fee.

They are both marketed to an exclusive group of prospective clients, only one of whom is born in any given minute.

 

[imoldernu]

There are a couple of them.
The Visa Black Card has a $495 annual fee.
The AmEx Centurion (black) card has a $5K initiation fee and $2,500 annual fee.

They are both marketed to an exclusive group of prospective clients, only one of whom is born in any given minute.

Uh oh!... after reading this:Centurion Card - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think I made a mistake... No limits on the card, and as much as $52 Million has been charged.

There goes my new Bentley!

 

[Walt34]

Time was, if you had a Platinum card you were special. I knew that was gone when the CU issued me one for free. I guess now you have to be one of the [-]suckers[/-] Special People to have a black card.

I wonder what comes after the Black Card? The Black Hole Card where all your money goes in and never comes out?

 

[SJ1_]

Started a month ago. At least a dozen offers from credit card companies... Open a new account and... wow, get 1%, 2%, 2 1/2% on purchases, ... no charge, zero interest rates, forgiveness, etc, etc...
Now, it's getting worse... Karen from some credit bureau called to warn me that my account might be compromised... then went on to say it wasn't, but it could be... Julie called the day before yesterday to let me know I could consolidate ALL my credit cards and not pay a penny in interest for six months... (I only have one credit card with a zero balance)...

The one I loved the most, was the BLACK card, which only costs $365/year plus $65 for DW, and gives us privileges at Spas, (that we don't go to), Airline club rooms, (we don't fly), and Concierge stuff (whatever that means) at Hilton Hotels and other places that cost more for a night, than we spend for a week in Super 8's. Plus some wording that I can't remember that indicated that when we used the card, people will look in awe and bow down.

Stop... enough already... too many temporary cards, "Urgent -Open Immediately", letters sent from no-name suites, and ways to "Save".

I think they have me mixed up with someone else... maybe the same name.

It does seem that we get a lot of those CC offers.
Last yr. I picked the best two for our spending, got them and got rid of the ones I didn't like. will wait about a yr. and see if anything better is out there.

 

[Walt34]

Well, I guess we have "made it" at least in the eyes of American Express. DW got an invitation for a black card in the mail yesterday. Complete with $495 annual fee.

They're going to have to find some other fool to pay that.

But now I feel slighted. Where's my invitation?

 

[scrabbler1]

I get unsolicited Amex offers all the time. I saw on one of the cover letters a toll-free number to stop getting them (but no website to go to). I called it and got stuck in some endless loop or got cut off without being able to talk to a live person or stop the offers. Dayum, I guess I'll still be getting the offers.