Embarassing credit card slip-up

[Hamlet]

All of the offers I've gotten lately have included some sort of balance transfer fee. I used to get total free offers, but I no longer get any. I don't have any credit card balances at present.

Is anyone else still getting totally free offers, or has that well dried up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niko I transferred $6000 last November and $6600 in December. My recollection after doing my research is that many companies still offer 0% for a year (or more in some cases) but they will charge you a 3% balance transfer fee. The two I applied for had 12 month offers with no balance transfer fees. After getting these two, I started thinking that the headache, paperwork, risk of a mistake (hey, if Brewer can miss a payment anyone can!) and credit hit are probably not worth it the few hundred dollars I will earn. I'll let these two cards ride out and stop playing the game later this year. Incidentally, though, I received another 0%, 12 month, no balance transfer fee offer in the mail the other day from US Bank. I was tempted but tossed it.

[free4now]

Missing a payment here and there isn't going to change your credit score much if any. It's when it gets to 60 or 90 days late that it becomes an issue.

[retiringby50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 Will this result in a ding on my credit score, or is it going to get a pass since it was less than 30 days overdue?

I'm very sure it won't. There are at least two cards that I have this problem with about twice a year, and I've never seen any notations about it on my credit report. They do levy a late charge that sometimes they will remove and sometimes I have to pay.

[lswswein]

I had previously missed a payment on my Amex card. If you call and ask them nicely they remove both the late fees and the interest they charged also. And it does not get reported unless it has been late by 3months plus from what I have been told

-h

[Ronnieboy]

I have done/doing some credit card arbitrage, but I am also having trouble getting no fee balance transfers and finding a high enough savings account to make it worthwhile.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 Yup. I'm "SecondCor521" where ever I register on the web, so if you see that user id out there, it's almost certainly me. 2Cor521

That's WAY too much work for me..........

I guess I'll have to suffer with my 829 credit score with no CC debt............

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude That's WAY too much work for me..........

It keeps me out of real trouble. Idle hands and all.

2Cor521

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeeRuh O.K., I'll bite; what is "stoozing"? :confused: t.r.

glad u asked this.

like your avatar by the way. a dream or do you own one?

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgalbraith100 One of the things I setup recently with all my credit cards is a autopayment for the minimum amount. That way if I slip up, their auto pay takes over and at least pays the min.-d.

This is a great tip. I have 2 cards - MC and Amex so I decided to do the same. MC from Chase was easy, did it on the website, but the Amex site does not appear to allow this so I just called them, and in fact they do allow you to set up auto payment of the minimum, but they couldn't do it over the phone. I'm now expecting a form in the mail to be able to set this up.

Brewer, your original post said it was amex you had, so I've posted this in case you were considering doing the same. I guess amex don't advertise this feature to enable them to reap the benefits of interest and late fees etc. for those that forget or have other month-end issues.

[mathjak107]

you have to be late more than 30 days from the last due date for it to effect your score, as long as you pay it as soon as you get the new bill your usually okay as you usually get it weeks before the next due date which would be the 30 days late mark. did ya follow that? ha ha ha

[chinaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 I somehow spazzed paying an AmEx bill last month and when I got home last night, this month's bill was there indicating that I was past due. They did not levy any fees aside from a month's worth of interest on the few hundred dollars balance. I set up my bill pay service to wipe out the balance ASAP (friday) and called AmEx to let them know it was coming. Will this result in a ding on my credit score, or is it going to get a pass since it was less than 30 days overdue?

I did the same... but in a different way. We sent in the payment (we never hold a balance), but by the time it made it through processing it was a day late. Visa hit us with large interest on everything on the balance and a big penalty. I called and requested it to be removed. They removed it. I am not sure if it was reported to the credit agencies. I will be looking the next time I get a report.

It was an isolated incident. I am not worried about it. Besides... I am a lender (bonds) not a borrower (except for the small remainder on our mortgage).