Credit is Only for School Courses

Grab a cup of coffee, turn off your phone -- this is going to be a long one!
Words in "red" denote my voice getting louder and deeper.


The mail came; 2 notices from the credit card company. One reads "your card has been cancelled"; the other, "your credit limit has been dropped to........"

No big deal. Limits have been dropping like the President's ratings. But the cancelled card -- now that makes my blood boil! "I'm calling them right now"; "call them" chimes BH.

CC: "Hi how may I help you?"
ME: "I just got a notice my card has been cancelled; I'd like to know why. I have no owing balance, I pay it off every month and I've never been late with a payment"

CC: "Let's see what's going on here. What's your yearly income? Ok, it seems that your debt to income ratio is over exceeded."
ME: "As you can see by the credit report in front of you, we have never been late on any cards; we pay more than the minimum every time; we have an excellent credit rating. And, who requested this report - because every time a credit report is requested, our credit score goes down!"

CC: "We require a credit history on a regular basis to insure our customers are not getting in trouble. What are your plans for paying off your debts?"
ME: "I went back to work 18 months ago. We are not in trouble. Don't you think a "red flag" would be your clue as to someone in trouble - late payments, no payments, less than minimum payments - of which we have none of these?"

CC: "Yes, ma'm. But we have to protect ourselves from just such circumstances."
ME: "It's a GAS card, for God's sake! With a limit of $350! We're not talking 10s of thousands of dollars here!"

CC: "Ok, here's what we can do. I will cancel your other card (the one we got the notice of reduction in limit) and re-instate this card.
ME: "That's fine."

CC: "Ok. I will cancel the other card and mark your credit report that you requested the cancellation"
ME: "But if it says I requested the cancellation, that will bring my credit score down!"
CC: " I'm not 100% sure about that; I'd have to look into that".

Note: This is a representative of a Major credit card company, of which we have 3 different cards!

ME: "Everything we have heard from finanacial advisors warn against cancelling your cards; it reflects badly on your score".
CC: " That's the only way I can re-instate your other credit card at this time"
ME: "It's a GAS card!" This leaves bad feelings for people who are doing the right thing, paying their bills on time, no signs of trouble. You should pay more attention to those who can't keep up instead of those in good standing."

CC: "Well, that's the only thing we can do at this time."
ME: "Ok, cancel the one and re-instate the other. It's a GAS card, for God's sake."

And so it ended. We have our gas card. The one we use sparingly and pay off when the bill comes in. Two days later we get notices in the mail. One reads "we're sorry that you have cancelled your credit card. You have been a valued customer for many years".

The other says"we are informing you that your credit limit is now $350". (Take note of paragraph 7 above). DUHHHH!

And remember, these are "Financial Geniuses" who run the world!!!

God help us all!!