“My credit check confirmed what my wife already knew! Those SOBs screwed us, and I’m talking about those damn bankers and their credit cards.” -Phil H., San Francisco, CA
Phil and his wife Mary clearly understand (now, that is) just how deadly credit utilization is. They got a crash course in shock & anger when bankers cut them down at the knees.
Understandably, Phil is…well…angry (to say the least). And he’s fighting mad!
So what happened? Let me ask you, do you have a credit card…or two…or ten? Have credit cards been your lifeline? Be careful now. This might be the only warning you receive before the hammer drops on you…as it did unexpectedly for Phil and Mary.
‘You won’t believe what they did to my wife and me,” Phil writes. “A couple weeks ago, my wife calls me to say her credit scores dropped. Mary (my wife) has been through identity theft and is kinda obsessed with checking her credit.”
BANG, The Hammer Drops!
According to Phil, Mary had just checked her scores two months earlier. She was shocked. Her scores had plummeted 50 points! When Phil got home from work, he paid to download his reports and scores and found out his scores had dropped even more than Mary’s.
“It turns out, Bank of America cut my wife’s and my credit card limit in half without even warning us!” Phis says. “They cut our credit lines on three different cards (2 in both our names and the other one in my name) by a total of $30k.”
Not All Credit Card Debt Is BAD!
Both of them went from shocked to confused to angry. It turns out, Phil and Mary carry a ton of credit card debt but they have good credit and pay their bills on time. Apparently, they bought two cars using credit cards because they have 4.99% rates…apparently much better interest rates than the dealer would give them.
Phil states, “That’s why we have all this card debt. We weren’t being stupid about our spending. We thought we were being smart by using our cards to buy these cars.”
“Mary’s scores dropped 60 points and my scores dropped 74. And now we know why our scores dropped. It’s called credit utilization. I know you talk about this stuff. When they chopped our limits in half, that’s makes us look like we charge 100% of our limit. Well, we got our butts handed to us without so much as a fair warning.”
American Express Expressly Becomes Un-American!
“Just the other day, American Express sent notice they’re cutting Mary’s card limit by $5k. We cannot understand this. Is this because of all the credit problems? Are banks tightening the noose on everybody, even people who have paid on time and never defaulted?”
“There’s no way in hell I want to be with Bank of America or American Express after this inconsiderate act. At least American Express contacted us. We can’t storm off, though, since we think this is what all of them are doing now.”
Banks Care About Banks…Period!
“You need to let people know this is what the banks are doing to its good customers. What does this say to customers who aren’t so good? I guess this is a sign of the times. As long as all the banks are doing this—and I’ll bet they are—there’s nothing any of us can do. Is there? If you have any suggestions, I’d appreciate hearing them,” Phil mentions.
For Phil, Mary & everyone else waking up to this horror (especially if you’re currently engaged in buying a home and might get the rug yanked out from under you, take action now.
Here’s what I recommend:
- Take five minutes & call your card issuer. Tell them you want your limit returned to where it was…and be nice
- Next, get the CEO’s name (spelled correctly), title & address. Ask for his/her email address as well.
- Quickly, write a letter expressing your disappointment with the abrupt, unexpected & unannounced policy and how it’s impacted you. Be CLEAR about you as a good customer and how this has damaged you.
In my book, “The Busy Person’s Credit Makeover,” I share the exact letter I recently sent to Bank of America over a credit card issue. Not only did I send a letter but I also did just a little research and uncovered all the top “C” class execs with BOA and the nomenclature used for their email (that is, first name_last name@bankofamerica.com).
I took the same letter I mailed and emailed ALL the execs. Within 48 hours (or something like that) an assistant to Bank of America’s Chairman Ken Lewis called me & very graciously exceeded my expectations in resolving my issue.
My credit check sometimes shocks me too. It’s what we do AFTER the shock that determines the outcome.
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