Gotta Love the Credit Card Folks

It's pretty amazing how far things have fallen. In the interest of full disclosure, the last 16 months have rendered me an amazingly bad risk, for all kinds of valid reasons. But the devious lying that's involved in credit card offers now boggles the mind. I mean, this link has a mainstream story. Mine was much simpler, and more evil.

I had a $3+ (that is to say, three dollars and change) charge on a Citi.You card account. I got a few letters about it, then decided to spare them the additional postage and called them. Three phone calls later they "had an offer for me." The offer was to reinstate my card, and my credit limit, at prime + 9.9%. I told 'em I didn't have a job at the moment, but that didn't phase them. "Don't worry," the customer service siren said, "I'm sure the credit department will figure that out for you."

Yeah, they did. The paperwork for the card came back, with a little detail: $85 yearly "program fee," and a $200 credit limit. And a 29.9% interest rate. Yah, they figured it out.

Mind you, I'm a lousy credit risk. I told them so, and couldn't figure out why they would waste the plastic involved in even thinking of reopening an account.

They were counting on human stupidity, apparently, and I can't imagine that's an ethical way to do business.

The first time I called to find out about the yearly charge for a heretofore free card, I got disconnected twice. I called back and, after another couple of disconnects, got through to someone who insisted, practically on a stack of bibles, that there was no way that a citi.you card could have a yearly fee. Two more long on-hold pauses, and she said "wow, I've never seen that before... {pause} ... so, do you want me to set that up for you?"

Oy.

Card cancelled. But for every semi-conscious human who stops 'em, how many human troglodytes just say "sure, set me up!"

#citifail!