9:04 p.m. | 2003-07-31 I�m Being Stalked By A Credit Card. Just in case you�re a youngster and, therefore, not aware of this, let me just tell you that it was HARD to get a credit card, back in the day, if you were under 30, didn�t have a credit history and/or didn�t have a reliable, steady income. Also, if you didn�t build up a credit history, you didn�t stand a chance in hell of ever getting a loan or buying a house. At least, not without being married to someone who had a great job and stellar credit history (and you only got a �courtesy� card at that), or without having someone such as a parent as a co-signer. Hence, I quickly learned the importance of developing my own credit history. I started that with a credit card, of course. I was able to obtain one, due to a reliable income, but since I didn�t have a history, my limit was very low. As time went on, I was able to get more cards, continue to establish a history and eventually was able to obtain loans that have long since been paid off. (Excepting that student loan for law school, of course.) Now, I�ve never gone back and closed out all the cards that I don�t use but obtained in order to create a history. Amongst such cards is a credit card I got when I was around 20. It started out as a Visa card but many years and buyouts later, it ended up becoming a MasterCard from a totally different company. In the beginning, I used it for emergencies and whatnot, but as time went on, I used it less and less. However, about 10 years ago, I felt bad for it so I used it for a small purchase after I had moved, yet once again. I had called and changed my address, of course, then promptly forgot about it. About three months after my small purchase, I realized that I�d never received a statement for the charges. When I called them, I discovered that they�d never changed my address and by that time, they�d already sent it to collections. Obviously, they never re-sent it to the forwarding address pasted on their return mail, nor had they called the phone number on my account to ask me about it. I immediately sent them a check, requested they close the account and demanded that they write a letter to the credit agencies informing them of their error. Hell, I certainly wasn�t going to let them, through their own negligence, blemish my pristine credit history that I spent years creating. (And, note how I called �collections� before they called me.) They accepted my check, sent me a copy of the letter they wrote to the agencies and� bumped it up to a gold account rather than closing it. Since I no longer trusted them, I really wanted to close that account. However, since they not only didn�t close it but also upgraded it, I decided to keep it for a while longer as evidence of their error. I�ve never used it again. Well, not purposefully. See, since I don�t ever use it, I forget about it until they slap an annual fee onto it. I go ahead and pay the annual fee � even though I don�t pay such a fee on any of my other accounts � because I don�t trust that they won�t send me to collections. And, by the way, it pisses me the fuck off every damn year. While I was busying changing my address due to this move, I attempted to change the address on this card too, via the automated system. However, I was unable to do that because the card I carry with me (the one with the special code on it) expired a long time ago and I never replaced it with the new (and upgraded) one they sent me. Due to my general angst about this whole situation, I just threw the new card in my secret hiding place and promptly forgot about it. And, I�ve been meaning to call them with my address change but forgot about that until I received a forwarded bill for the annual fee the other day. THAT, my friends, was the proverbial last straw. Enough was enough. I called the company to both change my address and close this damn account out. Here�s what went down. (MissyMiss:) Hi! Thank you for calling the Credit Card Company! What can I do for you today?! (CI:) (Trying to recover from this decidedly enthusiastic greeting.) I�m calling to change my address. (MM:) Okay. What�s your new address? (CI:) MyHotel. (MM:) Wow! You must have found a bigger place! Don�t you just love having all that extra room?! (CI:) (Ignoring the fact she doesn�t realize I moved into a smaller place.) What I really love is being able to walk to work. (MM:) No WAY!! You get to walk to work?! Get out! (CI:) Yeah, 2 blocks. Through a park. (MM:) Oh my gosh! That�d be soooo great to walk to work, especially through the park! Is there anything I can do for you?! (CI:) Yes. You can close this account. (Then I gave her the low down on the above-mentioned events.) (MM:) Oh, that�s terrible! (CI:) And, to think, I have to pay an annual fee � which I don�t pay on any other credit cards � for such lousy service. (MM:) Not anymore. See, your account is so old that no one ever changed that. But, I�m backing out the annual fee right this second, so you don�t have to pay a thing. (CI:) Are you gonna send me to collections when I don�t pay that annual fee you�re backing out? (MM:) No, no, no. We won�t charge you the annual fee or send you to collections. Do you have your new card? It says here that you haven�t activated it. Did you actually receive it? (CI:) Yes, I did. I never activated it because, well frankly, I don�t trust you guys. As you can tell from the distinct lack of any activity on this card. I believe my new card is sitting in the bottom of some random box that I haven�t unpacked yet. (MM:) Do you want to activate it now or is that just too much to deal with at the moment? (CI:) No, I don�t want to activate it right now. That would be too much to deal with right now. (MM:) I don�t suppose you�d like to hear about our great new offer either, am I right? (CI:) Yeah, you�re right. (MM:) Okay. I�ve changed your address and I�ve backed out the annual fee. I�m really sorry about all that trouble you went through with this card. (CI:) Thanks. So, I still have a card I don�t want because I really don�t trust them. However, Missy Miss� attitude, assistance and apology saved that card�s little ass. I still have that account only because I really love great customer service and I very rarely find it anymore. What is it with this particular card? Is it because it was my first? Will it stalk me to my grave and send me to collections posthumously? Is this card destined to be my only lasting legacy? Quote of the Day: �I keep emailing myself today and I don�t know why.� (Boss while checking her email.) your thoughts? seed flower