http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896 Would Wal-Mart or Sam's steal from you? I can tell you from personal experience that GE Money Bank, that handles their credit cards will!   I've been a faithful Wal-Mart and Sam's customer for many years and a couple of years ago I got a credit line on my Sam's card also good for purchases at Wal-Mart.   Due to a serious illness I have been disabled and unable to work a steady job in my craft for over four years.   Going from $40,000 per year to just over $13,000 has been a serious adjustment. Living on a fixed income at my age is difficult so every dime counts.   No matter what, my bills get paid every month but six months ago, somewhere in the fine print on my monthly statement, the billing period was changed by the bank and for the last six months my bills have been late and a $29.00 charge added.   When I called about this they removed only one of the late charges even though it was THEIR bookkeeping change that made the mess.   To make matters worse I always pay almost double the monthly minimum and they still wouldn't straighten this out!   And on top of that I get a notice last month that they were increasing my credit line! So, at that time, I had been late five months in a row and they were increasing my credit line? How crooked is that? It's no wonder we have a banking crisis! Would you increase the credit line of someone who's been late five months in a row? Of course you would if you intentionally caused those late payments for a customer with a good record of paying! I wonder how many others were cheated by this bunch of nefarious swindlers?   I have one word of wisdom for Wal-Mart, Sam's and GE Money Bank: this isn't over! I don't appreciate being cheated! Would Wal-Mart or Sam's steal from you? I can tell you from personal experience that GE Money Bank, that handles their credit cards will!   I've been a faithful Wal-Mart and Sam's customer for many years and a couple of years ago I got a credit line on my Sam's card also good for purchases at Wal-Mart.   Due to a serious illness I have been disabled and unable to work a steady job in my craft for over four years.   Going from $40,000 per year to just over $13,000 has been a serious adjustment. Living on a fixed income at my age is difficult so every dime counts.   No matter what, my bills get paid every month but six months ago, somewhere in the fine print on my monthly statement, the billing period was changed by the bank and for the last six months my bills have been late and a $29.00 charge added.   When I called about this they removed only one of the late charges even though it was THEIR bookkeeping change that made the mess.   To make matters worse I always pay almost double the monthly minimum and they still wouldn't straighten this out!   And on top of that I get a notice last month that they were increasing my credit line! So, at that time, I had been late five months in a row and they were increasing my credit line? How crooked is that? It's no wonder we have a banking crisis! Would you increase the credit line of someone who's been late five months in a row? Of course you would if you intentionally caused those late payments for a customer with a good record of paying! I wonder how many others were cheated by this bunch of nefarious swindlers?   I have one word of wisdom for Wal-Mart, Sam's and GE Money Bank: this isn't over! I don't appreciate being cheated! en-us Credit card companies are scum bags. Raising rates without notice. Having different rates for cash and charges. If I ever get out of the hole....... I had the same type problem, Cancer, chemo, radiation, no work and 2 kids in college. I am working now and praise God for it!  Keep paying and it never seems it will end. I hope you get back going soon. God Bless.. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68804 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68804 Credit card companies are scum bags. Raising rates without notice. Having different rates for cash and charges. If I ever get out of the hole....... I had the same type problem, Cancer, chemo, radiation, no work and 2 kids in college. I am working now and praise God for it!  Keep paying and it never seems it will end. I hope you get back going soon. God Bless.. Well, Kenneth, I have to confess I'm astounded. You've heard the expression about some fallen celebrity who couldn't get arrested. I get the same feeling whenever I push my basket around at Wal-Mart. I suppose the fact that someone noticed you long enough to cheat you is some kind of back-handed compliment, although I'm sure it's one you could do without. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68807 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68807 Well, Kenneth, I have to confess I'm astounded. You've heard the expression about some fallen celebrity who couldn't get arrested. I get the same feeling whenever I push my basket around at Wal-Mart. I suppose the fact that someone noticed you long enough to cheat you is some kind of back-handed compliment, although I'm sure it's one you could do without. Kenneth ,Congress gave the  credit card companies  a sweet heart deal to  do pretty much  what they wanted....They can increase your your  interest rate if you request a car loan..They consider extra debt a credit rist...A lot of other sweet heart deals in the bankruptcy bill...I know my man Joe Biden was instrumental in getting that bill passed....Deleware is the heart of the credit card business. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68843 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68843 Kenneth ,Congress gave the  credit card companies  a sweet heart deal to  do pretty much  what they wanted....They can increase your your  interest rate if you request a car loan..They consider extra debt a credit rist...A lot of other sweet heart deals in the bankruptcy bill...I know my man Joe Biden was instrumental in getting that bill passed....Deleware is the heart of the credit card business. It is said that the company that Sam Walton created has lost his vision and business ethics. When he was around, it was difficult to find an unhappy employee or customer in my opinion.  I wish you the best. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68887 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68887 It is said that the company that Sam Walton created has lost his vision and business ethics. When he was around, it was difficult to find an unhappy employee or customer in my opinion.  I wish you the best. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68913 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68913 ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worse than Wal-Mart is Dell Preffered, it took me about 1 month to see that the minimum payment was actually less than the finance charge, and I'm sure lots of ppl fell for it, there they are thinking" I'm making the minimum payment, I'm paying it off" Wrong, your going further in debt. I payed them off in the 2nd month, with there 26% intrest rate selfs:P http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68919 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68919 Worse than Wal-Mart is Dell Preffered, it took me about 1 month to see that the minimum payment was actually less than the finance charge, and I'm sure lots of ppl fell for it, there they are thinking" I'm making the minimum payment, I'm paying it off" Wrong, your going further in debt. I payed them off in the 2nd month, with there 26% intrest rate selfs:P Kenneth, I feel your pain as far as your financial situation goes.   You seem to be an intelligent, caring & responsible person but.......I am going to disagree with you on this matter.  If your billing period was changed then your due date on your bill would also change.  I pay my bills my bills once a month but I make sure I pay before the due date.  Paying after results in late charges, increased interest rates, etc.  I pay all my bills online but I still recieve my paper statements just in case one were to fall off my list.  I also check them several times a month to view activity & check closing dates.  Credit is not  an entitlement nor is it forced upon us.  We choose to open the lines of credit we have, so therefor it is our responsibility to maintain them in good standing. I will agree that credit is too easy to gain & creditors tend to keep increasing credit lines to keep us hooked, but ultimately it is up to us as individuals to handle our finances responsibly.  You can always call & ask that they lower your limit.  I wish you the best, please don't take this as an attack.   I just want to point out that we are responsible for what happens to us.  It is funny though, if you change the c to a p you spell preditor. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68939 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68939 Kenneth, I feel your pain as far as your financial situation goes.   You seem to be an intelligent, caring & responsible person but.......I am going to disagree with you on this matter.  If your billing period was changed then your due date on your bill would also change.  I pay my bills my bills once a month but I make sure I pay before the due date.  Paying after results in late charges, increased interest rates, etc.  I pay all my bills online but I still recieve my paper statements just in case one were to fall off my list.  I also check them several times a month to view activity & check closing dates.  Credit is not  an entitlement nor is it forced upon us.  We choose to open the lines of credit we have, so therefor it is our responsibility to maintain them in good standing. I will agree that credit is too easy to gain & creditors tend to keep increasing credit lines to keep us hooked, but ultimately it is up to us as individuals to handle our finances responsibly.  You can always call & ask that they lower your limit.  I wish you the best, please don't take this as an attack.   I just want to point out that we are responsible for what happens to us.  It is funny though, if you change the c to a p you spell preditor. Kenneth,check your e-mail. I think I have found a solution to your problem.Please let me know how it goes. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68940 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68940 Kenneth,check your e-mail. I think I have found a solution to your problem.Please let me know how it goes. VBB, understood and agreed. I was so used to simply making my payments regularly at the service desk at Wal-Mart it never occured to me they'd make such a drastic and overtly deceptive change. I should have taken the time to read the fine print on each statement. That's kind of difficult since much of my time is taken up being the primary caregiver for my mother. The most irritating part was the absolute refusal of the person I spoke with to allow me to speak with a supervisor so I could reason with them. After reading some of the horror stories in the other posts I'm convinced this whole thing was engineered to bring in extra income for the bank without thought to the consequences to the customer. I shall endeavor to be more diligent in the future! Thanks! http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68977 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68977 VBB, understood and agreed. I was so used to simply making my payments regularly at the service desk at Wal-Mart it never occured to me they'd make such a drastic and overtly deceptive change. I should have taken the time to read the fine print on each statement. That's kind of difficult since much of my time is taken up being the primary caregiver for my mother. The most irritating part was the absolute refusal of the person I spoke with to allow me to speak with a supervisor so I could reason with them. After reading some of the horror stories in the other posts I'm convinced this whole thing was engineered to bring in extra income for the bank without thought to the consequences to the customer. I shall endeavor to be more diligent in the future! Thanks! paying online and checking all credit cards, bills and bank accounts on a weekly basis is the best way to keep with your credit health. I check mine every Sunday at a minimum  and sometimes more often. Make an excel spreadsheet of all your bills, credit cards  then record the dates paid, amount, amount due on account  if there is a balance. I also copy paste the payment info, of each payment transaction and place in in a comments box with each payment to include the reference numbers. This works very well for me the last several years. By checking all the active accounts on a weekly basis you also can keep track of spending and watch out or fraud. When a bill shows it is available to pay, I just pay it. Many times I get the bills paid even before the paper bill comes in or get the e-mail notice that the bill is ready to pay.  This has helped me have good credit and keeps me aware of my financial situation without any  nasty surprises. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68984 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_68984 paying online and checking all credit cards, bills and bank accounts on a weekly basis is the best way to keep with your credit health. I check mine every Sunday at a minimum  and sometimes more often. Make an excel spreadsheet of all your bills, credit cards  then record the dates paid, amount, amount due on account  if there is a balance. I also copy paste the payment info, of each payment transaction and place in in a comments box with each payment to include the reference numbers. This works very well for me the last several years. By checking all the active accounts on a weekly basis you also can keep track of spending and watch out or fraud. When a bill shows it is available to pay, I just pay it. Many times I get the bills paid even before the paper bill comes in or get the e-mail notice that the bill is ready to pay.  This has helped me have good credit and keeps me aware of my financial situation without any  nasty surprises. I read an article the other day of how banks and credit companies are no longer being lenient on late fees, over limit fees, etc. because they are having a hard time making profits.  Memos are being sent out that specifically say to not remove them even if there were minor mishaps.  I've got one credit card that increased my rate from 12% to 24% and I've never been late and always pay triple the minimum.  They are getting cancelled as soon as we close on this new house. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_69093 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/KennethSchustereit/8896/#c_69093 I read an article the other day of how banks and credit companies are no longer being lenient on late fees, over limit fees, etc. because they are having a hard time making profits.  Memos are being sent out that specifically say to not remove them even if there were minor mishaps.  I've got one credit card that increased my rate from 12% to 24% and I've never been late and always pay triple the minimum.  They are getting cancelled as soon as we close on this new house.