A Balance Transfer Nightmare...

by Andrew
(Cleveland, Ohio)

A friend of mine talked me into applying for a new credit card that would allow me to transfer my balance on my current credit cards for free and the interest rate was lower.

It sounded too good to be true, but I decided to apply and was immediately approved. I transferred all four of my credit cards to the new card and remember thinking how simple that was to do. I used the new card as normal for a month and then received my statement and about had a heart attack!

The transfers were not free and in fact they charged a hefty fee for each of the four transfers, making my entire balance skyrocket. I was furious and called customer service, they advised me that the transfers are free but only for specific cards and the four I transferred were not excluded from the transfer fee.

I couldn't believe it and I asked them why I was never told this before I transferred the other balances, they had no answer. I asked to speak to a supervisor who sounded scripted and told me the very thing the customer service representative did.

By this time, I was beyond angry and asked who I could talk to that had authority to do something, I was transferred to a senior manager. Again, she told me the exact same thing, no one was listening or answering my question as to why I was not told this. She finally said, oh yes, this information is right on your account at the bottom of the page about transfer fees for specific cards.

She was right, it was there alright, in the tiniest print I have ever seen. One thing for certain, I learned a very important lesson that you should always read the fine print, especially when dealing with credit cards.