Hi,
I really need to vent about this, and I also want to spread the word about what a soulless company Bank of America is. It's a little long, but here it is:

I've had a Bank of America credit card for 7 or 8 years. In that time I have never even been late. Over time, my limit was raised to around 10 grand, which was great for my debt/credit ratio. They also upgraded me to their Visa Signature card. I used it twice for balance transfers, running it to its limit. Both times I had it paid off within a year. At this time, my balance is around $1700. I should also add here that my financial situation has remained more or less the same for 10 years or so.

OK, so here's the story. Things are a little tight, so I decided to consolidate a couple of my other cards onto the BoA card like I've done before. The day after making the request online I got a call from a rep, who implied there was no problem and asked a bunch of financial questions. She then dropped a bombshell by stating she would be happy to help me consolidate my bills, and then said I should sign up with their (fee-based) credit counseling service!

I replied that I was fine and didn't need credit counseling, just a balance transfer like they had offered me. She replied that the service was all the "help" they could give, and that they were going to reduce my limit down to $1800, basically ruining my debt/credit ratio. WTF?

I protested, stating that I just wanted to consolidate debt, and reminded her that I had been a loyal customer for years. She then said that when things improved for me they might be willing to grant the transfer and raise my limit again. I told her that now was when I needed them, and they were letting me down. She said that they still had a low interest rate. I laughed and hung up. Talk about kicking someone when they're down!

Oh, it gets worse! A couple days later (yesterday) I got a letter from them telling (threatening) me that if I was late on a payment they would then impose a penalty APR of 29.99%. All of this because I asked for a balance transfer! They couldn't just say "No"? They had to screw me up as much as possible first?

I'm just so completely outraged by this I can barely speak of it. I've been a good and loyal customer for all these years and this is how they treat me? There may be nothing I can do about it, but I'm going to make sure as many people as possible know what a disloyal and untrustworthy company Bank of America is. I will be paying off my balance ASAP. I'm debating canceling it, but I don't see why I should screw up my credit history. I will certainly never touch that card again.

I'll say one thing, I'm going to be really wary of asking for balance transfers from now on. It really sucks that they push these transfers at you all the time and then use them as an excuse to mess with your credit.

Thanks for reading, and sorry it was so long. If I can dissuade even one person from giving this company their business, it will be worth writing.

Robyn