Heartless Capitalist Pigs
Saturday, June 25th, 2005 at 2:45 pm
Not only am I currently applying for new health insurance, I will soon be applying for a new credit card as well. On my statement this month I noticed a charge entitled: "PURCHASES*FINANCE CHARGE*FOREIGN TRA." When I asked Citibank about the mysterious charge, they said:
For each purchase made in a foreign currency, we add an additional Finance Charge of 3% of the purchase amount after its conversion into U.S. dollars.
Since I am in a foreign country 11 months out of the year, this obviously is not going to work if I am going to be charged an extra 3% for every purchase I make. What irks me most though, is that they just instituted this charge without ever telling me… (They claim they sent something snail mail…) Anyways, this was my response to them:
Well, unfortunately, I never received it. I feel that this new charge is ridiculous, as you are already making money by giving a poorer exchange rate than the official. Just so you know, I plan to discontinue using the services of your company and seek an alternate provider of credit that doesn't see the need to gouge their customers which such ridiculous fees as soon as I am back in the United States.
And their final response:
We apologize for the problems you have encountered. We strive to be the best in the business and feedback like yours helps us to improve our service. We will make every effort to serve your future needs in a manner more consistent with your expectations and our standards.
They don't seem to be trying too hard to keep my business, do they? I am actually a very good customer, paying my bills usually the day of or the day after the statement comes out. I am so credit worthy that Citibank saw fit to raise my credit limit 480% in the past year. Though I am probably too good of a customer… Since I never carry a balance, Citibank can't make money off me by charging interest. Actually they don't make any money off me, that's probably why they don't care if I cancel my card with them.
On that note, anyone have any recommendations for a good credit card that doesn't have a "Foreign Transaction Fee," or an annual fee?
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Cheryl Says:
That’s the reason why I did not renew my credit card. I am well off paying in cold cash and often get discounts. My card has all sorts of magic tricks. Charges for anything I don’t understand. BTW, I have fixed my plugin. You may try it now.
Yeah, I am trying to maintain a good credit rating for the best interest rates for my medical school loans, which requires that you use credit cards appropriately.
Oh well.
Thanks for the plugin!