ON-TIME PAYMENTS
DOES NOT GUARANTEE
CONTINUED RELATIONSHIPS
IN THE WORLD OF CREDIT CARDS
FEBRUARY 26, 2012
Four months ago my partner and myself received an offer from Best Buy for a credit card that would allow us to build points toward future purchases at their stores. Our web site is contriving to get better with each passing month and with Best Buy our regular stop we believed this would be a long standing relationship.
Fast forward to present day when I returned home to find a letter waiting in the mail. It stated that due to our applying for credit with other companies our privileges have been cancelled. What? I could not believe that it was possible for someone in good standing who paid on time not only the minimum amount but more that is required could have their credit revoked. In today's climate of foreclosures, bankruptcy and debit collection departments on around the clock status, who would think good credit with on-time payments could be repaid with cancellation.
Here are a few other head scratchers. When I called to discuss how we could rectify the situation there was only stonewall on the other end of the telephone line. The woman just kept repeating what the paper said "You applied for too much credit since we issued your card." My response was "but I pay on time often more than the minimum amount so I do not understand why you are shutting down my account. This continued dialogue went on for quite some time.
The Best Buy credit card is run by HSBC which I expressed to the customer service representative how her bank had mismanaged their financial institute, asked the government for a bailout (remember they were now unable to pay their bills) and distributed large bonuses to some of the highest ranking executives that were in charge when the mismanagement took place. Now the points I was beginning to accumulate have disappeared as I can no longer access them. The $59 annual fee which we paid immediate upon receiving our first bill has not been refunded.
Who can we screw conference has begun at HSBC bank. They are selling off all their achievements and we here at RUSTYSCAGE.COM have no sympathy but why are we left out in the cold having done nothing wrong. When does the American banking system reward good customers with cancelled credit.
How will this effect our future growth? Now we are left with so many questions but we can not get a response from Best Buy or HSBC bank. We have demanded in an e-mail to HSBC bank to refund our $59 fee by reducing our balance. We can only wait to see if HSBC will show good faith in refunding the annual fee as we have in making our payments on time.