The unkindest cut of all ???

Today, I had the pleasure of cutting up 3 different cards after I'd made the respective phone calls to cancel them. You could almost hear the tears and grovelling that went on with 2 out of the 3 providers "customer satisfaction" departments.

"Oh, no no Mr Bigjohn we can definitely offer you zero percent, for at least 10 minutes if you continued to use our card" etc etc etc. :cool:

It does beg the question - why are you cancelling cards that are offering 0% deals? They are like hens teeth .....

No no, you're mistaken, that was just the crap they tried peddling to get me to keep the cards i.e. I get a short term 0% they keep the business.

I've already centralised my outstanding card debt on a Texaco card via the introductory offer of 3.9% for the life of the balance - hence I can make headway into getting rid of the debt, though in months when money's tight, it's less of a bother.

Whereas the

"Oh, no no Mr Bigjohn we can definitely offer you zero percent, for at least 10 minutes if you continued to use our card" etc etc etc

bit was just sarcasm, which, unfortunately, is hard to depict with a smilie or icon!

The only card we've retained for the moment is my egg green (for use, but paying off at the end of the month). Though that'll go when I've bashed the outstanding from the texaco card. Also, while the wisdom of tarting is very sound, I prefer the option of going for the lower rate for a longer term idea, a la capitalone no hassle @ 6.9% (I think that's what it is, though no matter as I'll be reviewing Martins "card article" before I make any further changes).

regards

John

Oh dear, oh dear.

Yes, yes, I fully understand your replies, but levity my friends and fellow moneysavers, levity (or even gratuitous quantities of sarcasm when dealing with card credit providers)!

levity

n 1: feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness

It's card companies after all, and the comparison of that gentle (if satisfying) snap, as opposed to the deeply enjoyable "crack" noise of cutting up newer chip and pin cards is what I was alluding to, as opposed to the deadly serious mission of hunting down a decent 0% deal.

Which I'm well aware is possible if you're prepared to be a "total tart" with your cards, but I'm very very cynical, and recall just how much and how long credit reference info is retained.

As Martin rightly points out in "the book", there's no common denominator as to how the !!!!!! work out your credit score, and while his excellent advice helps us make educated guesses, my passed experiences mean that I try and factor in the element of not moving stuff around too often if they're likely to lead to credit reference searches. Personally, I'd rather take things easy and keep any applications like that to once or twice a year.

I like to think of decent 0% deals and credit reference searches as "the golden elephant". Rare as rocking horse !!!!!!, but never forgotten.

I get the impression that "the wise men" are conservative (small c) in the extreme. Afterall, I suspect there is a big market for a company who could (with appropriate backing) grasp the nettle by the stem and undercut most of them in a big way, but none of then has the relavant "cojones" to rock the boat, because as soon as you factor in prayers at the temple of "shareholder" (not forgetting performance related bonuses), good intentions etc etc disappear out the window with the squadrons of flying pigs!

Ok, enough "tounge in cheek" comment. Just to say, keep up your brilliant efforts, one and all.

Lot's of people don't know about MSE, but for the relatively small number who do, you provide a massive amount of help.

Go immediately to Tescos, purchase a large box of pat and apply to the back area!

regards

John