Renegotiating offers

FiatDino

Hi ... just wondering whether we could swap tips on the best ways to renegotiate 0% deals ...

For my part, I tend to pay off the whole remaining balance on the card, wait a month, and then phone the card company up to cancel the card and try and close the account. This seems to trigger a desperate attempt by the company in question to keep the account open, and all of a sudden fresh deals are presented which are often very attractive.

Anyone else got other tricks ?

ps. my first post - and really sorry not to have found this forum earlier. I have been a really active stoozer ever since the first 0% deals were offered and used a Marbles account (+ cheques) as the mule ... Am very proud (in a sad stoozerish way) that in my latest furious round of CC applications I managed to end up with 15 cards ! My wife thinks I'm barking, but I love the thrill of the chase and the fact that one can quite legally claw back some of these companies' ill-gotten gains ....

OllieLong

Check on the this page in the official stoozing site.

FiatDino

!!

I'm bowled over ... had never thought there would be a whole website devote to my most private and fiendish pastime ... thanks so much for forwarding the link.

I largely concur with everything there - but love the advice to call during 'normal' hours so that you get to deal with the real decision makers. And I'm kicking myself for some particularly poor work I've done in the past on fee negotiation ... room for improvement !

OllieLong

Yes its amazing how much advice is there. I've only recently started stoozing so haven't got to the end of a promotional credit card rate yet but I'm looking forward to trying to get an extension.

FiatDino

The only other technique that I've developed that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is that I try and let all the credit card deals expire, wait a couple of weeks, and then devote a whole morning to applying for as many as possible fresh ones (plus renegotiating on old ones) ALL AT ONCE. This has a two-fold advantage ... 1. when the card companies check your file, all looks quiet & satisfactory and 2. when you have to write down on the app. how many cards you've got, you can obviously put a much lower figure in.

ps. any tips on getting upward credit limit reviews anyone ? I'm self-employed with very ropey looking earnings (but an exemplary credit record I guess) and my average credit limit offered is £7,500 odd. Would love to add at least 50% to that ....

YorkshireBoy

FiatDino wrote:

The only other technique that I've developed that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is that I try and let all the credit card deals expire, wait a couple of weeks, and then devote a whole morning to applying for as many as possible...

You haven't read my posts on the stoozing site then? I adopted this very same technique late last year, with 4 applications in the space of 30 minutes - with a 100% success rate. Other stoozers have reported the same success rate with 5 or more applications at once.

ps. any tips on getting upward credit limit reviews anyone ?

• Quite a few posts on the stoozing site re negotiating limit rises.
• Co-op will consider matching an existing limit on application. They more than doubled mine recently.
• Be very careful with asking MBNA (and MBNA run cards) for an increase because many stoozers have reported having their limits cut (in some cases from 5 figures down to £1K) once the credit search has been done and their existing debt is taken into consideration.

FiatDino

YB ... thanks for that info., I shall check the site some more.

Great tips re: MBNA and the Co-op ... when my present Stroud & Swindon offer runs it's course I shall try to double the limit on a matched basis, a shame though that it'll be most unlikely to be a fee-free deal by then.

YorkshireBoy

FiatDino wrote:

a shame though that it'll be most unlikely to be a fee-free deal by then.

It's not fee-free now is it?

I thought they'd introduced a 2% (max £100) fee in mid-December? - although that's possibly for new applicants only?

I've certainly had a notice of variation that says it goes to 2.5% uncapped from February.

FiatDino

Sorry - this deal done in November, so yes probably no longer fee-free.

ps. YB ... just seen this interesting possible Egg cashback loophole. Being lazy here, but since I know you might read this ... could u quickly confirm ... the trick is to open an Egg Money a/c, credit it with max. £20,000 from 3rd party bank, secure message Egg with instruction to credit the whole lot to an Egg Savings a/c, then once it's there move it back to the 3rd party bank. Repeatable once a year for £200 a pop ?

pps. Is the year up 31/12 or the day before your anniversary etc. ?

Thnks in anticipation !

YorkshireBoy

FiatDino wrote:

just seen this interesting possible Egg cashback loophole. Being lazy here, but since I know you might read this ... could u quickly confirm ... the trick is to open an Egg Money a/c, credit it with max. £20,000 from 3rd party bank, secure message Egg with instruction to credit the whole lot to an Egg Savings a/c, then once it's there move it back to the 3rd party bank.

In a nutshell, yes but...

Credit the Egg Money card from anywhere, BACS, debit card, BT to another card to create a +ve balance, etc.

£20K in one go might attract attention. I'd do smaller amounts spread out throughout the year personally (having said that, I'd earned my £200 within a couple of weeks last year! - although not with Egg Savings transfers).

Repeatable once a year for £200 a pop ?

Past performance is no guide to the future.

Is the year up 31/12 or the day before your anniversary etc. ?

http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,2388,3_79766--View_1709-bID_EMonCashFAQ-dva_1,00.html#whatiscashback?

FiatDino

Top banana ... thanks YB, v. kind.

Should have waited for your reply though ... in the meantime I applied for the Money card and unwittingly chose a statement date of the the 3rd ... so highly unlikely I'll be able to tuck the transfer away before this year's cut-off.

Anyway ... what a mad world we have created ! This financial game of cat & mouse (largely played out in cyberspace) is really crazy but strangely addictive ...

Thnx again for taking the time out there.