Stephen needs some advice. Every time he uses his Chase credit card, they send him a letter saying they’re going to raise his interest rates. In response, Stephen (being a Consumerist reader) calls to tell them not to. And they agree. Until the next time he uses his card. Stephen writes:

About two years ago when I moved away from home I got a credit card with X limit from Chase whom I bank with. The first year I used the card for some things, made payments on it regularly and all was good until last November, they sent me a letter saying they were going to raise my interest rates. Taking some advice from consumerist.com I called and asked them to lower my rates and they did (afterward I e-mailed consumerist to say you guy’s rock). In February of this year I got a notice from Chase saying they were raising my limit by 50% and in March I paid my balance way down. Just a few weeks ago I used the card again for tires for my wife’s car and immediately after I got a notice saying they were going to double my interest rates again. Naturally I called, answered a question or two and they agreed not to change my rates and send me a letter saying this just like before.

It’s starting to seem like they do this every time I use my card and they want me to call just to make sure I’m paying attention to them or something. Is there anything I can do to get them to stop? Can anyone recommend a card with good rates and I can do a 0% balance transfer to for a year?

Thanks!

Our advice inside.

Well, Stephen, if we were you, we’d certainly be annoyed enough to get a new credit card. Naturally, we recommend paying off the balance of your card, but if you can’t do that it’s well worth researching a better deal. Since we don’t really know anything at all about you, we can’t just say, “Oh, get XYZ card! It has magical flying monkeys that clean your garage and pick up stamps when you run out!”

What we do have is some tools for researching credit card offers and we’ve linked them below. Our main piece of advice is: Don’t close your Chase account. It’ll shorten your credit history and that’s not good for your credit score.

Good luck! Anyone have any other advice for Stephen? —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: Meghann Marco)

STEPHEN’S HOMEWORK:
Easily Compare Best Credit Card Offers

HOW TO: Play 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards For Fun And Profit

Discover:0% APR For Life Decoded

Save On Your Credit Cards With Savings Agent

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