Julia said Bank of America hiked her interest rate then placated her for months, promising it would eventually lower it to its previous level, only to turn around and say she was misinformed and would be stuck with the higher interest rate.

She writes:

Like most Bank of America credit card customers, my interest rate was doubled several months ago due to no fault of my own. After a few months of paying the higher rate I decided that I would try and do something about it. I called in to the credit department, and after a bit of haggling and being transferred to a supervisor, I was told that my interest rate would be put back to what it was originally. Great!

However, when I got my statement at the end of the month (November), it still showed the higher interest rate. I called in again, and the person I spoke to told me that the rate change had been approved, but that it would take two billing cycles to go into effect. Okey dokey.

But to my dismay, I just received my December statement, and it still shows the higher rate. I called in to customer service and spoke to a woman named Kathy James (by now I had learned that I would have to get the representative’s name because they don’t really have a way to keep track of these phone calls). Ms. James essentially told me that the people I had spoken to previously were wrong (and of course she didn’t have a record of those calls), and that the interest rate would remain the same. Moreover, after she reviewed my account, she decided to reduce my credit limit by 28%!

I realize that the status of my account dictated that the credit limit be lowered according to whatever their policy is, but it’s particularly frustrating that it didn’t happen until I called with a complaint. Insult to injury! Anyway, my issue isn’t with the credit limit.

I even spoke to a few representatives in Executive Customer Relations and again, all they could say was that they were sorry for the mistake and that there was nothing they could do about it.

Is it legal for companies to promise things to their customers and then not deliver them? Do I have any recourse for this?

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone have any suggestions for Julia, other than canceling the credit card and opting for a balance transfer?

UPDATE: BofA promised to return Julia’s interest rate to its previous level.

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