Here's When a Lack of Credit Card Debt Can Cause You Problems

As you read today’s article, imagine yourself in the shoes of my reader, Dr. Tom, who, like millions of us, has seen customer service vanish at just about every large bank in the country.

We begin with a question: When was the last time that you turned on the evening news and did not see a story about the problem of dangerous narcotics? Now, for a moment, imagine, instead of a warning not to use drugs, you see a commercial encouraging their use.

“Not happening,” you’re thinking. But that is exactly what we all are exposed to when we are urged to use powerful drugs that can ruin families if they’re not managed properly — credit cards.

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Many of us have received a preapproved credit card in the mail with literature that says, “To activate, make a purchase of up to X dollars.”

Credit card issuers want us to take vacations we can’t afford and buy things we do not need and cannot pay for with cash.

And, ironically, the more credit card debt we have, the easier it is sometimes to get more credit cards.

Planning a trip and responded to a promotion

But what if you have no credit card debt? Perhaps you pay off monthly charges in full and have no other debt because long ago you said “no!” to taking on debt of any kind?

Dr. Tom has lived within his means and stays out of debt. Through no fault of his own, he created a problem for himself.

“Our family was planning a trip to England and Italy,” wrote retired West Coast dentist Dr. Tom in his email to me. “For over 30 years, I have had a credit card with a big bank and pay all charges in full every month. I applied for their airline-branded card that advertises 75,000 miles for signing up — that I could use for airfare — but was turned down!”

No credit history with the reporting bureaus

He related how he spoke with a customer service rep, who had his payment history on her computer screen but told him the credit bureaus had no record of him or his payments to the credit card company. “‘That’s why you were declined,’” he said she told him.

He escalated the issue to a supervisor and said, “Just look at my 30 years with you. I’ve never been late. You can see that. Besides, you could have reported my payment activity all these years to the credit bureaus, but obviously you didn’t. Come on, someone has to have an ounce of common sense. Please speak with the department that issues the airlines card, explain the mistake and send me the card.”

Dr. Tom took this as high as he could but was turned down each time. He concluded, “Nobody cares. Common sense is not a job requirement at this bank.”

A solution but not at all timely

But it was not over, not yet, because after receiving his email, I got him on the line and called the unit of the bank that handles customer complaints at the highest level and explained the problem. The customer service rep asked Dr. Tom, “Why don’t you have more credit?”

Translation: We can’t make money off of you with interest charges because you pay in full, so why should I help you?

However, he finally agreed to send Dr. Tom’s payment history to Experian. “They will send his credit rating back to us, which will allow us to issue the new credit card, but it will take a month or so.”

“A month or so?” I blurted. “Are you kidding? His European trip is in three weeks. You have the ability to pick up the phone, call your department that issues the airlines cards and tell them that Dr. Tom has a perfect payment history and to send him a new card. Come on, he is a 30-year customer. Do the right thing — fix the problem you guys created by not reporting his payment history to Experian.”

And then, exhibiting his utmost concern for the bank’s loyal customer, the customer service rep hung up.

When faced with arrogant, uncaring people who refuse to act reasonably and solve a problem their organization created, my next step is to contact their media department, because those are the people who can pull strings.

Please help my reader, your longtime customer

In early March, I emailed the media contact at the bank, summarized Dr. Tom’s situation, gave the names of the bank employees we had spoken with and concluded by saying: “Dr. Tom needs someone with common sense to speak with the issuing department and tell them, ‘Look at his history with us. He has been a good customer. Please give him that card in time to use it on the family’s trip to Europe.’”

A week later, Dr. Tom’s new credit card arrived in the mail.

The moral to this story: While most credit card companies report their customers’ payment histories to the credit bureaus, they are not legally required to do so.

How can you check to make sure your payment history is being fairly reported? You can get free copies of your credit reports from all three credit-reporting bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

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