why to not use Chase credit cards

So, it's my own stupid fault, but i do not recommend that anyone get a Circuit City card or Chase credit card. Last June or July they started calling me because i had over $100 in overdue fines building up even though i thought i had paid the card off in January and hadn't gotten a single statement even though i had done an address change with them and statements should have been going to my parents' house barring that. i complained, got some of the fines taken off, and told them i wanted to pay the balance on my account. The trouble is, they don't call you until you're late on your payment, and by then you're going to have to pay a fine for the "next" month (which is really this month), only it doesn't show up on your statement yet. So in July i get my "August" statement which didn't show that i had paid anything, so i figured in August i would get a "September" statement that showed my balance was zero. But i moved, and forgot about it, didn't have a worry in the world, because remember i paid the entire balance on that statement.

Come January and they start calling me multiple times a day because i have $117 worth of fines due on the card... even though i haven't gotten a single statement since July. So i signed up online, put my phone on mute for a couple of days and waited for the 18th to come around so i could access my February statement online. i have now paid my February bill in full, assuming that the transaction clears. i don't know if i should complain about the fines or just take it because i should never have assumed that the thing was done with. Today while i was in my 9 o'clock class i got a call from an 888 number and no one left a message; it's not the same as the number they called from, but it still makes me uneasy. If they start calling me repeatedly again i am going to blow a fuse.

The moral of the story is... Chase is purposefully trying to milk you for your money. They use confusing language and harass you after it's too late to avoid a fine but before the fine is posted to your account. Before last January i made all my payments on time for the most part (i may have missed or been late on one or two), but now i'm $200 in the hole because of their questionable business practices. You know what i found out online? When you look at your old statements it tells you that they don't send you a statement in the mail unless you've purchased something with your card that month. Yep, it doesn't matter that you're being fined and accumulating interest, if you didn't buy something with the card they won't send you a statement.

So learn something from stupid me, don't get a credit card you don't need, save money for a few months and pay cash. Oh, and outsmart the credit card company whenever you can.