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This is the second part of the “10 Confessions Of A Chase Customer Service Rep”. I hope you can learn something from this series. Read carefully before calling them up!

COMMON SCENARIOS I ENCOUNTER

4. DON’T SAY “MY PAYMENT WAS LATE BECAUSE I DIDN’T GET MY STATEMENT”

Please, don’t tell me this. This is the worst excuse ever. While I don’t doubt that some people somehow legitimately didn’t get their bill, for the most part, its a lie to cover up the fact you didn’t make your payment on time. Hmm, for the past 5 years you’ve always gotten a statement to the correct address on file, but the one month you’re late it didn’t show up. Right. Somehow, whenever the car payment or the mortgage is due, people never forget that, even without a paper reminder.

3. WATCH YOUR CREDIT LIMIT

Going over limit- Its your responsibility to watch out where your credit line is. If you really don’t ever wanna go over your credit line, but a block on it. We do let cards go over a little bit, just in case you’re in a situation where you really need it. Imagine these scenarios. Imagine you’re in a restaurant, and you go to pay the bill. Would you rather be declined and be embarrassed in front of your friends and family, or have it go through and pay the $39 fee. Or, imagine you’re stuck on the side of the road and need a tow truck. Do you want the charge to go through so you can get out of the cold, or do you want it declined and sit there shivering for hours? We’ll allow the card to go over, but usually not more than $100.

2. READ YOUR CONTRACT

Not being aware of fees, or APR’s- Everything on your card is agreed upon when you accept the card. The Cardmember Agreement basically states that the bank has the right to change your limit at any time, change your APR, or close your account, no reason needed. That agreement basically leaves the bank holding all the cards. The one constant I see is people never ever read the agreement, and then are surprised by things later. Please, read it, or at least call customer service and ask any questions you need answered.

1. IF YOU DON’T NEED IT, DON’T BUY IT

The only other advice I have for people with credit cards….get a hold of your spending. I can’t tell you how many people I see every day who are absolutely drowning in debt. I get so many people making minimum payments, never getting ahead on their balance, or people just playing the balance transfer game to move their balance to a lower rate card, but they’ve moved that balance 10 times and it’s still not paid off. If you use credit cards wisely, you can make the bank work for you, but instead, we see banks with profits in the billions of dollars every year.”