My VISA was cut off because I tried to pay it off?

I went to pay for dinner last night and neither my card of my wife's card worked. Strange, I just sent an obscenely large check the other week to pay off our card (travel expenses and baby stuff, fun fun). The check was long gone from my BoA account from online bill pay. I called into the Credit Union today assuming I had been a fraud victim and my card was frozen. Nope.

The check I sent in was too LARGE and had been put on hold for almost 2 weeks. They had the check, they just were not going to process it. In the meantime I crept towards my limit but never got close. They shut down my account because I was near my limit. I asked the guy on the phone when they planned to process my payment. He replied "next week"!! I was livid. I reminded him of the new banking regulations which allow electronic transfer of checking information which allows checks to clear overnight in some cases. In a few minutes he magically cleared my check. I asked why paying off my credit card locks my account and he replied that some people will send in a big rubber check just to get their card unlocked. Fine, but in my payment history I've never been late and always paid the card off. I told he guy from now on I'm going to send them several small checks instead over several days.

I'd expect this kind of crap from a big company like Chase or Citi, but from a local credit union? I made it very clear that the situation was not kosher.

So your lesson for today kids is don't pay off those credit cards!

Nope... todays lesson is don't carry credit cards. If you do you will be screwed regardless of whether you are a responsible party or not.

John Brown wrote: Nope... todays lesson is don't carry credit cards. If you do you will be screwed regardless of whether you are a responsible party or not.

True, the card is a necessary evil though. Buying plane tickets with cash these days will get you put on a watch list.

slefain wrote: The check was long gone from my BoA account from online bill pay.

And there's your problem. BoA checks are the easiest to reproduce/scam with so nearly everybody is wary of anything on a BoA check. The CU was still wrong for not processing the check ASAP (and also cutting you off before your limit) but I really couldn't hold much against them.

If you heard half of the horror stories involving BoA or BoA checks that I hear at work...

We pay our insanely large Discover bill off every month and have never had a problem. Last month' was $3100, but all of our food, gas, telephone, cellphone, satellite, insurance all go through it. That 2% adds up after a while.

Comrade…why aren’t you carrying debt…think about the children.

slefain wrote:

John Brown wrote: Nope... todays lesson is don't carry credit cards. If you do you will be screwed regardless of whether you are a responsible party or not.

True, the card is a necessary evil though. Buying plane tickets with cash these days will get you put on a watch list.

Debit card, mi amigo.

i was doing just a debit card until I had a problem booking a hotel. They were going to freeze almost $600 for 10 days to cover a $150 room.

Wally wrote: i was doing just a debit card until I had a problem booking a hotel. They were going to freeze almost $600 for 10 days to cover a $150 room.

Bingo! I never use my debit card for large purchases, or for hotels/rentals. I can scream at the credit card company to dispute a charge, on a debit card the money is just gone with no recourse.

slefain wrote: I asked why paying off my credit card locks my account and he replied that some people will send in a big rubber check just to get their card unlocked. Fine, but in my payment history I've never been late and always paid the card off. I told he guy from now on I'm going to send them several small checks instead over several days.

That may be the case, but understand when payments are processed, they won't look at your payment history. All they see is a big check being sent in, and because they have problems with people writing rubber checks, it's no surprise it was held up.

Am I the only person who has almost no trouble with my credit card company? I even have a BoA card. It's got a great rate (not that I ever pay interest on it), I've never had problems, and it works fine. I've never had any trouble resolving the very few disputed charges I've had.

Duke wrote: Am I the only person who has almost no trouble with my credit card company? I even have a BoA card. It's got a great rate (not that I ever pay interest on it), I've never had problems, and it works fine. I've never had any trouble resolving the very few disputed charges I've had.

Nope, you're not the only one. I've had credit cards for 20 years. Had one ID theft situation about 10 years ago which was painlessly resolved by the credit card company, but other than that it's been smooth sailing.

One thing that might help, I pay all my bills online now. It's faster and more secure, and I've never had any problem with paying large balances that way.

I cut up and paid off my credit cards years ago. All I have is a debit card and a gas card I rarely use.

Strangely enough I get called three times a day by companies wanting to 're-negotiate' my credit card debt. I'm on the do not call list too.

You can't even get away from it by getting away from it.

slefain wrote: The check I sent in was too LARGE and had been put on hold for almost 2 weeks.

Yep. Rather well known scam. When someone tries to pay me with a check for more than the amount I get right skittish as well.

In the meantime I crept towards my limit but never got close. They shut down my account because I was near my limit

Can't be both.

I can understand their reasonaing... but I also think it would have been prudent for them to contact you. Most of the "majors" seem to call you when they think somethign is "up" with your account... Discover has called me a couple of times over the past decade or so (since '94)... Citibank as well (since '92)... Make sure they have your cell number in their contact file.

FWIW, I pay just about everything with BoA online banking... so far, I've never had a problem... although I'm pretty sure they do direct-wire transfers for my c-card payments. you can tell by the "delay." If the earliest you can pay someone is 4 days from now, then they get sent a check.

What's that like, sending a big check to your credit card company? I have never had the pleasure!

foxtrapper wrote:

In the meantime I crept towards my limit but never got close. They shut down my account because I was near my limit

Can't be both.

I asked the guy on the phone to answer simply yes or no to "am I over my limit" He said I was not, so I asked him why my card was turned off. He didn't know why.

I do all my bill payments (even rent) using BoA online bill pay. All my previous credit card payments were much less than the one I sent and they always went through quickly. It just took this one time to find this magical combination of a large payment made in advance of an equally large purchase. What's funny is this payment was made in the middle of a billing cycle. It was actually a pre-payment on the travel expenses I was going to charge the next day. That will teach me to use credit responsibly.

Keep in mind that your smaller banks and credit unions don't manage the cards themselves, they use a 3rd party.

Bobzilla wrote: We pay our insanely large Discover bill off every month and have never had a problem. Last month' was $3100, but all of our food, gas, telephone, cellphone, satellite, insurance all go through it. That 2% adds up after a while.

I do the same thing with amex. I get back over $1k a year from them. Infact, what I'm doing is getting my products for the normal price, and all you suckers using cash are paying more....

Buttt.. Dave Ramsey said... what a choad, all he does is take common sense and distill it into a form that even the most simplistic knuckledragger can understand. Do you eat with a bib? If, yes, then maybe dave has some insights for you....

btw.. Just paid off my wifes car last week... 3 years early and now all I have is school loan debt....

ignorant wrote: what a choad

Excellent.

I haven't heard anybody call someone that name in over 10 years.

This makes my Friday.

A week ago Thursday, my BoA Check card was hit with a 754.00 charge from an Italian airline. The next Sunday, my briefcase was stolen from my shopping cart at Walmart. With my company check book inside. You want to talk about a cluster berkeley. I will finally get the 754.00 tomorrow morning. I have spent many hours on the phone and at my bank getting this resolved. I would pay big money to find out who boogered up my account. All the people I talk to at BoA tell me that this is very common.

No credit cards for me, I either pay for it with money I have or I don't need it. I only use Paypal or debit, using eBay for major purchases or cars and parts I pay a lot less than your 2% rewards, like an average 50% of retail, just be aware and pay attention to the sellers feedback history.

I am yet to be significantly disappointed in a purchase.

aussiesmg wrote: No credit cards for me, I either pay for it with money I have or I don't need it. I only use Paypal or debit, using eBay for major purchases or cars and parts I pay a lot less than your 2% rewards, like an average 50% of retail, just be aware and pay attention to the sellers feedback history.

That really doesn't have anything to do with having a credit card or not.

ignorant wrote: Do you eat with a bib? If, yes, then maybe dave has some insights for you....

LOL

John Brown wrote: Nope... todays lesson is don't carry credit cards. If you do you will be screwed regardless of whether you are a responsible party or not.

I don't have one, but I will soon. Did you know rental car agencies don't accept debit cards, cash, check, or any form of currency other than an ACTUAL credit card? Ask me how I know.