Credit Card Balance Transfers – How to Avoid Disaster 3: Recommended Pro-Active Strategy

This is the third of three posts on how to avoid balance transfer disasters. Balance transfer disasters occur because of  miscommunications, between customers and credit card agents, in regard to terms. The reasons why these communication mistakes occur were discussed in post number two. 

So, how can you avoid the kind of calamitous miscommunication that makes a balance transfer pointless or, worse, damaging to your finances?

Recommended Pro-Active Strategy To Avoid Miscommunication

1. Be aware that miscommunication can lead to unintended consequences when you transact a balance transfer.
2. Eliminate distractions and listen with 100% attention.
3. When you speak, speak clearly, concisely and respectfully.
4. Do not assume anything about the terms and conditions.
5. If you’re responding to a promotional offer that came through the mail, refer to it.
6. Keep notes during your conversation and record:
   • the date
   • the time the conversation begins
   • the time the conversation ends
   • the name of the agent
   • the agent’s ID number
7. Ask the agent if he is reading you the actual offer.
8. If the agent is summarizing the offer or “winging it,” ask him to read the actual offer to you, and listen carefully.
9. If he reads too fast for you, ask him to slow down.
10. Write down each point in your new terms and, before final agreement, go over the proposed transaction to confirm agreement on each of the following.
    • The APR (annual percentage rate) affecting each sector of your account (purchase, balance transfer, cash advance) as it is seldom the same for all.
    • The number of months that the promotional rate will last for each.
    • The default APR (annual percentage rate/interest rate) on each sector.
    • The upfront fee for the transaction, both as a percentage and as a dollar amount.
    • If the offer you are accepting is on the company website, print it out and keep it.

Lastly, should you feel you are not being understood, or that you cannot understand what an agent’s words actually mean when it comes to the legally-binding credit card terms to which you are agreeing, ask to be transferred to another agent.

Should you be speaking with an overseas agent and prefer to speak with a North American agent, ask to be transferred to one.

Yet, do not request to be transferred to an agent in the United States because that would exclude Canadian call centers and it is acknowledged, in the credit card industry as a whole, that the best customer service comes from Canada.

SUMMARY

In our current economic climate more credit card customers are seeking out low-interest promotional balance transfers as a way to help them manage their debt.

However, there is always the possibility of miscommunication or mistake in regard to the terms agreed upon, which can then have lasting and negative effects upon a cardholder’s finances.

Since terms cannot be changed once funds have been transferred, it is vital for every credit cardholder to understand what can go wrong in transacting a balance transfer, and to adopt a pro-active strategy similar to the one outlined in this post in order to assure he receives account terms that will help his financial situation, instead of hurt it.