Surprise Credit Card Fees? The Power Of Asking Nicely
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
A few weeks ago, I recounted how I secured a 50% discount on my new blazer by asking nicely. This week, here’s another story about how asking nicely got an $83 fee waived. Try this tip the next time you see a surprise credit card fee:
My wife and her sister recently returned from a long-awaited trip to the Bahamas. While there, my wife charged most of her purchases to our credit card in Bahamian dollars, which are pegged one-to-one to the US dollar (B$1 = USD$1).
On our next statement, I saw an $83 charge to our Citi card for foreign transaction fees. I called Citi and politely asked the rep to explain the charge. She explained that our Double Cash card charges a 3% fee for all purchases made in foreign currency. Ironically, I had failed to follow my own post (!) on using credit cards in a foreign country.
But I also realized that asking nicely can be a very powerful strategy. So I asked if Citi would consider waiving the charge. The rep put me on hold, and five minutes later returned and explained they would reverse the charge as a one-time courtesy.
I can’t guarantee this tactic will work (in fact, I’m sure that if it were a larger fee or if we regularly used our card for foreign currency transactions, they wouldn’t have waived it), but getting an $83 fee waived was a very pleasant surprise!
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
Renters Are Starting to Get Concessions From Landlords Again
The Biggest Delivery Business in the U.S. Is No Longer UPS or FedEx
Boys Are Struggling. It Can Take Coaches, Tutors and Thousands a Month to Fix That.
Nom Nom Nom. What’s the Deal With Cookie Monster’s Cookies?
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.