CIRCUIT CITY, CHASE MANHATTAN Circuit City Card 18 months no interest promotion. Company never intends to let you carry the no interest balance for the promotional period advertised. Kennesaw Georgia

Read the terms! The sales person is only going to know your current purchase promo & not anyting else.

All you do is anything above the min. payment that you send give them a call and say apply "$XXX" to that item that had no promo and they will every time.

Simple really no real reason to make CC look like its their fault. The same goes for Sears, BB, Jewlery and furniture store credit cards.

Read the terms! The sales person is only going to know your current purchase promo & not anyting else.

All you do is anything above the min. payment that you send give them a call and say apply "$XXX" to that item that had no promo and they will every time.

Simple really no real reason to make CC look like its their fault. The same goes for Sears, BB, Jewlery and furniture store credit cards.

Read the terms! The sales person is only going to know your current purchase promo & not anyting else.

All you do is anything above the min. payment that you send give them a call and say apply "$XXX" to that item that had no promo and they will every time.

Simple really no real reason to make CC look like its their fault. The same goes for Sears, BB, Jewlery and furniture store credit cards.

Hopefully I'll have a little bit of assistance and clarification here. I am a Circuit City employee who works with Chase daily. As those of us on this post know, Chase applies payments to No Interest Promotionals first as default. Remember, as standard with most credit cards, all of the interest that would have normally acrued over the period will be charged if your account defaults or you do not pay off the balance on or before the period's end. (You have 18 months to pay off a No Interest For 18 Month promotion.)

Imagine the Rip Off Reports against Chase if customers took No Interest deals, then found out at the end of 3, 6, or 18 months that they were charged all of the acrued interest --all because Chase decided to apply the payments to "other" things instead, only putting it in the fine print that the payments would go to the Interest Bearing Purchases first.

This is a Credit Card Happy world that Chase seems to be working with (literally; credit cards were outnumbering cash and check purchases with us even before Debit Cards came into play); many many customers have some kind of balance on their cards, and putting their promotional periods last would harm many many more people than those it wouldn't affect, and result in many extra charges and angry phone calls...especially stinging those who pay by the due date every month and find out their Promotional wasn't paid off in time due to payments going elsewhere.

Chase cannot wait until customers pay off their balance to begin the Promotional Period on an item; this would not be "Minimum Payments Required" on the promotional item.

If Minimum Payments were NOT required for the No Interest item, then that item could remain on the bill for the specified time period without accumulating interest while payments were made on the Interest Bearing balance first. The item would be like a Finance Ticking Time Bomb waiting to BURST with interest if the cardholder couldn't get to it in time! --It would not work well for a great deal of people. Complaints would be all over the place regarding it. I might be wrong, but I believe the above scenarios are why Chase prioritizes payments and terms the way they do from their perspective.

I imagine it's a no-win situation trying to manage opposite-termed purchases side-by-side on a card, especially if you have the VISA and can use it anywhere. In this case, hopefully the No Interest Term offsets the card enough to where you will still save money vs. if the purchase had not been on a Promotion.

As a fix, you can call Chase and tell them to allocate a payment to your Interest Bearing Balance. I just called them and made sure this info was accurate with one of their operators before posting since bank practices can differ (our Private Held bank allowed us to allocate payments by writing the message on the check, Bank One that merged with our bank required a phone-in. CHASE, who acquired BANK ONE and now runs the entire Finance Operation...requires a phone-in and has limitation.) Chase Bank's limitation is: you may allocate a payment to your Interest Bearing Purchase once per 12 months when you're in a Promotional Period. If you have regular purchases on your card, you can pay them down with this which can eliminate or at least reduce your interest bearing total.

I know it wasn't the total answer you were looking for, but hopefully that can help you in some way. Ask for an Allocation Payment and they can set one up for you. That number is 1-800-937-1294.

" "My point of saying credit card companies make money off of consumers who pay their balances in full was that most people would not consider this to be a "free lunch." It's more of a trade: I'll sign up for YOUR credit card (and generate fees from merchants whom with I shop) in exchange for giving me an extension for payment on the new TV."

The time extension on any purchase is insignificant unless you are going after an extended "interest-free" deal. The service provided by the CC bank TO ME is the ability I have to shop online or by telephone using a CC that offers chargeback protections if the vendor should fail to perform in accordance with the transaction. If anyone shops online or by telephone and pays by check, they have NO protections against the vendor failing to perform. It is that simple. The vendor pays 1% or so and sets his prices accordingly. And you, who presumably does NOT use a CC, will pay the same prices. Therefore, you pay for my online shopping protections. This is a good deal for me, is it not? I was born at night, but it wasn't last night.

"So you say that the concept of refraining to use the card until the "free deal" ends (18 months) to actually benefit from the "free deal" is perfectly fine?!? Well, I'm afraid we can only agree to disagree."
OK- disagree. I have several CC. I have NEVER utilized any interest-free CC deals, not only because they are fraught with gotchas which a careful person can avoid, but also because I have had no need nor motivation to accept any interest-free CC deals. But I do get a LOT of these offers....

"I still agree with the OP that is deceptive print all of the "good" things about the card in big, bold letters and then hide the "bad" things in the fine print."
Well, this is life. The big print giveth, and the small print taketh away. Due dilligence requires you to read both the big and the small print. Common sense says you had better focus more on the small print, because there is a reason that it is small print. Dish Network/DirectTV send me mail offers with glowing prose and pictures on one side of the letter, including those pesky "*", and directions to see the back side of the letter for the "*" comments. The fine print on the back side of the letter covers the bottom 1/3 of the letter back. The upper 2/3 of the letter back is BLANK! Any fool knows they could have used LARGER TYPE and utilized the ENTIRE backside of the letter.

"As for the quote, I'm aware of the real saying of "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." The quote I mentioned was something George W. Bush said during one of his speeches two or three years ago."
As noted previously, Bushisms are prohibited because of their inherent ambiguity issues.

Tom,

My point of saying credit card companies make money off of consumers who pay their balances in full was that most people would not consider this to be a "free lunch." It's more of a trade: I'll sign up for YOUR credit card (and generate fees from merchants whom with I shop) in exchange for giving me an extension for payment on the new TV.

So you say that the concept of refraining to use the card until the "free deal" ends (18 months) to actually benefit from the "free deal" is perfectly fine?!? Well, I'm afraid we can only agree to disagree.

I do agree with you that people should read the fine print (and RoR as well), as tedious as it is to get out the magnifying glass...ESPECIALLY with a company like CC. Scams like these will be avoided by more and more people. I still agree with the OP that is deceptive print all of the "good" things about the card in big, bold letters and then hide the "bad" things in the fine print.

As for the quote, I'm aware of the real saying of "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." The quote I mentioned was something George W. Bush said during one of his speeches two or three years ago.

So you've never been fooled?!? On anything? Wow, that's pretty amazing. Congrats.

To discuss Alex's points:

"Tom,

"Your punch line of "nothing in life is free" has absolutely nothing to do with the above situation."
OH, Yes it does- A no interest, or an interest FREE, CC balance on the TV purchase for 18 months was the deal OP had posted. Isn't that "FREE" use of someone else's money??? as in NO CHARGES? Yes, it is a "free deal".

"First of all, credit card companies make a lot of money off of consumers even if they pay the balance in full. Credit card companies charge the company where you purchased the item a small fee each time the card is used. This is one of the reasons credit card companies want you to use their card instead of somebody else's and use such aggressive marketing."
Yeah?? So what? If you don't want to order over the internet/telephone from ---, blah, blah, blah, then you don't need a credit card. Send a check using snailmail. But if the vendor hoses you (and none that I listed WILL hose you), then tough apples for you if you sent a check. But my CC will VERY QUICKLY execute a chargeback if I document a problem by email or snailmail.

I follow the CC account online, a chargeback dispute form can be filled and executed online, and I follow ALL CC account rules. I also do not pay interest charges. The fee to the merchant is for services rendered by the bank- I would have been a lot less likely to have bought from the online/mailorder merchant if I had to rely on a check sent by snailmail.. So the merchant gets more business from me because it is convenient FOR ME. Now- how is the merchant harmed?

"Second, it is interesting to note that the only way to really take advantage of the deal is to never make purchases on the card...ever."
No- You just have to wait until the free deal is completed. The CC conditions disclose this, so there is no ripoff.

"Third, I actually give CC credit here: they came up with a very creative way to deceive consumers."
That is generous of you.

"A popular line you will hear among the CC patriots here is "you should have read the fine print." "
Yep. You are ABSOLUTELY right: "you should have read the fine print." This applies to EVERY business deal you ever enter- buy a car, buy a house, buy everything and anything! Just read the posts here from the poor souls who got hosed on their auto purchases BECAUSE "they DID NOT read the fine print." Lesson ended.

"I, however, have a better idea. Just don't shop at CC. They are always scheming to trick consumers. Somebody wiser than myself once said, "Fool me once, shame on...shame of you? Fool me...can't get fooled again.""

No, Alex, it is
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Good for you, Alex. You can avoid all CC as you wish. I have no arguement, because that is your business and presumably in accord with your wishes.

Well, Alex, since I have NEVER been fooled, and I know I have NEVER been fooled, I must be a wise man....

Remember
A man who knows, and knows he knows, is wise. Follow him.
A man who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep. Awaken him.
A man who knows not, and knows he knows not, is unlearned. Teach him.
A man who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.

Any other questions, Alex of Boston, Massachusetts??

sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Tom,

Your punch line of "nothing in life is free" has absolutely nothing to do with the above situation. First of all, credit card companies make a lot of money off of consumers even if they pay the balance in full. Credit card companies charge the company where you purchased the item a small fee each time the card is used. This is one of the reasons credit card companies want you to use their card instead of somebody else's and use such aggressive marketing.

Second, it is interesting to note that the only way to really take advantage of the deal is to never make purchases on the card...ever.

Third, I actually give CC credit here: they came up with a very creative way to deceive consumers.

A popular line you will hear among the CC patriots here is "you should have read the fine print." I, however, have a better idea. Just don't shop at CC. They are always scheming to trick consumers. Somebody wiser than myself once said, "Fool me once, shame on...shame of you? Fool me...can't get fooled again."

If you had read the CC account fine print, you would have seen the part that said ALL payments are FIRST applied against your no-interest promo deal balance- this is why you should NOT charge ANYTHING ELSE on that card for the following 18 months.

Everyone says they know that "Nothing in life is free" and then they jump for free (no interest) promo loan deals... Why, oh why?