Barclay Bank US Carnival Mastercard Carnival Mastercard and Barclay Bank left me stranded in Miami - day before cruising Wilmington, Delaware
The night before I was scheduled to cruise, I went online to make sure my recent payment to my Carnival Mastercard had cleared. I was stunned when I discovered that my account had been closed WITHOUT NOTIFYING ME AND AFTER TAKING a $600 payment. I was scheduled to take a cruise the next day and that $600 was my expense money. I was stranded and trying to borrow money to pay my hotel bill and other expenses. I have always maintained this account and usually pay over the minimum.
I ran into a temporary financial difficulty the past 3 months and had contacted my other credit card companies. They were very cooperative and agreed to close my account, suspended all fees and lowered my interest rate to 9% or below. My financial problem will be short lived because I have a small business that operates from January to April. This cruise was paid for in full before I ran into financial troubles and I decided to still go because I needed to destress. Well Barclay Bank only added to my stress and health problems. It is ironic that the one credit card I decided to keep is the one that stabbed me in the back - Barclay Bank. I will be contacting my lawyer to check the legalities of their actions.
To add to my shock, the last person I spoke to on the phone Saturday night was rude, disrespectful, and seemed to take pleasure in my troubles. She suggested I get a "payday loan" (on Saturday night and I was leaving for the cruise port on Sunday morning). Never did she apologize or even seem sympathetic. I was told that Carnival had the right to close my account at anytime. I asked if a portion of my payment could be refunded and was told no they also had the right to accept a payment at their discretion. I should have made my minimum payment and kept my money for cruise expenses. I was just trying to get my Carnival Fun Points.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Cory
San Antonio,Texas,
U.S.A.
Another One
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, November 15, 2010
This is just another one of those post where I feel like shooting myself in the head, yet died laughing at the same time. He ran into "temporary financial" difficulties". He doesn't have any money and had to contact his OTHER credit card companies so they would close his accounts, suspend all fees and lower the interest rates to 9%. He keeps the Carnival Mastercard open so he can rack up Carnival FUN POINTS for use on a cruise he was going on, makes a $600 payment, so he can continue to party without a care in the world and Carnival Mastercard has the audacity to close his card. Gee, I wonder why? I mean they'll eventually get paid. He has a small business that should pick up in 3 months time and operates 4 months out of the year. Maybe Carnival will suspend fees and lower their interest rate to 9%. Heck, they've already closed that account. He really did need to de-stress from having those 3 other credit card accounts closed. Now it's 4. Another fool without a clue.
Steve
Bradenton,Florida,
U.S.A.
Forget the "lawyer" thing, and just learn how credit works!
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, November 14, 2010
Did you ever hear the old saying that "knowledge is power"?
A little knowledge in how credit scoring works would have gone a long way in preventing this chain of events which you actually brought on yourself.
And, before I explain the above, you need to understand that credit is a priveledge, NOT a "right". They did nothing illegal at all, so don't waste your time or money you don't have on a lawyer.
What happened to you was a result of you closing the other credit card accounts. This impacted your score in a major way, probably 100 or more points, and upon routine credit review, Barclay saw this as a danger sign and did what they had to do to protect themselves.
A major factor in your credit scoring is known as "longevity" where your score is increased for having seasoned accounts in good standing. When you close an account, especially after delinquency, you lose all of the longevity scoring, AND you also lose points for the late payments which can never be made up since the account is closed!
It appears that you are clueless in financial management. You could have used your money like that $600 to make at least your minimum payments on all of your accounts and keep them in good standing. Paying the minimum is better than not paying at all, or paying late, or closing the account.
Get some financial education especially in the area of credit management and credit scoring. It will take YEARS to undo the damage you did in closing those accounts, and making late payments.