My bank is always pushing me to take out a loan, move my money into an investment of some kind, or take out a credit card. I usually resist, but recently I fell for it, and agreed to take a credit card. Well, I just didn't ask enough questions. It turns out they charge you 89 pesos each month if you don't use the card, and 54% annual interest if you do! I have U.S. credit cards, never pay any interest or annual fees, and there's little need for another. I'm going to the bank Monday to cancel it. The bank is Santander.
Wow, this proved harder to do than I would have imagined. First, I was told at the bank that I couldn't cancel it there, I had to do it by telephone with their office in Mexico City. Then, when I called Mexico City, they had me talk with two different people who explained in monotones the full benefits of having their card. The second would simply repeat the long, memorized sales pitch every time I interrupted her to ask her to cancel the card. After several more attempts to persuade her to do, telling her I didn't need the card and to please do what I was asking, I decided to just let her wind down (she couldn't go on forever, could she?). She repeated the minute long message twice more then asked if I was still on the line. I asked if she was finished: she said, yes, and I repeated my urgent request to close the account. She then started going through the whole message about the benefits of having the card, again. This time when she stopped I told her if she didn't now do what I was asking that I would go to the bank tomorrow and close my accounts at the bank. Without comment, she started again extolling the virtues of the card and I gave up, and hung up. It doesn't get any worse than that, in my experience. I suspect somebody has to give back a commission if the card is cancelled too soon after it's issued.
V that's terrible mate!!!! My blood was boiling just reading that. Sounds like a job for profeco (or a couple of zetas, a pair of pliers and a blowtorch)...
Thanks, Mat, exactly what I was thinking I'd do, since I've never tried Profeco before. I'm going to try one more time tomorrow morning to close the account: maybe I'll get someone else who will take pity on me and not make me keep listening to their sales pitch. I reconsidered moving my account: that would be far more complicated than getting this credit card cancelled and the account closed (I've never used it, they pop on 87 pesos every month for "non use"). I'm not out of optimism yet that I'll be able to get it done, but they may have a policy or practice that's getting in the way of doing what, on the surface, should be a simple task. If that's the case, it's perfect for Profeco.
V, My buddy who used to live in the same bldg as me has a similar deal with Scotia. He opened two accounts and was given a credit card. He moved about 3 years ago and he still gets the bills at my address. He never once used the card and he now owes $636. But for the last year the balance never changes. Before that he was charged a 48.44% annual rate. He tried to cancel here just as he was moving away and he tried to do it from SMA but they could not or would not. Now it gets even more ridiculous. One account was a checking type account that he only accessed by ATM card. The other was a Savings Account. He thought he closed the Savings Account but he had $?????.09 in it. After withdrawing the $?????, he has a balance of NINE CENTAVOS. He still gets monthly statements, that these morons pay someone to deliver each month. I told him he should go to the Scotia in SMA and demand his $.09. Good luck V, but remember, if you close your bank account, that does not mean they will close your credit card and you may still incur that fee. But if you get high enough up the food chain locally, and be willing to walk over and take out all your $$, my bet is that someone will at least get on the phone and call DF for you and get it done.
Wow, another trial, today. First call, going through at least two people, then being put on hold for 16 min I gave up and hung up. Second call, again a long hold, then talked with someone so thick tongued I could hardly understand them (perhaps it was an accent I was unfamiliar with), but at the conclusion was told the account was cancelled, and was given a folio number for the cancellation. Owing to the accent, it took more than a minute to get the last number of the folio, on which I ended up asking if it was a letter or a number she was giving me: she said it was a number and repeated it several more times. It sounded vaguely like nueve, so I went with that, and she confirmed by repeating the slurred sound. [One of the things I've appreciated about Mexicans is the clear way they tend to enunciate, with exceptions for people from Chiapas, or perhaps Veracruz, but this lady was something else.] Tomorrow, I'll go to the bank and see if the account has really been cancelled.
They dont like to lose their accounts here in the US either. I tried and eventually got a card canceled here in MN in one phone call but she fought it all the way and just couldnt believe that I would cancel my card. How foolish of me...... Good luck V.
That's though key though Gonzo, you did manage to successfully complete what you wanted to do in ONE phone call. Poor old V didn't and is still not sure if it the card has really been canceled...:banghead:
Thanks for caring, Mat, I decided not to wait, went to my bank this afternoon, and they confirmed that the card was cancelled! Last time I decide to let them sell me services I don't really need; but, this is not the end of my bank sagas. Since I'm on a roll, I decided to go tomorrow to ScotiaBank and try, for the third time, to get the names corrected on our fideicomiso account. I missed getting a 50% discount on my taxes last year in part because the names didn't match: to correct this, I've got to deal with both ScotiaBank and with catastral, which also has an error on the names. With everything depending on accuracy here, it's amazing that more care isn't taken when they enter the data on the computers.
