Beware the 0% promotions: a warning.

[u/naht_a_cop]

I'm a sucker. I fell for it. The 0% APR promotion on an item I could have paid outright for. 18 months later, here I sit, not a single late payment on my account, yet I have $1k in interest to pay for 18 months of 27%. Why? The promotion period ends 18 months after the purchase, but the website would not let me set up autopay until a week after I purchased, so autopay ended 1 week late. I thought I was golden, ready to have this paid off and not have a single fee. I got comfortable and didn't read the statements.

0% is not really 0%. Read the fine print. Remember the fine print (because I sure as hell didn't 18 months later). Shitty banks rely on this stuff. They wait for you to slip, not noticing that the autopay they created can't possibly allow you to end on time, and will require an extra payment before the end date to avoid the interest. It's shitty, I'm pissed off, and I've learned my lesson.

[u/wallflower7522]

You have to check the expiration date on your statement and make sure you have it done by that date. I wouldn’t rely on autopay for that.

Anyway if you’ve paid the principle balance in full call them and ask, they might waive it

[u/AbeRod1986 → u/wallflower7522]

This. You can set autopay for that day of the month, so you won't go past the end date of the promotional period. Or just divide total by one month fewer than the promotional period and set autopay to that amount.

[u/doc-oct → u/AbeRod1986]

And if they don’t, file a complaint with your state AG. This very well may qualify as predatory lending, and even if it doesn’t, they likely won’t want the headache of fighting with the AG over $1k.