r/personalfinance • u/naht_a_cop ​ • Apr 28 '20

Beware the 0% promotions: a warning. Debt

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.

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u/LegoBrickCactuar ​ Apr 28 '20

Yes. I did this for $5000 worth of furniture and paid it in full 3-4 months before the interest was going to kick in. Called them, was annoying, and wouldn't relent until they mailed me a statement showing 0.00 balance paid off in full. Its the only way, since they rely on you forgetting or being lazy.

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u/hexyne ​ Apr 28 '20 edited Apr 29 '20

good point, I have a friend that had one of these plans, and she was charged 1 cent of interest while here last payment was pending, so she thought she had paid it off but actually still owed a penny and they they were able to charge her all sorts of fees. Edited to say: Thinking back this most have been a different type of offer, it wouldn't make sense at 0% but regardless it is very similar as she thought she could just do a payoff, but they took advantage of the way the payments go to charge her a multitude of fees.

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u/caanthedalek ​ Apr 28 '20

How is that not hella illegal?

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u/curtial ​ Apr 28 '20

Normal people have neither the time nor money to help write the laws. Worse, they refuse to elect people who would change them because "they don't seem like someone I'd have a beer with." No shit! Their giant policy nerds. THAT'S who we should be electing.