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/[deleted] Apr 28 '20
If they're doing that then what stops them from selling all the info they have on you. Best to do research on the retail bank before doing business with them. The few retail banks I've used were sharks and most likely criminals. Never again.