October 2007
What customer service?
Our survey respondents also reported wide differences in how their card issuers treated them when something went wrong --not
an uncommon occurrence in the world of credit. Among the issuers for which we had sufficient data to rate customer service,
USAA Federal Savings earned a top score, while other credit unions, American Express, and Discover were also highly rated.
Capital One and HSBC were judged below average, and Providian had the lowest score.
Overall, 27 percent of survey respondents who called customer support reported trouble in obtaining help from a customer representative. Problems included unreasonable waits, difficulties navigating automated voice systems, or having to make multiple calls or speak to several staffers. Twenty percent of the time the problem took too long to resolve or was never satisfactorily fixed, our readers said.
If your credit card issuer fails to address your problem, you might have little recourse. Most issuers include mandatory arbitration clauses in their agreements, which force you to give up your right to sue and instead agree to let an outside arbitrator settle any disputes.
"Generally the arbitration companies earn their money from the credit-card issuer," Susswein says. An analysis by the Christian Science Monitor found that one of the nation's largest arbitration firms ruled in favor of credit-card companies 96 percent of the time.
If the deck is stacked against consumers that way, that's all the more reason to play your cards right.
Overall, 27 percent of survey respondents who called customer support reported trouble in obtaining help from a customer representative. Problems included unreasonable waits, difficulties navigating automated voice systems, or having to make multiple calls or speak to several staffers. Twenty percent of the time the problem took too long to resolve or was never satisfactorily fixed, our readers said.
If your credit card issuer fails to address your problem, you might have little recourse. Most issuers include mandatory arbitration clauses in their agreements, which force you to give up your right to sue and instead agree to let an outside arbitrator settle any disputes.
"Generally the arbitration companies earn their money from the credit-card issuer," Susswein says. An analysis by the Christian Science Monitor found that one of the nation's largest arbitration firms ruled in favor of credit-card companies 96 percent of the time.
If the deck is stacked against consumers that way, that's all the more reason to play your cards right.
