I just got off the phone with a Bank One rep regarding my amazon.com Visa. The 6-month 0% promotional APR (purchases only) I'm currently enjoying is set to expire in May. New applicants are now receiving 12 months of 0% APR. I asked that my own 0% promotional APR be extended to 12 months, and she refused, but suggested that I could apply for a new card with new terms. In fact, she said I can apply for as many amazon.com cards as I like, (I'm assuming) up to the point where my credit score bottoms out.

Of course, every time I apply for a new Amazon card, I guess I'd get a new $30 promotional certificate (and, for using my own affiliate link, an extra $20 referral fee). And another dent in my credit score, of course.

Can someone explain this logic? Why not simply extend the 0%, instead of offering me $50 in incentives to apply for a new card?

Thanks!

CC companies do that all the time.

CSRs are not given much power to modify terms - as far as I can tell, they are given a set of scripts to read to customers who call in, that's about it. The CC companies have their system set up so that it is easier and cheaper for them to set up new accounts than to modify old ones. Each promo has its own code, etc, and is all programed in, such that as long as the application dept CSRs know how to push some buttons (literally), everything will be ok.

cjspangler said:

<< It just seems ludicrous that it's set up so that new customers get better handling than existing customers. >>

Not really, when you consider that most businesses judge their growth and success based on market expansion.