Always ask!

This is an unposted draft from a long ago. But I'll post it now. The advice has always relevance.

I don't have credit card debt and I only have two credit cards. One is a Chase Freedom card, and the other is my first credit card through my bank.

Since the bank credit card doesn't earn rewards as the Chase card does, I don't use it much. I'm not exactly someone who makes the banks a ton of money, but I still don't want to be charged needlessly either.

This year I hadn't used my bank card at all which meant I saw a $40 annual fee posted a couple of days ago. That fee is only charged if no purchases are made on the card throughout the year.

I was a bit annoyed that I'd forgotten to use the card this year and had actually paid the fee, ready to write off the $40 expense as "one of those stupid things you do."

Then, I thought, well, why not call up the bank's customer service and try to get it waived? If I'm completely in the wrong, I am loathe to beg, but even if you are in the wrong, they can only tell you "no." I figured my leg to stand on was that the year wasn't over yet so I made my case, calmly. And? A friendly customer service rep waived it, I made a small purchase, and all was mostly good again.

The moral of this story: And that's why you always ask! Companies do usually want to keep their customer's happy. Also, don't let banks pull one over one you!