Doug Ogg was surprised that he got a credit card he didn’t ask for and it came with a balance!
“I thought how could this be!” Doug said.
Doug got caught up in a switch.
On June 20th Costco switched its credit card relationship from American Express to Visa.
Doug says he told Costco he didn’t want the new card.
“They said it’s not going to affect your credit rating. When you get it, just don’t activate the card and it won’t open the account. Nothing for you to worry about.”
In June, Doug made his two last two purchases on his Costco American Express Card.
What did he get in return? Two Costco Citi/Visa cards he didn’t want and a bill for the two purchases.
Yep, his balance was transferred to the new card he never activated.
“I was surprised and confused, I would say. Then as I began to dig into it, it wasn’t so much anger, as feeling like there had been a wrong committed here. It was a way of pushing people into taking their credit”, said Doug.
In a statement Costco says, “If an existing card member did not wish to receive the new Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, they would have had to close their Costco Card account with American Express prior to the conversion.”
Also on his last American Express bill it says accounts may be transferred to Citibank.
Bottom line, if you get a Costco/Citi/Visa card, open it, you may have a bill.
Then you will have to call Visa to cancel it. Doug wishes Costco would have done what he asked, and never sent the cards in the first place.
“Try and do the right thing. Realize that people may not want to do…may not want your card. And to try and respect those wishes.”
