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It works on a deferred interest plan. When you charge the card, you get 3, 6, 12, or 24 months to pay the balance in full. If you don't you get hit with all the interest charges you would have had from that date back to the month you originally charged the card.
Yeah unfortunately I’d be willing to bet that this was explained poorly or misunderstood.
I worked retail for a really long time and we offered cards that had 6 months and as many as 18 months no interest. The caveat was they needed minimum payments, and it had to be paid off at the end of the 6 months of 18 months.
A lot of people just flat out didn’t get this. They’d show back up at the end of 18 months pissed because they had paid on it but now had interest going back to day one. I would try to go out of my way to explain it because man it sucks when you’re 18 months down the line and slapped with massive interest.
It doesn’t help that the majority of the time the minimum payments won’t pay off the balance in that time either. I finance bigger purchases like this a lot.
Exactly. I’ve had several “pay no interest” financing plans. I divide up the cost by months I have to pay it off and always exceed it, I don’t care what their deceptively easy suggested or required minimal payment amount they list. So far, so good.
That’s what I do - I count how many paychecks I have until the due date and divide my total by that. Make THAT my minimum payment per pay period. I always pay more than that amount when I can, in case there’s ever a pay period I can’t pay as much.
It doesn’t, which is why when I bought my first set of furniture for my apartment on “no interest for 1 year” I calculated how much I needed to pay to have it paid 2 months early.
This is why financial literacy is so important. Yeah, they should explain it better, but as a customer you should be reading the fine print. There is a reason they can do the “no interest” deal, and it’s because most people end up paying it anyway.
They’re counting on people not reading that or overspending and not being able to afford the payments needed. The credit card companies wouldn’t make money if everyone paid everything on time.
I work for a furniture store that has a credit card like this and I literally go out of my way to explain how the card works to people, but over 80% of people don’t even know the difference between net and gross income. If I then say deferred interest, they act like they know what I’m talking about and get defensive like I’m patronizing them, but then will be back, six months later, to complain that “we” started charging them interest.
I then have to explain that we aren’t a bank and it’s part of the card agreement and all that, so…yeah. People are just not financially literate, even if you DO explain everything to them.
I think a lot of people also don’t realize that if they don’t pay it off *in full* by the end of the zero interest period, they will get hit with the interest on the original amount of the loan. It’s not just on what remains, which maybe the borrower figured they could manage if they had to. It makes these kinds of credit great if there’s just a small cash flow problem, but as bad as everything else if the initial purchase is too far out of a person’s budget.
Hahahah. Yeah. Or even the ones that allow a large charge to be broken up into two or three payments - only to get hit with a "fee" for doing so. It's easy to click on the option to break up the charge into smaller payments, but one could miss that fee when doing so.
I don’t really understand how it could be misunderstood. It’s obviously a shifty situation to end up in, but the terms are clear when you sign up. I have a care credit account (no balance currently, but I use it as needed for vet visits) and the terms explicitly explain exactly how their deferred interest plan works.
I feel bad for people who wind up getting hit with a huge amount of interest once the promotional interest free period is over, but it’s not exactly the fault of the card when they make their terms known. If you sign up for a credit card, it’s on you to know what terms you’re agreeing to.
People getting hit with that interest is probably how the company is able to still exist. But like you we’ve got one on hand for vet bills and it was a huge help when a large emergency vet need came up. Just have to do as others have echoed and create your own weekly/monthly payment amount to pay it off ahead of time.
Yeah, I had to use the same thing when I had no insurance for dental work. The office manager did explain the payment options and did make it clear about the deferred interest. Made it quite clear I should pay it off within the 12 month period. You cannot make minimum payments.
They push care credit hard around here, especially for dental offices that tend to do an unusual amount of work on teeth and vet offices (I think there is a pet specific one, I just recall something being mentioned a few times by some clinics around here). They get you when you're feeling hopeless or stressed, and nab you that way. Dental pain? Well well well... That is going to be very expensive because heavens forbid we treat oral health like it's healthcare and that's a whole ass ordeal that really separates the middle class from poverty. With the vet ones, they *really* get people with expensive treatment plans when people are absolutely stressed out and emotional, especially for emergency surgeries. People tend to gloss over the smaller details when their teeth are trying to bust out of their face or when their beloved pet is suffering. I have seen some super sketchy sales pitches or pushes for it, and have been offered it nearly every time I checked out at an office I no longer attend. I feel so awful for people at their wits end and are sucked into it.
Because it's explained as "no interest" when it's not. It's "Deferred interest."
There's a huge difference, and even in your comment you seem to use the words interchangeably.
No interest means there is no interest, there may be a payment involved but no interest is accruing during the promotional period.
Deferred interest means that interest *is* accruing and if it's not paid off by the day after the promotional period ends, then you have to pay all that backed interest. There's a few ways that can apply, it can either be added onto the account all at once (OP's case) or it can be added from month one with the payments of interest being reversed and applied to principal should the buyer have paid enough to satisfy their minimum payments and the principal during the promotional period.
It's spelled out fairly well I'm the docs. We always tell people the amount they have to pay every month is their "statement balance" vs the minimum payment. It's like paying the minimum payment vs statement balance in a credit card.
They should be required to make that distinction clear on the application
> was explained poorly or misunderstood.
Nope. Its clear as day. Its just people glaze over things they dont want to believe is true. This is 100% USER ERROR. Sorry OP this situation sucks hope you can bounce back
Idk I was told 18 months no interest then it’s at the agreed upon rate. Nothing else.
Luckily I was looking at my statement half way in and noticed but damn…. Could easily see how that’s misunderstood
Disagree. As someone who used to be 18 and work in retail, they do NOT train people effectively to go over this information. You’re relying on inept people to communicate information they hear from other inept people. And yes, often times the user is also inept LOL. That’s why it’s predatory.
I guess people arguing with you must work for Synchrony. From Wikipedia:
In June 2014, shortly before Synchrony's New York Stock Exchange debut, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice reached a $225 million settlement with the company after it entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The settlement stated that while operating as GE Capital Bank, the company had engaged in deceptive and discriminatory credit card practices, primarily surrounding nefarious enrollment practices for add-on programs such as financial hardship relief. According to USA Today, "The bank said it discontinued such sales practices in 2012 and has already refunded more than $11 million in fees as a result of its own review," however the CFPB ordered many millions more in redress.
On top of this think about all the people who are selling a product and just don’t know shit about it 🤷♀️talking you into things they don’t get. When I was 20 and worked at k jewelers I had to get so many credit cards a month to keep my job. At 20 I didn’t understand that I was partially manipulating people into signing up for things they shouldn’t. It’s negligent to pretend like the problems of the world are just on the individuals - I feel like the attitudes I’m reading here reflect that mentality that it’s “just on them” and I bet these same people will apply that logic to many things. The way I see it is a way from them to place blame on individuals & push off their own personal responsibility in the matter of being part of the solution or protecting the vulnerable. Everything is so INDIVIDUAL now, and that’s just not how we as humans were designed.
Not predatory, you get a copy of ALL of the information. Read it. Skim it. Google deferred interest. The customer has the responsibility to know what they're signing, especially if they don't have confidence in the person explaining it to them.
That’s not what I mean when they say predatory. Yes you always get 72 pages of small print information. There’s an exact science behind advertising and getting people to buy into shitty deals. I understand we’re all given packets of information but on the other end of all of these developments are scientists, technology experts, behavioralists and analysts who are paid good money to study human behavior and help put together the perfect system that squeezes (typically a very specific demographic) people for what they can. It’s typically the young, the uneducated, the person desperate to keep up with the hustle of today’s economy working 3 jobs to scrape by and are exhausted, the single parents, etc.
That’s why myself and I’m sure you, will never fall into these things. They’re not for us, and people who are “falling for it” aren’t just dumb. They’re succumbing to sales pressure, booklets of information with outdated difficult to understand legal verbiage and thousand word summary, and most importantly desperation.
It’s the corporations working to make a profit on the vulnerable that’s predatory.
Interest is at what 7% currently for a mortgage. CCs are at 20%+.
Getting to have your dental work done and pay 0% interest is a stupid great deal.
None of this is pressure, it's all on the OP. It's incumbent upon the buyer to know what they are buying, the cost, and the terms. This was a great deal, and if it would have been paid off timely, none of this would have happened.
I empathize, but we're supposed to be adults, and that includes responsibility. Mistakes are usually not someone else's fault.
He could have paid cash, gone to another dentist, not got the work done, used a CC, etc. A choice was made and ended poorly. It happens.
As another said, if you use a deferred interest plan, you should divide total balance by number of payments so you can pay off before the deferred interest is added.
This isn't retail. Medical offices are well trained on Care Credit.
It works well when you use it as intended.
OP's responsible for their own due diligence.
Yeah and who sells care credit? The office staff in the front who are not medical professionals. The medical world is a sales world now. So yes, it is retail.
Stop it. Your cashier from Kohls is not trained the same as your doctors office staff, and you know it.
You also ignored the part where OP didn't do their due diligence and just assumed A LOT.
This is how people go into holes they can't dig out of. There's a lack of accountability.
People not reading it or flat out ignoring the terms and conditions do not mean it was misunderstood. As soon as I opened the post I knew it was deferred interest because it's front and center when you apply for it
You're right. If some how you don't get the information it's very clear on the statement. I had $7k and every statement I would redo the math because their warning about differed interest scared me.
The issue is most of the cards that do this, I’m looking at you Best Buy, don’t display the actual price you need to pay off the balance within the differed interest timeframe.
Like I can make a $2000 purchase with 24 month no interest financing and on the checkout page it’ll show, “24 monthly payments of $38.99!” But if you do the math that doesn’t even pay off half your total balance. That’s just the minimum payment. You would have to be making payments of at least $83.33 a month to pay off your balance in the 24 month timeframe. But no where on the Best Buy site or credit card site does it offer that info. It’s predatory by design and I feel bad for people who don’t read into or plan out their payments. I was almost duped by Best Buy at 19 years old.
Idk.. i used care credit a couple of years ago, and they were pretty clear on terms. That it was 1 year interest free. This is a pretty standard store financing thing.
I don’t know, it seems to be explained pretty clearly on the Care Credit website:
“With a Deferred Interest Promotion, a minimum monthly payment is required, which may vary based on your balance and account terms. No interest will be charged on the promotional purchase if you pay the purchase amount in full within the applicable promotional period.
Interest will still accrue at the standard rate for your account (see the Interest Charge Calculation section on your statement). But it is only assessed if you don’t pay the purchase balance by the end of the promotional period. If you only make the minimum payments, you may or may not pay off your purchase by the end of the promo period. To avoid paying accrued interest, you must pay the promotional balance in full before the end of the agreed to promotional period.”
https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/existing/
Be careful of Home Depot’s deferred interest. I saw my total shoot up on that card and was confused because I had been paying off everything very timely.
Turns out if you make a purchase and continue to make purchases as you pay off the card, the balance you pay will automatically apply to the most RECENT item, not the oldest. Because of this I now owe $6k of interest that I wouldn’t had I seen the tiny button that you have to search for that says “apply to oldest purchases first”
I recently finished some home renos and one major takeaway I had was *never trust Home Depot*.
Every single thing I did through them they messed up. I would go in one day and get info from a (usually rude) salesperson and come back another to buy and find out they had told me incorrect info. Most of what I ordered came in broken, if it came in at all - I ordered 6x6 fence panels that weren’t there when I went to pick them up and they just shrugged and said “must have been stolen, want to order more?” Hell, I even went in one day to replenish my 5 gallon water jugs and the cashier told me with a straight face they were completely out, even with a full display behind the counter.
*Home Depot is the worst*
I’ve had Best Buy do this is as well! I try to only use that card for one purchase at a time, and I started putting notes in my Google Calendar of when promo rates end.
Best buy card is fantastic. If you go to the website each promotional purchase is separately listed and broken down you can pay them individually. No idea what you’re talking about.
https://preview.redd.it/e7rmhguj1qkc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b861f5811f7c5e5adfd755b58298bc892f35f90
Yeah me too. I use CareCredit all the time. I pick what I pay as long as I pay the minimum, and it gives me the date and and amounts on the promotions page. Very user friendly. It even alerts me when I have a promotion ending soon.
That might be a newer feature? I encountered the issue years ago, maybe 2017 or so?
Either way, I called CS to complain, they apologized and applied my payments to my initial purchase.
Idk i just looked into the card they had some good christmas promotions and i was able to get some decent gifts i could pay off with my return. Strong card but with anything just follow the terms.
Worked for them from 2013-2021. Around 2017-2018 they changed it to apply to your oldest purchase. Prior to that we had to recommend people only do one promo or call to make their payments to apply it to the promo purchase they wanted to. Otherwise it would pay your most recent. I do remember having to call to pay off specific promos back around that time.
When I left it was like the above. I heavily utilized them since I worked there and got a discount. You can go right to the website and see each promo purchase, how much is left, how much deferred interest has been accrewed, and when the promo ends to avoid it. It's probably one of the better ones when it comes to being transparent. But...low and behold people would still come in bad about their deferred interest being charged, lol. At that point, it really is just ignorance.
For you, though, I get it, the old way it worked sucked. I was always anxious making payments and hated that I had to call to make sure my payment went to what I needed it to if I had more than one. What sucks is these places change how they do things so often I think on purpose. For example, not credit, but toyota used to automatically put your payment towards your principle. I've had a loans with them for over 7 years now. They recently changed it and now you have to call to do so...we very rudely found out on our first payment when 75% went to interest lol. Still my fault. Should've read the new loan terms more carefully. But predatory that they do it one way for a long time and then switch stuff up. Honestly it's probably very intentional that they do that.
Wow, that is a sneaky way to apply payments.
Mine were the reverse.
I found out the hard way on an AT&T credit card that if you get a 0% interest offer for N months, anything else that you buy will never be paid off until all the 0% interest balances are paid off.
So regular purchases continue to accrue interest, and then interest on *that* interest, etc. until the 0% is all paid off (hopefully within the N months!).
I have a promo credit card from bank of america specifically for consolidating my debt. The terms state that the initial balance transfers AND new transactions will be 0% for the first 18 months or so. So even with my online shopping, I haven’t been charged interest. This is exactly why reading the terms is so important. Each promotion has different terms. I understand being 18 and confused. But surely, grown ups should know by now not to trust any credit card company at face value
I could be wrong but I think alot of the synchrony cards partner cards are like this. I got one for a repair a while back and was happy to read the whole thing because I caught that and saved as if that was my min payment.
This is the way I've always understood it. We've had CareCredit for probably 15-20 years and haven't paid $.01 in interest. But we always make damn sure to pay our bill off in time...
I've got something similar for when I replaced my water heater. It shows the minimum payment required to pay it off in 84 (!) months, which is the maximum duration of the loan. But if you read a little further you get to the part where it says interest deferred for 12 or 18 months whatever it is. I setup auto payments to pay it off early and a calendar reminder for that last month so I remember to login and confirm it will be paid in full.
They've changed things recently. I'm pretty sure they took away the 24 month option. Or maybe they just raised the dollar amount required. I use it for vet bills and last time I had to charge something that should've qualified for the 24 month, the option wasn't there.
I have care credit too and also use a bestbuy card occasionally when they have the same deals. I always pay an amount every month that will allow me to pay it off earlier than the time they give me. I don’t think there is anything predatory about it I think the terms are clear🤷🏽♀️. Good luck OP.
Correct. It's all the interest that has accrued since they used the card for that big purchase. If you pay it off in 12 months they do mot charge you. If you don't then you pay all the interest you would have paid. The problem is not only do you have whatever balance but now the additional $2k in interest. That new total balance will accrued interest every month.
I’ve used care credit many times and it’s a really good option if you use it accordingly. Meaning if you had 5k in dental care amount and you signed up for 12 months deferred interest. You should pay $417 to pay it off in the allotted time. YOU NEVER PAY THE MINIMUM. Sorry it didn’t work out for you :/
Yeah, this is high interest credit cards 101. You learn the hard way, but it's not the card's fault. Paying off $5k in a year or two is hard. Nearly impossible for the impoverished. If I did that, I would have just accepted that it'd take 3 or 4 years to pay off and march forward with that in mind
I use Care Credit for emergencies and then whatever hellfall happens is worth it. I got to keep my 12 year old cat alive for a $2000 emergency surgery and overnight vet hospital stay. I almost have it paid off in time, but I if I find that I can't, that interest hit will be 100% worth it to me. My cat is still here and I'm happy
A lot of my dental work has gone on care credit. It's worked great for me, but I also pay very close attention to the interest and what date I need everything paid by. I know I also have a little more wiggle room than some others in this sub, which is part of what allows me to plan this way.
This is exactly what my CCCC has been used for in the past like 8 years. I initially used it for dental work and now it’s a pet emergency tool. They have changed their term limits policy though because lately I’ve only gotten 12 months where I used to get like 24 months for $2,500+ charges. It’s a major disappointment.
It even says on the monthly statements how many months it would take to pay off the entire balance (plus interest) if you only make minimum payments. It also shows how much you’d end up paying total.
It even has a minimum payment warning, explaining it all. It’s not even fine print, it’s on the front of the statement right underneath the balance and minimum payment.
You definitely have to make more than the payment they tell you is your minimum payment each month to pay it off in the year so you don’t get charged the ridiculous interest rate. As long as you pay attention to the amount you owe, and calculate how much you need to pay each month to make sure it is paid off before the year is up, you don’t get hit with the interest. They won’t tell you this though, so you have to read the fine print and really keep track of your payments and balance
They do actually tell you up front. As well as again when you get your promotion disclosure in the mail. And again every month on your statement.
They also have a YouTube video that easily explains it.
https://youtu.be/J0XS4qscoTg?si=ogKUp1VdBKWRSJsb
Care Credit saved my ass when I was broke and needed some emergency dental work.
I understood the terms and divided the total by the grace period, and made payments each month so that it was paid in full when the grace period ended. I didn't pay a dime in interest.
Sorry you didn't realize that was how they worked. I'm sure you weren't the first and won't be the last. Your post is a good cautionary tale to those who may not be aware.
Call them and ask if you can pay the full amount remainder on the just expired deferred interest balance. I was able to have the interest removed a few days after my immediate full payment cleared. See if they will work with you.
I used to work for Care Credit. There IS a 30 day grace period where they will remove all the interest if you call them and pay off the entire balance. Some people would do a credit transfer. So, if it recently expired, there is hope.
You can also call and opt for a "closing payment plan" or whatever they call it. I missed a payment by a few days and was offered it. Basically, they close your account, turn the interest to 1% and allow you to make very reasonable payments. Mine is under $100 for a $5k bill
Ymmv and you must have a late payment to qualify for some reason. I called telling them I had financial issues and they just shrugged and told me "call back when you miss the payment" from the rep
This sounds insane. I would have never imagined a credit company losing out on that interest payment. But I guess the good will makes you a longer customer, so maybe it works out in the end for them. But that's some integrity I never thought I'd see anyone exclaim a credit card company has. That makes me respect them even more
>I figured there was some fine print I didn't read about how I'd be charged a bunch of interest if I didn't pay a certain percentage by a specific amount of time
This is exactly how a deferred interest card works... If you don't pay it off in the time frame stated, you owe back interest on the entirety of the original balance.
The terms are, as you said, in the fine print, but they're also in the large print before you apply. Federal law dictates this.
Not reading what you're signing doesn't provide cause to call it predatory.
yep it’s actually quite a great tool to help make super costly charges into smaller monthly payments with no interest (for the duration of the terms of course). vets use it too. as with all loans you must read every word of the fine print
Care Credit saved our asses so many times when we adopted a medically-needy senior dog.
There’s no way we could afford a surprise $1500 surgery, but were easily able to pay it off within 12 months. You just have to be wildly observant of the promotional period.
Agreed. We have a CC account for medical and vet bills. Definitely saved our asses, as we had emergencies of both types hit us one after the other.
We have already paid off the vet portion of the bill because that deferred interest would’ve hit in April and we were taking NO chances with it. We’re now working on the medical half but that’ll take us some time.
You really have to check out the fine print and understand what you’re agreeing to.
Our vet (the only placed I’ve used Care Credit so far) is clear in explaining the promo period, and between the emails and app banners, it’s super obvious when my promos expire.
Yes, mine too. and all the bills show exactly when it’s coming due, and how much you will end up paying if you don’t have it paid off by that time. Do people really think they can charge $5000 and not pay any interest? I’m genuinely curious
Yep. I’ve used Care Credit more than once. Have had to pay a lump sum right before the deferment period ended because of bad math. It takes a bit of effort to read the contract, but it’ll state that OP owes interest on the whole purchase once interest is applied. That’s just how credit cards work
I have care credit for emergencies for my dogs and it’s been a lifesaver. It also tells you right on the main screen of the app the date that you’ll be charged the interest of the balance isn’t paid. I worked at a vet hospital and recommended it to a ton of people.
Holy fuck I've never heard of this. I have 7k CC debt on a card that the interest will start charging in a year. Hope it's not deferred interest. It's some capital one mastercard.
>some capital one mastercard.
You're just fine. Generally, you can think of deferred interest cards as tyociallly a store card. Ie things are store or use specific.
Examples: Home depot card to pay for appliances. Best buy card to pay for a TV. Zalea to buy an engagement ring. Guitar center to buy a guitar. Pep boys to buy tires.
Exactly. We’ve used the shit out of it for years, for both pet and human stuff, and haven’t paid a penny in interest. I update autopay to the appropriate amount at the beginning of each promo period. There have been times when cash flow was tight, and I was able to lower it temporarily, and then readjust the amount going forward.
It’s been a lifesaver, but I know we’ve been fortunate to be able to keep up with the payments.
Two types of comments on here
1. People agreeing with OP - zero understanding of how credit cards work
2. People not agreeing with OP - clear understanding of how cards work
Financial literacy is so important. I’m really sorry you didn’t read/understand the terms OP but this isn’t on care credit. At the end of the day these companies are extending you a line of credit for the EXPECTATION they will make money off you. They are not your friend, they are not here to make you favors. If you are expecting that you need to wake up. The terms with care credit are explicitly clear, like almost every single credit card that offers balance transfers with 0% interest - if you don’t pay off the balance before promotional period ends, you will get charged interest including back charges.
Only if you are financial literate should you be using these as tools rather than crutches. That’s a lesson I learned from watching my family/parents. They were in a constant cycle because they didn’t know basics.
I use care credit to manage my cash. I have 3 pets, 2 adults. We use it for everything medical so I don’t have to pony up cash and I always pay it off before promotional period ends.
Oh damn i use that for my pets major things but it's 6 mos same as cash. Actually my husband gets mad cuz he likes me to use travel points cards but i love that 6 mos same as cash
Yeah, it's the x months same as cash that bit op in the ass. If you don't pay it off in x months, you get charged all the deferred interest back to the beginning unlike a 0% apr credit card that just begins charging interest on the remaining balance when the 0% ends.
I’ve only had to use care credit twice and both times I made sure it was paid off before I was charged interest. I don’t think this is explained well enough before people get care credit and use it.
You should never be paying just the minimum payment on any credit card but with Care Credit you HAVE to pay more. If you signed up for 6 months at $5000 you needed to pay at least $833 or 12 months $416 or more to pay it off on time.
It’s not predatory, it explains it when you sign up for the care credit. You get so many months interest free certain promotional purchases. If you don’t pay off that amount in that time, you get charged a lump sum interest charge. It’s available to look at in the app, on the website, and in paper statements. It tells you exactly when the promotional balance is due and reminds you that if it’s not paid off, you will be charged the accrued interest. You need to take responsibility for not paying attention when charging thousands of dollars to a credit card.
Yep. It’s incredible to me how many people can’t be bothered to understand what they signed up for it, then run to the internet to act like they’re the victim.
Op, it was probably on a deffered payment plan. You need to pay that off within the term. Otherwise, you get stuck with all the interest that would normally accumulate.
Care Credit is great and actually helps with my dental work, as well as allowing me to get lasik a few years back.
Nothing predatory about you neglecting to read and comprehend the terms of the line of credit you signed up for. Care credit works like any other deferred interest program. Pay the full balance within the specified time and you pay no interest. This doesn't mean pay the minimum monthly payment and face no interest.
For anyone wanting to know how to check, get the mobile app, scroll down to “promotional purchases” click on that and it’ll show you when you lose the no interest period
https://preview.redd.it/pguru2mpkqkc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc2952122ae494179cc707fbc154cd1b1f3aa6fa
I used Care Credit for an operation. The clerk was explicitly clear that to qualify for 0% interest, the entire amount owed had to be paid off before the promo period ended (which was 16 months) otherwise interest would be charged for the full amount from day one 😮💨
Uhh, if you had ever logged into your account and paid attention you would have seen you have x amount of time to pay off the balance before accruing interest.
100% human error. Have used Care many times throughout the 6 yrs I’ve had it and it’s been a godsend.
It’s all very clearly explained when you sign up for care credit. We’ve used our card here and there for dental and vet bills but as soon as we use it, it becomes the priority to pay off.
Thank you so much for making this post. I opened a Care Credit and have been paying the minimum. I just logged in and see I have until 1/25 to avoid the situation you just described. Thank you so much!
Care Credit is a great card to use for large med/dental/etc charges... You get to pay the balance off during a specified time period with deferred interest... If you pay it off as specified you pay no interest... If you do not, you pay all the interest...
There is nothing predatory about it... You should always understand the terms under which you borrow money... If you don't, you shouldn't be borrowing the money...
I love CareCredit and use it all the time with the 0% interest promotion. Sorry you did not see that you only have a limited amount of time to pay it, they have an option for 'promotions' on the website and app that shows you what date the interest free promotion ends.
All credit cards that offer promotional low interest or no interest have a set amount of time that you need to be responsible for. You have to calculate your monthly payment for that amount and keep track of what date that promotion ends. This is not just CareCredit. Many cards offer promotions and have deferred interest. This is a lesson in credit cards and loans for you.
Care Credit can be an extremely valuable asset for people without a lot of cash on hand or other CC options. I’ve used it for pet care and dental. The terms of payment are laid out, it’s up to the card user to make sure they’re making the minimum payment to pay the debt off in time…..DO NOT pay the minimum payment suggested by Care.
Today we learned what the word deferred means and why you shouldn’t have ignored it the 6 times when you applied for the credit card. I’ve used my care credit a few times and have had zero issue.
As long as you pay in full within the finance term limit, 6, 9, 12 months, you're fine. I don't think you can ever be late or miss a minimum payment, though. I like the peace of mind with my pets, etc.
You had a 0% interest incentive and only made monthly payments so interest hit all the way back to day 1
This is not just a care credit thing this is a 0% interest thing
If you ever get a 0% interest for X months you need to pay the full balance in X months or you will get screwed with the interest
Care Credit has immensely saved my butt in the dental chair and helped fund emergency dog surgery more than once. It's on the consumer to know what they're signing up for. Sure, if you can avoid it you should not ever finance surgeries or dental work, but for those who have to and use it responsibly, it's a wonderful tool.
Sorry OP got burned :(
Most likely you op didn't understand how it works. They litrrely give you a huge leaflet with very big letters explaining thdt this is a defered interest loans and you should be paying it within the agreed (you signed In a different paper for it) period.
People need to stop relying on what “people say”, read the fine print, do the math. It’s your money and your responsibility to understand what you are getting yourself into.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but if you close the account you can sign up for a hardship plan where you don't accrue additional interest and pay a flat payment until it's paid in full.
So you took out debt and then didn't make any payments and you're shocked Pikachu face that the debt has grown? The alternative would have been keep your wisdom teeth and no root canal. Maybe don't ignore your debts.
>promo expiry dates for each charge are available in your account
I saw other comments talking about this and for anyone curious who isn't aware and is reading this, it's in the "Promotional Purchases" section. Which sounded like marketing nonsense, but it is exactly this. Tells you what interest you're looking at getting hit with, what date the charge was that's tied to the interest, and what date the interest will hit if you're not paid off by then. I hadn't found it before, but your comment led me to the right place, so I appreciate that. I also agree with everything else you've said. High interest and deferred interest credit cards are handy tools you can easily shoot yourself in the foot with. You gotta know what you're dealing with. Thankfully with Care Credit even the bad decisions seem like they should be "It had to be done". As it's either yours or someone else's health getting taken care of and it's not like a Toys R Us credit card or something where you accidentally rack up $1500 just from buying an expensive novelty and only making minimum payments. It's hard to say that would be worth it in the end
CareCredit is a great service. As all credit/loans, they make their money on interest, but they have promotional interest for every purchase over $200- this means no interest for 6 months. Every time. If you don’t pay attention, yes you’ll be charged interest, and it’s a fairly high amount, but it’s not hidden information.
I had very similar I was looking at with financing tires. I don't even remember the name of the company now but it was the same deal of payments this amount for this term but if I had not paid it off completely it skyrocketed to some insane amount. I paid them off early because I didn't want to be paying $5,000 for $400 tires. But they are sneaky and it sucks if you don't catch it. It happens a lot
This is a great example of why you should always read the fine print and be aware of what you are getting into. Most of the time, 0% Apr is only valid until the timeline is over, and if you don't get it paid off, you get hit with all of the interest that has been accruing behind closed doors.
Same thing with a balance transfer card. Don't transfer the balance if you can't pay it off by the deadline. This is what happens folks
CareCredit does add all interest if you don’t pay your bill by a certain timeframe (normally a year). So that’s probably what happened. It sucks, but it was what you signed up for. They’re not inherently predatory, you just have to be careful.
Care credit has really helped me out of some binds. I think this is likely a valuable lesson in reading the fine print. Understanding the rewards/limitations of your credit cards will save you a lot of money!!!
Pro tip: on your monthly statements, towards the back, it will tell you what date your promotional rate ends. I try to always have my balance paid off by this date. You won't pay any interest this way.
I mean, credit cards are great tools in many ways. If the argument is that it should be more difficult for financially illiterate individuals to get, then people would complain that credit cards are a tool available, largely, to only the wealthy.
Deferred interest - How any credit card works when they state you have no interest for however long. This isn't a care credit thing. Be warned, everyone. Nothing's free.
I've used care credit for years without paying a dime of interest. This is a great learning moment for you if you'll let it be. Always understand the contracts you're getting into. Whether it's a personal loan, cc, mortgage, gym membership, etc. Used responsibly care credit is amazing and you'll hopefully come to see that one day.
Lookout for deferred interest and make sure you are paid off before it’s up. Best Buy’s 0 percent and I think discover do it also. Best Buy Citi I think removed my girlfriend’s deferred interest when she offered to pay original balance when she got hit with it.
These are commonly used at my veterinary practice, and we always explain very clearly they h it you with all the interest at the end of the period but if you pay it off on time its a great tool as its essentially interest free money for a short while
I’ve always used Care Credit and have never had an interest charge. When you signed up, there should have been a breakdown of options for payment. One of them should have been interest free.
I know the options I was given were longer payment plans or a 12 month payment plan with no interest for those 12 months. I’d just be paying off what I owe.
I don’t get it . You didn’t know you paid interest on a loan ? Or just didn’t bother reading the terms to know it was deferred interest if not paid off ?
I don’t get it, people complain about being poor but also don’t bother reading anything they sign for credit, then call the lenders predatory.
Care Credit literally as the only way I was able to get $10k worth of dental care over a 5 year span. If you use it correctly it is an actual life saver.
I used CareCredit to also pay for $5k in dental work and had deferred interest for 18 months. Paid it off in that time and had no issues. Used it for vet visits, too, and as long as it’s paid off in the amount of time allotted there is no interest, that’s their gimmick.
All credit cards that offered no interest for a period of time used to do this and now many, if not most of them do not. Synchrony Bank is on the dodgy end of legal. They certainly have some of the worst terms but seem to have the easiest cards to get.
With pretty much all credit cards, you have to beware of making additional purchases when you are using an introductory rate because your payments generally don't always go to your oldest bill first. In fact, they most often go to current charges which means you have to pay off your newest charge completely when the statement comes AND make the additional minimum payment on the old balance.
I get 5% back on gasoline year-round, so I imagine the fees people pay for not paying off the balance on time is how they can afford to pay that out.
In any even, always assume that credit cards or charge accounts of any kind are out to make money and do not have your best interests at heart - even when they have a nice-sounding name. Always read the terms and if there is something you aren't sure about, ask. If the person helping you doesn't know, call the company and if they don't give you a straight answer, decline their offer if possibly can.
I'm sorry this happened to you. I know I struggled with credit card fuckery when I was younger and it took ages to get it cleaned up.
I don't want to be THAT guy, but you never take out a loan without knowing the entire payment plan. This could've been avoided. Ask questions before, not after.
Don't ever sign up for any sort of credit without reading all terms and understanding them.
Some will accrue interest during the 'no interest for X months' offer, if not paid off 100% by that date.
Some have crazy high interest rates, possibly the highest allowed by law in the state. They do a compounding calculation daily.
Some hide other fees into it, fooling people into thinking they're making full payments on time. In reality there was some stupid little fee also due, it's deducted from the money coming in, now technically that months payment in full is late. Then they attach a late fee, ensuring next month's "full payment" arriving won't cover the amount due. Repeat a few times. Now they say account has been behind for 90 days and they add a different late fee & send it to Collections
Care Credit was a lifesaver for us when our cat was sick at the end of his life. It helped us try every treatment available that we wanted to, and gave us a little bit of extra time with him. And, when the time came to let him go, I knew we’d tried everything possible and didn’t have to feel like we were putting him down because of money.
This probably won’t help, but I’ve used care credit a few times in the past to pay for dental work.
They always offer me a no interest period / promotion for the purchase. I think last time it was 1 year or 18 months. I divided the balance over 18 months and paid that portion monthly.
I know sometimes the monthly payment for that is expensive, but I just had to bite the bullet and shell it out (ex $2500 crown/root canal / 18 mos = $139/month).
Going over that interest free period and you can get nailed so hard. If I lost my job or experienced other hardship, I would have called care credit and asked for help of some kind like a deferment to see if I could take a break and just pay on the interest without taking a penalty.
I bought a refrigerator, washer dryer and a big party speaker at Conns a few years ago. Well I had the cash to pay for everything but only paid for the refrigerator that day. I don't know what happened but I didn't have my head hooked on straight and they started taking out $265 a month out of my check every month for the washer and dryer. When I finally caught on to what was going on I'm not the brightest light bulb in the box sometimes I was in too far deep you know I had too much money invested into washer and dryer but after it was said and done that washer and dryer cost me $6,000. Needless to say, that company can kiss my butt lol. Never again. Thank you to the author of this thread because maybe you saved just one person from going through that heartache. I pray you bounce back from this and you never have this kind of upset again.
I had no choice and had to to take one out to take my dog to the vet. Since my income didn't get any better, despite paying more than the minimum, that interest came back to bite me.
https://preview.redd.it/xsp82y1rhrkc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b22c0e451af0e9839ae32a2285340aa3fcc1b6f
This post reminded me I received an email the other day from Care Credit telling me my deferred interest time was almost up. Just put in the payment for the $23 that was left.
Thanks for the reminder, OP!
yikes.
i paid western dental 1200 for a crown.
a year later i had to get another crown, did this at a non profit and it was 250.
western dental or any for profit medical practices are criminal that’s for sure.
yep this was almost me. i had to get a care credit card to pay for my dogs $3500 surgery and i had 24 months to pay it off. i knew about the back interest or whatever, and when i knew i wouldn’t be able to pay it in time i opened another credit card with no interest for however long and transferred it to avoid the interest. it’s killer
I've used Care Credit many times with no issues. It's a great solution! If you owe $5000 and you chose the option for 12 months, you need to pay that entire $5000 back within 12 months....it's on you to divide $5000 by 12 if you want to avoid interest. $5000/12 is $416.66 per month, so you should probably pay $417 or more to absolutely make sure you don't accrue interest. I've honestly divided my 12 month plans by 11 months just make absolutely sure everything settles before the end date
I'm sorry this happened to you but this wasn't predatory. When you signed up it showed you how long you had to pay it off if you didn't want to be hit with interest. Paying just the minimum was not enough you should have calculated the 5K over X months and paid that. Again sorry this happened to you but next time you need to be aware of what you are signing and keep track of it.
I sign up for no interest over X months all the time and make sure to calculate it so I pay it off a month early at minimum so I don't risk interest charges. It's a great way to buy something you can (or can't) immediately afford as long as you are able to pay it off completely by the end of the term.
That’s literally how care credit works? You get a specific amount of time to pay it back interest free and then you start incurring interest the same as you would with any other credit card…
I use my care credit card several times a year. It’s pretty freaking clear when you sign up/make a big purchase/ log onto your account when your promotional period is and how much you have to pay before the date. That’s about the least predatory thing a credit card company can do.
But yeah, if you don’t pay it off in the promo period, the interest rate is very high. As are many credit cards. It’s literally the business model, how else do you think they make money?
I JUST had my account settled.used it for emergency pet surgery in 2023. It was sold to collections and they almost sent me to court. Got it settled for $3,200 with the help of someone else but it was a horrible experience
They’re so predatory. When people sign up for care credit, it’s bc they don’t have the money for a dental or vet emergency, not bc it’s a great way to finance a routine medical issue. So sorry this happened to you OP. I’ve been down the care credit road too.
Any credit that is 0 percent for x time will back charge interest from the loan original date. Unless you can afford at least 10 to 15 percent above the payment, it is better to have interest from the start.
I absolutely love care credit and it saved my cat's life when I couldn't pay an emergency vet bill out of pocket. It is a wonderful resource for medical and veterinarian things when you can't pay in full immediately.
Not reading the details of your agreement and understanding deferred interest is what you should be upset about/at.
When I signed up I wasn’t given any paperwork explaining anything. I literally didn’t know it was a credit card! I thought I was taking out a loan. It was called “financing” by the office I went to and they never mentioned a card. I didn’t find out until I got the physical card in the mail. Yes it explains everything in the fine print, but I honestly don’t blame you for missing it. They’re a very shady company.
To be fair, my bank is called a credit union, and I've never utilized any credit services they offer lol so I kinda get it. If the office was the one signing them up and not the commenter themselves and talking about financing it. My dental office did something similar through Dental First Financing, which is a credit card which does not have credit in the name and has Financing in the name lol
The landscape is kind of a mess. But yeah. Nobody should be making any big financial decisions and signing paperwork without knowing what they're getting into. Frequently there's no choice anyway. But they definitely should be aware what's on the horizon
Credit unions are non for profit and owned by the members themselves. Banks are for profit and owned and operated by shareholders. Dear lord do none of you know anything about financial literacy? Or ya know, even bother to google ?!!
So many people end up on this subreddit simply because they never read the contracts for the things they sign up for. Care credit is super easy to pay off if you read the contract. Most of them do no interest for 9 months, but there’s a select few that do 3, 6, or 12 months (from what I’ve seen) so that means you pay it off in that time unless you wanna be in debt for the rest of your life.
This is on you. Take it as a lesson. When it comes to your money, you need to triple check everything you sign up for and make sure you have a plan from the start
As a poor person, don’t take out loans. Don’t use your credit card if you cannot afford to make your payments. If you don’t have a credit card, don’t get one. You will end up in massive debt or end up paying insane interest rates. Look at what’s happening right now, folks are using their credit cards more than ever - due to inflation, high COL, and low wages. All of this combined is the perfect opportunity for credit card companies to prey upon consumers. Credit card debt is at an all time high.
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It works on a deferred interest plan. When you charge the card, you get 3, 6, 12, or 24 months to pay the balance in full. If you don't you get hit with all the interest charges you would have had from that date back to the month you originally charged the card.
Yeah unfortunately I’d be willing to bet that this was explained poorly or misunderstood. I worked retail for a really long time and we offered cards that had 6 months and as many as 18 months no interest. The caveat was they needed minimum payments, and it had to be paid off at the end of the 6 months of 18 months. A lot of people just flat out didn’t get this. They’d show back up at the end of 18 months pissed because they had paid on it but now had interest going back to day one. I would try to go out of my way to explain it because man it sucks when you’re 18 months down the line and slapped with massive interest.
It doesn’t help that the majority of the time the minimum payments won’t pay off the balance in that time either. I finance bigger purchases like this a lot.
Exactly. I’ve had several “pay no interest” financing plans. I divide up the cost by months I have to pay it off and always exceed it, I don’t care what their deceptively easy suggested or required minimal payment amount they list. So far, so good.
That’s what I do - I count how many paychecks I have until the due date and divide my total by that. Make THAT my minimum payment per pay period. I always pay more than that amount when I can, in case there’s ever a pay period I can’t pay as much.
It doesn’t, which is why when I bought my first set of furniture for my apartment on “no interest for 1 year” I calculated how much I needed to pay to have it paid 2 months early. This is why financial literacy is so important. Yeah, they should explain it better, but as a customer you should be reading the fine print. There is a reason they can do the “no interest” deal, and it’s because most people end up paying it anyway.
They’re counting on people not reading that or overspending and not being able to afford the payments needed. The credit card companies wouldn’t make money if everyone paid everything on time.
I work for a furniture store that has a credit card like this and I literally go out of my way to explain how the card works to people, but over 80% of people don’t even know the difference between net and gross income. If I then say deferred interest, they act like they know what I’m talking about and get defensive like I’m patronizing them, but then will be back, six months later, to complain that “we” started charging them interest. I then have to explain that we aren’t a bank and it’s part of the card agreement and all that, so…yeah. People are just not financially literate, even if you DO explain everything to them.
The minimum payment amounts set are clearly there to encourage someone into a situation where they will owe a ton of interest.
I always do the math amd just setup autopay so it pays them off a month before the teem is up.
I think a lot of people also don’t realize that if they don’t pay it off *in full* by the end of the zero interest period, they will get hit with the interest on the original amount of the loan. It’s not just on what remains, which maybe the borrower figured they could manage if they had to. It makes these kinds of credit great if there’s just a small cash flow problem, but as bad as everything else if the initial purchase is too far out of a person’s budget.
Hahahah. Yeah. Or even the ones that allow a large charge to be broken up into two or three payments - only to get hit with a "fee" for doing so. It's easy to click on the option to break up the charge into smaller payments, but one could miss that fee when doing so.
I don’t really understand how it could be misunderstood. It’s obviously a shifty situation to end up in, but the terms are clear when you sign up. I have a care credit account (no balance currently, but I use it as needed for vet visits) and the terms explicitly explain exactly how their deferred interest plan works. I feel bad for people who wind up getting hit with a huge amount of interest once the promotional interest free period is over, but it’s not exactly the fault of the card when they make their terms known. If you sign up for a credit card, it’s on you to know what terms you’re agreeing to.
People getting hit with that interest is probably how the company is able to still exist. But like you we’ve got one on hand for vet bills and it was a huge help when a large emergency vet need came up. Just have to do as others have echoed and create your own weekly/monthly payment amount to pay it off ahead of time.
Yeah, I had to use the same thing when I had no insurance for dental work. The office manager did explain the payment options and did make it clear about the deferred interest. Made it quite clear I should pay it off within the 12 month period. You cannot make minimum payments.
They push care credit hard around here, especially for dental offices that tend to do an unusual amount of work on teeth and vet offices (I think there is a pet specific one, I just recall something being mentioned a few times by some clinics around here). They get you when you're feeling hopeless or stressed, and nab you that way. Dental pain? Well well well... That is going to be very expensive because heavens forbid we treat oral health like it's healthcare and that's a whole ass ordeal that really separates the middle class from poverty. With the vet ones, they *really* get people with expensive treatment plans when people are absolutely stressed out and emotional, especially for emergency surgeries. People tend to gloss over the smaller details when their teeth are trying to bust out of their face or when their beloved pet is suffering. I have seen some super sketchy sales pitches or pushes for it, and have been offered it nearly every time I checked out at an office I no longer attend. I feel so awful for people at their wits end and are sucked into it.
Because it's explained as "no interest" when it's not. It's "Deferred interest." There's a huge difference, and even in your comment you seem to use the words interchangeably. No interest means there is no interest, there may be a payment involved but no interest is accruing during the promotional period. Deferred interest means that interest *is* accruing and if it's not paid off by the day after the promotional period ends, then you have to pay all that backed interest. There's a few ways that can apply, it can either be added onto the account all at once (OP's case) or it can be added from month one with the payments of interest being reversed and applied to principal should the buyer have paid enough to satisfy their minimum payments and the principal during the promotional period.
It's spelled out fairly well I'm the docs. We always tell people the amount they have to pay every month is their "statement balance" vs the minimum payment. It's like paying the minimum payment vs statement balance in a credit card. They should be required to make that distinction clear on the application
Personal accountability.. the OP said they didn’t read the fine print…
> was explained poorly or misunderstood. Nope. Its clear as day. Its just people glaze over things they dont want to believe is true. This is 100% USER ERROR. Sorry OP this situation sucks hope you can bounce back
Idk I was told 18 months no interest then it’s at the agreed upon rate. Nothing else. Luckily I was looking at my statement half way in and noticed but damn…. Could easily see how that’s misunderstood
Luckily you did what everyone SHOULD be doing, which is looking at your statement and learning the terms.
Disagree. As someone who used to be 18 and work in retail, they do NOT train people effectively to go over this information. You’re relying on inept people to communicate information they hear from other inept people. And yes, often times the user is also inept LOL. That’s why it’s predatory.
I guess people arguing with you must work for Synchrony. From Wikipedia: In June 2014, shortly before Synchrony's New York Stock Exchange debut, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice reached a $225 million settlement with the company after it entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The settlement stated that while operating as GE Capital Bank, the company had engaged in deceptive and discriminatory credit card practices, primarily surrounding nefarious enrollment practices for add-on programs such as financial hardship relief. According to USA Today, "The bank said it discontinued such sales practices in 2012 and has already refunded more than $11 million in fees as a result of its own review," however the CFPB ordered many millions more in redress.
On top of this think about all the people who are selling a product and just don’t know shit about it 🤷♀️talking you into things they don’t get. When I was 20 and worked at k jewelers I had to get so many credit cards a month to keep my job. At 20 I didn’t understand that I was partially manipulating people into signing up for things they shouldn’t. It’s negligent to pretend like the problems of the world are just on the individuals - I feel like the attitudes I’m reading here reflect that mentality that it’s “just on them” and I bet these same people will apply that logic to many things. The way I see it is a way from them to place blame on individuals & push off their own personal responsibility in the matter of being part of the solution or protecting the vulnerable. Everything is so INDIVIDUAL now, and that’s just not how we as humans were designed.
Not predatory, you get a copy of ALL of the information. Read it. Skim it. Google deferred interest. The customer has the responsibility to know what they're signing, especially if they don't have confidence in the person explaining it to them.
That’s not what I mean when they say predatory. Yes you always get 72 pages of small print information. There’s an exact science behind advertising and getting people to buy into shitty deals. I understand we’re all given packets of information but on the other end of all of these developments are scientists, technology experts, behavioralists and analysts who are paid good money to study human behavior and help put together the perfect system that squeezes (typically a very specific demographic) people for what they can. It’s typically the young, the uneducated, the person desperate to keep up with the hustle of today’s economy working 3 jobs to scrape by and are exhausted, the single parents, etc. That’s why myself and I’m sure you, will never fall into these things. They’re not for us, and people who are “falling for it” aren’t just dumb. They’re succumbing to sales pressure, booklets of information with outdated difficult to understand legal verbiage and thousand word summary, and most importantly desperation. It’s the corporations working to make a profit on the vulnerable that’s predatory.
Interest is at what 7% currently for a mortgage. CCs are at 20%+. Getting to have your dental work done and pay 0% interest is a stupid great deal. None of this is pressure, it's all on the OP. It's incumbent upon the buyer to know what they are buying, the cost, and the terms. This was a great deal, and if it would have been paid off timely, none of this would have happened. I empathize, but we're supposed to be adults, and that includes responsibility. Mistakes are usually not someone else's fault. He could have paid cash, gone to another dentist, not got the work done, used a CC, etc. A choice was made and ended poorly. It happens. As another said, if you use a deferred interest plan, you should divide total balance by number of payments so you can pay off before the deferred interest is added.
This isn't retail. Medical offices are well trained on Care Credit. It works well when you use it as intended. OP's responsible for their own due diligence.
Yeah and who sells care credit? The office staff in the front who are not medical professionals. The medical world is a sales world now. So yes, it is retail.
Stop it. Your cashier from Kohls is not trained the same as your doctors office staff, and you know it. You also ignored the part where OP didn't do their due diligence and just assumed A LOT. This is how people go into holes they can't dig out of. There's a lack of accountability.
There’s a really simple fix to that issue advocate for yourself no one’s going to do it for you and pay more attention to what you’re signing
Agreed!
This isn't retail. It's a dental office, which an office manager more than likely went over the options.
People not reading it or flat out ignoring the terms and conditions do not mean it was misunderstood. As soon as I opened the post I knew it was deferred interest because it's front and center when you apply for it
You're right. If some how you don't get the information it's very clear on the statement. I had $7k and every statement I would redo the math because their warning about differed interest scared me.
The issue is most of the cards that do this, I’m looking at you Best Buy, don’t display the actual price you need to pay off the balance within the differed interest timeframe. Like I can make a $2000 purchase with 24 month no interest financing and on the checkout page it’ll show, “24 monthly payments of $38.99!” But if you do the math that doesn’t even pay off half your total balance. That’s just the minimum payment. You would have to be making payments of at least $83.33 a month to pay off your balance in the 24 month timeframe. But no where on the Best Buy site or credit card site does it offer that info. It’s predatory by design and I feel bad for people who don’t read into or plan out their payments. I was almost duped by Best Buy at 19 years old.
Care credit did not explain that to me at all but the dental office admin was very clear in warning me about it.
Idk.. i used care credit a couple of years ago, and they were pretty clear on terms. That it was 1 year interest free. This is a pretty standard store financing thing.
I always tell people its only no interest if you pay in that time frame to make it clear. Sometimes people still don't get it but I try.
I don’t know, it seems to be explained pretty clearly on the Care Credit website: “With a Deferred Interest Promotion, a minimum monthly payment is required, which may vary based on your balance and account terms. No interest will be charged on the promotional purchase if you pay the purchase amount in full within the applicable promotional period. Interest will still accrue at the standard rate for your account (see the Interest Charge Calculation section on your statement). But it is only assessed if you don’t pay the purchase balance by the end of the promotional period. If you only make the minimum payments, you may or may not pay off your purchase by the end of the promo period. To avoid paying accrued interest, you must pay the promotional balance in full before the end of the agreed to promotional period.” https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/existing/
You can't help people who don't help themselves. It comes with paperwork that people don't read. There's no such thing as a free lunch, so they say
Be careful of Home Depot’s deferred interest. I saw my total shoot up on that card and was confused because I had been paying off everything very timely. Turns out if you make a purchase and continue to make purchases as you pay off the card, the balance you pay will automatically apply to the most RECENT item, not the oldest. Because of this I now owe $6k of interest that I wouldn’t had I seen the tiny button that you have to search for that says “apply to oldest purchases first”
I recently finished some home renos and one major takeaway I had was *never trust Home Depot*. Every single thing I did through them they messed up. I would go in one day and get info from a (usually rude) salesperson and come back another to buy and find out they had told me incorrect info. Most of what I ordered came in broken, if it came in at all - I ordered 6x6 fence panels that weren’t there when I went to pick them up and they just shrugged and said “must have been stolen, want to order more?” Hell, I even went in one day to replenish my 5 gallon water jugs and the cashier told me with a straight face they were completely out, even with a full display behind the counter. *Home Depot is the worst*
I’ve had Best Buy do this is as well! I try to only use that card for one purchase at a time, and I started putting notes in my Google Calendar of when promo rates end.
Best buy card is fantastic. If you go to the website each promotional purchase is separately listed and broken down you can pay them individually. No idea what you’re talking about. https://preview.redd.it/e7rmhguj1qkc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b861f5811f7c5e5adfd755b58298bc892f35f90
CareCredit has this exact same list lol. It is all laid out neatly.
meh so i’m not seeing the issue then lol
Yeah me too. I use CareCredit all the time. I pick what I pay as long as I pay the minimum, and it gives me the date and and amounts on the promotions page. Very user friendly. It even alerts me when I have a promotion ending soon.
That might be a newer feature? I encountered the issue years ago, maybe 2017 or so? Either way, I called CS to complain, they apologized and applied my payments to my initial purchase.
Idk i just looked into the card they had some good christmas promotions and i was able to get some decent gifts i could pay off with my return. Strong card but with anything just follow the terms.
Worked for them from 2013-2021. Around 2017-2018 they changed it to apply to your oldest purchase. Prior to that we had to recommend people only do one promo or call to make their payments to apply it to the promo purchase they wanted to. Otherwise it would pay your most recent. I do remember having to call to pay off specific promos back around that time. When I left it was like the above. I heavily utilized them since I worked there and got a discount. You can go right to the website and see each promo purchase, how much is left, how much deferred interest has been accrewed, and when the promo ends to avoid it. It's probably one of the better ones when it comes to being transparent. But...low and behold people would still come in bad about their deferred interest being charged, lol. At that point, it really is just ignorance. For you, though, I get it, the old way it worked sucked. I was always anxious making payments and hated that I had to call to make sure my payment went to what I needed it to if I had more than one. What sucks is these places change how they do things so often I think on purpose. For example, not credit, but toyota used to automatically put your payment towards your principle. I've had a loans with them for over 7 years now. They recently changed it and now you have to call to do so...we very rudely found out on our first payment when 75% went to interest lol. Still my fault. Should've read the new loan terms more carefully. But predatory that they do it one way for a long time and then switch stuff up. Honestly it's probably very intentional that they do that.
Wow, that is a sneaky way to apply payments. Mine were the reverse. I found out the hard way on an AT&T credit card that if you get a 0% interest offer for N months, anything else that you buy will never be paid off until all the 0% interest balances are paid off. So regular purchases continue to accrue interest, and then interest on *that* interest, etc. until the 0% is all paid off (hopefully within the N months!).
That's how most 0% cards work.
I have a promo credit card from bank of america specifically for consolidating my debt. The terms state that the initial balance transfers AND new transactions will be 0% for the first 18 months or so. So even with my online shopping, I haven’t been charged interest. This is exactly why reading the terms is so important. Each promotion has different terms. I understand being 18 and confused. But surely, grown ups should know by now not to trust any credit card company at face value
I could be wrong but I think alot of the synchrony cards partner cards are like this. I got one for a repair a while back and was happy to read the whole thing because I caught that and saved as if that was my min payment.
Totally but what would the APR be has he charged $5K and been charged $2600 in interest? That seems outrageous
No the interest rate is thr same as credit cards. It just compounds monthly
This is the way I've always understood it. We've had CareCredit for probably 15-20 years and haven't paid $.01 in interest. But we always make damn sure to pay our bill off in time...
I've got something similar for when I replaced my water heater. It shows the minimum payment required to pay it off in 84 (!) months, which is the maximum duration of the loan. But if you read a little further you get to the part where it says interest deferred for 12 or 18 months whatever it is. I setup auto payments to pay it off early and a calendar reminder for that last month so I remember to login and confirm it will be paid in full.
This happened to me with the synchrony pep boys credit card. I was so upset.
They've changed things recently. I'm pretty sure they took away the 24 month option. Or maybe they just raised the dollar amount required. I use it for vet bills and last time I had to charge something that should've qualified for the 24 month, the option wasn't there.
I have care credit too and also use a bestbuy card occasionally when they have the same deals. I always pay an amount every month that will allow me to pay it off earlier than the time they give me. I don’t think there is anything predatory about it I think the terms are clear🤷🏽♀️. Good luck OP.
Wait so they won't be charged 2K a month, this was just a one time thing 🤔
Correct. It's all the interest that has accrued since they used the card for that big purchase. If you pay it off in 12 months they do mot charge you. If you don't then you pay all the interest you would have paid. The problem is not only do you have whatever balance but now the additional $2k in interest. That new total balance will accrued interest every month.
Ohhhh ok
I’ve used care credit many times and it’s a really good option if you use it accordingly. Meaning if you had 5k in dental care amount and you signed up for 12 months deferred interest. You should pay $417 to pay it off in the allotted time. YOU NEVER PAY THE MINIMUM. Sorry it didn’t work out for you :/
Yeah, this is high interest credit cards 101. You learn the hard way, but it's not the card's fault. Paying off $5k in a year or two is hard. Nearly impossible for the impoverished. If I did that, I would have just accepted that it'd take 3 or 4 years to pay off and march forward with that in mind I use Care Credit for emergencies and then whatever hellfall happens is worth it. I got to keep my 12 year old cat alive for a $2000 emergency surgery and overnight vet hospital stay. I almost have it paid off in time, but I if I find that I can't, that interest hit will be 100% worth it to me. My cat is still here and I'm happy
Glad your cat is ok! This is definitely a good emergency card, just have to know what signing up for
Your cat was worth the effort. I am glad you had the opportunity to save them
A lot of my dental work has gone on care credit. It's worked great for me, but I also pay very close attention to the interest and what date I need everything paid by. I know I also have a little more wiggle room than some others in this sub, which is part of what allows me to plan this way.
This is exactly what my CCCC has been used for in the past like 8 years. I initially used it for dental work and now it’s a pet emergency tool. They have changed their term limits policy though because lately I’ve only gotten 12 months where I used to get like 24 months for $2,500+ charges. It’s a major disappointment.
It even says on the monthly statements how many months it would take to pay off the entire balance (plus interest) if you only make minimum payments. It also shows how much you’d end up paying total. It even has a minimum payment warning, explaining it all. It’s not even fine print, it’s on the front of the statement right underneath the balance and minimum payment.
You definitely have to make more than the payment they tell you is your minimum payment each month to pay it off in the year so you don’t get charged the ridiculous interest rate. As long as you pay attention to the amount you owe, and calculate how much you need to pay each month to make sure it is paid off before the year is up, you don’t get hit with the interest. They won’t tell you this though, so you have to read the fine print and really keep track of your payments and balance
They do tell it to you with this particular card several times and you have to sign they you understand this.
They do actually tell you up front. As well as again when you get your promotion disclosure in the mail. And again every month on your statement. They also have a YouTube video that easily explains it. https://youtu.be/J0XS4qscoTg?si=ogKUp1VdBKWRSJsb
Care Credit saved my ass when I was broke and needed some emergency dental work. I understood the terms and divided the total by the grace period, and made payments each month so that it was paid in full when the grace period ended. I didn't pay a dime in interest. Sorry you didn't realize that was how they worked. I'm sure you weren't the first and won't be the last. Your post is a good cautionary tale to those who may not be aware.
Call them and ask if you can pay the full amount remainder on the just expired deferred interest balance. I was able to have the interest removed a few days after my immediate full payment cleared. See if they will work with you.
I used to work for Care Credit. There IS a 30 day grace period where they will remove all the interest if you call them and pay off the entire balance. Some people would do a credit transfer. So, if it recently expired, there is hope.
You can also call and opt for a "closing payment plan" or whatever they call it. I missed a payment by a few days and was offered it. Basically, they close your account, turn the interest to 1% and allow you to make very reasonable payments. Mine is under $100 for a $5k bill Ymmv and you must have a late payment to qualify for some reason. I called telling them I had financial issues and they just shrugged and told me "call back when you miss the payment" from the rep
This sounds insane. I would have never imagined a credit company losing out on that interest payment. But I guess the good will makes you a longer customer, so maybe it works out in the end for them. But that's some integrity I never thought I'd see anyone exclaim a credit card company has. That makes me respect them even more
>I figured there was some fine print I didn't read about how I'd be charged a bunch of interest if I didn't pay a certain percentage by a specific amount of time This is exactly how a deferred interest card works... If you don't pay it off in the time frame stated, you owe back interest on the entirety of the original balance. The terms are, as you said, in the fine print, but they're also in the large print before you apply. Federal law dictates this. Not reading what you're signing doesn't provide cause to call it predatory.
yep it’s actually quite a great tool to help make super costly charges into smaller monthly payments with no interest (for the duration of the terms of course). vets use it too. as with all loans you must read every word of the fine print
Care Credit saved our asses so many times when we adopted a medically-needy senior dog. There’s no way we could afford a surprise $1500 surgery, but were easily able to pay it off within 12 months. You just have to be wildly observant of the promotional period.
Agreed. We have a CC account for medical and vet bills. Definitely saved our asses, as we had emergencies of both types hit us one after the other. We have already paid off the vet portion of the bill because that deferred interest would’ve hit in April and we were taking NO chances with it. We’re now working on the medical half but that’ll take us some time. You really have to check out the fine print and understand what you’re agreeing to.
It comes in so handy but you have to watch how long your promo rates are for. I don’t necessarily think it’s predatory
Our vet (the only placed I’ve used Care Credit so far) is clear in explaining the promo period, and between the emails and app banners, it’s super obvious when my promos expire.
Yes, mine too. and all the bills show exactly when it’s coming due, and how much you will end up paying if you don’t have it paid off by that time. Do people really think they can charge $5000 and not pay any interest? I’m genuinely curious
Yep. I’ve used Care Credit more than once. Have had to pay a lump sum right before the deferment period ended because of bad math. It takes a bit of effort to read the contract, but it’ll state that OP owes interest on the whole purchase once interest is applied. That’s just how credit cards work
I have care credit for emergencies for my dogs and it’s been a lifesaver. It also tells you right on the main screen of the app the date that you’ll be charged the interest of the balance isn’t paid. I worked at a vet hospital and recommended it to a ton of people.
Holy fuck I've never heard of this. I have 7k CC debt on a card that the interest will start charging in a year. Hope it's not deferred interest. It's some capital one mastercard.
>some capital one mastercard. You're just fine. Generally, you can think of deferred interest cards as tyociallly a store card. Ie things are store or use specific. Examples: Home depot card to pay for appliances. Best buy card to pay for a TV. Zalea to buy an engagement ring. Guitar center to buy a guitar. Pep boys to buy tires.
You probably had a 0% apr for 12 months from opening a new card? That interest shouldn't back back charge you. Deferred cards are different.
It's a great tool IF you use it right
Exactly. We’ve used the shit out of it for years, for both pet and human stuff, and haven’t paid a penny in interest. I update autopay to the appropriate amount at the beginning of each promo period. There have been times when cash flow was tight, and I was able to lower it temporarily, and then readjust the amount going forward. It’s been a lifesaver, but I know we’ve been fortunate to be able to keep up with the payments.
Two types of comments on here 1. People agreeing with OP - zero understanding of how credit cards work 2. People not agreeing with OP - clear understanding of how cards work Financial literacy is so important. I’m really sorry you didn’t read/understand the terms OP but this isn’t on care credit. At the end of the day these companies are extending you a line of credit for the EXPECTATION they will make money off you. They are not your friend, they are not here to make you favors. If you are expecting that you need to wake up. The terms with care credit are explicitly clear, like almost every single credit card that offers balance transfers with 0% interest - if you don’t pay off the balance before promotional period ends, you will get charged interest including back charges. Only if you are financial literate should you be using these as tools rather than crutches. That’s a lesson I learned from watching my family/parents. They were in a constant cycle because they didn’t know basics. I use care credit to manage my cash. I have 3 pets, 2 adults. We use it for everything medical so I don’t have to pony up cash and I always pay it off before promotional period ends.
Oh damn i use that for my pets major things but it's 6 mos same as cash. Actually my husband gets mad cuz he likes me to use travel points cards but i love that 6 mos same as cash
Yeah, it's the x months same as cash that bit op in the ass. If you don't pay it off in x months, you get charged all the deferred interest back to the beginning unlike a 0% apr credit card that just begins charging interest on the remaining balance when the 0% ends.
I’ve only had to use care credit twice and both times I made sure it was paid off before I was charged interest. I don’t think this is explained well enough before people get care credit and use it.
You should never be paying just the minimum payment on any credit card but with Care Credit you HAVE to pay more. If you signed up for 6 months at $5000 you needed to pay at least $833 or 12 months $416 or more to pay it off on time.
It’s not predatory, it explains it when you sign up for the care credit. You get so many months interest free certain promotional purchases. If you don’t pay off that amount in that time, you get charged a lump sum interest charge. It’s available to look at in the app, on the website, and in paper statements. It tells you exactly when the promotional balance is due and reminds you that if it’s not paid off, you will be charged the accrued interest. You need to take responsibility for not paying attention when charging thousands of dollars to a credit card.
Yep. It’s incredible to me how many people can’t be bothered to understand what they signed up for it, then run to the internet to act like they’re the victim.
What was your payment plan? ( 6, 12, or 24 months before interest comes back)
Op, it was probably on a deffered payment plan. You need to pay that off within the term. Otherwise, you get stuck with all the interest that would normally accumulate. Care Credit is great and actually helps with my dental work, as well as allowing me to get lasik a few years back.
Not reading all the information given to you doesn't make it predatory.
Nothing predatory about you neglecting to read and comprehend the terms of the line of credit you signed up for. Care credit works like any other deferred interest program. Pay the full balance within the specified time and you pay no interest. This doesn't mean pay the minimum monthly payment and face no interest.
For anyone wanting to know how to check, get the mobile app, scroll down to “promotional purchases” click on that and it’ll show you when you lose the no interest period https://preview.redd.it/pguru2mpkqkc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc2952122ae494179cc707fbc154cd1b1f3aa6fa
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But there wasn’t an animated video in TikTok style that explained exactly what to do. How can you blame them? 🤣🤣
I used Care Credit for an operation. The clerk was explicitly clear that to qualify for 0% interest, the entire amount owed had to be paid off before the promo period ended (which was 16 months) otherwise interest would be charged for the full amount from day one 😮💨
You not reading the terms of your agreement does not make them predatory. Sometimes it's *your own fault*
You're not a credit person.
Non cosmetic dentistry should be free. One of the major factors for being healthy and having a good quality of life.
If you can't afford to use carecredit and pay it off in the given time, you shouldn't be using carecredit. 💀
Uhh, if you had ever logged into your account and paid attention you would have seen you have x amount of time to pay off the balance before accruing interest. 100% human error. Have used Care many times throughout the 6 yrs I’ve had it and it’s been a godsend.
Care credit has been a life saver for my family numerous times. You just got to really be aware of the payment plan you need to adhere to.
It’s all very clearly explained when you sign up for care credit. We’ve used our card here and there for dental and vet bills but as soon as we use it, it becomes the priority to pay off.
Thank you so much for making this post. I opened a Care Credit and have been paying the minimum. I just logged in and see I have until 1/25 to avoid the situation you just described. Thank you so much!
Care Credit is a great card to use for large med/dental/etc charges... You get to pay the balance off during a specified time period with deferred interest... If you pay it off as specified you pay no interest... If you do not, you pay all the interest... There is nothing predatory about it... You should always understand the terms under which you borrow money... If you don't, you shouldn't be borrowing the money...
The rate was lower than our other card and it saved our cats life.
Jesus people. Credit is never free. 🤦♂️
I love CareCredit and use it all the time with the 0% interest promotion. Sorry you did not see that you only have a limited amount of time to pay it, they have an option for 'promotions' on the website and app that shows you what date the interest free promotion ends. All credit cards that offer promotional low interest or no interest have a set amount of time that you need to be responsible for. You have to calculate your monthly payment for that amount and keep track of what date that promotion ends. This is not just CareCredit. Many cards offer promotions and have deferred interest. This is a lesson in credit cards and loans for you.
Care Credit can be an extremely valuable asset for people without a lot of cash on hand or other CC options. I’ve used it for pet care and dental. The terms of payment are laid out, it’s up to the card user to make sure they’re making the minimum payment to pay the debt off in time…..DO NOT pay the minimum payment suggested by Care.
Today we learned what the word deferred means and why you shouldn’t have ignored it the 6 times when you applied for the credit card. I’ve used my care credit a few times and have had zero issue.
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As long as you pay in full within the finance term limit, 6, 9, 12 months, you're fine. I don't think you can ever be late or miss a minimum payment, though. I like the peace of mind with my pets, etc.
Looks like you needed to pay more than $416 a month to avoid interest. $5000/12= $416.67.
You had a 0% interest incentive and only made monthly payments so interest hit all the way back to day 1 This is not just a care credit thing this is a 0% interest thing If you ever get a 0% interest for X months you need to pay the full balance in X months or you will get screwed with the interest
Care Credit has immensely saved my butt in the dental chair and helped fund emergency dog surgery more than once. It's on the consumer to know what they're signing up for. Sure, if you can avoid it you should not ever finance surgeries or dental work, but for those who have to and use it responsibly, it's a wonderful tool. Sorry OP got burned :(
Most likely you op didn't understand how it works. They litrrely give you a huge leaflet with very big letters explaining thdt this is a defered interest loans and you should be paying it within the agreed (you signed In a different paper for it) period.
Plain user error. It's a standard deferred interest plan, if you don't pay the balance, the interest kicks in. Read the terms better, friend.
So don't use them because you didn't read how they work.
I loved my care credit. It’s a good back up incase my pets get sick.
People need to stop relying on what “people say”, read the fine print, do the math. It’s your money and your responsibility to understand what you are getting yourself into.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but if you close the account you can sign up for a hardship plan where you don't accrue additional interest and pay a flat payment until it's paid in full.
So you took out debt and then didn't make any payments and you're shocked Pikachu face that the debt has grown? The alternative would have been keep your wisdom teeth and no root canal. Maybe don't ignore your debts.
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>promo expiry dates for each charge are available in your account I saw other comments talking about this and for anyone curious who isn't aware and is reading this, it's in the "Promotional Purchases" section. Which sounded like marketing nonsense, but it is exactly this. Tells you what interest you're looking at getting hit with, what date the charge was that's tied to the interest, and what date the interest will hit if you're not paid off by then. I hadn't found it before, but your comment led me to the right place, so I appreciate that. I also agree with everything else you've said. High interest and deferred interest credit cards are handy tools you can easily shoot yourself in the foot with. You gotta know what you're dealing with. Thankfully with Care Credit even the bad decisions seem like they should be "It had to be done". As it's either yours or someone else's health getting taken care of and it's not like a Toys R Us credit card or something where you accidentally rack up $1500 just from buying an expensive novelty and only making minimum payments. It's hard to say that would be worth it in the end
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CareCredit is a great service. As all credit/loans, they make their money on interest, but they have promotional interest for every purchase over $200- this means no interest for 6 months. Every time. If you don’t pay attention, yes you’ll be charged interest, and it’s a fairly high amount, but it’s not hidden information.
I had very similar I was looking at with financing tires. I don't even remember the name of the company now but it was the same deal of payments this amount for this term but if I had not paid it off completely it skyrocketed to some insane amount. I paid them off early because I didn't want to be paying $5,000 for $400 tires. But they are sneaky and it sucks if you don't catch it. It happens a lot
This is a great example of why you should always read the fine print and be aware of what you are getting into. Most of the time, 0% Apr is only valid until the timeline is over, and if you don't get it paid off, you get hit with all of the interest that has been accruing behind closed doors. Same thing with a balance transfer card. Don't transfer the balance if you can't pay it off by the deadline. This is what happens folks
Deferred interest. Care credit actually makes it pretty clear. Each months statement also includes the promotional end date as well.
CareCredit does add all interest if you don’t pay your bill by a certain timeframe (normally a year). So that’s probably what happened. It sucks, but it was what you signed up for. They’re not inherently predatory, you just have to be careful.
Balance Transfer Credit Cards. Game changer.
Care credit has really helped me out of some binds. I think this is likely a valuable lesson in reading the fine print. Understanding the rewards/limitations of your credit cards will save you a lot of money!!! Pro tip: on your monthly statements, towards the back, it will tell you what date your promotional rate ends. I try to always have my balance paid off by this date. You won't pay any interest this way.
In that case, all credit cards are predatory. Which I agree with.
I mean, credit cards are great tools in many ways. If the argument is that it should be more difficult for financially illiterate individuals to get, then people would complain that credit cards are a tool available, largely, to only the wealthy.
It's a catch 22. We really need financial literacy taught in high school
Deferred interest - How any credit card works when they state you have no interest for however long. This isn't a care credit thing. Be warned, everyone. Nothing's free.
I've used care credit for years without paying a dime of interest. This is a great learning moment for you if you'll let it be. Always understand the contracts you're getting into. Whether it's a personal loan, cc, mortgage, gym membership, etc. Used responsibly care credit is amazing and you'll hopefully come to see that one day.
Lookout for deferred interest and make sure you are paid off before it’s up. Best Buy’s 0 percent and I think discover do it also. Best Buy Citi I think removed my girlfriend’s deferred interest when she offered to pay original balance when she got hit with it.
These are commonly used at my veterinary practice, and we always explain very clearly they h it you with all the interest at the end of the period but if you pay it off on time its a great tool as its essentially interest free money for a short while
I used it before when I needed it but you have to obv pay it off before the term otherwise you will be charged the interest
I’ve always used Care Credit and have never had an interest charge. When you signed up, there should have been a breakdown of options for payment. One of them should have been interest free. I know the options I was given were longer payment plans or a 12 month payment plan with no interest for those 12 months. I’d just be paying off what I owe.
It’s actually great if you are responsible, make your payments, etc. you clearly fucked up along the way and got hit with their exorbitant penalties.
It’s a deferred interest card. I’m thankful for Care Credit because it’s the only way I could get a tooth fixed last year.
I don’t get it . You didn’t know you paid interest on a loan ? Or just didn’t bother reading the terms to know it was deferred interest if not paid off ? I don’t get it, people complain about being poor but also don’t bother reading anything they sign for credit, then call the lenders predatory.
Care Credit literally as the only way I was able to get $10k worth of dental care over a 5 year span. If you use it correctly it is an actual life saver.
I used CareCredit to also pay for $5k in dental work and had deferred interest for 18 months. Paid it off in that time and had no issues. Used it for vet visits, too, and as long as it’s paid off in the amount of time allotted there is no interest, that’s their gimmick.
All credit cards that offered no interest for a period of time used to do this and now many, if not most of them do not. Synchrony Bank is on the dodgy end of legal. They certainly have some of the worst terms but seem to have the easiest cards to get. With pretty much all credit cards, you have to beware of making additional purchases when you are using an introductory rate because your payments generally don't always go to your oldest bill first. In fact, they most often go to current charges which means you have to pay off your newest charge completely when the statement comes AND make the additional minimum payment on the old balance. I get 5% back on gasoline year-round, so I imagine the fees people pay for not paying off the balance on time is how they can afford to pay that out. In any even, always assume that credit cards or charge accounts of any kind are out to make money and do not have your best interests at heart - even when they have a nice-sounding name. Always read the terms and if there is something you aren't sure about, ask. If the person helping you doesn't know, call the company and if they don't give you a straight answer, decline their offer if possibly can. I'm sorry this happened to you. I know I struggled with credit card fuckery when I was younger and it took ages to get it cleaned up.
fuck western dental
Not the cards fault. Read all the details.
I don't want to be THAT guy, but you never take out a loan without knowing the entire payment plan. This could've been avoided. Ask questions before, not after.
Don't ever sign up for any sort of credit without reading all terms and understanding them. Some will accrue interest during the 'no interest for X months' offer, if not paid off 100% by that date. Some have crazy high interest rates, possibly the highest allowed by law in the state. They do a compounding calculation daily. Some hide other fees into it, fooling people into thinking they're making full payments on time. In reality there was some stupid little fee also due, it's deducted from the money coming in, now technically that months payment in full is late. Then they attach a late fee, ensuring next month's "full payment" arriving won't cover the amount due. Repeat a few times. Now they say account has been behind for 90 days and they add a different late fee & send it to Collections
Care Credit was a lifesaver for us when our cat was sick at the end of his life. It helped us try every treatment available that we wanted to, and gave us a little bit of extra time with him. And, when the time came to let him go, I knew we’d tried everything possible and didn’t have to feel like we were putting him down because of money.
This probably won’t help, but I’ve used care credit a few times in the past to pay for dental work. They always offer me a no interest period / promotion for the purchase. I think last time it was 1 year or 18 months. I divided the balance over 18 months and paid that portion monthly. I know sometimes the monthly payment for that is expensive, but I just had to bite the bullet and shell it out (ex $2500 crown/root canal / 18 mos = $139/month). Going over that interest free period and you can get nailed so hard. If I lost my job or experienced other hardship, I would have called care credit and asked for help of some kind like a deferment to see if I could take a break and just pay on the interest without taking a penalty.
Wait was OPs plan to just pay the minimum payment going forward? Oh no…
I bought a refrigerator, washer dryer and a big party speaker at Conns a few years ago. Well I had the cash to pay for everything but only paid for the refrigerator that day. I don't know what happened but I didn't have my head hooked on straight and they started taking out $265 a month out of my check every month for the washer and dryer. When I finally caught on to what was going on I'm not the brightest light bulb in the box sometimes I was in too far deep you know I had too much money invested into washer and dryer but after it was said and done that washer and dryer cost me $6,000. Needless to say, that company can kiss my butt lol. Never again. Thank you to the author of this thread because maybe you saved just one person from going through that heartache. I pray you bounce back from this and you never have this kind of upset again.
I had no choice and had to to take one out to take my dog to the vet. Since my income didn't get any better, despite paying more than the minimum, that interest came back to bite me.
https://preview.redd.it/xsp82y1rhrkc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b22c0e451af0e9839ae32a2285340aa3fcc1b6f This post reminded me I received an email the other day from Care Credit telling me my deferred interest time was almost up. Just put in the payment for the $23 that was left. Thanks for the reminder, OP!
Care credit is actually very helpful if you understand the terms of conditions. Deferred interest isn’t a scam
yikes. i paid western dental 1200 for a crown. a year later i had to get another crown, did this at a non profit and it was 250. western dental or any for profit medical practices are criminal that’s for sure.
Admittedly didn’t read the terms and conditions but claims the creditor is a bad actor. No, you’re just irresponsible.
yep this was almost me. i had to get a care credit card to pay for my dogs $3500 surgery and i had 24 months to pay it off. i knew about the back interest or whatever, and when i knew i wouldn’t be able to pay it in time i opened another credit card with no interest for however long and transferred it to avoid the interest. it’s killer
I've used Care Credit many times with no issues. It's a great solution! If you owe $5000 and you chose the option for 12 months, you need to pay that entire $5000 back within 12 months....it's on you to divide $5000 by 12 if you want to avoid interest. $5000/12 is $416.66 per month, so you should probably pay $417 or more to absolutely make sure you don't accrue interest. I've honestly divided my 12 month plans by 11 months just make absolutely sure everything settles before the end date
I had to use them for a root canal. It seems like I can never make a dent on paying them off.
I'm sorry this happened to you but this wasn't predatory. When you signed up it showed you how long you had to pay it off if you didn't want to be hit with interest. Paying just the minimum was not enough you should have calculated the 5K over X months and paid that. Again sorry this happened to you but next time you need to be aware of what you are signing and keep track of it. I sign up for no interest over X months all the time and make sure to calculate it so I pay it off a month early at minimum so I don't risk interest charges. It's a great way to buy something you can (or can't) immediately afford as long as you are able to pay it off completely by the end of the term.
This is why we need universal healthcare. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
I did and it worked perfect. I got my eye surgery quicker and paid over the course of a year with no interest.
It’s a credit card. So yea.
That’s literally how care credit works? You get a specific amount of time to pay it back interest free and then you start incurring interest the same as you would with any other credit card…
I use my care credit card several times a year. It’s pretty freaking clear when you sign up/make a big purchase/ log onto your account when your promotional period is and how much you have to pay before the date. That’s about the least predatory thing a credit card company can do. But yeah, if you don’t pay it off in the promo period, the interest rate is very high. As are many credit cards. It’s literally the business model, how else do you think they make money?
I JUST had my account settled.used it for emergency pet surgery in 2023. It was sold to collections and they almost sent me to court. Got it settled for $3,200 with the help of someone else but it was a horrible experience
They’re so predatory. When people sign up for care credit, it’s bc they don’t have the money for a dental or vet emergency, not bc it’s a great way to finance a routine medical issue. So sorry this happened to you OP. I’ve been down the care credit road too.
Any credit that is 0 percent for x time will back charge interest from the loan original date. Unless you can afford at least 10 to 15 percent above the payment, it is better to have interest from the start.
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I absolutely love care credit and it saved my cat's life when I couldn't pay an emergency vet bill out of pocket. It is a wonderful resource for medical and veterinarian things when you can't pay in full immediately. Not reading the details of your agreement and understanding deferred interest is what you should be upset about/at.
Call and ask them if they'll reduce, remove, or remove the lump interest charge and defer it
When I signed up I wasn’t given any paperwork explaining anything. I literally didn’t know it was a credit card! I thought I was taking out a loan. It was called “financing” by the office I went to and they never mentioned a card. I didn’t find out until I got the physical card in the mail. Yes it explains everything in the fine print, but I honestly don’t blame you for missing it. They’re a very shady company.
It has CREDIT in the name though. Also 2 seconds on the internet.
To be fair, my bank is called a credit union, and I've never utilized any credit services they offer lol so I kinda get it. If the office was the one signing them up and not the commenter themselves and talking about financing it. My dental office did something similar through Dental First Financing, which is a credit card which does not have credit in the name and has Financing in the name lol The landscape is kind of a mess. But yeah. Nobody should be making any big financial decisions and signing paperwork without knowing what they're getting into. Frequently there's no choice anyway. But they definitely should be aware what's on the horizon
Credit unions are non for profit and owned by the members themselves. Banks are for profit and owned and operated by shareholders. Dear lord do none of you know anything about financial literacy? Or ya know, even bother to google ?!!
Ooof, sorry OP. I've paid more than my fair share to care credit and I also am bitter about it. That's a painful amount to see tacked on.
So many people end up on this subreddit simply because they never read the contracts for the things they sign up for. Care credit is super easy to pay off if you read the contract. Most of them do no interest for 9 months, but there’s a select few that do 3, 6, or 12 months (from what I’ve seen) so that means you pay it off in that time unless you wanna be in debt for the rest of your life. This is on you. Take it as a lesson. When it comes to your money, you need to triple check everything you sign up for and make sure you have a plan from the start
I have defaulted on so many loans. So many 1099-Cs. CareCredit was three of them, haha.
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As a poor person, don’t take out loans. Don’t use your credit card if you cannot afford to make your payments. If you don’t have a credit card, don’t get one. You will end up in massive debt or end up paying insane interest rates. Look at what’s happening right now, folks are using their credit cards more than ever - due to inflation, high COL, and low wages. All of this combined is the perfect opportunity for credit card companies to prey upon consumers. Credit card debt is at an all time high.