“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I don’t know how to say it any clearer then that!! Thanks to your website and books I have been able to reduce my overall credit card debt from $35K plus to just over $15K and my highest interest rate is at 2.99% and that balance is only $6200. The remainder is at .99% or 0%. I am now able to put money into a savings account, two IRA’s, and my 401(k) plan while still paying all the bills. We are a single income family of four, paying a mortgage, with all the household bills that come with that as well as all the credit card payments made each and every month with extra payments sent as well all on only $80K a year. Not sure were we would be if it I hadn’t found your website and your wonderful books with words of wisdom. It wasn’t easy for my family to do what we did, but we have done it, and learned some very valuable lessons. The most important of which is, don’t purchase what you can’t afford to pay for! Again thank you for all you do to help others deal with the credit mess their lives are in, often times at their own doing. Keep up the good work, it is helping others”
—Tracy Mundy
“Scott, I just had to thank you. I’m still not sure how we ended up with $129,000 worth of credit card debt. Yep that’s right, $129,000! We don’t have a boat. We don’t have cars. We haven’t been around the world. We did have four cards with over 24% interest with massive balances and after my husband was unemployed for 8 months I slowly started unfolding what a financial mess we were in. (Still are to be truthful.) BUT, I saw your book, Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt and bought it. What an investment! We managed to get $34,000 of debt relieved by using your techniques. Okay, with still many thousands hanging around our necks the road ahead is not an easy one, but you started us on the road to recovery. It was the best $19.95 I’ve spent in my entire life! Thanks!”
—Sara V. Olds, UT
“The interest I saved paid for my investment in Scott’s books many times over. I applied Scott strategies to win an incredible promotional offer from the very same credit card company that refused to lower the APR on my account balance. Scott’s strategies are now a part of my own financial management strategy respective of managing debt and improving cash flow. I continue to reduce my debt and reinvest money that I would have otherwise been paid to credit card companies. I have only scratched the surface respective of all of the strategies that Scott provides in his book and via his website. I highly recommend Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt to consumers who carry a balance on their credit cards. It is an excellent guide for those of us that want to learn how to better negotiate with credit card providers to reduce interest rates and uncover the best offers available. If you want to save thousands of dollars over the life of your credit card loans, then this book is a must read for you.”
—Jim Intriglia
“This is my first review. But it was nice to find a self help book that actually helps. As the author says, it does take patience and persistence and (as with sales calls) not every call will succeed every time. However, the book does provide a blueprint anyone can follow. First, I suggest doing the preparation work laid down in the book. This process will give you a roadmap to follow, the process will probably also open your eyes and gets you motivated to take action – tip: using Microsoft Excel helps. Then, I found the phone calling scripts helpful in building confidence to make the calls and knowing just what to say. To my surprise, my first call went just as the book predicted and resulted in getting a 50% rate reduction. The experience was very empowering. The book is an easy read and does not waste too much time telling why you are in trouble and why you need to get out of trouble. Instead, it gets you busy right away on the techniques you can use to take control of your debt.”
—B Moore
“I spent about 2 hours reading this book, Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, getting comfortable with the strategies. Then, after my first phone call, which saved me $210 per year, I was off and running! I was able to reduce my interest rate by as much as 9%. I called all six of my Mastercard/Visa companies and was able to save $1,983 per year from the finance charges plus having a $59.00 annual fee removed and a late fee removed ($29.00). The $/hour saved ranged from $141/hour to $2,464/hour and averaged $1,334/hour. It was so easy!!”
—Fred Robinson, Teacher, Milford, NH
“Hi Scott, Received your book Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt,–it’s a winner.I have 6 credit cards. Today I decided was the day to TALK my way to lower APR’s. Hey the prime rate is dropping. Simmons First National Bank, Pine Bluff, Arkansas–been a credit card holder with them since 1973. The rate was 12.25% variable. Called and got it down to 7.25% FIXED for Purchases and Balance Transfers. Now listen to this: Finance charge is calculated on Average Daily Balance. No Annual Fee. NO transaction fee for Balance Transfers. Chase–got them to reduce from 12.47% to 9.49 Variable. Will transfer this one to Simmons. Called American Express–they will not reduce from 10.25–so will transfer all but $200 of this one to Simmons as well since I have a credit limit of $30,000 with Amex. Thanks for all the good stuff in your book. Cheers.”
—Noel Glucksman
“The man has 80 credit cards! That may seem to be a crazy amount to most people, and it’s one at which most financial advisers would shudder, but to do what he wants to do with the industry (save and make money), 80 credit cards–maybe more–are needed. Scott Bilker has an interesting take on the massive credit card industry: ‘The banks are at our mercy!’ That may seem absurd to those of us who have piled up the average debt of $8,500 or more on a Macy’s or Citibank Platinum card, but that’s his take. He’s proven it with over 400 minutes of transcripts of interactions between him or his friends and the credit card companies. Bilker is also quite humorous–his New York mentality shows up in witty comments about the industry: if you’re late a couple times, your APR may go up to 29.99% and you could get a better rate in North Jersey with the mafia, he says. Bilker also touches on Credit Arbitrage, which is a way to turn a money-losing situation into a moneymaker. All-in-all, this is a fascinating sociological and economics lesson that is well-recommended.”
—Joseph SB Morse, author of How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You
“AWESOME RESULTS WITH YOUR BOOK. It took me 7 minutes to settle a 4,374.81 debt at 50% with Wells Fargo Financial. Piece of Cake–with your book, of course! Thank you! My husband has leukemia and had to have a bone marrow transplant, we traveled out of state for the transplant and are both not working. You are directly helping us get our lives back on track, be proud!”
—Amy
“Scott, I wanted to thank you for sending me the three books for the price of the one (Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt)! Just as you promised the book paid for itself. It did that in the very first phone call, plus I made approximately $4.00 extra! What a deal. Then yesterday I saved another $39. (On a late fee from April and it is now September.) And they dropped the interest on one of my credit cards. I feel so much more informed and empowered. Before I would attempt to negotiate with the companies to get rates lowered but I had no knowledge base about how things really worked to call on. I’m no natural born negotiator. This morning I was reading How To Be Credit Card and Debt Smart. My sons age 16 and 15 were getting ready for school while I was reading. I was so excited about what I’m learning that I wanted to share it with the boys. I wish that financial education taught using your methods would be mandatory before credit cards are issued to anyone below the age of 25 (really to anyone). Some program extensive enough to be comparable to the education and official tests for obtaining drivers licenses. Even if it was a seminar that you developed and brought to major cities in each state for a fee. I would pay for them to attend that, and wouldn’t mind attending myself. Thank you very much for your work! God Bless You, and yours, and all who help you in your work! Thanks for the newsletter, the website, and the books”
—Wendy Forester
“Scott–another success story for you–I had absentmindedly forgotten to make a payment on one of my Cap1 cards, and because of it, it pushed me over the limit. I not only got slapped with an overdue fee, but an over the limit fee as well. I called and asked for the fees to be taken off, and the rep refused. I got my scissors out and held them up to the phone, and cut the card in half and told her to cancel the account. She immediately got a ‘supervisor’ on the line who not only took off the over limit fee, but the past due fee as well. I told her she would have to send me a replacement card, which she of course agreed to do–so it does pay to call! And, best of all, it won’t be reported to the credit bureau because I was less than 30 days late in making the payment. Thanks!”
—Sue Sheffler, Richmond Hill, GA
“Hi Scott, I received your book Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt,–it’s a winner! I have 6 credit cards. Today I decided was the day to TALK my way to lower APR’s. Hey the prime rate is dropping. Simmons First National Bank, Pine Bluff, Arkansas–been a credit card holder with them since 1973. The rate was 12,25 variable. Called and got it down to 7.25% FIXED for Purchases and Balance Transfers. Now listen to this: Finance charge is calculated on Average Daily Balance. No Annual Fee. NO transaction fee for Balance Transfers. Chase–got them to reduce from 12.47% to 9.49% Variable. Will transfer this one to Simmons. Called American Express–they will not reduce from 10.25%–so will transfer all but $200 of this one to Simmons as well since I have a credit limit of $30,000 with Amex. I found a DISCOVER CARD–called OPEN ROAD–in last Sunday’s Austin, Texas newspaper–3.9% APR on balance transfers until January 2010. No Annual fee, 5% cash back on gasoline and auto related expenses PAID Monthly. They just called me to say I have been approved. WOW! 3.9% sure is a whole lot better than 10.25% Thanks for all the good stuff in your book. Cheers.”–Noel G.
“Scott, THANKS! Your advice in Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt and on your website (Featured Credit Cards) have saved money, in my first step in helping my sister and her husband lower their debt. I was able to open a new credit account for them and transfer the balance ($4300) from another card, now paying only 3.99% for the entire time of repayment, instead of the 27.99% (Ouch!) on the older account. I’m about to tackle another card, but I wanted to share our success with you, since you were instrumental in making this happen. Again, thanks! Onward and downward–regarding debt, that is!”
—Anne
“Since 2001, after my divorce, I had $5,500 in debt. I started the zero percent credit card game and nailed that debt in six months. Then that same year, I decided to slam down my house of $154,000. They let me pay off my house with a HELOC at 3.25% and I rode that up until last September then I jumped into a 5.4% fixed home equity loan. On top of that, since 2001, I have been paying down $20,000 a year using a credit card at zero percent for 12 months. I have been running the credit card parallel to my house payments. I borrowed $20K from the credit card company, paid down the house and paid the credit card company back before they charged me interest. The next year I asked them for a new rewards card and had them transfer my available credit over to the new card. From listening to your advice…you want to know where I am six years later? $40,000 at 5.4%!!!!!!! Scott, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!! I dropped my house debt from $154,000 to $40,000! I started out with $1,100 a month payment, and now I am paying $345 a month. The money freed up goes on that credit card. So every month I send in $1,666.67 to beat them at interest. So, in about 7.5 years, which is next year, I will have no house debt!!!! Now I don’t know if I should reward myself and buy a vacation (second) home in the mountains and first mortgage that place with credit cards. But the main thing I want to say is a BIG THANK YOU! I just can’t believe I’m almost debt free. I know if it weren’t for your website, I would have never found a way to use the credit cards as leverage to get out of debt. My life is easier now and we just got married and paid all CASH for the wedding. Money that I never had before! It’s like money falling from the sky! I thank the wonderful credit card companies but more important–YOU Scott. I hope one day I’ll meet you in person to shake your hand and personally thank you. I didn’t have a game until I jumped on this website. You made someone out here very happy. Thanks again, Scott.”
—Greg Cards, Delaware
“Hi Scott, Thank you! We are finally getting a better handle on our credit cards thanks to you and your books. For instance, I had a balance of $18,000 on a Capital One MC and was late by one day and they raised my interest from 9.9% to 26.2%. That happened while I wasn’t paying attention, unfortunately for 2-3 months. When I called Capital One they told me they could not reduce my rate, so I told them I could not afford to remain their customer and took your advice and transferred the balance to a 0% for the first six months offer. Now, 6 weeks later, Capital One has sent an offer every week and recently offered a 2.99% for the life of the balance transfer offer. So I did transfer another credit card balance back to Capital One (a $17,900 balance!). A savings from the 11.7% it was at Citibank. The total savings for one year of interest (11.7% to 2.99%) is over $1500! And that’s just one year. Slowly but surely I’m learning that it’s paying to pay attention and spend time required to take care of our large debt (my husband and I are self-employed). Now it’s actually fun to be doing the books and I have a much better feeling about myself. Many, many thanks for doing what you’re doing.”
—Kristine
“Hi Scott – we are very excited because your advice works! My husband called Capital One to try to get them to combine two accounts into one and lower his rate. Both cards were paid off and one we had shredded while we were on the phone with them when they would not raise the limit – they actually HEARD him shred the card! At first they said no, but then when my husband said he would shred the other card too and go with BOA instead, they changed their tune. The combined the limits of both cards onto one. Even though the limit is still less than $1000, it proves your point that it does PAY to make that call! Now I am going to try to get them to combine mine… Thanks!”
—Sue and Ben Sheffler, Richmond Hill, GA
“Your books arrived and I didn’t even get to read them all before I called my first credit card company. I just briefly glanced at the variety of scripts under calling credit card companies and then I called. I mentioned to the first operator that I received an offer for 5.9% and that I would like to have my interest rate lowered. She came back with ‘the only special I have right now is 0% for 4 months.’ I said, ‘I’ll take it.’ That’s $107.00 a month saving for 4 months. My second call I was transferred to the ‘Account Specialist’ (it helped knowing from the scripts in your book this could happen!). This gentleman was a very fast, smooth talker. I told him about the 5.9% offer and he came back with yes I paid promptly, on time, but I hadn’t used the account often enough so I only got 2 out of 3–not enough to get the interest lowered. He did offer to reimburse the annual fee of $49.00, which I did take. He said I would now be included for upcoming special offers. Not bad for a 1/2 hours work! Thanks Scott. I look forward to reading the rest of the books for more great ideas.”
—Judy Davidson, Ontario
“My nose has been stuck in your books! Not since I read Victor Hugo have I carried a book everywhere I went, and I’m just now returning to the rest of the world, armed and ready for battle. (Your books should be required reading for anyone opening a credit account, if not a prerequisite for high-school graduation.) I’m about to call Discover to try to get a late fee canceled on my mother’s account. Two months ago, she realized–just as the clerk rang up her transaction–that she’d gone over her limit by $6.00. She immediately drove to the nearby Sears and paid cash to bring her account below the limit, but–surprise!–Discover charged the overlimit fee anyway. Since she didn’t realize this, her next minimum payment left the balance still over the limit, and she was charged another fee. I’m going to ask to have both fees waived (I’ll be glad if they’ll waive at least one), and, while I’m talking with Ms. Katy Didd, I’ll also ask to have the interest rate reduced and the limit raised. Thanks!”
—Anne
“I am in the same field as Scott, and have recommended his book countless times to consumers. With credit card companies raising rates, fees, etc. his advice could not be more timely. I just interviewed Scott today on my EverydayWealth Radio program and he told me how he just got a 10-month-old late fee waived! That’s practically unheard of. Scott’s book is the definitive guide for negotiating better rates–real advice that works!”
—Gerri Detweiler, author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook and host of EverydayWealth Radio
“Credit Card Help From Scott Bilker: The $43,000 Man. When you are Scott Bilker, credit card help is not what you are offering people; it’s a way out of debt for life! Scott Bilker, author of Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, promises that his book is the quickest and easiest way out of debt for people like Mary and John. Mary is a widowed 40-year-old female from San Francisco with a problem, a credit card problem. She currently has 3 credit cards to her name and another that belonged to both her and her husband. While she has obtained low interest credit cards for herself, her and her husband had a credit card with accumulated debt in the thousands. Besides being a painful reminder of her husband’s death, the credit card that Mary is…”
—Christopher Yuscavage (Read entire review)
“Thanks to your book and website! We are getting very close to getting all of our credit cards paid off. Your organization provides a great service!”
—Brenda
“Hi Scott, I opened your Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, and called Capital One and got my 19.8% reduced to 14.9%–thanks for your help!”
—Joshua LeBeau
“Thank you for saving my sanity about a year ago with your book. I have since done GREAT advances on my credit cards. I found you before it was too late.”
—Eileen
“I wanted to say thanks to you–your teachings have undoubtedly taken thousands of dollars out of the credit card companies pockets and put the money into my pocket. I view this is a grand thing.”
—Craig K.
“I found your website and am so glad I did! I was feeling like an irresponsible person because of this debt situation but after reading some of your articles and questions from other readers I am starting to feel a bit better. Thanks and keep up the good work!”
—Raquel V.
“With one phone call to Citicards and a minor threat of moving to a different card they did not lower my interest rate (14.5%) forever, but was offered an introductory rate of 1.99% for nine months. You are correct about making the calls. Also a good credit history helped.”
—Rush Kittle
“It is very informative. I looked at my statement and realized I was paying 17.5% on my 5,700 credit card loan. I found your site and followed your instructions. It worked. I received their promotion for 5.2% for the first 6 months and then 11.5%. They said to call back after 6 months to find out about any new promotions. Thanks so much!”
—Mark Picone
“I just got your three books and was reading through Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt, when it dawned on me that I hadn’t seen a statement from one of my banks for a while. I remember making a $5 charge at Baskin Robbins because I had ordered ice cream for the kids before I realized I didn’t have my wallet. The account had a 0 balance at that point and I knew I would pay it in full when the statement arrived. I checked the account online, and was floored to see the new balance at $102.38 because they charged me two months of late fees at $29 each plus a membership fee of $39. I just called to let them know that I had not received a statement from them and would they please waive the late fees and membership fee. I got the standard ‘we can’t do that’ but was told that they would make a $10 adjustment to one of the late fees. I then asked what the APR was at, and the rep told me to sit down before he gave me the figure. Because of the missed payments (because I got no statement) it had jumped from 14% to 27.74%. He dropped it down to 9.9% fixed for two months then 9.9% variable after that. When I asked again about the membership fee being waived, he said he could waive it, but then would not be able to reduce the interest rate. I went for the reduced interest rate and the $10 adjustment to one of the late fees. I will pay the balance in full on the 15th and not use the card for a while. The call took me 12 minutes and I was transferred once. Thank you for all your information.”
—Tracy Mundy
“Dear Scott, Salem, Virginia, a ray of sunshine: your books arrived! They are exactly what I hoped they’d be, and they tempt me to ignore all else, as I devour them. I’m starting with Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, and, although I ordered it to learn how to help my sister and brother-in-law, I’m finding information that I can use to help myself, too. You were right to “guarantee” that your “books will help.” To paraphrase you, I’ve gotten mad, I’m getting smart–thanks to you–and I’ll soon pick up that phone! My only regret is that I didn’t think to ask you to autograph the books before you shipped them. Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to meet you someday, and I’ll remedy that omission. Now, back to your phone calls… Enthusiastically,”
—Anne
“Hi Scott, I am just bursting with excitement to email you today. I received your books in the mail when I got home from work and read the first chapter of Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt. I then called one of my credit card companies that was charging me a whopping $59 (zowwy!) “member fee” each year and followed the steps that you outlined in the chapter I just read. Just as you said, I got the first representative who explained all of the “great thing” that the “member fee” provided, such as sending me a statement each month “absolutely free,” sending me a replacement card if it is lost or stolen “absolutely free,” yadda, yadda (seriously, do these people actually believe what they are saying?!). I asked for the supervisor, was told they couldn’t do anything, talked to them anyway and, big surprise, the fee was waived on my account! I had your books less than 2 hours and already saved twice the cost of them with a single phone call! Thank you so much for all that you do to provide people with this great resource about a topic that most people seem to be afraid to talk about. What a great idea to record your phone conversations and share them! It gave me the exact action sequence and the confidence boost that I needed, and I have no doubt that many, many people have been helped by your efforts. Keep up the great work!”
—Tina Kerchner, VA
“Scott, I wanted to thank you. I ordered your books a few weeks ago and read them right away. I had an incredible amount of confidence when I called to get my credit card rate lowered. It was so easy! They lowered my rate from 10.45% to 3.9% (for a large balance too) for the life of the balance, with no fees. I calculated my savings at $3,968. WOW! Thanks again for your terrific advice!”
—Lisa Harris, DE
“When it comes to saving money, there are some deals that are no-brainers. Take Scott Bilker’s bookTalk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt: Phone Calls To Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 In Interest Charges and Fees! for example. Not only does he show you how to talk to bank card representatives to lower interest rates, get fees waived and deal with credit card disputes & billing errors, he guarantees you will save over $200 in the process of using his advice or he’ll give you a full refund of your money (and keep two other credit card management books for free to boot). It’s not often that we are guaranteed a risk-free 1000% return on our money. There’s solid advice in dealing with the run-around that representatives are bound to give and making sure you reach to a supervisor who will have more power to help you. While it would be great to have Bilker there negotiating with your credit card company for you, the book is the next best thing to having him make the calls himself.”
—Jeffrey Strain, SavingAdvice.com (Read entire SavingAdvice.com review)
“A valuable book from day one! I was shopping for a book that would help me with the credit card debt I have accumulated. I chose this book. It has proven to be very beneficial to me. It contains a large amount of information your banks don’t want you to know. My first night of reading the book, I got up to about page 70 and made my first phone call, with the intent of gaining information about the account and possibly getting a fee reversed. I ended up getting a $50 credit to the account, relatively easily. I cannot praise this book enough! If you need to reduce your credit card debt, this book may very well be your solution.”
—Monica Rice, PA
“I just got your books and was inspired to call my major credit card to ask for a reduction in APR. The current rate is variable 12.74%; with a $10000 balance that’s costing more than $100 per month in interest. They reduced that rate to 9.9% with no discussion. But here’s where I really benefited from having read your book: In talking about that rate, the account supervisor told me they will wire cash advances to my bank account for only 2.99% APR. They will provide as much as $10K per month. So, I could reduce the 19.74% rate to 2.99% rate by having the money wired to my bank and then writing a check to pay off the entire balance! Amazing– they told me how to save money.So, I just wanted to say that I feel I’ve already gotten my $19.95 worth from your books. Thanks!”
—Kathy
“I have recently found your book Talk Your Way Our of Credit Card Debt and it has really helped me. I have had excellent credit until very recently. I had an automatic payment through the credit card. A few months ago, the minimum payment was $3 over what I had set as the auto pay. I had not noticed that there was a difference until too late. This one time problem cause my interest rates to go up from 3.9% fixed balance transfer rate and a 13% purchase rate to 24.9% and 5.9% fixed balance transfer rate and a 10.9% purchase rate to 27.9%! It affected more than just the one card. I read your book and called customer service on all of my credit card today. I had amazing success. Most of my interest rates went back to their original rates and a few I was able to get lower! One account would not budge, so I transferred to a lower rate. Thank you!!!! You have save me a bundle of money!”
—R.J.
“THE CONFIDENCE YOU NEED IS CONTAINED HEREIN…I had the same problem most of you reading this have. But after reading this book from cover to cover, I was awashed with a new vigor and confidence to launch a strategic war of words with the credit card telephone handlers. As you read thru the transcripts of the author’s actual calls, picture yourself talking on the phone with the same savvy as he. Then close the book, put up your over charged, over penalized, and over interest rated bill and MAKE CALLS! Show them that you are taking CONTROL of your finances and relish the experience of sticking up for yourself.”
—Amazon.com reader (madinventor) from Brooklyn, NY
“I ordered your books and studied them and I have read your newsletter for quite some time. I had close to $55,000 in credit card debt with high interest rates. Following your advice I did balance transfers until I was able to get the interest rate to 3.9 percent and I have paid off four cards and cancelled them. In two years the total has dropped to about $25,000 and is dropping fast with the low interest rate. My son lost his job 7 months ago and your advice saved their home. Keep up the good work and especially keep telling everyone not to trust the banks who issue the credit cards.”
—Jimmy Thomas, Texas
“I had to write and thank you so much for the book. I just got it yesterday afternoon and started reading it. This morning I decided to try it out on one of my cards that has a very high interest rate. This card had been only about 9.99%, but the interest rate skyrocketed last May and I didn’t know why and I really didn’t know what to do about it. I called the company this morning and in less then 5 minutes I found out why (I’d had trouble with another card issued by the same company) and got the interest rate lowered from 23.99% to 8.99%. One point lower than it had been before! This one call paid for the book and way more. I figured out how much I saved. It’s a good thing I was sitting, because I’m sure I would have fallen on the floor when I realized I saved $10,706.50.”
—Jill King, Philadelphia, PA
“The best book there is on the topic! I unexpectedly run into high debt. So far, I just got this book 2 days ago. I made three phone calls, saved $85 dollars fee for a credit card and about $3,000 in interest charges on one credit card. And this is just the beginning. Extremely helpful book. I honestly recommend it to people like myself because there is always a solution and this book gives me hope.”
—Amazon.com reader from Brooklyn, NY
“This is a fantastic book! Bilker walks you through the entire phase of dealing with creditors, on several different issues! If you have ever called a credit card company to discuss lowering your interest rates, or requesting a waiver on that annual fee, you know how humiliating they can make you feel! Bilker teaches you how to gain control and show them who’s boss!”
—Alyice Edrich, TheDabblingMum.com
“Scott Bilker is one of the most effective negotiators that I know. If you’re going to be talking to credit card companies it’s well worth getting his book Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt.”
—Tom Allan, host of the I Hate Debt radio show in San Diego, CA
“….before I start singing the praises of Mr. Bilker’s prose style, or his innovative use of trochees and spondees in the anapestic diptych (or whatever), I must admit that when I picked up this nattily turned-out trade paperback, I wasn’t exactly expecting William Morris’s The Life and Death of Jason….What I did get was a surprisingly witty and to all appearances effective how-to manual for hoodwinking these bloated social parasites that we now know of by the euphemism “banks” into cutting us a little slice of economic justice now and then. Granted, the power is entirely on the side of the large financial institutions, such that Mr. Bilker’s winning tactics often shed their savor of victory in a larger context….with the help of Mr. Bilker’s book, one can fight a series of strategic rearguard actions, and manage to cut one’s losses a bit. After all, there’s no sense in completely rolling over and playing dead — before it’s time, anyway.”
—Victoria Acroyear, Circle Magazine (Read entire Circle Magazine review)
“Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt provides solid advice on getting your rate reduced, annual fees waived, removing a late payment fee, handling disputes, and many other common problems when dealing with credit card companies. More than just advice, it is a collection of detailed examples of phone calls including complete transcripts. Each transcript demonstrates how the author handled a particular issue and the results of the call. Not content to just give one example of getting an interest rate lowered or removing over limit fees, each type of problem has several transcripts so you can get a good feel for what to expect and how to handle it. Most people are not aware of how much power they have when dealing with a credit card company and how to get things changed. This book walks the reader through the process from beginning to end and is a recommended read for anyone looking to gain control of his or her credit card situation.”
—Harold McFarland, Editor, Readers Preference Reviews
“Scott Bilker lays out a variety of scenarios involving debtors and collectors. He presents several options for coping with each situation, then he takes it a step further by providing a suggested script for dealing with the debt. He also covers things like lowering or eliminating annual fees, getting lower interest rates, dealing with late fees, obtaining cash advances—you name it. This guy’s clearly experienced in dealing with financial institutions at the consumer level, and he understands how to play the game. You don’t have to use his exact words, but Bilker’s dialogue is a good place to start. I haven’t road-tested any of his scripts, but the needle on my bovine excrement detector didn’t move, so give it a shot.”
—Richard Pachter, Miami Herald
“Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt by money management expert Scott Bilker is a straightforward, “user friendly” guide to negotiating with credit card banks for better interest rates and getting fees waived. Offering tested strategies for the waiver of annual fees, late payment fees, cash-advance fees and more, shopping for the best credit card deals, comparing loan options, getting refunds, and more, Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt is very highly recommended reading. Bilker’s finance evaluation strategies are extremely useful, even to those who choose to carefully avoid getting into credit card debt in the first place!”
—Midwest Book Review
“In this informative and often entertaining manual, Scott Bilker tells credit card holders how to really take charge of their debt situation by showing exactly how he does it for himself and his friends. Each chapter briefly introduces a topic like “Lowering Your Interest Rate” or “Disputes, Chargebacks, and Errors” before providing transcripts of actual phone calls that Bilker made to various bank officers to strike dollar-saving blows for the common man. Besides disguising the names of the guilty (banks are renamed after dog breeds, and bank officers after insects), Bilker presents an audio-verité guide to saving money and regaining a real sense of control of your finances.“
—D. Patrick Miller, Fearless Books (Read entire Fearless review)
“Talk Your Way Out Of Credit Card Debt: Phone Calls To Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 In Interest Charges and Fees! is a great book about negotiating with credit card companies to reduce interest rates and eliminate fees. This advice can save you thousands of dollars, if you carry a credit card balance. The savings Bilker achieved were significant. In one phone call, Bilker got the bank to lower the interest rate from 13.72% to 8.75%, saving $4,320.00, based upon the existing credit card balance. I highly recommend Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt to anyone who carries a balance on his or her credit cards or anyone who wants to gain skill in negotiating with a credit card bank to reduce interest rates or eliminate fees. Following Bilker’s advice can save thousands of dollars in credit card interest and fees.”
—Peter Hupalo, Entrepreneur Books (Read entire Entrepreneur Book review)
“Unique, clever.”
—Jim Barnes, Managing Editor, Independent Publisher Online
“I don’t know why a book like this has been written sooner. It contains so much common sense advice, I can’t believe I didn’t think of these things myself sooner. Thanks to Bilker’s book I was able to take detailed notes, including names on promised rates for my IRA. When the promised rates didn’t appear on my next statement, I was able to talk my way through many layers of resistance and finally get the original deal I was promised. I highly recommend this book to anyone with debt or who deals with any financial institutions for any reason.”
—Jon Del Russo, Ph.D.
“This book is amazing. Reading it has opened our eyes to how much money we have been allowing to slip through our fingers unnecessarily. All my husband and I did before reading this book was complain about the outrageously high cost of borrowing money on credit cards. Since reading Bilker’s detailed how-to-book, we have actually been able to call banks and save money. We couldn’t be more grateful!”
—Barbara Crammer
“I tried calling my credit card bank and using one of the things you said on Friday’s TV show. Well, I called and they raised my limit to $1,000 from $300 and dropped my rate from 17.9% to 15.3%. Thank you!”
—Mark Crilley
“After watching Scott demonstrate how to talk to the credit card companies, I not only know what to expect, but I am capable of, and comfortable with, negotiating with the banks for myself!”
—Greg Mador
“I give this book my full recommendation! I’ve never seen a more detailed how-to book. If you have a credit card, you need this book! I think Scott outdid himself on this one. Almost everyone I know, and myself included, has been intimidated by credit card banks. To have an actual script to follow for all situations will be a godsend to a lot of people. Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt is the one book that every credit card holder should have.”
—Terry Rigg, Editor of The Budget Stretcher (Read entire Rigg review)
“5 stars! Easy to understand, anyone can use it, very informative. I used Scott’s advice in the book about calling the credit card companies and having the interest rate lowered on my credit card. I have learned what I need to say and how to negotiate. Whatever you need to know its in the book. Before I called I had a 14.99% for purchases and 19.99% for cash advances. After speaking to the representative for 7 minutes I had my rate drop to 12.99% for purchases and 14.99% for cash. Not only that but I have another card with them and the rate went from 19.99% for both to 15.99% for both. Not bad for 7 minutes. I wish everything was this easy. Total Save $1000.00!”
—Scott Morey, NJ (Truck Driver)