Give praise and get freebies

A previous column on people with highly refined complaining skills attracted a lot of responses, including a few touting the benefits of issuing compliments.
Compliments? Do you really have to give a pat on the back to someone who just does what he's supposed to do?
Well, why not? It's good to have good manners.
And it apparently can be profitable, too -- on a small scale, at least.
Several readers said they routinely go out of their way to make sure companies that served them well know the effort's been appreciated.
"Maybe they have a good peanut brittle, or something like that," one reader said. In such a case, he sends a friendly note or uses the company's toll-free number.
Result: He's often rewarded with a handful of coupons worth $20 or more. "Complaining is fine, but complimenting is better," he wrote.
It seems a bit low to scatter compliments just to get a bunch of freebies. Motives like that don't get you to heaven.
But if you really mean it and they're going to give free stuff away anyway ...
Q. I'm annoyed at my credit-card company. I'm paying 7.99 percent on my card balance. The other day, I got a mass mailing offering 5.99 percent if I transferred a balance from another card to this one. But when I asked to have the lower rate applied to the balance I already have, the card company said no. What can I do?
A. This kind of thing happens all the time, but that doesn't make it any less maddening.
Why does the card company do this?
Because it thinks it has you over a barrel.
If you carry a balance on another card charging 10, 12 or 15 percent, the 5.99 percent offer looks like a bargain. Your card company can earn nearly 6 percent by getting you to transfer a balance. What's more, you may decide to cancel the other card and make all your new charges on this one.
On the other hand, if you don't have a balance to transfer from another card, this company has no reason to cut your existing rate. It might as well get you to pay as much as it can.
At least, that's the way it seems.
In fact, the card company might prefer to cut your rate by 2 percentage points rather than lose your business.
So I'd start by pressing a bit harder. Chances are the first customer service person you talked to doesn't have the authority to cut your rate. But somebody higher up might. So ask to speak to a supervisor.
Then point out that many card companies are offering even lower rates to new customers who transfer balances. Ask why you should keep doing business with this outfit if competitors offer rates on transfers as low as zero percent.
Of course, you might ask yourself the same question, assuming you really are getting those dirt-cheap offers. Maybe your transfer should go the other way -- from this card company to some other.
But be careful about shifting your balance around over and over. That will show up on your credit report and make you look like a person who is avoiding paying his bills. It could hurt you in trying to get a mortgage or other loan.
Experts say lenders like to see that you've had credit with at least one institution for a long time and been responsible about making payments and keeping your debts from getting too high.
Of course, all this would be moot if you did what you really ought to do -- paid your entire balance off right now.
Credit cards are best used for convenience, not for long-term loans. Even at relatively attractive rates of 5.99 or 7.99 percent, interest costs can be enormous if you just make the minimum monthly payment required and take decades to pay off your debt.
If you pay your balance off every month you won't have to pay any interest, so the rate won't matter.
XJeff Brown is a business columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. E-mail him at jeff.brown@phillynews.com.