I find I have late fee on my credit card that I don’t think I deserve. So I call my credit card company to dispute the $29 late payment fee because I tried making the payment online (in plenty of time) but their online payment system was going bonkers.
After spending an hour last night getting the right number (because apparently there’s a special 800-number for online payment disputes and it’s not accessible via their annoying main menu on the phone), I steal time away from my busy as hell day here at work to call them (as they’re only available during working hours) . So I call them, asking about this charge. The payment was a day late because their system was screwed up (somehow it takes four-days for online payments to clear, which is horsecrap). So I asked why I was getting charged a massive late fee when it was their site that was screwed up? The lady says to me that if I “would’ve called when the problem was happening, they could’ve done something.” Oh, that’s good to know, and where was this information? Considering I had to wait on hold for an hour last night just to get the 800 number for the online payment department, I doubt this information was easily accessible somewhere.
And then she says what every Web and computer geek like me hates to hear:
“It was probably a browser issue and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
What a bunch of crap.
“I tried to access the site in four different browsers on two different platforms, two different net connections, ran a traceroute and tried accessing it directly via IP address (after I ran a lookup on the server it was trying to access). The server was down, and was for several hours that night. This was not ‘a browser issue.'”
I was pretty fired up.
“There’s nothing you can do about it?”
“No sir.”
“OK, then I’ll be cancelling this card next week and calling Citibank.” (CitiBank was the only one I could think of off the top of my head)
I was expecting her to say “Oh, we’re sorry, sir, here’s a refund on the late payment.” What did she say?
“That’s fine, thank you for your business.”
I can not truly believe that this lady is throwing away business. Generally, credit card companies want to keep their folks as much as possible (it is a billion-dollar industry, after all), so I was totally floored when she said that.
True to my word, however, I’ll be paying the late fee, and will be cancelling this card next week. I have a credit score of 780, so I don’t think I should have to put up with this crap. And I won’t.
Anybody have any good recommendations for a credit card?
Comments
Well you can always call back and talk to her boss, and also ask if there was a online server issue when you had placed your payment online. Had that happen to be once before, and yes it happened almost the way yours did, but try to talk to the boss and even though you did try different connections that would be their fault for not being able to process information needed. Causing the customers late fees. Just talk to the boss about server downtime and how it made your late fee. good luck
fight the damn machine. and get that bit..lady fired.
I’m really surprised they let you get away. Don’t they record the phone calls. If her boss finds out she let you go, someones in trouble.
“Surprised they let you get away?” Not on the planet I live on!
I had – past tense – a credit card with a high interest rate. I had just received a new card with a much lower rate.
I called “high” card and told them that I would be transferring my balance to the “low” card – unless they would match the interest rate.
The reply? “Don’t let the doorknob hit you in the butt on the way out” – or something thereabouts.
THEY DON’T CARE. THEY DON’T HAVE TO! There are plenty of suckers champing at the bit to pay interest rates that would make a loan shark blush.
I asked the representative if they treated all their customers that way. Again, I got the company line of “rules are rules.”
Like you, I have a terrific credit rating. The bad news? Unless it’s AmEx (30 day account) they ALL suck.
Oh, how could I have forgotten! The ULTIMATE company line:
“Well, sir, it says right on your invoice that all payments should be made five to seven days before the due date.”
The rest of that statement, if they were allowed to say it:
“If you paid your bill on time, this wouldn’t have happened . . . would it?!”
You can’t win!
(“Utterly” rocks, however.)
I just paid off 4 credit cards last month, and only one of the made any verbal effort to keep me as a customer. Unfortunately, it was MBNA, who offered me an introductory 9% for 4 months, with it bumping up to + 20% thereafter. I couldn’t believe that they all let me go without a fight, not that I would have stayed with any of them anyways.
Jake,
I’ve had my Southwest Airlines Visa affinity card for about a year now. Put the child care and all the other big bills on it and get a free SWA ticket on average every six months. No problems with customer service either.
-The Dren
Jake… not to make you feel worse about it but the same situation happened with us this month with the same credit card company. After a marathon of phone calls, they did wave half the late fee. We do not consider it fair and the least and are also shopping elsewhere.
Capitol One is NOT a good option either, in spite of their ads. Be sure you don’t have one of them ‘in your wallet’. National news did a news story on them this week that was anything but favorable.
I have a Providian card that I really like. Online bill paying that you can schedule way ahead. I think there is a fee for same day payments though–so not good for the procrastinator. It also has 24/7 FICO reporting which is always listed in my account information, inlcuding inquiries which is nice. Did the Capital One thing, not impressed.
Thanks everybody for your comments.
The MBNA card I have is a 7.99% card with a 2% rebate on certain gas purchases (doesn’t work at the gas station I typically go to). I got the thing through AAA. Their online payment stuff, when it works, works fine, but the real reason I signed up for it originally over a year ago is that it had a 0% balance transfers which came in very handy when I had my surgery over a year ago.
I’ve dealt with Capital One, they’re a pain in the butt, too. BankOne/FirstUSA isn’t much better — their customer service was great, and they worked to keep me (still have a high-limit emergency card through them in my safe that’s only there if something blows up), but their rates aren’t too great.
Regardless, I’ll look around and see what I can come up with. I don’t do a pile of transactions/month on my CC (maybe about 5-6 for a total of $150-250, all paid off at the end of the month), so getting one of those rewards cards probably wouldn’t be worth the hassle.
Hell, I’m considering getting an Amex card just because that’s the only one Costco takes, the buggers.
Ha! MBNA SUXS!
What I love about their phone “service” is that you have to navigate their classically time-wasting “press 2 to go to hell” automated system, INCLUDING entering your whole card number and other personal info, and what’s the FIRST question they ask when you finally reach a human being?
“What is your card number please?”
You guy doing a wrong way regarding late fee. I got late fee on my bank of america card as they claim they got 1 day late. I probably send it late to get there on time but that’s beyound the point. The told me that they process it same day and i said you either take off late fee or i wil be filling complain with bbb, guess what they took it right away. My score is 825 which almost perfect max is 830 so that could have something to do with them willing to take off late fee charges
Dmitriy, thank you for illustrating that even the mentally challenged can have high credit scores.