Credit Card Conspiracy
Several years ago, one of my credit card companies (Lets call them XYZ) had a deal whereby I could consolidate other accounts into theirs at a low low rate of 2.99 percent. For LIFE. I said, Hells yeah! Dumped my other accounts into this one, and patted myself on the back.
Get this:
I haven't used XYZ's credit card since
I have paid more than the minimum amount due every month
I have always paid on time
I have resisted their attempts to use those stupid check things to charge more more more
I got my monthly bill yesterday and was humming some little ditty whilst opening the bill, then SCREAMED MY ASS OFF when I saw that they conveniently lost my most recent payment. LOST IT. As in, didn't process it. Which means:
a) My amount due was more than twice what it should be, because
2) They raised my interest rate to 21%...TWENTY. ONE. FUKKIN. PERCENT.
I went off. Like an insane rocket. On trippy acid. I called their CS department and screamed at the poor $10-an-hour-waged chickie who answered. She tried to calm me down. Sort of. She said, "Well, things DO get lost in the mail!" Fuck that. At NO TIME in the history of my bill-paying life has ANYTHING been 'lost in the mail'. What kind of stupid, sorry excuse is that?
Chickie said to make another payment and then when they got it, I should call back and they'd "see what they could do" about lowering my interest rate.
BUT.
She couldn't guarantee it would go back to 2.99%.
So.
I called my bank to inquire about my lost payment to XYZ. No, they hadn't cashed that check.
I called the post office. No, they didn't have anything mangled in their machines or in the dead letter bin remotely resembling my lost payment.
So now I'm angry.
Angry that I have to babysit the Federal Government's postal service.
Angry that my credit card company is treating me like shit even though I'm an exemplery customer.
Angry that I foolishly trusted businesses to care about me, and should have babysat my payment, calling obsessively to make sure they received my payment.
I called XYZ back last night and made a pay-by-phone payment which will be posted some time today.
I will call back tomorrow and wrangle/haggle/bitch/scream/threaten to get my lower percentage rate back.
I will get satisfaction. Or revenge.
My question, dear readers, is this:
Did XYZ credit company scam me?
Did they purposely "lose" my payment so they could sock me with a high interest rate? Because it was at 2.99%, I never used their card or their checks, and was paying the balance off. I was making money for them, but not ENOUGH money.
Yes, I'm suspicious and a conspiracy theorist. But that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.
Who do I call to inquire about this possibility? The SEC? The FTC? Better Business Bureau?
I think XYZ is trying to con me. I know I will have the last word.
posted by Mona Buonanotte @ 2:52 PM
7 comments
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7 Comments:
No, it is possible that the payment was lost in the shuffle of mail. I say this because I doubt that their processign center has the time to isolate every payment made.
Your other alternative is to find another 'low interest' card that will do the same thing, and transfer the balance over to them, thereby removing the excessively high interest rate that you now have.
Then, as was stated in the previous post, set up and automatic or on-line payment process with your bank. That way they cannot claim the "lost in the mail" excuse.
You bet they scammed you!
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/shop/complaints.htm
File a report on those bastids!!! I am so mad for you!!!
Lois Lane
I don't know. You can't fight the big bad banks.
Screw them! Banking is the most profitable business in the country.
I quit paying on my two cards about five months ago. They're going to charge off the bad debts and move on without me.
bad credit? What do I need credit for? to get more credit cards? I learned my lesson and paid off those cards in interest alone many times over. Fuck them. They can make obscene profits without my help anymore. Do yourself a favor and pay them off or just throw them away or just stop paying. Dont' believe all the horror stories about what can happen.
Nothing happens.
Yeah... listen to an anonymous person who tells you not to worry about paying your bills.
RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrright....
Mona - do what you're doin', keep on their tails, and pay off your card. Your credit will be screwed for life if you listen to that anonymous loser.
Not a bad idea to shop for another low interest card, switch the balance over, and continue on from there.
Also not a bad idea to pay electronically, thru computer or whatever, so payments are automatic and don't depend on the slowly dying postal system.
Good luck!
- M
Thanks, y'all. I called back XYZ company just now and they took off the late fee, returned my intereste rates to where they were before (thank the jeebus), and told me to 'be more careful'. So yeah, online bill-payment is definitely in my future until this monstrosity is paid off.
Meanwhile, this morning we had a meeting on the company 401(k) plan and one of the stocks we can invest in is...wait for it...XYZ company. BAHAHAHA....
Yeah, I worked for Countrywide Home Loans for 4 years, and people were always complaining about how "we" lost their payments. Ok, yes...the payment could have arrived at the payment center and then been mis-shuffled and mis-allocated and all that good stuff (believe it or not, it used to happen. People's payments would be allocated to the WRONG ACCOUNT, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Crazy, no?), but usually, it was a lost-in-the-mail-on-the-way-to-the-payment-center issue. And we couldn't do anything about that. I used to tell all those folks about how fabulous online billpay via their current bank might be for them. I sure as hell love it!
I'm glad it all worked out. Online billpay is the only way I pay my credit cards and mortgage payments. And I want a card with only 2.9% interest! I'm pretty sure mine's at 7% right now...
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