Sax Maniac's Journal: Credit card company games

I always pay off my credit card bill on time, because I like Free Money. For years now, Discover and Citibank all send me $50 checks now and again for the privilege of using their money for a month. Hey, who am I to argue? This is how you get a FICO score in the 700s.

Every once in a while, something goes wrong. Most of the time it's just a brain fart on my part, and I just missed a payment. But sometimes electronic payments I really did make, just disappear into the ether, never to be heard from again... until the payee comes knockin' on your door.

Things have changes quite a bit since I started this in high school in 1988. Then, you would get a $10.00 late charge. Now they whack you with a $39.00 fee, and possibly raise your rate to 29%, charge you interest for this month and the next, raise rates on your other cards that are paid on time, and other assorted evil things that only MBAs and lawyers can think of. Clearly, they prefer gouging you for fees and really have no interest in you having your payment processed on time. But you already knew that.

Normally, if this happens, I just call up the company and whine a little bit, and try to get them to reverse the fee. Never act angry, just ask if the support droid can save your life Just This One Time and oh, thank you, you're so great! It's a bit like getting your first speeding ticket, do whatever you can to avoid that. If you can never get first late fee, then you always have a clean record, and they're more likely to forgive your "first" mistake. I can't remember the last time this has failed. Discover, in particular, has good service and always immediate start groveling a (who-cares-if-it's-faux) apology and revert it.

So, last month, I send a payment to Citibank on their website, and... poof. Gone to the great bit-bucket in the sky. I notice a few days later than my checking balance is a lot higher than it should be, and notice that payment is missing.

WHANGP! You could almost hear the $39 late fee landing on my account immediately, you know, like the big industrial metal stamp that breaks the underlying surface on those FordChevyWhatever truck commercials, leaving a pile of broken rubble and floating dust.

I log into Citibank, and sure enough, it's there. I haven't been late on any card in maybe 4 years, and probably this is the first time ever on Citibank. So, I call them up, whine, and ask to get it removed.

No sympathy. Sorry shithead, you're late, pay the piper.

Ah, you win some, you lose some. I'm up by a couple thousand, and they've got $50 out of me. Still worth playing.

So: this month. I'm all paid up, get my next bill, and what's this? Finance Charge? Out comes the phone again for another complaint. I know perfectly well that there's some legalese somewhere that allows them to do this, but I don't feel like reading 43 pages of legalese when I can call Ravi "Dave" Chandraskarapadmanaban in Bangalore and get the same answer in far less time. Turns out that if you're late you get finance charges for two months. You lose your grace period for a month.

The Indian lady on the phone offers to remove the second late fee. Bingo! Sensing that she was in a charitable mood, I press my luck. Without a beat, I immediately said that the original late fee was also charged wrong, and gave the same sob story again that failed to impress last month.

Bingo, she wipes out the late fee and last month's finance charge, in addition also this month's.

It pays to whine to your credit card company.