Just got off the phone with a well-known credit card issuer. The purpose of calling was an erroneous interest charge on a paid-off account. Since this isn't reality TV we'll not go very deep into the details other than to say the balance was run up years ago by a member of the McCloud household. In the ongoing effort to reduce my credit footprint the bill was about to be paid off in full. That's when the merry-go-round began.
I placed a call to the card company in late April to obtain a payoff amount. One was provided with a drop-dead date of May 3rd. If not by then another month of ridiculously high interest would be compounded. Needless to say, Fed Ex was contracted and they delivered as promised. Celebration time, right? Not quite.
A few days afterwards the monthly statement came showing the paid off balance on the 1st and a hefty finance charge compounded on the previous balance added on the 6th. Say what? They said if payment was received before the 3rd there would be no more interest.
Time to pick up the phone. Since this account was long-ago closed it didn't reside under the purview of main customer service center in India, rather, after keying the account number at the beginning of the call an immediate transfer was made to a special loser department here in America. The following is a recollection of the call to the best of my recollection, an exchange in which the Federal Government would surely be proud, perhaps to the level of giving a spot cash award...
- Me.. "You gave me a payoff amount and a deadline. I overnighted a check for the payoff amount before the deadline. Why was interest added?"
- Them.. "This sometimes happens. It may take two to three months to get it off the account because we're so backed up."
- Me.. "Uh, this means the balance could be reported as delinquent to a credit bureau if this lingers past 60 days."
- Them.. "That's not our department. We have no control over that. You'll have to call the credit bureau department."
- Me.. "Hello credit bureau department, why does it take two to three months to clear off a misapplied interest charge on a paid-off and closed account?"
- Them.. "That's not something we have control over. You'll need a copy of your credit report before we can help you."
- Me.. "Nothing has happened yet, I'm just asking you what happens if something is reported that adversely impacts our credit because you won't take this off the account? In this age of digital communications why can't your company talk to itself?"
- Them.. "Again, that's not my department, sir. If something happens, pull your credit report and call us back."
- Me.. "So, then you'll clear the finance charge off the account at that time?"
- Them.. "Well, every situation is different sir. We'll see what we can do."
So, they may help me after their mistake causes a hit on the credit report. Stunning.
Not being the type person to stand for such crap (does anyone?) but realizing my calls to customer service would be forever transferred to the same department, a devious plan was hatched. Upon the next call I provided a voice command to "apply for a new card" followed by "check status". That circumvented the need to give the account number and got me through to the main Customer Service center in India whereupon it allowed a request to speak with a Supervisor. Again, paraphrasing..
- Me.. Tells Supervisor the whole story..
- Him.. "We're going to see if we can take care of that. Hold a second, please."
- Cheerful hold music....
- Him.. "Thanks for holding, that charge is now removed from your account. You'll receive one more statement confirming this. Sorry for the trouble and my name is so-n-so."
- Me.. "Thank you very much for getting this cleared up."
And there you have it, only a sixteen step process to get it cleared up. My personal hatred for credit cards has reached an all-time high.
This was my experience, yours may differ, but I'd recommend to any young person
reading this to consider never getting a credit card. Credit can be established by getting small loans (no lines of credit and pay it back on time) to establish a payment history. Take a fool's advice.
I'll wrap with a mention of the rule changes being considered by the Federal Trade Commission that appeared in today's WaPo. These are great and certainly a long time in coming because somewhere along the way many of our esteemed credit providers somehow incorporated "highway robbery" into their business plan while nobody was looking.
But, barring medical or other emergencies, it's entirely possible to survive without credit cards. Such a life provides a personal freedom that precludes the need for any Congressional nannies or bureaucrats to watch your financial back. The money saved from interest and fees will end up in your pocket and allow payment in cash for that inevitable emergency.
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