Macy's Bill Collector Calls Me Today. Really?

[stopbush]

Boy, times must be bad at the retail stores.

I had a call from Macy's today, wondering when I was going to make a payment on my account, which has a balance of just over $500 from a bed I bought a few months ago.

"When was my payment due?" asks I.

"December 12" comes the reply.

"What's the minimum payment amount?" asks I.

"$52."

"When did I make my last payment?" asks I.

"You made a payment of $200 in November."

"What's my payment record history look like?" asks I.

"You've made payments every month on schedule."

"So, why are you calling me 6 days after my payment was due?"

"Well, we don't want to have to report you late to the credit agencies."

"And when would you have to do that?"

"On January 12."

The guy them launched into a spiel about whether I want to set up an automatic payment plan with a lower minimum per month.

Why do I get the feeling that they're unhappy with me paying them well over the minimum every month, and that they're trying to use my being a few days late as an opening to convince me to drag out my payments and pay them more interest?

BTW - I simply forgot to send a payment this month. Guess I'll send it tomorrow.

Sheesh!

[Fridays Child]

1. Macy's!

Signed up for paperless billing. They sent me my e-bill yesterday, 12/17. Minimum payment was due 12/14. WTF! I pay them in full, every time I use their card. Do you suppose that they're unhappy with that? Hmm.

[blockhead]

6. who is the picture in your sig line?

she is very pretty.

[stopbush]

8. I was going to say that picture looked hot, but that wouldn't be PC, so I didn't.

;)

[Fridays Child]

13. PC or otherwise...

...I am complimented. Thank you. :)

[Fridays Child]

12. That's me.

Thank you for the compliment. :)

[t0dd]

17. You're beautiful!

:)

[Fridays Child]

19. Aww!

:blush: You're sweet!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

20. *swoooooon* :)

Lovely as can be. :D

[Fridays Child]

23. LOL!

I can make someone swoon? Who knew? You make me feel like a schoolgirl. :D

[SalmonChantedEvening]

27. What can I do.

Pretty women bring out the schoolboy in me. :)

[dionysus]

2. had HSBC do that with my mortgage, actually.

for the non home owners, mortgage payments say they are due on the 1st of the month, but really it's the 15th (16th if the 15th is on a sunday).

i always pay online with a transfer on the 15/16th. never missed a payment.

then, all of a sudden, i'm getting calls from india, offering to set up a "payment plan". despite not even being past due once.

it happened 3 months in a row, and after i kept bitching more and more every time, it finally stopped.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Yep. Isn't that funny?

I used to be a fanatic about making sure the payment made it in BEFORE the first.

Until I got in the business and saw AutoPay forms the lenders gave at closing authorizing payments on the 1st through 15th.

Technically, you are in default after the 1st but if the bank ain't gonna sweat it, neither am I.

[SoCalDem]

24. I had to quit paying our mortgage online through my bank

I made a payment on the 1st, and of course it was deducted immediately from my account, but when I got my next statement they had charged me a late charge of $68.00.. they claimed they did not receive the payment until the 16th.. I called the bank to see if they could send me a copy of the actual draft they sent, but they said they could not. The mortgage people basically blew me off, even after I sent them copies showing that I had PAID it on the 1st, and they said they "had no control of the USPS or when my bank mailed the payment", so now I write that ONE check a month, so I have proof of when they deposited the check.. Pissed me OFF,. It;s the ONLY time I have ever had a late charge on our mortgage..and it was totally NOT my fault:(

[Gabi Hayes]

3. they're coming after you because you believe in the magic bullet!

your payment went back, and to the left, of the mailbox

[TwixVoy]

4. You need to step in someone elses shoes

Just because YOU actually ARE able to make payments doesn't mean there is a conspiracy against you because you got a call after being 6 days late.

Do your homework on just how many people are struggling these days. A new record number of credit card defaults just got reported the other day. There are a lot of people going late who can NOT bring their accounts current and a lower payment would help them.

Sorry there is no conspiracy here.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

Also, not to jump to the banks defense.

I don't really mind a reminder call if I forget to make a payment. I would rather have that than a 1x30 on the credit report.

[stopbush]

7. Oh, believe me, I'm struggling. Out of work since 10/1/9, drawing unemployment

and wondering how I'm going to come up with the remaining 40% of next month's rent.

Christmas is going to be bleak around here this year. So, I feel people's pain, believe me.

The only thing that is saving us is that we bit the bullet 3 years ago and went on an austerity budget that allowed us to pay off about $30,000 in credit card bills. Got rid of all the AMEX cards, store cards and all but 2 bank cards. We now use only our debit card and cash, which means we pay cash for everything. Macy's is the only active cc we have these days. I've shut down our other 2 Visa ccs. Made deals to close the cards and stop interest growing on them with the respective banks. The debt on those two cards combined is now under $5,000. I pay about $100 a month on each to keep current.

I didn't say there was a conspiracy. I do think that the stores are looking for every way possible to make $ off their cards. If tons of people are defaulting, then it makes sense for them to go after guys like me who are still paying and see if they can fool me into some payment plan that makes them more money in the long term.

On edit: rereading my OP, I can see why you reacted the way you did.

[Skink]

9. You are late dirtbag.

they just lost 95 dollars in the market cause you didn't make yor minimum payment.

[Skink]

10. Sorry about calling you a dirtbag.

Your last post wasn't up. Mea culpa.:blush:

[Maru Kitteh]

11. If you are one minute late they can still report you. Just be careful. Damn blooduckers.

[stopbush]

14. We had to short sell our home last year when I relo-ed for a new job.

So our credit rating is already screwed for at least a couple of years.

And the job ended because the place basically ran out of money and had to cut staff.

Just happy to be renting and not slogging through another mortgage crisis.

[sharesunited]

15. Bill Macy

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2850068480/nm0534409

[Jamastiene]

16. The are shaking us down at every turn.

It's like being bullied left and right. I know the feeling. Even if you pay faithfully every single month, they'll hound you to death anyhow.

[t0dd]

18. You think that's bad? Try Express.

Their cards are issued by World Financial Network National Bank.

I was late one time with my $10 payment. Two days later they called me 6 times a day for the rest of the week. From 6a to midnight. They harassed me constantly over $10. I'm looking forward to closing the account.

[nini]

21. I'd rather get the call when I forgot then the reporting to the credit agency

If the guy wasn't acting like a dickhead I don't really see a lot wrong with that call :shrug:

[McCamy Taylor]

22. Was it a call from India? Are they outsourcing their bill collection now?

[MilesColtrane]

29. Yes, but instead of 'Phil' or 'Don' calling you, they used 'Guido' and 'Anthony'.

[AllentownJake]

25. 2 years ago a $200 payment the previous month would exempt you from payment

the next.

[hileeopnyn8d]

26. I remember those days

though it seems longer than two years ago.

[anigbrowl]

30. Hmm...not with any of my cards it didn't.

Maybe this used to be the case, but it's not as recent as you say. Frankly I think they acted OK in this case - the payment was in fact late, and they offered a flexible approach to handling the problem. Surely they're being more assidious about following up delinquent accounts, but they're a retailer, not a bank - changes in their cash flow directly impact the amount of stock they can buy and the prices they can set.

[cbdo2007]

28. Sounds like you just got your interest rate bumped up to 29.99%.

Have fun with that!

btw...just set up automatic payments. It's easy and you can probably do it online in about 2 minutes.