Anyone out there want to trade credit card horror stories?

[hedgehog]

First, I closed a Bank of America account at the beginning of December. A few weeks ago, I started to get phone calls which I figured were scammers phishing. I finally called Bank of America.They'd screwed up my mailing address. Apparently, I owed an interest payment that hit after the account showed a zero balance, and they'd been adding interest charges and late fees to that to just about double it before they got around to trying to get hold of me. I think I've got that straightened out.

So, now I'm trying to close a Chase account. I paid off the balance, but an interest payment will post in a few days. Can I pay for that on-line? Not until it posts. Get this, I should pay a little extra because interest on the interest is already kicking in. Can I pay that extra on-line? No, I have to send the extra by mail and hope I've paid enough to kill this thing.

Where's a wooden stake when you need one?

[zipplewrath]

1. Credit Unions

'Bout all I can say. I don't "carry" balances on credit cards. Back when I had to borrow, I'd buy it with the credit card, then go down to the credit union and arrange for a "personal loan". Basically it was the same thing (i.e. unsecured loan) but it avoided most of the silliness that credit card companies pull. And like you are experiencing now, when it came time to "finish" the loan, you could literally walk in and close it THAT DAY.

You'll get there. Sounds like you're about a month away. Then throw a party or something and burn the cards.

[Bluzmann57]

2. Speaking of Chase...

I had a card from them which I decided to pay down weekly rather than monthly. So I started paying $10.00 a week for a while. No problem right? Well not until I got a bonus check from work and decided to make a larger payment two days after making one of my $10.00 weekly payments. I went online and tried to make a $150.00 one time payment. They wouldn't allow it because they said that I just made a payment two days before. And of course the interest accrued. I finally just paid the whole damn thing off and will not do business with them again. I have a card from a huge corporate banker which I have had for several years, and one from my Credit Union. Other than that, none. Screw 'em.

[pipi_k]

5. Don't mess with the weebeloes...

because unless it's rigid, according to the rules of their game, they can't figure it out.

Once I sent a payment in full (which I always do anyway) to one of my credit card companies, only instead of the exact amount, I added a few extra cents just to round it off.

I did it through online banking, through the correct account number (I have a credit card and savings/shares account with this place).

Instead of applying my payment toward the credit card bill, they sent it into my savings/shares account, then told me I must have made a mistake. NO. I sent it to the credit card account number. Seems those few extra cents totally confused someone. It was straightened out in a short time, but it did teach me a lesson.

Make sure everything is completely and totally understandable and EXACT.

They can't even deal with a couple of extra cents.

[Phentex]

8. Like I said below, somewhere along the way they changed...

It used to be you could pay more than the balance either by paying all outstanding activity or by paying more figuring they would apply it toward purchases that wouldn't show up until the next statement. Nope, not anymore.

One of the funnier instances, although it was not a credit card company, was when I switched cell phone carriers. Somehow I ended up with a penny credit. I didn't think much of it but each month they kept sending me a statement letting me know I had a penny credit. I finally contacted them to tell them to donate it or something but since I no longer had an account, I was not considered a customer and they could not find any information about it. I am not joking when I tell you this went on for years. Bugged by the paperwork I finally broke down and wrote a letter asking them to stop. Just delete it, just close it.

They mailed me a check. But not for the penny, something like $3.00.

Idiots.

[pipi_k]

10. So basically it probably cost them

five, or even ten, dollars to tell you about your one cent balance that turned into a whole $3.00.

I agree...there's no shortage of idiots in this world

[Phentex]

7. I don't know when they started this, but it's true...

I think they used to let you pay whenever you wanted but now they won't let you. I swear it's another one of their schemes to make sure they get you to pay interest!

[hobbit709]

13. Just before the new law took effect.

Chase upped my interest to 31.99% even though I had never been late, never missed a payment, never got over 50% of my limit and always paid more than the minimum.
Got a Visa card through my credit union with a 0% balance transfer for one year, transferred the balance and Chase acted surprised when I told them I was canceling their card because I wasn't going to pay 32%, especially when I had an excellent credit rating so there was no justification for upping my rates to loan shark levels.

[NNN0LHI]

3. After closing the BOA card did you request and receive a letter confirming that the card was closed?

If you didn't the account was not closed.

I learned that one the hard way.

Don

[hedgehog]

4. IIRC, my on-line account vanished, so I figured the whole thing was taken care of.

:grr:

The bad news is that now my credit rating shows I missed payments for 7 months!

The good news is that now my credit rating shows I missed payments for 7 months!

I won't be facing the temptation of any credit card offers for quite a while!



Edit: I'm posting my story not so much to whine ( well, a little bit to whine!;-) ) but mainly to warn others.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Got to get that letter of closure from them. Should have it within 30 days

If you don't get it something is wrong. Like an outstanding balance.

Don

[leftofcool]

9. Yep, I can give you a horror story.

The little mortgage we have on a rental condo where we owe less than 10K on it, helps a bit with a tax break. We keep it rented cheaply, and still get to write off the small interest. But, we decided to starting sending in an extra 500 a month to be applied to the principle balance and plainly marked with our normal payment, "apply 500 dollars to principle." So what do the nitwits at the mortgage office do? They take half the 500 and apply it to the interest and half to another payment then send me a bill with a zero balance for the next month saying I have no payment due until September. We noticed it online, called them on their mistake which they corrected yet they still sent me another notice that no payment was due until September. Knowing this is not correct, I , adjust the dates on the statement and send in the normal payment for July which is actually a month ahead as we like to keep it. Two days after the payment is posted I get a call from the mortgage asking me when I am going to make my payment for September. "It's still June I tell them, we are a month ahead of schedule like we always are, September is 2 months away" "Do you see any missed payments on our account at all," I asked. "Oh no, says the nitwit, no missed payments, we just wanted to know when you are going to make your September payment?" "I'll make the goddamn thing in July I tell them, a month ahead just like I always do." "You are messing up our books," says nit wit. "Fine, I say, send me a fucking pay off statement and you won't get another dime of interest." Moral of story, never send more than what you owe, never double up on payments and never pay a month ahead on your mortgage. Lenders can screw up a wet dream! No, it doesn't hurt our credit but it does waste my time which to me is far more important than my credit rating.

[nyc 4 Biden]

11. same thing happened to me with chase.

i paid off my balance and they told me i had zero left on it. only to find out months later that there were a couple cents left over for the rest of the pay period. then they charged me over $100 in late fees. by the time i figured it out they reported it to the credit reporting agencies as late payments. chase agreed to knock off the late fees because they said it was their falt for telling me i had a zero balance, but they refused to tell the reporting agencies to remove the late payment. even though that was the only blemish on my credit report it lowered my score quite a bit and i have to wait years and years for it to disappear. even disputing this late payment didnt work because chase kept fighting its removal for some reason. i will never deal with chase again.

[Tracer]

12. Every month for over 10 years, American Express has been sending a bill ...

... for $6.95 to my son at my address.

Son says he never had an AE account.