What makes a bank -- or a customer -- give up the fight over a fee?

[n2doc]

Rob Baedeker, Special to SF Gate

Monday, August 9, 2010


Sarcasm won't get you very far with a bank's customer service rep.

I learned this firsthand recently while trying to get my credit card company, Chase, to remove a $39 late fee from my account. (Granted, my payment arrived a couple of days late, but $39?! Come on!) The rep rejected my repeated requests to waive the fee, even though I worded my plea a little differently each time, and experimented with a range of tones.

She said the amount of the fee was based on my balance, which was about $1,600 at the time (hold your fire, readers! I did it for the airline miles!).

It was then that I lost my cool.

"OK, well why not just charge me more than $39!" I asked.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/08/09/moneytales080910.DTL