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Yes, the fees were refunded. Yes, they were.

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  • Yes, the fees were refunded. Yes, they were.

    So, a customer was out of the country for three months. She paid her credit card in full before she left, but then a transaction she had done a week prior hit the card. I don't know why the merchant took so long to complete the charge, but it happens. However, since she was out of the country, doesn't like using the internet, and expected the card to be at a zero balance, customer didn't notice. By the time she came back, she was months late on her bill, and had $40 worth of late fees and a blocked credit card.

    She noticed this when she tried to use the credit card. Called us to find out what was going on. Paid the balance. My credit card department refunded the fees because they thought she had a reasonable story and even made sure it wouldn't show up on her credit report as a late payment by backing up the effective payment date.

    This is all before she comes in to see me. Customer comes into the branch with a pile of credit card statements in hand. She points to the latest statement, which now has a new section labeled "Year to date late fees: $40"

    She wants to know why she was charged late fees. Explains to me everything I stated above. I look through her account history and see that, yes, she was charged $40 worth of late fees, which were then refunded.

    She wants to know why the latest statement says she was charged $40 worth of late fees. Then, again, explains to me exactly why she was charged the two fees.

    I explain to her that the box she is pointing to is YEAR TO DATE totals. It will show that she was charged $40 worth of late fees this year, because that is part of our new credit card statement disclosures. It does not mean she was charged the fees again. It just means that, at some point during the year, those fees were charged. However we REFUNDED both of those fees.

    She asks me why she has $40 worth of late fees on her account, and explains to me why she was charged the fees.

    Rinse. Repeat.

    I promise you ma'am, ALL late fees that were charged were refunded, however the statement will show that box every month until the end of the year when it re-sets.

    Rinse. Repeat.

    I really don't think she understood even when she decided to leave. I expect we'll see her again next month when the new statement has that same year-to-date fees box.

  • #2
    Argh! I *hate* customers like that. There's a log of things that happened because--wait for it--IT HAPPENED. Doesn't mean it's still happening or that it will again but we can't go back and change the past.
    My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.---Cary Grant

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    • #3
      Tell her the government wont let you take the notice off, even though the fees were credited back. She'll probably accept that.

      BTW, merchants can charge your card up to 1 year after they get the approval. Most likely that particular SE batches charges. Sending them through on specific days/dates or when they have a certain amount.

      The people I find irritating are the ones with a low limit who swipe at the pump then are mad we can't release the hold. only the merchant can release a hold. If they leave it on for weeks, their bad not the cc companys. (some hotels, not all, are just as bad)

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      • #4
        I think she may have actually wanted to know why there was a history of late fees on her account since the payment was backdated, which would make there have been no legitimate fees.

        I think that if I went through that (well, I wouldn't go through that, because I use the Internet to check my account for pending balances), I'd want there to be no late fees listed, too, even if they had been refunded.

        Of course, if she was wondering why you were charging her late fees, she's got a date with a fish upside the head.

        ^-.-^
        Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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