"Why am I getting charged a late fee?"

[Spawned]

As we all know in the banking industry, especially in a bank that offers credit cards, we are bound to have the people who think they can use credit and can pay it back anytime they feel like it.

Me: Me
DBC: Dead Beat Customer

Me: Thank you for calling so-and-so's online banking, my name is Spawned. May I have your name please?
DBC: It's Jennifer.
Me: And how are you doing tonight miss?
DBC: It's Mrs. Page to you.
Me: Ok, I am sorry, you just didn' give me your last na...
DBC: It's there on your screen, isn't it.
Me: No Mrs. Page, you have not provided me with your account number y...
DBC: You should have these things on the screen when we call in.
Me: I apologize Mrs. Page, but unless you entered your access ID on the phone before you got into the que, we would have no way to pull that information up.
DBC: I just pressed 0 until I got a human, your company makes it impossible to get any help.
Me: Sorry that you feel that way m'am, let me see what I can do for you today.
DBC: I went online to pay my credit card bill yesterday when it was due and it would not let me schedule a payment until tomorrow. Now I am going to be charged a late fee because your damned system doesn't work right.
Me: Mrs. Page I do apologize for the confusion, but yesterday was Sunday and today is a holiday. Both are non-business days where no processing takes place. In order to ensure your payment was in on time you did need to pay the bill on the last business day prior to the due date by 3:30 PM.
DBC: And where does it say this.
Me: In your cardholder agreement m'am.
DBC: I didn't read it, how come you do not make it more clear on the site.
Me: You may not have read it Mrs. Page, but you were required to before agreeing to the terms and conditions. When you signed your card you agreed to be bound to the terms and conditions.
DBC: That is ridiculous! I submitted the payment on the date it was due and I should not be charged a late fee.
Me: I am sorry for the confusion, but that is the terms you agreed to.
DBC: If you are going to be so nit-picky about the day and the time the payment was received before the due date, how am I ever suppose to make a payment on time. Your company is just ripping me off. Now I have a late fee and will probably receive an interest rate hike. You are good for nothing.
Me: Mrs. Page, I apologize for the confusion and the frustration, however the bill comes 20 days prior to the DUE BY date. This leaves you with ample time to make the payment by this date. This bill does not state that this payment must be paid only on the date listed. A credit card is a privilege, and with such you must uphold responsibility for the management of that card. If you waited to the last minute to submit the payment and at the time you submitted it was already past the cutoff for when a payment could be considered posted by that date, it is your error. Therefore the fee will stand. I apologize if this upsets you, but that is how all companies operate. Is there anything else I can do for you?
DBC: That's absurd and cannot be legal, and how dare you call me irresponsible.
Me: Mrs. Page, you agreed to these terms and conditions, and I am not calling you irresponsible. However, the bank cannot be held liable for your delay in remitting a payment. If you would like, we could set up an automatic payment to ensure this does not happen again.
DBC: No I am more then capable of making my own payment. You guys are unbelievable.
Me: Mrs. Page I am not going to argue this anymore with you. The payment was paid late and therefore there will be a late fee and interest rate increase resulting. If I could make a helpful suggestion, try to remit your payment when you first receive the bill and you will not have this problem in the future. Will there be anything else I can assist you with today.
DBC: Ugh. I am done with this bank (at which point I am looking at her unbelievable delinquency rate and secretly thinking "good we don't want your business anyway, costs us more to make you pay then we actually receive")
Me: Well I certainly am sorry to hear that you will no longer be banking with us. However, if this is your desire I can certainly get you to card services who can close this account and send you out a final bill for the balance. If you do wish for that then I will connect you over to them and provide you with their number.
DBC: That's all you are going to say about losing a customer? Not very good customer service are you.
Me: Mrs. Page, I am merely a technical support represenative, not customer service representative. I can no more force you to stay then anyone else can. I am just offering you solutions to your problems. Which would you like me to do?
DBC: I can't afford to pay off the balance in full. will just cut up the card and pay the balance and tell everyone not to use your bank for crappy customer service.
Me: If that is what you want to do then Mrs. Page. Now is there anything else I can assist you with today? If not I must move on to help the next customer.
DBC: No and you have been no help. We are done here.
Me: (In that sickeningly sweet tone) Well Mrs. Page I do want to thank you for calling so-and-so's online banking. I wish you a wonderful evening. Take care.
DBC: Ugh. (Click)

And then received a 100% on my eval for that call.

[iradney]

Aaaaaaand the judges award a BEAUTIFUL 10.0 score for Spawned's beautiful SC ballet, wherein the SC flopped around like an electrified puppet, and Spawned pirouetted and grand jete'd circles around her.

Wow, she was a nasty one, but kudos to you for how you handled it!

[friendofjimmyk]

UGH!!! They NEVER read the small print or agreements and then it's YOUR fault when something goes wrong...

"You expect me to read? *gasp*"

[Hemily]

reading is such hard work! i'm breaking a sweat just reading what i just typed *pant pant* i can understand why they won't read it

next time i break a window, i'm gonna call the people who installed it in the building, and complain about their crappy handwork "the wondow broke when i threw a brick at it! you people are useless!"

[Boozy]

Wow, that lady should take it easy. Do you guys charge really draconian late fees or something? My credit card was due on a Sunday this month, and I ended up paying it on the Monday....and I was charged a whopping 85 cents in interest. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that. And no lender is going to make a big deal over a payment that's ONE DAY overdue.
Good job on the call. Your company is lucky to have someone so level-headed.

[protege]

Ugh. Someone needs a good boot to the head. I always enjoy how it's always someone else's fault that they paid their bill late. SC logic truly is astounding!

The one time I sent my credit card payment in late...wasn't even my fault. I sent it in well in advance, so I'm not sure why. I do know that the local postal service, well, sucks--I've had mail get to *Australia* (remember the Christmas cards in 2005?) faster than it gets across town! However, rather than be a jerk about it, I simply said that I'd never had a late payment, and was asking if they'd reverse the charge. Since I was nice, they did. I'm glad I'm not an person.

Well, most of the time anyway

[Becks]

DBC: No I am more then capable of making my own payment.

True. Just not on time.

[PuckishOne]

And then received a 100% on my eval for that call.

I don't know about anyone else, but to me this is the best part...well done, Spawned - and is your company hiring?

We get the Non-Readers all the time, too:

"What do you mean you don't cover <completely elective medical procedure that's actually a pregnancy test for cats or some such thing>??"

"Sir, in your Plan Documents, on page..."

"I don't read that!!"

[crystals0624]

Gotta love it

reading is such hard work!

Sad isn't it

[Auto]

Wow, that lady should take it easy. Do you guys charge really draconian late fees or something? My credit card was due on a Sunday this month, and I ended up paying it on the Monday....and I was charged a whopping 85 cents in interest. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that. And no lender is going to make a big deal over a payment that's ONE DAY overdue.
Good job on the call. Your company is lucky to have someone so level-headed.

You dodged a bullet.

Forget the 85 cents in interest. At most credit card companies, a late payment triggers an automatic late fee that's now hovering near $40.

Which may trigger an automatic increase in the interest rate on the account.

Which may also trigger a similar increase on your other credit cards

And being late could end up on your credit report which will lower your FICO -- which matters if your applying for a mortgage.

The woman was right to be concerned that she was facing bad consequences for being late.

She should have known that the companies don't process payments on certain days and that they have to have processed her payment by a certain time on the due date for it to count.

Most companies will work with customers when they're late once in a while, where they miss paying by a day. Since she was so clueless, she's probably never been late before. A better attitude might have solved her problem.

But don't think that just because she was unpleasant she also didn't have a real problem with being late. Credit card companies make a lot of money off late fees, especially when interest rates on balances are so low.

[Cia]

I don't trust the USPS so I pay my credit card bill at the ATM machine.

[MystyGlyttyr]

My credit card bill is a minimum payment of $15 due on the 15th. I never send any less than $20, on the first available date after the previous 15th. And I sometimes just send in other random payments whenever the fancy strikes.

USUALLY the credit card people post my payment the day they receive it. The only time they didn't was the one time I was counting on them to...of course. I can laugh about it now, though, heh.

It's the post office that blows watery horse apples.

[Boozy]

You dodged a bullet.

Forget the 85 cents in interest. At most credit card companies, a late payment triggers an automatic late fee that's now hovering near $40.

Really?! I had no idea. I've never even HEARD of credit card penalties being that bad. I'm in Canada....are Canadian credit practices different than American?
I would never use my card if the penalties for late payment are that bad. I'd be too concerned I'd have a brain fart and space on making the payment.
Of course, I could always call my credit card company and blame whoever answers the phone. Yeah, that's the ticket. I mean, nothing's ever MY fault, right?

[Gurndigarn]

Really?! I had no idea. I've never even HEARD of credit card penalties being that bad. I'm in Canada....are Canadian credit practices different than American?

Probably. As I've said in the past, the biggest difference between America and Canada is how the citizens react when you say there is no difference between them.

My Canadian inlaws may disagree, but I stick by what I said.

Oh, BTW: some of the cards throw in finance charges for all charges on next month's bill, too.

[CrazedClerk]

I love how she thinks that by cancelling the card she'll suddenly not have to pay off the balance. Some people...