Opinion on a credit problem

[mobius8]

I would like your thoughts on this situation.
I never keep a balance on ANY credit card unless there is a no-interest promo. I do not pay interest. I always pay on time and in full

I opened a credit account at a store called Big Lots (not sure if they are national) near the first of the year. The reason I opened the account was to take advantage of a 6 months no-interest promotion for the purchase of a dining table set.
Soon after making the purchase I setup online bill pay through the credit company HBSC to pay the balance in 5 evenly divided payments all scheduled in advance for the last payment to be made on 07/01
I didn''t pay the account any further thought because I knew it would be paid off.

I got an e-mail from them yesterday indicating my account was past due. Apparently the payment for June had a due date of 06/01 which was a Sunday. Their automated system does not allow payments to be scheduled for weekends so I had scheduled the payment for 06/02. They charged a late fee for ONE DAY, which I have never heard of, and have been charging late fees for the non payment of that late fee since then adding up to $95.00

I called and after speaking with 3 different people today the most they were willing to take off was $48 of the charges.

I feel like I should not have to pay ANY of these fees since:
* I scheduled the payments in advance.
* I did not know what their billing dates would be so I setup payment for the first day of the month, with the exception of June because their system would not allow it.
* Why would they schedule a payment to be due on a day they don''t accept payments?
* In looking back some months their due date was the 1st and some months it was the 2nd, random.

Sorry if this is too much info to read through. I hope it is coherent.
What is your opinion?
Am I just in insisting that I do not pay these charges?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Honestly I would just pay it. Is it fair, no. But you don''t want them to take you to collection over it? And is $50 really worth it? In the future set up your payments for a 3-4 days in advance. That way you won''t have to stress of the due date happens on a weekend.

 

[Skippy123]

Sometimes if you are polite and ask you can get out of the fees, maybe explain you were unaware of that. I am sorry, that is awful!

 

[mobius8]

Date: 9/6/2008 1:12:39 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Honestly I would just pay it. Is it fair, no. But you don''t want them to take you to collection over it? And is $50 really worth it? In the future set up your payments for a 3-4 days in advance. That way you won''t have to stress of the due date happens on a weekend.

I may have to bite the bullet and do that, but I would love to find another way if possible. You have no idea how cheap I am : - )

It just caught me off guard because I have 9 active credit and store cards and I have never had a similar problem, nor have a had a problem that the credit company was not eager to work with me on correcting. I suppose these guys are the Wal-Mart of the credit world.

Thanks!
Keep ''em coming.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

This is why I hate automated payments. Choosing that option takes payment control out of your hands! If you had the "regular" payment method, this wouldn't have happened.

That lecture aside, I say fight the late payment fee (it's worth a shot), but keep in mind, your credit score may go down because of this one tiny misunderstanding, so be sure to keep a close watch for future payments.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Ugh, I hate credit card companies! Yes, they are useful...but they are not very helpful in situations like this. You mentioned that you were surprised that they tacked on the fee for being late one day...I am not at all surprised. I have never known any of them to not add the late fee the minute that it is possible to do so (unless there is a stated grace period, but usually there is not). I have dealt with HBSC in the past, and I was not at all impressed with them. Unfortunately I think that the only thing you can do is to just pay it and be done with them.

 

[mobius8]

I called back today and thy offered no better solution. I paid $46 bucks in (in my opinion) ridiculous fees and closed the account. I won''t do business with HSBC or Big Lots again.
I am a very stubborn consumer : - )


I won''t eat at Subway ever again because after 4 attempts to contact their corporate office about a small overcharge no one ever contacted me back.
My opinion is, there''s plenty of places to buy a sandwich, there''s plenty of places to buy cheap dining tables and there are plenty of places to get credit. If you aren''t interested in keeping your customers happy then you don''t want my business.
I work in retail an I know what I do for MY customers on a daily basis. I expect that when I shop.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[LuckyTexan]

I think they should take them off, especially since you have been faithful in your payments each month! If you were a habitually late person, I''d say get over it, but you obviously are a faithful borrower (like me) and deserve to be treated like one!

I''m so upset right now with companies that lend money to ''us''... what ever happened to integrity in business?

 

[LuckyTexan]

Date: 9/6/2008 1:29:53 PM
Author: mobius8

Date: 9/6/2008 1:12:39 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Honestly I would just pay it. Is it fair, no. But you don''t want them to take you to collection over it? And is $50 really worth it? In the future set up your payments for a 3-4 days in advance. That way you won''t have to stress of the due date happens on a weekend.

I may have to bite the bullet and do that, but I would love to find another way if possible. You have no idea how cheap I am : - )

It just caught me off guard because I have 9 active credit and store cards and I have never had a similar problem, nor have a had a problem that the credit company was not eager to work with me on correcting. I suppose these guys are the Wal-Mart of the credit world.

Thanks!
Keep ''em coming.

HSBC is the bank that backs a LOT of the in store lines of credit... that and GEMB... both CRAPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!! For customer service!!! They aren''t making any MONEY off of you... that would be why they DO NOT care!

Tacori may be right. I''ve paid WAY more than that just to get something OVER WITH...

BLEH!

 

[mobius8]

I can''t be done with these terrible people.
I get back from vacation and I have a new bill from them for $2 in finance charges.
I was told a week ago that the account was paid off and closed.
I called today and the removed the charge and the account is closed.
Hopefully I never hear from HSBC again. Argh!

P.s. I will definitely never do business with HSBC agin, do you think I should also discontinue business at the retailer Big Lots?
Or am I just overreacting?

 

[dragonfly411]

I think in this case you should just look into the card issuers. I would send a letter to the company of Big Lots explaining what you had to go through with the issuing company so they may look further into how this will effect customer relations in the future.

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 9/17/2008 11:42:51 AM
Author: dragonfly411
I think in this case you should just look into the card issuers. I would send a letter to the company of Big Lots explaining what you had to go through with the issuing company so they may look further into how this will effect customer relations in the future.

This is an interesting discussion. I agree it was probably the best thing (for you) to pay - but thank goodness they took $48 off the total amount! I think you need to write a bunch of letters to the management of their company - your point (that they should not set a due date as a day when they cannot process payments) is a really compelling one. It seems incredibly opportunistic when you paid the first available day following the inaccessible due date!

The inability to pay on the due date is probably a problem their computer guys could fix up pretty quickly, no?

The lower level management probably DID see the overdue payment as a way of ''clawing back'' the money they weren''t going to get out of you any other way. However, that system is pretty much scam-like, isn''t it!