OT playing with credit cards

is anybody elses credit card companies playing with the due dates or is it just me? bank of america is the same as always, chase and capitol one have changed the due date 4 times already this year without my knowledge, the game seems to be to not send a "payment due" notice [ i know when my cards are due anyway] then when i log in several days before the old due date i find the date has been backed up to before the old due date and i now get to pay them a late fee, interesting business pratice,

Ask to be put on email notification of billing so that you know when it should be paid. Citibank pulls the same crap.

I would pay that one off and cancel it sending them a notice as to the reason. "AS THEY CARE".

Bsnk's biggest profits come from late fees and overdrafts. They love em and they'll do anything to get em.Jim

Hummm, I've had the same acct for 20 years. It always varies a day or two. Sometimes the first or 2nd of the month, sometimes as late as the 7th. I never questioned why. It's none of my concern how they keep their books.

Cancelled my wifes Chase Visa last night for that very reason!
She recieved a late payment fee and interest charge on a bill that was a day late . It was Due on SUNDAY! They did not post it until monday. We were told they post every day and that the mail service was unreliable. They said they could not remove ANY charges or offer us any credits. Same guff from a supervisor who was a major batch!!
Told them there was one thing they could do and that was to close the account!
There are LOTS of cards out there. As my bank was just bought up by Chase I think I may change banks too!
I guess they cannot afford to provide customer service anymore now that we bailed them out.

Call these companies for what they currently are and that is a loan shark. They want to extract as much as possible out of you (ethics be damned). You try to break away and they tear you down (via the credit report). The end game is the same as they want as many as they can have under their thumb for as long as possible.

I had the same thing with Chase. Luckily I caught it. They moved the due date up 2 or 3 days. I was set up with an automatic payment and almost didn't catch it. It's all a trick to get more money from you. They are getting awful brave now that WE have bailed them out.

Another new "trick" is that they are sending multiple payment slips in one mailing. They say it is to save $ on paper and postage, but we al know it is because they are banking on people misplacing or forgetting the payment slip and then getting the late fee's. Wife's car loan is with Chase, they sent 4 months of slips in one statement. I dont like it because as hectic as it is I will probably lose track of them because what ever we have that isnt electronically payed, we send out the day we recieve it in the mail. So, I am sending 4 payments a month, 2 to be applied to principle, and the remaining amount used to advance the due date. That way they are not gonna get any late fee's, the balance is gonna come down faster than they had hoped, and I should be able to keep the any due dates ahead of the the actual last payment recieved. We have no credit cards, havent for 11 years, our debit cards have worked for everything you would use a credit card for. If we cant afford something we dont get or if we need to "charge it" we take out a regular loan with a nnalert. Got burned on a credit card when I was young and dumb, never again.

Our visa (though Cabelas, not sure of the bank) changes a day or two depending on the month. Its the same date year after year though. Had it for several years. Love those Cabela bucks!

They bill on a 30 day cycle.Longer and shorter months change the due date.

Vito

"It's none of my concern how they keep their books. "

WHAT a DUMB comment, 'cause their screwing around costs folks BIG BUCKS!

They do it just to trip folks up and SCREW them. It's common knowledge, and there have been complaints and investigations about it with not much action by the govt.

be smart only use credit cards when necessary and pay off the balance each month.

We always pay them off when we get the bill. Never have any late charges that way.

If you wait till the last days to pay, you need to change your ways.
You said "cards" how many? You need to change your ways.
If they are doing it for more that just a day or two for 30 day cycle CANCEL IT! Don't put up with that crap.

You should know up front that the profit in credit cards is in screwing you the customer. File a complaint with your state AG then cut up the cards and pay off you balances then be done with them all.

I keep getting letters on them. Mostly they are shortening the grace periods and changing how the rates are calculated. My philosopy has always been to pay a bill the day I get it, and pay it in full. So far I havent had any problems with them moving it too much but you've got to watch them.

Had an issue with my Chase card a few years ago. They charged me a late fee, posted my check on a Monday, it was was due on the previous Saturday.

Well, that Monday happened to be a legal holiday, no mail.

So, that _had_ to have recived my check at least on the Saturday - the day it was due.

I got my late fees back, etc. Small potatoes, but I'm one of those nit-picky guys on stuff like this. )

Several months later, got a class action lawsuit notice - seems at least one lawyer noticed this little issue, and got a class action suit on it. I opted out, as I had already settled it myself.

--->Paul

This came as an Email forward a while back and I'm sure a few of you have read it, but it's real amusing. It was written by an 86 year old lady. So here it is----

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the enconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways.

I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters,--- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offense under the postal act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an application contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a notary public, and the mandatory deraails of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the field ever further. When you call me, press buttons as follows: IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH #1. To make an appointment to see me. #2. To query a missing payment. #3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping. #5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature. #6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home. #7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that authorized contact mentioned earlier.#8 To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7. #9 To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. #10 This is a second reminder to press * for english. While this may, on occasion, involve a lenghty wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous new year?

Your Humble Client

I"ve had issues with Bank of America. Typical closing date is the 14th, I receive it the 21st. They are not required to go by my postmark, they post it when they get around to it. So instead of psending it a week early, I send it within a day of receipt. Doesn"t take 10 days to go from MN to MD.

Bank of America does not have a grace period on purchases. They charge interest from day one. I have no balance on their card and never will. As it is a bad mark on your credit report to cancel a card,they can eat the expense of keeping the account open on an unused account. Makes me so glad I pay taxes to bail the crooks out.

Many years ago I had a Visa card that the payments were mailed to ILL. never was late on payments sent the check out 10 days before due date. then they changed the processing center to Atlanta Got late charge called them and they removed it,sent payments 2 weeks before it was due got another late charge they again removed it. 3Rd time the payment was mailed 18 days before due date got late charge again did not want to remove, paid late charge with my bill and told them where to stick the card.
About a year later I got a letter from legal firm representing a class action suit against Visa for failing to process payments in a timely manner I think there were representing about a million customers that were ripped off.
now when Visa sends me credit card applications in the mail I send them back other coupons that come in the mail good way off getting rid of junk mail and who knows the might use the coupons.

several years ago Household Finance got busted for dumping their incoming mail back into a blue PO collection box. Seems they knew that a good percentage of their customers mailed at the last minute and the extra days in the mail put them into late charge.