*&^#@$& credit card company says they get mail on Sunday.

[Skinner]

Does anyone know if this is actually true? I sent my last payment on MONDAY FEBRUARY 27, with a due date of Sunday March 5. My new credit card bill says they got it on Monday March 6. First of all, I can't believe it took more than five days for my payment to get there. But that's besides the point. I called and asked why in the hell I'm getting a late fee and a finance charge for a payment due on Sunday which was received on Monday. The woman on the line said that they receive mail on Sunday.

Does anyone know if this is true? I've scoured the US Postal Service website, and I can't find any indication that regular old 39-cent first class mail gets delivered on Sunday. Anyone?

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I think it is true.

But, my question to you Skinner, God of the Internets, why don't you pay your bill online?







:hide:

[LynneSin]

16. Yeah, I have the same exact question

WHY THE HECK AREN'T YOU DOING BILL PAY

As for receiving payments on Sunday, I would think that is only with alternative methods of payment like overnight shipping or western union

[KitchenWitch]

2. Why would a business get mail on Sundays when residences do not

Especially since most businesses are closed on Sundays.

My guess? She was blowing smoke up your yoohoo.

[dr.strangelove]

39. I agree Witch

sounds like bullshit credit card co talk to me. Don't believe it skinner.

[anarch]

3. sounds like bullshit to me

Regardless, though, keep arguing...hang up and call back if you have to until you find somebody who will take the late fee and extra charges off. Don't take any guff from these swine!

[matcom]

4. I don't get mail on Sunday

:shrug:

my advice. call them back and tell them you are closing your account. they WILL ask why so tell them. i GUARANTEE they will waive those charges.

[Gormy Cuss]

10. Matcom's right. Call them to close your account.

Twice I've had companies try that, twice I said close the account, twice they rescinded the charges.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Speaking of mail delivery

Did THAT one from me arrive?

[CBGLuthier]

6. Found a few things but nothing concrete

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/242048.htm


In general, Sunday service ended in 1912,

However, according to this article, some communities do have Sunday service in place of Saturday service. One cited example is Loma Linda, CA. They have a large seventh day adventist population and negotiated for Sunday instead of Saturday.

Personally, I think you were lied to.

[In_The_Wind]

7. I've worked moving mail from one post office to another on Sunday.

I doubt that any business is getting regular mail deliveries on any postal holiday or on a Sunday.

[Left Is Write]

8. I find it hard to believe.

Standard first-class mail isn't delivered Sundays.

I'd call back and ask that the late charges be removed. Any company worth doing business with will do this, especially for a good customer.

I'll echo a previous suggestion, though: pay 'em online.

[hfojvt]

46. As I think about it

I know that mail does move on Sundays. A credit card company is big enough to perhaps get a couple bags dropped off to their bill payment center, which probably is open on Sundays.

Skinner, I can ask my BiL (who is a high muckety muck at some un-named CCC) if you want to be sure, but I still think the question is moot.

[xmas74]

9. It seems like there used to be one post office that

did have Sunday mail service but no longer continues that service. I don't know offhand.

I do know that when I applied for the post office a few years ago they actually used as a selling point for employment that we would not have to work Sundays. I don't know about sorting and distributing but I know that they did state this for carriers.

[AirmensMom]

11. What?

Credit card companies get special treatment from the USPS? That's a new one!

I'd call them back and ask for a supervisor. Then threaten to cancel the account. I made a late payment once and it was MY fault, but they waived the fee when I called and told them I made a mistake and forgot to make the payment on time.

[merh]

12. The court's would not recognize the due date of a Sunday as

being held against you. The US postal service does not run on Sundays, that is why taxes are due on April 16, if the 15th falls on a Sunday. That is why legal filings deadlines that fall on a Sunday are not required to be filed until the Monday.

Your credit card company is full of baloney, imho.

[LostinVA]

13. There is no mail delivery on Sundays

Mail is moved, but not delivered.

[Skinner]

14. A few things I found

It seems that the credit card companies run their processing centers on Sunday, but it's not totally clear that they actually recieve mail on Sunday. This type of thing does appear to be deliberate. The second excerpt (from some debt negotiating law firm) claims that they don't actually count weekend deliveries until Monday, which would be fucking disgraceful if it's true...

FRONTLINE: Secret History of the Credit Card

"(Banks are) raising interest rates, adding new fees, making the due date for your payment a holiday or a Sunday on the hopes that maybe you'll trip up and get a payment in late," says Robert McKinley, founder and chairman of Cardweb.com and Ram Research, a payment card research firm. "It's become a very anti-consumer marketplace."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view

Tactics Credit Card Issuers Use to Get You to Pay More

Not posting your payment on the day it's received -- Federal law requires credit card companies to post your payment on the date it is received. If they fail to do so, they cannot assess you late charges or added finance charges. Still, a common tactic most card issuers use is to post only those payments received by 9:00 a.m. on a given date. Payments received at 9:01 a.m. are posted the next day. This results in significant added revenue for them in the form of late fees ($29 a pop). Although major card issuers have payment processing centers that operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, they state that they will not mark payments received on Saturday and Sunday until the following Monday -- bringing in millions more in $29.00 late fees.

http://www.consumersdefense.com/cc-company-tricks.html

[Left Is Write]

19. That sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

[ET Awful]

15. If they get mail on Sunday, it's not from the United States Postal Service

The only way they get mail on Sunday is if it's delivered on Saturday and their mail room doesn't distribute it to the proper department until Sunday, or if they have someone pick up Saturdays mail from a PO box on Sunday.

[LynneSin]

17. They can receive payments through other sources on Sundays

there are some shipping companies that ship on Sunday and also payments can be sent via Western Union.

[madinmaryland]

18. I pay everything electronically now.

There are too many games they can play with the postal service and when they receive and process the payment.

:grr:

[RebelOne]

25. That's the only way to go.

I hardly ever use the USPS.

[El Fuego]

20. Usually they take off the late charge if you just ask.

If the person on the phone can't, just ask for their supervisor. They will usually take off the fee if you don't have a history of being late.

[RevCheesehead]

21. Threaten to cancel your credit card.

They'll remove your late fee, if they really want to keep you.

[wordpix2]

34. that's true, worked for me!

[LaurenG]

22. I have a co-worker

who sent a check into the cc company on a Friday. On Monday his bank had him overdrawn and charged him accordingly. Credit card companies seem to make rules at will and you don't get to know what they are.

Evidently they electronically withdrew his funds even though he'd written a check and sent it well before the due date. He thought he'd have until his paycheck on Tuesday to get the thing covered. Since the check bounced he had to write another and resend it however by the time they got that payment they charged him a late fee, this was Capital One.

BTW, I don't think you should cancel a credit card, I think it causes problems with your credit score.

[CabalPowered]

23. I've run into that BS before..

The story I got is that they're internal mail dept works 7 days a week. So any payments rec'd by a certain time on Saturday could very well be delivered to the processing dept on Sunday.

That's why I've gone to electronic bill pay. But even that has its weaknesses as some clearing houses are better than others. Ask your bank who they use and then do some research as to their performance. I've stayed with a Credit Union that uses Fiserv for a couple years now and have been happy. I also worked with them while I workded at a bank and they seem to run a very tight ship.

The best strategy I've found is to actually make two payments in one month, via epay, that would equal your one-time payment. I usually pay all my bills on every payday, bi-monthly that is. It's the only sure fire way to avoid late fees.

One more note about epaying.. Never use the vendor's bill epay system. Always initiate a clearing house transaction from your end. This reduces your exposure to identity theft and also prevents the vendor from having access to your accounts.

Ok just one more note.. Use a Credit Union... :)

edit: oops I meant this to be a response to the OP

[AirmensMom]

27. I have to agree, CabalPowered.

I pay everyone through my CU. I just tell them when the due date is. If anything gets paid late, it's their fault and they pay all the fees and write letters to clear it up, etc. They actually did goof once and took care of it.

[AirmensMom]

26. Capitol One is THE WORST!

We had to dispute a charge once -- something we had sent back and never got credited for. They made us fax every bit of correspondence, then send it all snail-mail. A week later, they made us do it all again. They finally put a temporary credit on our account, but they have never bothered to inform us that it was settled (or not). That was in January 2005. We don't use that card anymore. Oh, and we had so sit on hold for over 30 minutes every time we called.

We've never paid them late, but I'm not surprised to hear your co-worker had trouble with them.

[Left Is Write]

28. It is never a good idea to try floating a check in this day and age.

Most checks are presented electronically these days.

[Scout]

53. I was told it's ok, as long as it's not more than one a month or so...

maybe one every two months? I agree it hurts you if you do several at once, or one every month for several months.

Don't know for sure if either is true though.

:shrug:

[Left Is Write]

54. Wrong place.

I put my post in the wrong place.

[Oeditpus Rex]

24. Huh? Skinner has problems

same as us mere mortals?

[pitohui]

29. you can call the postmaster for their zip code

but, come on, you already know the mail is not delivered on sunday

i would close the account but i would also report the fraud to postmaster general of the u.s.

i remember in the early reagan years when credit card companies would deliberately postdate the time of arrival of a check in order to collect late fees, it was illegal for awhile, but i guess everything old is new again

[Kat45]

30. Even paying online, I have to do it several days in advance!

I cannot figure that one out. When I pay on the cc company's website, it gives a date three or four days later as the payment date! If a check is supposed to be posted as a payment the day it arrives, what the fuck is the excuse for not posting the electronic payment the day it arrives? And I can't remember the last time I've been able to get a late fee removed by calling. I've had late fees larger than the month's actual bill.

[MissB]

32. Why don't you pay it online through your bank?

I've never had problems with my bank (a credit union) transferring the money on the day I indicate - which has to be at least the next day when I go into the credit union's online bill pay site. My payment always shows up at the credit card's site on the day the credit union sends the money.

[Left Is Write]

42. Same here.

[MissB]

31. I'm sure you've been told to pay bills online.

My credit union lets me do it for free. I figure I'm insuring that my payment is actually received by the due date that way. I have control of when they receive it, which I don't get if it goes in the US mail.

[wordpix2]

33. I have called my credit card co. MBNA a few times about the fact I get a

bill only 2 wks. before it's due. By the time I get around to paying it, I'm late.

Other companies give you 30 days to pay your bills. WTF?

[Jara sang]

35. If it's BoA call them up and be firm with them.

If you incurred any fees because of this transaction. They will undo it if they detect you are pissed off. Tell them you will write letters, tell your friends not to bank with them, etc. Tell them you think it's an unfair practice and don't let them hang up until you are happy. If it's BoA also point out this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America

Excessive overdraft fees

In 1999, a class action lawsuit was filed against Bank of America for engaging in the practice of "Biggest Check First" check clearing. Put simply, the bank clears checks in order from biggest to smallest, with less regard to when they come in. Customers allege that this is purposely done, to cause more checks to bounce, triggering more overdraft fees for the bank to collect.

Here's an example: A customer has $1,000 in his checking account. Check numbers 101 through 104 come in for processing for $60, $10, $30 and $950, in that order. If the checks are processed by the check number or in ascending order (smallest to largest), the first three checks will clear and the fourth will bounce, meaning the customer will be charged one fee for insufficient funds. NationsBank (now Bank of America) charged $29 for each bounced check. If the checks are processed largest to smallest, however, the $950 check will clear first, and the checks for $60, $30 and $10 will bounce, resulting in $87 in fees.

The bank employs the same practice for ATM and debit card transactions. Another example: A customer has $100 in her account. On Saturday she withdraws $80 from an ATM. On Sunday she buy a coffee using her debit card for $3 and fills up her gas tank for $15. As of Sunday night, she still has $2 remaining in her account. On Monday, her recurring monthly cable bill is auto-debited from her account, for $150. The bank clears this transaction even though the customer is now in the negative. This is standard grounds for an overdraft fee, so the customer expects to find one on her next statement.

They don't like to have that thrown up in their faces and the customer service people don't who to respond to it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. Same thing just happened here with Capital One, only I sent the payment

2 weeks before it was due and this was the second time it happened to us...We cancelled the card.

[AirmensMom]

37. See my post #26, MrsG.

They are THE WORST. No matter what the issue is, they're bad. Hey, I wonder if they're related to Maytag? :shrug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

59. I wouldn't be surprised...not at all.

;) Hey! It's good to see your husband posting here as well! Hope all is well with you. :hug:

[AirmensMom]

61. Thanks, MrsG.

:hug: I'm glad he's posting. I was REALLY pleased with the welcome he received!

[cassandra uprising]

38. Some credit cards put in the fine print that they take 5 - 10 business

days to process personal checks. I read that in one of my MBNA consumer junk mailings. A nice tactic in the ongoing class warfare the cc industry is waging on the poor.

[Nye Bevan]

40. The credit card companies are vicious predators

just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on you with late fees and interest charges.

When I pay my Citi card bill online they credit me with the payment that same day (provided it is before 1 PM). So I can pay online anytime up to 1 PM on the due date and there will be no late fees. Plus I save the cost of a stamp.

https://web.da-us.citibank.com/cgi-bin/citifi/scripts/help_desk/help_desk_subtopic.jsp?BS_Id=HD_ST_017&BV_UseBVCookie=yes#28

[LynneSin]

41. STOP USING THE POSTAL SERVICE TO PAY THE BILL

this isn't just for skinner - this is for everyone.

I use my bank's auto-billpay and two days later my credit card company receives it's payment.

Why anyone uses USPS to pay bills, especially if they have a computer, is beyond me!

[Left Is Write]

43. As long as the creditor accepts electronic payments...

I can pay mine the next business day. I have a couple of bills that can't be paid electronically (the water bill and the lawn service), but the bank sends them a check. Everything else is done electronically on the date I specify, from one business day out up to one year out.

[CottonBear]

48. Watch out for the "we don't process electronic payments on weekends

and holidays" scam. It happened to me. :grr:

[Left Is Write]

50. That's why I used the term "business day."

If I'm entering my billpay amounts on a Friday, the earliest date for processing is Monday, the next business day.

I've been paying my bills online through my bank for over two years with no problems.

[jmm]

58. I use to auto-pay my bills until

TMobile started to take money from me without my permission. I'm not that trusting anymore.

[LynneSin]

63. Don't use auto-pay provided by the bill-sender

your bank should have autopay. You can set it up to go out automatically or you can manually setup your bills each month to pay. By letting the vendor (person collecting the money) have control then stuff like you just posted could feasibly happen. My Bank, the service is free (although mind you, I work for my bank too) and takes two days to turn stuff around.

[Left Is Write]

65. Good point.

I do my payments through my bank online, NOT through the biller.

[necso]

44. Threaten them with closing your account and transferring

any existing balance.

And check your credit report to see that you don't get a ding there.

[hfojvt]

45. did they waive the late fee anyway?

Citibank will do it once a year for a typically on-time customer. It depends sometimes on the customer service person you get. If you still get a late fee, I would cancel that account, especially since you mailed it on time. (Plus, did you know that they will secretly bump up your due date if you typically pay early - they will cut the time between when you get your statement and when it is due.)

[Nye Bevan]

51. The trick is to cancel your account even if they *do* waive the late fee

since they will only waive it once per year. If you start over with another credit card company then you will restart your year of grace.

[Jamastiene]

47. I thought the postal service did not run on Sundays.

I've never even heard of that in sci fi movies much less in real life. What a racket. They can charge you late fees AND tell blatant lies to you. That sucks.

[ChoralScholar]

49. We had this problem with a mortgage company.

Send it certified, and make them sign for it. That'll put a stop to it in a hurry.

Or just pay it online.

[hatredisnotavalue]

52. My own horror story

Sent Mastercard my payment a full week before it was due. About two days after the due date, I get the envelope back with a Post Office sticker saying there was insufficient postage on the envelope....as in there was no stamp.

You could clearly see the adhesive outline where the stamp had been placed. Took it to the post office, told the the tale, told them I was going to get dinged $35 for a late fee, plus the cost of the stamp.

The postmistress apologized for the sorting machine ripping off the stamp and sympathized over my misfortune and offered me another stamp. The people at Mastercard just laughed. And yes I got dinged for $35 after hours spent on the phone arguing with them.

Mastercard bill: $110
Stamp: $.37
What I learned: Priceless. Pay on line and watch your on-line checking account to make sure the transaction has gone through.

[hfojvt]

55. You should not have put up with that

A phone pay three days late, or better yet, an internet pay (since phone pays usually come with a fee (which is still alot less than a late fee)) should have been enough to waive a late fee if you otherwise had a good record. Especially if they "laughed" about it. I would have closed that account just to spite them, and they never would have gotten that $35 from me either.

[Omphaloskepsis]

56. Perhaps they are located in Loma Linda, CA

They get mail on Sunday but not Saturday.

[NV Whino]

57. Well, yes in my area

I live in a heavy 7th Day Adventist area. The post office has special dispensation to close on Saturday. We get our "Saturday" mail on Sunday.

However, the credit card places count the day it arrives in the system. This is a losing battle, Skinner. Doesn't matter how long the postal department took to get it to the destination, the card company simply doesn't care.

After 9/11 I had late charges up the kazoo and spend 6 months getting them reversed. I switched to electronic bill pay shortly after that.

[graywarrior]

60. There was a report on PBS a few months ago about

CC companies intentionally posting your payment late so they can charge you the interest. They do it all the time. They are LYING to you.

[Gold Metal Flake]

62. The payment center you sent it to had a zip code.

Call that station and ask. Sounds like bullshit.

Time for revenge. Keep the next 0 percent for one year offer you get and transfer the balance. So, they steal a penalty and jack with your finance charge. You take the source of income away from them.

[XemaSab]

64. Do not go gently into that good night!

:cry:

[hfojvt]

66. You still wanna know?

Unfortunately, my BiL is out of town.

[doodadem]

67. Banks hold your payment until past the due date

I got clued into this trick last year when Chase bought out Bank One. There have been a number of articles about the practise. They get by with it because of some fine-print bullshit enacted in the past couple years. Then they just keep piling on the late fees.
We paid Chase off totally several months ago, and told them to close the account. They did the same thing with the large direct payment from our bank--holding it past the due date to credit the account. So now they are hounding us for interest and late fees on a zero balance. All of this, after they TRIPLED our interest rate at the time of the merger.

You have to hope the pendulum is going to swing back the other way when the Dems regain control of Congress, because banks are totally out of control now and preying on the public.

[DBoon]

68. Complain to the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)

They regulate the banks. They accept consumer complaints. Financial institutions live in terror of them.

http://www.occ.treas.gov/customer.htm

[Hotler]

69. This is a scam folks heads up.

They banged me for a late fee a month back and I called them on it and they said as a courtesy they'd remove it. I said it's not a courtesy , you're flat wrong and I know better. The first thing out of the supervisors mouth was you can use other options to avoid this. I think this is the way they get you to switch over to electronic filing of payments. (which is their way to not hire an American)
I also think it's their little way to scam people of $30.00 here and there. I really do think they are crooks. I think over charging of late fees needs to be investigated. My post office says $0.39 first class postage is good for 3-5 business days. because my bill is on time and you don't open it for three days dose not a constitute a late charge on my side.