New credit card "trick"? or just a random screw-up?

[SoCalDem]

My husband used our Sears card :grr:

The bill arrived Apr 20-something..

Total bill $51.18..

Due date on bill May 11

I set the online bill-pay to pay it on May 1

Today, May 9th, we got a letter INFORMING us that they (CITI) had NOT received our payment.. (CITI?.. I thought that Sears had always been allied with Discover..but I digress)

the "informative" letter was dated May 3rd..

they even provided us with a phone number to call if we had "questions" about our bill..

So off to the computer I went..and yes the bill was paid... $51.18 ..cleared our account on May 1

I called the phone number on the letter and was told that they received our payment on May 4th, so JUST disregard the letter..:wtf:

I said to the nice lady: "You better cash your paychecks immediately, if your company is sending ominous threatening letters about non-receipt of payment EIGHT DAYS BEFORE the damned thing is even due"...

or are they trying to scare people into re-paying a bill they already paid..and then holding a credit of their money on the books?

[EFerrari]

1. It's the last big thing.

Someone just posted another post about having their date moved around -- maybe on Wednesday.

[virgogal]

4. They pushed my date up about 3 months ago after 8 years

of having a pay-by date of the 6th. They pushed it back to the 1st.

I caught it right away and went NUTS!!!! When I called they said that they changed it because they usually had the payment by the 1st so they figured that would work better for me. They tried to trick me and I was livid.

They changed it back but ALWAYS check your pay-by date when the bill arrives.

[Kat45]

14. When my bill arrives, I check the due date and write it on the envelope

Then I put the envelopes in order of date so I'll get to my bills in the correct order. I've had too many late fees on bills in the past, and this seems to be working for me.

[OhioBlue]

5. yeah - Discover just informed me that they were moving my

due date next month. It was in the fine print. I called them and the lady (who was just doing her job - so I was polite) informed me that it was for the "card holders benefit"... because the due dates didn't match the date of the cut off for interest assessment. so, if you paid it off, you could still owe some money. A bunch of BS - IMO.

But - she also told me that she would move my due date back at my request.

Problem is - if someone has auto pays set up and misses the fine print they get a late charge. I think that is the real intention.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

2. On-Line Bill Pay - As Fast As the Speed of Light - Really slow Light N/T

[thunder rising]

3. I love the Ceiling Cat ... Floor Edition

[virgogal]

6. I don't trust them at all. I doubt that it was an innocent error.

[Berry Cool]

7. I don't blame you.

These people really are little shits, aren't they?

[SoCalDem]

9. They actually did not "change" the date..

Just sent a dunning letter dated EIGHT days BEFORE the due date.. If I had not paid closer attention, I might have sent them another check for $51.18..:grr:

[virgogal]

10. Can you imagine how many people may not have picked up on

it as you did. All those extra hundreds of thousands of dollars being brought in.

I have a very low opinion of the CC companies,as you may have figured out,amd I have excellent credit so that isn't the problem.

It's the sneakiness that annoys me.

[Occulus]

13. How long do you think it would take for the CC co's to go bankrupt if

everyone- and I mean every last customer, or close to it- decided to just say "screw all of you, we're done paying"?

Perhaps it's time for a national credit revolt. It would take a year or two to organize, but the effect would be absolutely devastating to these swine. It would quite possibly kill them in very spectacular fashion.

[jody]

8. Interesting, it's possible such things could result from out-sourcing jobs and someone is making

things easier for the processing site while ignoring customers.

I wish some one would identify a credit card company whose operations are 100% in the U.S. and has an impeccable record of customer support.

I would join a protest movement to give such a company all credit card business.

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Sears has a long history of credit fuck-ups.

Once upon a time (about 20-25 years ago) I dated someone who worked at one of the credit reporting agencies. I mentioned having had problems with Sears and she said that everybody in the world has bad marks against them from Sears and that credit evaluators didn't even pay any attention to them. I'm sure that last part has changed since then, since no human even looks at your credit record any more--some computer spits out a number that everyone then considers holy and they engrave the number on a stone tablet, put it in an ark, and burn incense over it while either turning you down or trying to get you to borrow more.

[KakistocracyHater]

12. My mortgage has done similar crap

that horse'n buggy 1, they call me-before the mortgage is due-& ask why I haven't sent in the payment. Thing is, I always send it in on the 1st of the month; due by is 15th or so, I get these robo-calls starting on the 9th, had it happen on the 10th sometimes too.

[lamp_shade]

15. Same thing here with my homeowner's insurance (AAA). I received a "cancellation"

notice 2 weeks before the due date. I called. They said it was SOP "just in case". Good thing I'm a smart cookie.

[ima_sinnic]

16. I make two payments a month, out of each paycheck

therefore I am NEVER "late." so far HSBC seems to love me for that. I have not had any unpleasant raised interest-rate surprises, dunning letters, or credit limit decreases. In fact, I occasionally get credit-limit increases that I didn't ask for.

[eridani]

17. I avoid online bill paying for credit cards

Utilities don't fuck with you. Credit card companies do.

[northernlights]

18. Sears periodically and randomly changes due dates

To catch late penalties and interest fees.

Oh, and although it's usually "random," often they pull it around holidays to make it more likely that 1. you'll miss it and/or 2. even if you send the check immediately it can't possibly arrive in time. Christmas/New Years is the favorite time for that game, what with the 2 holidays in a row plus many people's credit cards charged up...

They pulled it on me one too many times, so I punished them by switching to another card.