I had a 30-day late in January on my Cap1. Payment was due on 1/22 to avoid the 30-day late. I paid on 1/24. The real reason for the late pay was that I was doing a bunch of phone interviews and working about 65 hours a week (plus a 2 hour per day daily commute) for the entire month of January and the date just slipped my mind until 1/24. I just got off the phone with a supervisor where I begged and pleaded for them to remove the 30-day late from my credit reports. I asked for them to do so out of goodwill and also, after getting nowhere with the goodwill slant, flat out let them know that if they wouldn't help me out here, since it is hurting my chances of an automatic approval for my mortgage, that once I secured my mortgage, I would immediately close my account and they'd never hear from me ever again once the balance was zero. He told me in not so many words that they no longer removed historical account info from the CRB's for goodwill, but that if I had another reason, they might be able to do something. So, I need a good reason. Any suggestions? Something else going on in my life in January that I didn't tell them, because it didn't prevent me from making my monthly minimum, was that my health insurance plan switched from a PPO with $20 & $40 copays to a high-deductible plan where nothing but preventative care is covered until I hit a $3,000 family deductible. And in January, my wife had an earache and my 2 1/2 year old son developed a twitch which required a visit to the pediatrician, a prescription, and a visit to a neurologist to rule out serious causes for the twitch (most important point is that the twitch turned out to be an allergic reaction to something and has been completely controlled by Zyrtec). But anyway, we ended up having to lay out $75 for the pediatrician visit, $42 for the prescription, $175 for the neurologist, $249 for the ENT specialist visit for my wife, and about $175 for her meds. So we had to lay out a little over $700 in unexpected and unpredictable medical expenses in January. Does anyone have a better reason? Note also, that I found out today that we were eligible for a "hardship" with Cap1 which allows you to skip your monthly payment without penalty (you can do this twice per year with them).
A couple of quick questions for this situation: 1) Original "Due Date", per your post, I assume the "Due Date" was 12/23 or 12/24 (to make 1/22 under 30 days past Due Date) 2) How did you make the payment? (i.e. on-line, via mail w/check, phone, etc.) 3) Were there any "technical" difficulties encountered, such as on-line account access was prohobited due to Cap1 site "not available", placed "on hold" for too long when you tried to call and make payment, etc. I would say the truth of your situation and medical "emergencies" would be reasonable for understanding a one time late payment. An added tip, in your conversations with Cap1, I would make it clear that your are willing to pay the late fee, you are concerned solely with the 30 day late report. Cap1 is more about the money, so keep that out there. Also, do not give up, keep elevating your "request" to higher levels of supervisors and managers until you reach a person who can remove it. The front line CSRs generally do not have the authority to make such changes.
I like choice # 3 above. It has worked for me in the past, albeit not with Cap One. Some online systems just do not verify payments correctly, especially with spotty internet connections. This has not happened to me lately, but every now and again it does. I tell the customer service rep about it and they seem to understand. I think my problem was with a Chase payment, but the Chase rep was sympathetic.
Another point: I would be careful with the "hardship" clause; you want to avoid anything that hints of not able to pay; this could be a trigger for "Default APRs", just verify the "fine print" in the account agreement T&Cs.
You are correct. 12/22 was original due date, but 1/22 was date I had to pay by to avoid 30-day late. Online One was probably that I logged on to pay late in the day on 1/23 (already missed the dealine) and found out the cutoff for same day posting to my account is 3:00 pm. I did have some connectivity issues around that time, but I don't recall them preventing me from paying on time. You would think. But wondering if I should just claim that I wasn't able to access the website for some unknown reason. Regarding your post below about indicating an inability to pay, I'm not worried about that since payments I've made since January prove I am obviously able to pay. I did tell the CSR I didn't care about the $29 late fee, especially since that was incurred the day I went 1 day late. The CSR last night couldn't do anything, I was speaking to a supervisor. He told me about the "no goodwill" thing and indicated I should call back during normal business hours and speak to an "executive supervisor" or something, basically one level above him. I'll obviously keep you posted.
I think this is probably your best chance for success, be "open" about your hardship "incident", (emphasize a one time event), and be cordial and business like. I would add a mention of difficulty with the website, and plead some ignorance over the "posting time". I get the feeling you do know how to deal with people well, so that should help. One suggestion, if you do find success, make sure to tell the person you speak with that you want to write a letter of commnedation to his superior (don't mention the 30 day late in the letter-keep it generic). This helps, believe me!
Another "question"...... Is it "possible" that you had this payment "scheduled" with your bank's e-pay function and "something" happened........? ;-)
