I have an account with a furniture store. It was one of those deferred billing deals, where you don't get a bill for 6 months or so. Well, I got a phone call in may saying that I was 2 months behind. I asked how and they said that they had been billing me, but the bills were being returned....6 months worth!! (they sent bills before any money was actually due) they had the correct address, but for reason, the bills were returned. after i pitched a fit, they told me that they would take off all of the late fees once i caught up. fine. i did, they did and i got my next bill + copies of the ones i never received. however, this month's bill never showed up. isn't there something in the FCRA about the fact that they have to properly bill me? i can't find it. thanks.
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) bills for revolving accounts must be sent at least 14 days before due dates that would result in additional fees or interest. Bills must be sent to the address the consumer has supplied, if an address change is sent by the consumer, that new address must be used if it is provided at least 20 days before the end of the billing period. See this: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fcb.htm It might not apply for installment accounts.
Now that you have a current bill, you should follow up when you expect to receive a bill, to ensure that no payments get dropped. You want to get this account paid and closed, without toxic effects on your credit. Some companies offer these types of deals, with cummulative interest that applies only if the account is not paid off by some date. Sometimes they then try to ensure that the consumer doesn't have a chance to actually pay it off without being stuck for the interest. It sounds like this does not appear to be the case here, since they reversed the charges, but you are not trying to get out of paying, so don't let them screw your credit. It may be safer to pay for most things using a standard CC from a responsible bank, than to have accounts with whoever you are buying merchandise from. If you are trying to avoid interest, BT the charge to a low interest BT offer. You don't always know who you are dealing with, and the company with the best deal on the product may not be the best one to finance with.
