I set up a payment plan with household on a delenquent account. Set up payment through my bank on the 21st. Sometime in the last 3 months, Household changed the due date. Charged me late/overlimit fees, threatening to send me to collections-no lates show up on my CRs. I called CS who was absolutely no help. I have now since racked up an additional 200-300$ or so in interest rates, late, and overlimit fees. What to do now?
Do you have anything in writing? If a specific date was set up for automatic payment, there'd be some kind of written record, even a confirmation e-mail. Write a CRRR letter to the Household Customer Service address on your current statement, tell them there is a "billing error" on my account. List your name, address, and account number. The first sentence of your letter should be: "There is a billing error on my account." Explain that on XX/XX/05 arrangements were made for automatic payment to Household and those payments proceeded in a timely manner, as arranged. [If possible, enclose a copy of the written arrangements.] Household unilaterally, without any communication to me, changed the payment date to XX/XX/05 and due to Household's failure to inform me of a "new" payment due date, my previously timely payments became "late." Therefore, due to their negligence in failing to inform you of a new payment due date, you have been overcharged by $XXX.XX I request that the following sum [interest charges, late fees, and over-limit fees] be removed from my account and that Household inform me [either by e-mail or in a letter to "the above address"] prior to any further changes in possible "payment due dates." Etc..etc. Your Very Happy Customer... -------------------------------------------- You MUST have a written record for billing disputes, calling is insufficient and will not preserve your rights. There is a very small window available to dispute credit card billing errors and it is imperative to do it writing. Look at the back of your credit card statement, it's usually in teeny, tiny writing on the back. Write a clear, concise letter with their billing errors. Get that letter in ASAP.
If you're broke - or thrifty - there's another way to prove delivery to a credit card company regarding a "billing error" on your account but it only works with checks. Money orders won't work. An easy way to do it is to enclose a check as payment on your account with your letter. BE SURE to note on the front of the check "Enclosed with letter of [complete calendar date] to Billing Dispute/ Customer Service of The Bank that I Love" or whatever the department is called on your credit card statement. ON THE LETTER, note at the bottom of your letter, "Enclosed with Check Number 7890 for $ XX.XX" Don't use this method if you're close to a payment deadline, you could incur a late fee. If you use the check method for proof, the credit card company does not have to credit payments made to your account at an address different from the address on the bill for payments for five days after it gets the check. Know where you stand on the calendar. If you do online, automatic billing you *could* send a paper check for $1.00 enclosed with the letter. For large sums of money in dispute, the extra few dollars for CRRR at the Post Office certainly are worth it to have a signed, dated receipt of proof when the credit card company received your dispute letter. The credit card company must receive *written notice* [and that means "snail mail" ] of a billing error within 60 days from the day it mailed you the incorrect bill. [Another reason why it pays to save the envelopes for the record...] While many companies may make adjustments when they may not be legally required to do so, I urge you to not delay in writing about a billing error on your account.
Thanks. These were electronic payments. At some point they decided to change the due date. Oddly, they have not listed any of the "lates" on my credit report. Seems to me like an opportuity to make money. For them.
Again, do not telephone them. Write. You must write to preserve your rights. It's well-worth it to have the record of the letter now - or in the future. The situation with electronic payments, and payment dates being changed, has been an issue for loads of people. Stay on top of it and do it in writing. <s>
