Credit Card tomfoolery

muninn

I've had this Amazon Rewards Chase credit card for ages. Its an easy way to get amazon points, since I use that card for everything and the balance accumulates quickly, and I pay it off in full every month . So I have checked my statement today and it seems like I have been hit with an interest charge. After a quick call to customer service I've been informed that my payment was late two months ago so they charge me interest on my account for two consecutive months to make sure that I pay it off in full in the future.
That doesnt smack me as a normal thing credit cards do, and it frankly pisses me off. Ive been a member for years, my payment is late by a day or two... once. And they charge me arbitrary amounts of money to teach me a lesson?
So, good forum, is this some thing normal card companies do?

Do you know of good cards I could transfer to? My credit is very good, and I will keep this card for credit history purposes, but I dont think I am gonna use it much now.

Lankysean

I have a Chase Freedom card that's pretty decent. 1% cash back on everything with various other sales at 5%. I also have an American Express Gold card that is good but expensive. I think its $120 a year and I can't carry a balance on it but it comes with a lot of perks that I've hardly used... I've considered dropping the card but the few times I've needed Amex they've always been there to help me out. Also, back when I had Amex's blue card, which could carry a balance, I missed my payment by a day because I was out of the country and forgot to account for the time difference, anyway, I called Amex up and they waived the late fee without me even asking... though I have been a customer of theirs for like 9 years at that point and never missed a payment till that then so your mileage may vary.

True story about Amex:

once I was stuck in the Caribbean during a hurricane that was several hundred miles away. All the airports and marinas were shut down and I had to get back to New York and then drive to Illinois within 48 hours to get my wife to her last year of medical school. I called American Express and told them the situation and after the person put me on hold for a few minutes she said that she could charter a private sea plane to come get us that could drop us at the next island that had an open airport. It was damn expensive but we split the cost between us and a few other students so it was only $200 more than a standard flight to home each person. American express also booked us a flight from St. Martine to JFK so we made it home the same day and after a 10 hour drive we also got my wife to medical school.

Honestly it's going to come down to what you need your card for. Check out creditcards.com for the various ins and outs, perks and interest rates.

Shadowfire

They're within their power to charge that money, but with your history it also makes them geese. You should probably call them back and ask for a second look at the charge.

muninn

I understand that they have right to charge interest. I paid interest next month with my bill, and I thought that was that. Apparently I was wrong.

The APR doesnt matter as much since I pay my credit cards in full every month, but I do like cash back. Thanks for the AE suggestion and creditcards.com link.

DevoutlyApathetic

The issue is by failing to pay them on time you forfeited the grace period on interest. So you own them for the interest charges on that bill and all the charges you had done in the mean time which are normally covered by the grace period. This is pretty much standard.

You might have some luck calling into their CS department about this but don't call in angry. It's not the CS reps fault and all you do is make them want to not help you.

xThanatoSx

DevoutlyApathetic wrote: »

You might have some luck calling into their CS department about this but don't call in angry. It's not the CS reps fault and all you do is make them want to not help you.

This piece of advice is applicable to pretty much every company out there.

Yelling and screaming and ranting and raving at the CS rep at the other end of the line is going to get you immediately put in to the "fuck this guy/gal" pile.

Dhalphir

you have to be firm enough with a CS person so that they know "ok this is a potential serious problem" but not so aggressive that they get frustrated and dismiss you

its a delicate balancing act and not many people do it well

38thDoe

muninn wrote: »

I've had this Amazon Rewards Chase credit card for ages. Its an easy way to get amazon points, since I use that card for everything and the balance accumulates quickly, and I pay it off in full every month . So I have checked my statement today and it seems like I have been hit with an interest charge. After a quick call to customer service I've been informed that my payment was late two months ago so they charge me interest on my account for two consecutive months to make sure that I pay it off in full in the future.
That doesnt smack me as a normal thing credit cards do, and it frankly pisses me off. Ive been a member for years, my payment is late by a day or two... once. And they charge me arbitrary amounts of money to teach me a lesson?
So, good forum, is this some thing normal card companies do?

Do you know of good cards I could transfer to? My credit is very good, and I will keep this card for credit history purposes, but I dont think I am gonna use it much now.

I have the same credit card and I find that if you miss a payment by a day or two you can call and they are able to take off the 30$ late fee once per year, but the interest fee they can't touch. Or at least I've never gotten them to touch it.

Jam Warrior

You have no call being angry as you broke the terms you agreed to and took the specified punishment in your contract. As has been said, usually they waive the interest between payment date and credit card bill date. When you're late they remove that waiver. This is fairly standard.

It's worth trying to plead your case politely and hoping for good customer sympathy but getting angry will get you nowhere as you are in the wrong.

Something to remember though, credit card companies make no money at all from people who pay up in full on time and receive no interest. As far as they are concerned you are a terrible customer and probably costing them money.

Darlan

They make money off of vendors having to pay them a fee when you use their card, though, don't they? I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think that's why some places have a "you must be buying $X minimum to use a card" setup.

KafkaAU

They mostly make money off the interest, but yes they do get money from vendors paying a fee.

Whacktose

KafkaAU wrote: »

They mostly make money off the interest, but yes they do get money from vendors paying a fee.

The interchange fees are material. If you are not a balance-carrying customer (i.e. you pay in full every month on time), it is the only way they're making money off of you, but they are making money. Thus, for one-offs like this you can usually get them to waive the fees and reset your interest-generating balance to zero.

Longer term, I would recommend synching up all of your credit card billing cycles to your paychecks, if possible. It makes it much easier to monitor your spending and ensure that you are paying on time. For example, I get paid twice a month and have my cards set to turn over on the 1st of the month. This allows me to pay all my bills after my first monthly paycheck without even getting close to the cutoff date for payments. For every bank I have ever worked with, this has been a simple change via a call to customer service.

Jam Warrior

Also does America have Direct Debit as a thing? My credit card bill gets paid in full from my current account automagically so I can never miss a payment.

Requires you to be in control enough to know you always have enough cash to spare, but if you pay off in full every month that shouldn't be an issue. Plus my current account overdraft is on much better terms than allowing interest to kick in on my CC would be!