Here's the set up: My Credit Card account is due on July 8th. I pay it (online) on July 7th. Further reading (provided AFTER I make the payment.....) tells me that it wont be "posted" until July 10th, as any payments recieved on Friday dont post until Monday. In other words, the payment that I just made a day before the due date is already "late". Its begs the inevitable question: If I pay a bill before the due date, but then the debtor says that the due date was irrelevent, why have a due date at all........ Or even better yet, why have due dates on Friday, Saturday or Sunday if they are meaningless? And better yet, why are these guys allowed to get away with collecting late fees and "rush payment" charges from people who are simply paying thier bills on time?
more below.....MORE RANTING
I have often wondered about the credit card industry. After seeing a great "Frontline" documentary ("the secret history of the credit card.... you watch it online: google frontline PBS credit card) it amazes me how we all let them get away with this crap. I called them and fought the good fight today, and did manage to get them to accept my payment. However they would not accept it as "on time", only offer a refund of a late charge after the fact. In other words: no exceptions to the posting rule. They noted that the "rush payment" option was open to me, of course for a charge of $15. Or pay the $30 late fee on the back end. EITHER way, they make money thru the generation of fees, thier goal. This policy is 1) deceptive, 2) immoral, and 3) potentially illegal. Are there any legal minds out there interested in getting a class action suit together in regard to this? Is there a way of letting "progressive" lawmakers know more about life on the front lines? Life is virtually impossible without a credit card today. Lets face it. We all know it. They have us by the balls. And they know it. However, it does not give them free license to conduct business in whatever way they see fit.
For instance, my bank may take a deposit from me on Wednesday: the check may not be from that financial institution and needs 2 days to "clear", on Friday. The bank sees my deposit as "pending". On Thursday, I write a check from the account. There may not be hard funds in the account, but the bank is professional enough to hold the check for 48 hrs until my deposit clears. It's really that simple. If they are willing to do this for me, you would think that a credit card company would be willing to at least take my payment on the day its paid and not hassle me by saying that they need another $15 fee just to make sure they recieve it on time!! Absurd.
Dont you think it would be common sense for a credit card company to follow this principle: If I recieve a customer payment by the due date, it is "on time", unless that payment is returned as funds not available. Add your comments if you have had a bad experience with a credit card company. Sometimes here on Kos, we spend so much time on politics, we forget that there is a whole world around us that is equally unfair, just as corrupt and in many ways MUCH more powerful. We need to fight these fights too.