Dialed 800-528-4800 for American Express and spoke to Ash (ID#: 52899) about our account because I noticed finance charges in the hundreds.
Apparently, missing the payment deadline in January jumped our interest up from a 0% APR to _29.24%_.
Oh noes!
moar humorous pics
Engage indignant fury. Asked Ash to reverse it.
Hold music. Was told that he could submit a request to review the situation. Asked why we didn’t pay the bill on time last month.
Because your friggin’ website doesn’t have automatic bill pay.
Actually, we do offer electronic funds transfer by phone and online.
Yeah, I know: the EFT by phone costs $30, and the website is still not an automatic bill pay, right?
Sorry?
It’s not _scheduled_ bill payment, right?
Oh, yes, you’re right; will note on the account. Should hear back about the resolution and reversal of charges (if approved) in one to two billing cycles.
Can also note that we set up bill payment through our _own_ bank and you’ll receive payment in-full, on-time going forward.
Okay, sure.
Kthxbye.
___
Didn’t ask if it’s the 21st century and maybe have you heard of this thing called the internet?
Didn’t explain that every other bank we’ve had in the last five years has auto billpay, because at the end of the day, all I really want to do is just send you my money, will you please just let me send you my money?
Didn’t imply that an institution founded in 1850 might have the dignity of notifying customers of such a drastic account change and will you maybe consider the impact this might have on your brand?
Nope, saving that material for another round in four to eight weeks.
Financial institutions bug me more and more. Being single, I have the luxury of not using a bank (and using a bankless debit card), because of how screwed I’ve gotten by bank fees.
Do you know any merchants? Ask them how they feel about AmEx and you’ll have a fast sympathizer. They screw everyone I’m told.
I actually had the same thing happen to me last year, after I got an AE card. When I first got it, I noticed the date it was due would not work for our payment schedule; I called in, was told they changed it, and had a lovely fee the next month. Called in again, they said no, I had not changed it, but NOW they would change it. Two months later-the rate jumped to something around 24%, and I had MORE lovely, lovely fees. I called in, gave them a piece of my mind (with interest, no less!), and they finally changed the date my payment was due. All over something I made every effort to amend the first time I saw it….I plan to dump this card soon.
I’m really tempted to just transfer the balance after they resolve the issue and close the account. This is just no way to treat a customer, and I’d rather pay a nominal interest rate at a bank I can trust than get scammed like this.
Its scary to think of the millions of Americans in debt out there who feel powerless to fight in situations like this. The aggressive behavior in my situation only hints at how much worse it is for people who are truly in a bad credit situation.
Just happened across your site…
I would recommend transferring the balance and being done with it. Unfortunately, now that your rate with one card has gone up, your other creditors can see that and usually end up hiking their rates (and dropping your credit limit) too.
I hope you find a bank that treats you like a human…
Good luck.
Karen, thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
I’d recommend Affinity Federal Credit Union (affinityfcu.org). We’ve been using them as our bank for years. While they’re not the best customer service (their tellers could be a little better trained), they will treat you like a human being, and their savings and credit rates are generally better than the corporate banks.
We went with AmEx to cover a balance we were paying at Affinity at a nominal interest rate, thinking we could save a few hundred a year on the deal.
After the balance transfer fee and this issue, that idea doesn’t look like it will pay off as well as we initially hoped.