I think I just found a NEW trick the credit card co's are playing.

[napi21]

II received my bill yesterday April 21st, and it's due MAY 1ST!!!! It's not really a problem for me because it's a small balance and I will pay it in full, BUT what happened to the 3 or 4 week grace period? I pay my bills online, but for people who pay their bills via mail, there's a strong chance your payment woun't get to them in time to avoid the late penalty!

Always open your mail right away and double the DUE DATE!

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Which bank? That seems ridiculous to me.

I thought it was bad when they changed the grace period from 31 days to 25, but they're barely giving you 10 days here.

[AlCzervik]

7. Same here, bofa changed my billing cycle.

[Cleita]

8. I too just canceled a credit card that did it to me.

Another trick they are employing is not canceling your card when you request it. I had an identity theft because of it but the same company still wouldn't cancel my card. It's only when they send you a new card and you have to phone to activate it that you can quasi cancel it, for now anyway. These companies are operating like criminals and it's all legal.

[nichomachus]

37. Sorry -- no go

If you don't call to activate the card, they will activate it anyway after a short while.

[Cleita]

45. This has to be illegal.

You can't go around forcing future debt on people who don't want it. Lawyers? Is there a law I can threaten them with?

[napi21]

12. Citibank, and I've had this account for about 15 years. I always pay my

cc bills off before they are due because I can't stand to pay them interest, but this short time is ridiculous!

[Midlodemocrat]

15. Eek. I better check my Citibank account.

Don't use the card at all, but better check in case of an emergency.

[seabeyond]

26. citi about 15 too. not last payment but one before. i had two days to get

in mail. maybe a day. i always get bill third week and owe 14, 15,, 16. generally the 14th

two payment ago waiting for bill, asking hubby about it, waiting some more. finally got it like the 8th of the month right by a weekend and had to immediately send out payment. i too pay all end of month and only pay an annual fee.

better have been an anomally and not become a norm. some other customer services for good customer has also fallen along the side of the road too.

[napi21]

34. Just a suggestion for you....when you receive the charge for the

annual fee, call them and tell them you can get lots of other cards WITHOUT any annual fee. Tell them how long you've dealt with them and what a good customer you are and ask them to waive the fee. The CC I have with Citi is the only one I have with a fee, but they waive it for me every year.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Got one better.

Bank of America sometimes doesn't send me my monthly statement, guaranteeing I will overlook its absence and slapping me with late fees and interest on the balance.

I now have a red circle on each month, and will call BofA for my statement if I have to.

[Midlodemocrat]

5. The major reason I pay online.

The mail seems to be getting just as bad as everything else in this country. I kept 'NOT' getting bills, which of course, doubled my work to track down the amount due, address, etc.

Thank God for the internet.

[SharonAnn]

17. What's funny is that other credit card companies mail about the same time and it gets to me in time.

But the Citibank one comes just a couple of days before the due date.

[myrna minx]

35. Me too.

I pay online for the same reason. A few years ago, I would have to pay $15.00 to do the "pay-by-phone" because my statements would come so late. Now that I can pay online, it's a lifesaver. It's just another way for them to fleece poor people who can't pay online and have to make a payment by phone. :grr:

[Matariki]

20. i highly recommend mycheckfree.com

you can pay bank of america cc through that site. it's free. you can set payment dates for online payments and get email notifications when a new bill arrives.

it's helped me pay my bills on time for the last couple years - something i used to have trouble remembering to do when i used snail mail.

[truedelphi]

21. be careful of clling banks and going to their over the phone account help line

Wells Fargo might charge a person as much as forty bucks for that assistance - for one call!

[IronLionZion]

41. Oh yeah, HSBC is another one that randomly won't send my bill

and have even "lost" my billing address. Once was enough to force me to sign up for their online banking. I've done very will with their online savings account interest though. They offered the highest interest in the nation around 3 years ago.

[Mojambo]

3. I'm SO glad I don't deal with those fuckers anymore. n/t

[Johonny]

4. Yeah happen to me

that's why I went to online bill paying.

[alfredo]

6. They also make your mail travel further than needed, just to up the

chance of it being late. Some let the mail bags sit unopened for days.

[peacetalksforall]

9. I don't have any problems with mail. How do you support your statement?

[alfredo]

11. there was an expose on ABC or 60 minutes years ago.

[truth2power]

32. Bill Moyers did a show on this, too. More than a year ago, I think. I have it taped. .

Said if you live in the western US your bill goes to some small town on the east coast, ensuring a delay because of not going to a major city. Likewise if you live in the eastern US.

Bastards!

[uppityperson]

47. Mail gets through, just credit card co doesn't get around to opening it for days.

As they told me, it's not when they receive it, but when they post it paid. Going through the mail they may not open it and/or post it for a couple days.

[Divernan]

10. Check out Obama's proposed Consumer's Bill of Rights re credit card predatory practices

Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
Obama will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in every credit card. He also will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices.

Create a Credit Card Rating System to Improve Disclosure: Obama will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features. Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.
Establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to Protect Consumers: Obama will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama plan will:
Ban Unilateral Changes
Apply Interest Rate Increases Only to Future Debt
Prohibit Interest on Fees
Prohibit "Universal Defaults"
Require Prompt and Fair Crediting of Cardholder Payments
Reform Bankruptcy Laws
Obama will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.

Cap Outlandish Interest Rates on Payday Loans and Improve Disclosure: Obama supports extending a 36 percent interest cap to all Americans. Obama will require lenders to provide clear and simplified information about loan fees, payments and penalties, which is why he'll require lenders to provide this information during the application process.
Encourage Responsible Lending Institutions to Make Small Consumer Loans: Obama will encourage banks, credit unions and Community Development Financial Institutions to provide affordable short-term and small-dollar loans and to drive unscrupulous lenders out of business.
Reform Bankruptcy Laws to Protect Families Facing a Medical Crisis: Obama will create an exemption in bankruptcy law for individuals who can prove they filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses. This exemption will create a process that forgives the debt and lets the individuals get back on their feet.

[wryter2000]

16. Payday loans!

Thank heaven someone wants to do something about those blood suckers. I want him to make that bastard, McCain, defend credit companyies.

[truedelphi]

22. Thank you for posting this. Another reason to feel good

About this man.

[devilgrrl]

13. They changed my payment date without asking once.

So I called and told them if it happened again, I'd cancel the card.

[wryter2000]

14. I noticed the same thing

I was without credit cards for a while, and when I got a couple again, I was astonished that I was missing payments. I thought I had, minimum, 2 weeks to pay. Not any more. I took out a loan for dental work, and they're even worse.

Now, I check my credit cards on-line every two weeks and pay them off in full.

[Sal Minella]

19. My bank pays my credit card off in full every month and lists the amount on the checking statement.

Never any problem, never have paid a penny interest or any fee.

[napi21]

23. Do you get any cash back or other benefits with your CC?

I admit I'm cheap! I have CC's that give a % cash back, and it's $$ I wouldn't have if I paid cash, check or debit card, and as long as I pay it off each month it's FREE money. It's a nice service by your bank that they auto pay your card, but I still want my cash back too.

[Sal Minella]

27. Have never looked into the "cash back" thing -- my purchases are so few and so inexpensive, would

hardly be worth it. I'm just glad to have the convenience of a CC at no cost whatever, always paid off on time by the bank. People like me are called "deadheads" by the CC companies, I hear. So be it.

[napi21]

33. Thanks. I charge EVERYTHING on one CC and use another

for online postage when I mail things. I end up getting several hundred $$ back each years. It's never going to make me wealthy, but it doesn't cost me anything either.

[caseycoon]

18. Same happened here.

We get it in time to mail if hubby takes it in to the post office the day we get it.
Once we did have to pay online, though.
It really sucks IMO.

[napi21]

25. Why don't you always pay online? There's no charge for it and

the ones I have let you schedule the payment into the future if you're trying to schedule all your bills at one time. It also saves buying stamps! Since the price of stamps are going up AGAIN in May, it seems like a good deal to me.

[Uncle Joe]

24. Unless the U.S. Postal Service is using Pony Express again,

I have no doubt my credit card company sat on my payment until it was one day late then socked me with a late fee and over the limit fee.

[annabanana]

28. Sadly. this is not new.

And I agree with you. Shrinking the time between the mailing and the due date will make it more likely that you will be charged the late fee. And, yes, I think it is deliberate.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. I set up my cards to automatically pay the minimum due each month

I don't have a balance but that way no matter what if I don't receive my statement in time I know there's no late fee. You call always pay more or even pay it off still, but this way they don't trap you with a late fee.

I believe it was my WaMu card on which I received the bill three days before it was due which prompted me to begin this practice.

[Rosemary2205]

31. You might still end up paying late.

They are changing the due dates on folks.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

42. I set it up with the CC companies to take out the payment each month one is due

It's an easy procedure to set up an auto payment and one of the options is pay the minimum due. I see it as better safe than sorry.

[Rosemary2205]

30. Mine has changed my due date 4 times in the last year.

I'm in hock up to my hair follicles with medical debts put on the card right after all our saving ran out. Most on DU would not consider my CC debt to be anything amazing, but for me, even at a great rate of 5.2% fixed it's a stretch.

If they managed to screw me up and get me to miss a due date I'll be slapped with late fees up the hoohah and a 34.9% interest rate.

[Bigmack]

36. I use online banking...

because of this very thing. And I auto-pay every account... phone, water, credit card, etc... that has a due date.

We came back from a two-week boat trip last summer and our credit card bill had arrived about 10 days before the due date... only two days from when we came home and received it.

I fired off the payment on line and set up to pay them $50 bucks every month about three weeks before the due date. If I owe more than that, I just send them the rest after I get the bill.

I figured it wouldn't hurt to pay the phone, water, electric, and whatever else a few buck more than my usual bill, so I did the same with them.

Every once in a while, I get a check for some odd amount from one or the other of them, but so far no problems.

[tinrobot]

38. Automatic payments are the only way.

I've had this happen before as well, and the only way to avoid this is to have a minimum payment sent from my online account every month a week or two before the due date.

If I want to pay more than minimum, I can do that in separate payment, but this at least keeps me from fees and a rate hike.

[grace0418]

39. I've had that happen too. And another thing...

I pay all my bills online through my bank. I simply enter the due date and my bank figures out when the payment needs to be sent to arrive on time. My credit card bill gets paid electronically, meaning the money is transferred in a nanosecond. No mail, nothing. And yet, somehow, Citibank tried to charge me a late fee and a finance charge because it said my payment was late. It was sent on time from my bank, and I've had no problems with any other bills.

When I complained (and sent a pdf of the transaction as proof), Citibank said they'd refund the money "as a courtesy" but that I should really pay my bill five days early to avoid a late fee. WTF? is it due on the due date or isn't it? And don't tell me it's a fucking courtesy to return the money that you charged me because of some fuck up on your end. That's not a courtesy, that's a correction. I should get an apology on top of it.

:mad:

I guess Citibank is annoyed with me because I pay my full balance, on time, every month. They were trying to find a way to sneak some charges past me. If I didn't get airline miles from that card, I would cancel it.

[NoGOPZone]

40. I got a Citibank bill today.

It's due the sixth. In April, it was due the eighth. In March, it was due the eleventh.

Give me a few months. I'm sure I will catch you!

[Gold Metal Flake]

43. Choice did that to me, so I switched to paying online.

They also waited once to post my payment. They claimed it took two weeks to get my payment from the date it was sent. I called up and raised hell so they retracted the late fee and the finance charge (I am what the CC Cos call a "deadbeat". That is, I pay my balance in full every month so as to not incur finance charges).

[superkia]

44. In the past, my brother and I have both had CC companies...

lose our payments when they were mailed. It wouldn't have been so bad but they charged us late fees and since the cards were already at their limits, they also charged overdraft fees. The best part is that when we sent in our next payments, the previous payments were miraculously found and applied with the most recent payments. We were both broke at the time and couldn't afford to pay a $30 check canceling fee through our bank and figured the payments were lost considering they weren't applied for a whole month.

It turned out to be a positive for me because it pissed me off so much that I buckled down and paid it off as fast as possible and canceled the account.

[uppityperson]

46. Yes, they move it back. Make sure to check and call them to move it if you need to.

Mine kept moving closer to when I got my bill. It was due about a week after I got the bill, and at a really odd time of month. I called and got it moved to beginning of month so I can pay with other bills towards the end of the month.

They were nice about it also, but make sure you check and keep an eye on them.

[Coyote_Bandit]

48. I have an elderly relative

with a Citibank account. Very well off financially. Every weekend they set aside time to pay the bills they got during the week. Mail them that weekend. You guessed it. They got hit with a $40 late payment fee. They promptly told Citibank to fuck off and closed the account. So happens that their experience involved a week with a holiday. I do not think it would have even been possible for them to pay on time by mail unless they used priority delivery.

[SoCalDem]

49. they change them often too and sometimes the due by date is on a weekend or holiday

:(

[TwixVoy]

50. Stop using credit cards

You KNOW they are out to screw you. Yet you continue to give them business. Why?

If you went out to dinner and the place you went to was charging you 15% sales tax (even though your state sales tax is say 6%) in the hopes that you wouldn't notice would you ever do business with them again even though the cost could have been a just few dollars to you? I hope not.

Likewise why do business with an organization that you know is dishonest and which could do you FAR more damage than just a few dollars?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. I've had my due date changed without notice, so I always check now

It's been anywhere from the 4th to the 10th of the month.

Good advice for anyone.

[high density]

52. Yes the due dates have been creeping up for some time now

Plus the mailing of the statements seem to be going slower and slower as well.

[snot]

53. Not so new.

In my state, there used to be a law calling it usury if any amount was charged before the expiration of a 30-day period for payment.

A couple of years ago I realized the law must have changed when I incurred a fee for failing to pay within 2 wks or so of THEIR CLOSING DATE -- i.e., by the time I actually get the bill, well, I'd better not have gone out of town for a few days or I'll incur a fee before I know what happened.

I don't care if it's legal; it's still IMMORAL. If you add up the interest and fees at the rates they charge now and figure it over a year, you're often looking at APR's of over 200%.

I shopped for a card that gave a 3-week period; but even that wasn't easy to find. It's a Capital One card. The downside is, the credit limit is so low, you could barely buy a month's worth of groceries on it -- even though my credit rating is absolutely perfect.

They're not underwriting credit any more; they're running a casino.

[HughMoran]

54. My mortgage company refuses to send me notification when morgage is due

I have complained to them several times - they seem incapable of doing the "paperless" thing. When I complain, they like to remind me that I don't "pay" for the "service". Lol, no wonder they are going under - what a bunch of ass-hole morons.

[Kat45]

55. I had a card that when I paid online, they didn't post it for 3 days!

Yeah, I realized I was running late with the bill and tried to pay it on its due date (or the day before), but they'\ insisted it would not be posted for three days! This was on the cc company's site. I think it was MBNA. How ridiculous is that one! You pay it electronically, it goes through in a nanosecond, yet it's not considered paid on their end for three days! WTF?!

I've also noticed a lot of times the due date is on a Sunday. For a while I was paying my Bank of AMerica card right at the bank so it wouldn't be late. One time the due date was a Sunday, and because of work I wasn't able to get to the bank during the week. I paid it at the bank on Monday, and lo and behold, when the next bill came there was a late fee. I called up to complain about it and their argument was that I had time to pay it before then so I should have paid it before that due date. I was so fucking pissed!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

56. Seeing this list of complaints makes me suspect that the CC companies

are in deeper doodoo than they'll even let on. They're doing the equivalent of looking under the sofa cushions for money.

[MilesColtrane]

57. Just one of many tricks to try to induce a late payment.

I was fortunate to catch one bank, after regular payments for a year, changing their payment address from one in town to one clear across the country.

I cancelled my account with them and transfered the balance to another card shortly after this.