I seriously feel sick. Apparently last month, when I transferred the $82 from my bill paying account into Bank of America to pay the MBNA card, I sent it to Chase instead. I have no idea why. So when I logged in today and saw that my balance on the MBNA card had gone up, I thought that maybe they had not transferred the 0% balance correctly - but no, I have a $39 late fee because I did not make any payments in November.
I am really out of sorts over this. I have never missed a payment in my life! And this is mostly because Bank of America is stupid and won't let me make payments on the MBNA card from another bank - I have to transfer it into my BoA account and then pay from that. Otherwise it would have just gone automatically like all the other bills.
I doubt they would waive my late fee and I don't want to call them and ask because it is in fact my fault, but I am really upset because I thought I had everything covered last month.
EDIT: By clicking on the wrong link, I found a way to use MBNA's old system, so I can use another bank. I put in a payment today, and already put in a request to transfer a payment into the BoA account. I am only five days late so I hope it doesn't go on my credit report but it is still very nerve-wracking.
Monday, December 04, 2006
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18 comments:
I would still try calling, explain the situation, and ask that since it has never happened before, if they'll waive the fee and not report it. The worst they say is no. Most of the time, if your account is in good standing and there hasn't been a problem before, they'll go ahead and do it.
I'd call too and they'll likely remove it without you having to explain anything honestly.
Almost all the credit cards won't report anything until you're 30 days late and often they won't until your 60 days late (unless it's a chronic issue). When you call, you can ask and MBNA/BoA will tell you the time threshold.
Don't feel sick, I had the same problem with the MBNA/BoA merger with a payment not going out to a Citi card.
I switched everything over to automatic only a few months ago and this was the ONLY thing that wasn't, because I couldn't figure it out. I did find a way to make an automatic payment for at least the minimum and set that up for all my cards, even the ones I don't normally carry any balance on. It doesn't take much to trigger my is-it-late paranoia ;)
I think I will wait until the payment actually posts and then call them.
Call Kira!
That's all I can say.
Yep...try some smooth talking..should work. If it was just a matter of forgetting, you should seriously give a thought to some reminder systems..or use something like Yodlee.
I'll have to concur w/ everyone who's commented. You may feel like it's your fault, but you may not have to pay for it. In fact, that may make you feel better about it.
I concur. Call. You'll probably get it reversed. Especially if this is your first time.
This same situation happened to me eariler this year...and I got the charges reversed. My credit back then wasn't anywhere near perfect.
http://www.makelovenotdebt.com/2006/03/things_i_learned_by_calling_mb.php
Definitely call. If they say no, just tell them you want to cancel the card then... when you get to a manager they'll definitely reverse it to keep you as a customer.
BTW, it wont affect your credit
Kira, it wouldn't even take any effort. They will almost certainly waive it... tell you what... it is so important to me that you don't have to pay your dang late fee that, if you call, and IF they don't waive your late fee then I'll pay it for you!
Why let the credit card companies get any more money than already do? It is not a matter of it "being your fault" it's a matter of them charging outrageous late fees and using their "Tri-Opoloy" to just be massive money grabbers.
I'm just joining the crowd -- andI've done this recently.
During our recent move, we missed a bill. We got a late fee and an increased interest rate. I called, explained the situation, including the fact that we'd been long time customers with perfect paymenhistory, and requested that it be removed.
Result: they dropped it with no problems and reset our interest rate too.
Call, the worse they can say is no. Also, even when things are your fault doesn't mean you can't get forgiveness for it.
Definitely call. When MBNA switched to BofA, I had a CC payment on my MBNA card never post. I called to find out why and they had no record of the payment, but offered to reserve the late fee for me since I have a good payment history. They reserved the fee, and I prompted made a new payment, and that time, it went through.
Call. A similar thing happened where I was late with one payment and it was entirely my fault. I called and spoke a to a rep who was glad to reverse the fee. As a customer in good standing they will be happy to waive the fee to keep your business.
So have you called yet?
I'm going to wait until the payment has actually posted to call - then I can say "see, it's only six days" or whatever. I put in a payment as soon as I saw it, and also set up automatic minimum payments.
Usually credit card companies are pretty understanding if you have a good explanation-- and you don't have a history of making late payments.
If the representative you talk to doesn't offer a solution, ask for their manager. This usually get's their attention-- and if you're polite and respectful-- you should get the response you're looking for!
I was a day late at the beginning of the year, for the first ever. Not knowing what to do, I googled for Late Payment Forgiveness + Credit Card, and this popped up. I called Citi and explained I was a day late and as usually paid my normal amount [almost half the balance], and they agreed to refund me the Service Charge and not send to the Credit Services.
WHEW, thank you everyone. As a young person trying to establish credit [only 2 years] I was really worried about the long term effects.
I had the same problem.Never been late before so I called to have the late charge of $39 waived and the response was NO.So my response is Im going to pay the card off and close the account and NEVER do business with CITIBANK again!
Call MBNA and the strong likelihood is that they may well let you off, they certainly should do!
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