This may come as a shock to you (insert sarcasm here), if you've read any of my previous posts, but I CAN'T STAND credit card companies! I don't say this because I am one of those people that wants to acquire things without paying for them, or believe that credit card companies should let me use their plastic limitlessly and for free. Not on your life. I know the value of every dollar this family has and use them with as much forethought and careful planning as I can. I am the financier in this home. I study the markets when deciding what percentages to change in our mutual funds, check the interest rates regularly to ensure we are receiving the best rate of return on our savings and IRA certificates, shop only sales and make purchases at the stores with the lowest prices for my everyday needs, etc. I am thrifty. Period. Hell, I could tell you a story about the beautiful $5 dresses I got for my bridesmaids at my wedding, but I'll save that for another time.
Credit card companies disgust me as much as insurance companies do...and for good reason. They cheat the hell out of the consumer the first chance they get! Now, I must do a disclaimer here because I have a couple of credit cards I haven't had a problem with, like Capital One and JCPenney. I'm not saying they are all bad. Just most of them. The government has given them more freedom to screw the consumer than ever before with the new bankruptcy laws that went into effect in 2006, and they are doing just that any chance they get.
Case in point: Citicorp. These bastards will suck you dry and squeeze every last penny out of your finance charge they can get their grubby little hands on. Sears and Home Depot use this company to run their credit cards, and they are paying a price for it that goes beyond dollars and cents to the ruining of their reputations. Let me give you an example:
A year ago this past March, we purchased a washer and dryer set from Sears. The Kenmore Elite Oasis HE. I wanted the front loader HEs, but didn't want to pay the high price for a large capacity system. This choice was a fine alternative and saved us nearly $1000 in comparison to the front loaders.
We took advantage of the no interest/no payments for one year offer and purchased the washer/dryer with our Sears card. This is a common practice for us because my husband receives his bonus in March of each year, AND we often get a tax return that allows us to pay off the amount in full before the deadline. It's a method that works for us and lets us keep our money longer in interest bearing accounts during the year, instead of being used to pay the credit card company.
The year plods along without a problem. We get statements from Sears every month to remind us we have this bill to pay off in a few months. After awhile, I don't even bother opening them because they keep saying the same thing. BIG MISTAKE. During the summer last year, my husband decides to use his Sears card to buy his mother a birthday gift. He didn't need to, just decided he would because he happened to be in Sears at the time he remembered his mother had a birthday coming up. To further his brain blip, he forgets to tell me that he used that card to purchase her gift, so I continue to ignore the statement for the next couple of months.
That's when the phone calls started.
I answered the phone one evening and am met with a woman asking me why I haven't paid my Sears bill. My response is that I have until next March to pay my Sears bill and she is sadly mistaken about our need to pay now. She reviews the purchases and informs me that they were made two months ago at such and such store. I begin to tell her someone has used our credit card without our permission, but stop myself, knowing my husband was capable of forgetting to tell me he used it. I tell her I have to ask my husband about this and will call her back. Sure enough, my dear, forgetful hubby has omitted this bit of information and I eat crow while dialing the 800 number for Sears.
I reach another operator whom I explain the situation to and tell her I would like to payoff the recent purchases, plus late fees, entirely, over the phone, at that very moment. She gladly accepts my debit card number, thanks me for fixing the problem and asks me if she can help me with anything else. I tell her no and am on my merry way thinking this is all taken care of.
The next statement arrives and I check it to see if everything is ok. It still shows the balance I paid off a week ago, so I call Sears again and ask them if my statement just missed the payment. They tell me yes, all is well...thank you for calling Mrs. T!
Thinking all is well in the world of Sears until March, I don't bother to open another statement because I am sure everyone has done their jobs and I hold true the word of the Sears agent who assured me all is taken care of. Stupid me. Dumbass, you might say. How naive of me!
A few months later, we pay off the washer and dryers early. My husband walked into the Sears store, checkbook in hand, asks for a payoff amount which the saleslady gets over the phone from the Sears credit card people, and writes a check on the spot for the full amount of the balance, roughly $2000. His receipt shows a zero balance owed, we're good to go.
The following month, our refrigerator goes on the blink. It totally stops making ice and can't keep anything cold. It's been unseasonably warm here, so we pile everything into the garage freezer and pack the coolers with ice, trying to salvage our goods. We make a call to Sears repair (yes, the fridge came from there too years ago) and set up an appointment with them for three days later....ugh! The repair man comes, gives us the spiel that we can buy a fridge for a couple hundred dollars more than the repair (what a ripoff!) and we decide not to hassle with this ongoing fridge problem and go the Sears to look at new ones. WORST SHOPPING NIGHT OF MY LIFE!
As we enter Sears that evening, I am hellbent on getting a fridge ASAP. I am lured by the bells and whistles of the most expensive refrigerators on the planet. Drooling over the digital readouts and smooth and shiny surfaces that won't allow even a smudge of a fingerprint to be seen. Glossy, sparkly units that will adjust their internal temps automatically as the outside temperature rises. I WANT THAT! Reality sets in as I vie their price tags and a voice inside me says there's no way I can justify paying $2400 for a refrigerator that may not even fit in my kitchen, much less stand up to the bumps and dings of my 100 lb Lab and 7 year old daughter as they chase each other through the house.
Sucking up my covetousness, I humbly tell the saleslady that we will take the twin, though years younger, model of the fridge we had at home, being reassured the compressor problem has been taken care of and we shouldn't have to buy a new one for 10 years at least. Out comes the Sears card once again, along with the 12 months no interest no payment deal and now begins my hour of hell at the local Sears store.
While running the card through the cash register, there's a little beep that sets the warning bells in my head off in a tizzy. The saleslady picks up the phone and calls the home office to inquire about why our card isn't going through. She then hands the phone to my husband and says they would like to speak to him. Daggers from my eyes stab at my husband as he takes the phone, for I am sure he has made another purchase without informing me once again. As I listen in to the conversation, I hear my husband say he paid off the balance months ago. Long pause as he listens to the scripted response from the customer service agent regarding finance charges accruing after payoff and statement cutoff dates. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Hubby hands the phone to my outstretched hand that has been clawing at him for the past five minutes. He is helpless against these responses and admittedly doesn't know how to defend himself against the darkside and is relieved when I eagerly take the phone from his hand. "What is the problem?" I ask into the phone. The CS agent proceeds to explain to me that when the bill was paid off, finance charges stilll accrued based on our statement date, therefore, we still owe $90, which includes a late fee of $45 that just posted to our account.
I am livid! I don't think so, is the response I give to the CS agent, who then tells me that he will reverse the late fee if I will pay the remaining $45 finance charge over the phone. I ask why we should owe this amount when the saleslady called to get a current payoff amount. His response was once again read from a cue card and he began talking mathematically about interest rates and average daily balances. Not swayed by his formidable use of math, I asked him why these balances weren't calculated accurately and shouldn't the balance over the phone be up to the minute if someone calls for a payoff? His sigh revealed to me what a long day it has been for him. I could feel him let his guard down as he said to me, "You would think so, in this day and age of computers".
My next statement to him caught him completely off guard. "So, you're telling me, that even if I pay the amount you are requesting right now, we could STILL get a bill for a few pennies in our next statement because the computer doesn't update but once a day?" "You got it, lady. They tell us not to tell you that, but I'm going to anyway. Check your statement next month because you could still owe us more money."
Are you freakin kidding me??!?!?!?!?!?
So, after all that time spent on the phone with Citicorp, and being reassured that this transaction will free up our card to be used to purchase the refrigerator THAT NIGHT, we continue with this very patient Sears saleslady who has been more than patient and helpful to us regarding this matter. She tells us the sale should go through, but just in case, she has the confirmation number from the transaction given to us by the card company. She zips the card through, the card still says CALL THE HOME OFFICE, she calls them and tells them what has happened. I hear her say "could you tell them this information?" and she hands the phone to me. I then get told that they won't have record of the transaction until morning and if I make a payment of $45 right now, they can allow the transaction to go through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have reached my limit at this point. I tell the person on the phone I am not stupid and refuse to make TWO payments just to satisfy them and hand the phone back to the saleslady. The look on my face is one of disgust and complete resignation. I turn to my husband and tell him we are not purchasing a fridge from Sears tonight, nor are we EVER purchasing another item from Sears as long as we live. I tell the poor saleslady I'm sorry, it's principle for me now and I will not now, nor will I ever be stepping foot in this or any other Sears store again. I thanked her for her patience and help in dealing with this ridiculous situation, and we leave the store for the very last time. She tells me she totally understands and would do the same thing in our situation...this happens a lot! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sure enough, the next month we received a bill from Sears for $2.67. When I showed it to my husband, he snapped it out of my hands and grabbed the telephone. When he got to a real person at Sears and told them he would not be paying this charge since the bill was paid off TWICE, they deleted the charges and told him to have a nice day! We'll be checking the statement next month just to be sure.
That is not the end of our Citicorp nightmare. We also have a Home Depot card that is provided through them and often take full advantage of their 12 months no interest no payment offers they have to do various jobs around the house. We had decided to get new carpet for the formal living room, since it was the last room in the house that hadn't been recarpeted. It was a small cost, right around $1000, so we took advantage of the year's worth of interest we could gain and keep our money in the bank instead of paying for it outright.
At the Home Depot store, we picked out carpet and set a date for installation. Before the carpet could even be installed, we received a statement with the charge for the new carpet on it. True to form, the statement had a mistake. Instead of 12 months no interest no payment, it stated 6 months no interest no payments! As God is my witness, I am telling you the truth!
We contacted the Home Depot store and informed them of this error. They apologized and said they would call and correct this immediately. The following month I open the statement while standing at the mailbox, eager to be assured this had been taken care of. Much to my surprise, the statement still says 6 months! Another phone call to the store requesting they correct this immediately. I asked them to call me back when the error had been fixed. Within five minutes I received a call from Home Depot telling me all is taken care of and to check my next month's statement. This time, when I received the statement, the correct time frame for repayment is printed there. No apologies, no explanation.
So, being the do it yourselfers we are, we decide to use Home Depot's services and have them help us fix the slope in our backyard using the same plan and time frame. We got an estimate, paid for the service with our credit card and had part of the yardwork done and the rest left for us to finish. Lo and behold, the statement arrives and once again, it states 6 months, not 12!!!!
I call the landscaping company, as I was told to do if there was a problem, and tell them of this error. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that they have written confirmation of the terms of the charge and can send me a copy of it if I did not believe them. They had an email to Citicorp stating these terms, AND confirmation FROM them that this was the agreement time! What a shocker!
The lengths that this credit card company will go to screw the consumer is pitiful! I find their money making tactics unethical and soulless. Believe me, I have learned my lesson. We are paying off these transactions EARLY and refuse to do business with this card company any longer. We now plan on waiting until we have the money from my husband's bonuses before we make anymore large purchases. It always seemed beneficial financially to us to payoff those charges at the end of the 12 months, but now we have decided that our sanity and peace of mind is much more important to us than the nightmares we will get by purchasing over time. It's a shame that Citicorp has to be so deceptive and dishonest to expand their already huge profits.
The government does not protect individuals anymore. They protect big business and leave us to be fed on by the wolves that charge whatever fees they want, and use whatever tactics they can to make a profit. I am without representation. As a wife and mother who's main concerns are the well being of my family, I find these little things very important. These purchases and decisions we make are important to the stability of our home, making it as enjoyable and livable as we can. Our peace on earth is centered in our home and life is good for us. When those I cannot control cause me such stress, I find them useless and will spend no more time or energy dealing with them....the detractors of my happiness. May they fall into oblivion. UGH!
Credit card companies disgust me as much as insurance companies do...and for good reason. They cheat the hell out of the consumer the first chance they get! Now, I must do a disclaimer here because I have a couple of credit cards I haven't had a problem with, like Capital One and JCPenney. I'm not saying they are all bad. Just most of them. The government has given them more freedom to screw the consumer than ever before with the new bankruptcy laws that went into effect in 2006, and they are doing just that any chance they get.
Case in point: Citicorp. These bastards will suck you dry and squeeze every last penny out of your finance charge they can get their grubby little hands on. Sears and Home Depot use this company to run their credit cards, and they are paying a price for it that goes beyond dollars and cents to the ruining of their reputations. Let me give you an example:
A year ago this past March, we purchased a washer and dryer set from Sears. The Kenmore Elite Oasis HE. I wanted the front loader HEs, but didn't want to pay the high price for a large capacity system. This choice was a fine alternative and saved us nearly $1000 in comparison to the front loaders.
We took advantage of the no interest/no payments for one year offer and purchased the washer/dryer with our Sears card. This is a common practice for us because my husband receives his bonus in March of each year, AND we often get a tax return that allows us to pay off the amount in full before the deadline. It's a method that works for us and lets us keep our money longer in interest bearing accounts during the year, instead of being used to pay the credit card company.
The year plods along without a problem. We get statements from Sears every month to remind us we have this bill to pay off in a few months. After awhile, I don't even bother opening them because they keep saying the same thing. BIG MISTAKE. During the summer last year, my husband decides to use his Sears card to buy his mother a birthday gift. He didn't need to, just decided he would because he happened to be in Sears at the time he remembered his mother had a birthday coming up. To further his brain blip, he forgets to tell me that he used that card to purchase her gift, so I continue to ignore the statement for the next couple of months.
That's when the phone calls started.
I answered the phone one evening and am met with a woman asking me why I haven't paid my Sears bill. My response is that I have until next March to pay my Sears bill and she is sadly mistaken about our need to pay now. She reviews the purchases and informs me that they were made two months ago at such and such store. I begin to tell her someone has used our credit card without our permission, but stop myself, knowing my husband was capable of forgetting to tell me he used it. I tell her I have to ask my husband about this and will call her back. Sure enough, my dear, forgetful hubby has omitted this bit of information and I eat crow while dialing the 800 number for Sears.
I reach another operator whom I explain the situation to and tell her I would like to payoff the recent purchases, plus late fees, entirely, over the phone, at that very moment. She gladly accepts my debit card number, thanks me for fixing the problem and asks me if she can help me with anything else. I tell her no and am on my merry way thinking this is all taken care of.
The next statement arrives and I check it to see if everything is ok. It still shows the balance I paid off a week ago, so I call Sears again and ask them if my statement just missed the payment. They tell me yes, all is well...thank you for calling Mrs. T!
Thinking all is well in the world of Sears until March, I don't bother to open another statement because I am sure everyone has done their jobs and I hold true the word of the Sears agent who assured me all is taken care of. Stupid me. Dumbass, you might say. How naive of me!
A few months later, we pay off the washer and dryers early. My husband walked into the Sears store, checkbook in hand, asks for a payoff amount which the saleslady gets over the phone from the Sears credit card people, and writes a check on the spot for the full amount of the balance, roughly $2000. His receipt shows a zero balance owed, we're good to go.
The following month, our refrigerator goes on the blink. It totally stops making ice and can't keep anything cold. It's been unseasonably warm here, so we pile everything into the garage freezer and pack the coolers with ice, trying to salvage our goods. We make a call to Sears repair (yes, the fridge came from there too years ago) and set up an appointment with them for three days later....ugh! The repair man comes, gives us the spiel that we can buy a fridge for a couple hundred dollars more than the repair (what a ripoff!) and we decide not to hassle with this ongoing fridge problem and go the Sears to look at new ones. WORST SHOPPING NIGHT OF MY LIFE!
As we enter Sears that evening, I am hellbent on getting a fridge ASAP. I am lured by the bells and whistles of the most expensive refrigerators on the planet. Drooling over the digital readouts and smooth and shiny surfaces that won't allow even a smudge of a fingerprint to be seen. Glossy, sparkly units that will adjust their internal temps automatically as the outside temperature rises. I WANT THAT! Reality sets in as I vie their price tags and a voice inside me says there's no way I can justify paying $2400 for a refrigerator that may not even fit in my kitchen, much less stand up to the bumps and dings of my 100 lb Lab and 7 year old daughter as they chase each other through the house.
Sucking up my covetousness, I humbly tell the saleslady that we will take the twin, though years younger, model of the fridge we had at home, being reassured the compressor problem has been taken care of and we shouldn't have to buy a new one for 10 years at least. Out comes the Sears card once again, along with the 12 months no interest no payment deal and now begins my hour of hell at the local Sears store.
While running the card through the cash register, there's a little beep that sets the warning bells in my head off in a tizzy. The saleslady picks up the phone and calls the home office to inquire about why our card isn't going through. She then hands the phone to my husband and says they would like to speak to him. Daggers from my eyes stab at my husband as he takes the phone, for I am sure he has made another purchase without informing me once again. As I listen in to the conversation, I hear my husband say he paid off the balance months ago. Long pause as he listens to the scripted response from the customer service agent regarding finance charges accruing after payoff and statement cutoff dates. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Hubby hands the phone to my outstretched hand that has been clawing at him for the past five minutes. He is helpless against these responses and admittedly doesn't know how to defend himself against the darkside and is relieved when I eagerly take the phone from his hand. "What is the problem?" I ask into the phone. The CS agent proceeds to explain to me that when the bill was paid off, finance charges stilll accrued based on our statement date, therefore, we still owe $90, which includes a late fee of $45 that just posted to our account.
I am livid! I don't think so, is the response I give to the CS agent, who then tells me that he will reverse the late fee if I will pay the remaining $45 finance charge over the phone. I ask why we should owe this amount when the saleslady called to get a current payoff amount. His response was once again read from a cue card and he began talking mathematically about interest rates and average daily balances. Not swayed by his formidable use of math, I asked him why these balances weren't calculated accurately and shouldn't the balance over the phone be up to the minute if someone calls for a payoff? His sigh revealed to me what a long day it has been for him. I could feel him let his guard down as he said to me, "You would think so, in this day and age of computers".
My next statement to him caught him completely off guard. "So, you're telling me, that even if I pay the amount you are requesting right now, we could STILL get a bill for a few pennies in our next statement because the computer doesn't update but once a day?" "You got it, lady. They tell us not to tell you that, but I'm going to anyway. Check your statement next month because you could still owe us more money."
Are you freakin kidding me??!?!?!?!?!?
So, after all that time spent on the phone with Citicorp, and being reassured that this transaction will free up our card to be used to purchase the refrigerator THAT NIGHT, we continue with this very patient Sears saleslady who has been more than patient and helpful to us regarding this matter. She tells us the sale should go through, but just in case, she has the confirmation number from the transaction given to us by the card company. She zips the card through, the card still says CALL THE HOME OFFICE, she calls them and tells them what has happened. I hear her say "could you tell them this information?" and she hands the phone to me. I then get told that they won't have record of the transaction until morning and if I make a payment of $45 right now, they can allow the transaction to go through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have reached my limit at this point. I tell the person on the phone I am not stupid and refuse to make TWO payments just to satisfy them and hand the phone back to the saleslady. The look on my face is one of disgust and complete resignation. I turn to my husband and tell him we are not purchasing a fridge from Sears tonight, nor are we EVER purchasing another item from Sears as long as we live. I tell the poor saleslady I'm sorry, it's principle for me now and I will not now, nor will I ever be stepping foot in this or any other Sears store again. I thanked her for her patience and help in dealing with this ridiculous situation, and we leave the store for the very last time. She tells me she totally understands and would do the same thing in our situation...this happens a lot! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sure enough, the next month we received a bill from Sears for $2.67. When I showed it to my husband, he snapped it out of my hands and grabbed the telephone. When he got to a real person at Sears and told them he would not be paying this charge since the bill was paid off TWICE, they deleted the charges and told him to have a nice day! We'll be checking the statement next month just to be sure.
That is not the end of our Citicorp nightmare. We also have a Home Depot card that is provided through them and often take full advantage of their 12 months no interest no payment offers they have to do various jobs around the house. We had decided to get new carpet for the formal living room, since it was the last room in the house that hadn't been recarpeted. It was a small cost, right around $1000, so we took advantage of the year's worth of interest we could gain and keep our money in the bank instead of paying for it outright.
At the Home Depot store, we picked out carpet and set a date for installation. Before the carpet could even be installed, we received a statement with the charge for the new carpet on it. True to form, the statement had a mistake. Instead of 12 months no interest no payment, it stated 6 months no interest no payments! As God is my witness, I am telling you the truth!
We contacted the Home Depot store and informed them of this error. They apologized and said they would call and correct this immediately. The following month I open the statement while standing at the mailbox, eager to be assured this had been taken care of. Much to my surprise, the statement still says 6 months! Another phone call to the store requesting they correct this immediately. I asked them to call me back when the error had been fixed. Within five minutes I received a call from Home Depot telling me all is taken care of and to check my next month's statement. This time, when I received the statement, the correct time frame for repayment is printed there. No apologies, no explanation.
So, being the do it yourselfers we are, we decide to use Home Depot's services and have them help us fix the slope in our backyard using the same plan and time frame. We got an estimate, paid for the service with our credit card and had part of the yardwork done and the rest left for us to finish. Lo and behold, the statement arrives and once again, it states 6 months, not 12!!!!
I call the landscaping company, as I was told to do if there was a problem, and tell them of this error. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that they have written confirmation of the terms of the charge and can send me a copy of it if I did not believe them. They had an email to Citicorp stating these terms, AND confirmation FROM them that this was the agreement time! What a shocker!
The lengths that this credit card company will go to screw the consumer is pitiful! I find their money making tactics unethical and soulless. Believe me, I have learned my lesson. We are paying off these transactions EARLY and refuse to do business with this card company any longer. We now plan on waiting until we have the money from my husband's bonuses before we make anymore large purchases. It always seemed beneficial financially to us to payoff those charges at the end of the 12 months, but now we have decided that our sanity and peace of mind is much more important to us than the nightmares we will get by purchasing over time. It's a shame that Citicorp has to be so deceptive and dishonest to expand their already huge profits.
The government does not protect individuals anymore. They protect big business and leave us to be fed on by the wolves that charge whatever fees they want, and use whatever tactics they can to make a profit. I am without representation. As a wife and mother who's main concerns are the well being of my family, I find these little things very important. These purchases and decisions we make are important to the stability of our home, making it as enjoyable and livable as we can. Our peace on earth is centered in our home and life is good for us. When those I cannot control cause me such stress, I find them useless and will spend no more time or energy dealing with them....the detractors of my happiness. May they fall into oblivion. UGH!
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