Shady Nextcard Visa experience: late fee: others?

[flot]

Hey Guys, I was just pissed off so I thought I'd share. Unfortunately, the nextcard online chat system doesn't allow you to save a transcript, so I'll have to give you the gist of the conversation I had with their rep. It was probably 2-3 lines longer than this, but this is pretty accurate. Dates have been changed to protect the innocent.

Please understand that I was very polite and professional, and I don't think my request was unusual:

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Me> Hi there, I'm asking about a late charge that was reflected on my last statement

Next> Ok, can I have your name/ssn/etc

Me> [sent info]

Next> Your payment was received on May 10, your payment was due on May 8.

Me> Unfortunately, I make payments through your "click pay" system which I found to be unavailable for the few days preceeding my payment date.

Next> You should make all payments 3-5 days before they are due to be processed in time. All members are aware of our payment policy.

Me> That's fine. But I could not connect to the system (not user error, your server would hang on the "connecting" screen) and didn't have any other method of payment available. (was out of town, no checkbook)

Next> I understand that. However, we do system upgrades frequently. You should make all payments 11-14 days in advance.

[there was something else in here, I don't recall exactly what]

Me> I believe I tried to access the system on the order of 15-20 times in the few days before my payment was due.
Me> Do you have any information on whether the click pay system was actually available that weekend?
[long delay]
Me> Hello?
Me> I'm wondering if the system was actually functioning then...

Next> I don't think it was

Me> Well then it doesn't seem unreasonable that I'd ask for a refund of the late fee applied to my otherwise unblemished account, since the system was unavilable the weekend that I was trying to make a payment.

[another long pause]

Next> I have refunded the charge to your account as a one time courtesy.

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What do you guys think??? I thought this was a perfectly reasonable request, and I felt like I had to badger the guy into giving me the $29 back. The only other time I recall making a late payment to a CC company (CitiBank) I called them up and was like "Hey, I'm sorry, I'm moving and I didn't get the bill..." and they said "no problem, you've never made a late payment in the past, we'll undo it." And this wasn't "I'm sorry our system was down" this was "I'm giving the money back to shut you up, but it's only going to happen once."

I was really disappointed in this reaction from nextcard. Especially the "I Don't think it was up" and then changing their story to telling me that I should make my payments 14 days in advance???? That's ludicrous. On the flip side, I just called Citibank, asked them nicely to lower my interest rate (lowered 3 pts), and got them to transfer over my nextcard balance at a 5% APR.

 

[jahawkin]

Ya, I just had a similar experience w/Nextcard, but fortunatly for me, they are aware of the error
made a click pay payment on the due date, and then they sent me an email saying that the system was screwed up and my payment was recieved late, but that they'll fix it. I got my bill and there it was, a late payment fee and a jacked up APR. Hopefully they'll fix it like they said they would, and at least I have the email they sent as proof

 

[ratkil]

Well they did give the credit though in the end. It really doesn't even matter how many times you have paid late, if you call they will usually take it off. Kind of funny though, one time I called and asked about having it taken off and there was a long pause, then the lady said, "Well, we would normally do that without a problem, but we still have not recieved your payment" lol, oops

 

[Oyeve]

Next card rots! I had one up until one day I get a letter in tha mail saying that my apr was going up to 20.9% (it was 9.99 for over a year) and didnt state why! So i call them and they said they didnt know why, so i said screw you and cancelled my card. I called again and bitched to them because I have a great credit record and I demanded to know why my rates went up. They told me that they didnt go up and not to worry, so I opened the account back up and a month later I get my statement and sure enough, 20.9%. I filed a class action suit and have since transfered my balance to citibank. I suggest you consider the same thing. I participated in the class action suit against providian bank for the same reasons you and I have and we won. Next card is a POS! What really pissed me off was that they STILL couldnt tell me why!

 

[Eug]

<< I filed a class action suit >>

Strange reason to file a class action suit.

 

[loup garou]

The only problem I had with NextCard is that it took them forever to get me my card. I've had nothing but good experiences with them since then though.

 

[AaronP]

I usually pay early in the billing cycle, I figure, my credit card accrues interest daily, and it is 9.9%, and my savings account is only like 2%, so I save money by paying off the 9.9% as soon as I can. It also helps avoid problems like the one you mentioned here.

And FYI, I use Capital One's and Citibank's online payment system and they both work great. never had a problem.

 

[Mday]

if i can help it, i usually pay BEFORE the statement is due =P i am careful to not buy something at the last moment with THAT card if i do pay before the statement is due. that is, i pay such that the bill they MAIL me, is for nada

i usually pay the week before it's due if i don't or the week of or after i get my statement ending email. that alert helps me =)

i remember when the payment thing was not working, i was about to write a check for the bill, lol.

 

[Emulex]

nextcard sucks ass. Their customer support is uber-lame. when they are open, you have to wait forever..

Tip: Get citibank/mbna/amex. Awesome customer support. My citibank is like prime+0.9% (will try for prime in a few months).

Awesome customer support. Awesome online system. Worth every penny.

I tried nextcard and then they jacked up my interest like 6 months later so i told them to kiss my arse..

 

[Oyeve]

<< Strange reason to file a class action suit >>




Its not a strange reason. When creditors look at your credit rating and see a large jump in rates they assume you made late payments or have some discrepancy and this can harm your credit rating. One time Blockbuster video claimed I never returned a playstation game 3 months after I returned it (on time) and I got a whopping bill of 130 bucks, I called the store and the manager said it will be taken cared of and 2 months later I get a letter from acollection agency with an even larger bill! It took me months to clear this mess up with the store and the agency. Meanwhile, my credit rating was probably shot to hell for their screwup. What if I was in the middle of trying to get a mortgage or something and when they do a credit check and see that I am in collection? I guarantee you that I would not get that loan and there went the opportunity to get a house, if I had found one. Back to Nextcard. I now have to trace why my rates went up and see if it has lowered my credit rating. It used to be 9.5.

 

[mikef208]

Everybody is just looking to put a little extra coin in thier pocket. I am talking about nextcard, not you flot.

 

[Mday]

screw the coins, i want bills ;-)

not guys named bill mind you =P
<--- NOT GAY! ;-)

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I should check to see if my interest rates went up...