Bill due date question

[skimomma]

I pay everything online and have for years so I may be out of touch here.  I thought I'd get some opinions before I call to complain.

I took out one of those store credit cards at the register while making a large purchase several weeks ago.  I always decline them but in this case, the hassle would save me over $50 so I figured it was worth the few minutes to apply and then to simply cancel the card after making the payment.  So the bill comes while I am on vacation and I pay it as soon as I got home.  I was pretty surprised that the window for payment was so small that being gone for a single week was enough to almost be late paying.  The check is dated before the due date and it was mailed at the post office proper the day before it was due (in the morning) so the envelope would have been postmarked before the bill was due.  Even if the post office did not empty the bin several times a day (as it states on the bin) and it sat until the next morning, it would have been post marked on the due date.  Now I have a bill with interest and a late fee, the combo of which is more than the $50 I saved by applying.  I think I have a case to call and ask that at least the late fee be waived.

In my pre-pay-online days, I had a few cases where a bill got to its destination after the due date either because I mailed it the day before it was due (because I was being lazy) or the payment took the USPS scenic route.  I one case, I remember calling and they took the late fee off and in several other cases the late fee was credited later without me calling because once the payment arrived, the post date proved that I had indeed mailed it before it was due.  One time I even accidentally swapped two checks and sent my cc check with a hospital payment and the hospital payment to the cc.  Both allowed extra time to correct the mistake without charging a late fee even though it took weeks to figure out the problem and correct it.

Is there any hope in calling to ask the fee be dropped?  Or have companies gotten greedy enough that waiting to be taken off hold (I have been on hold the entire time I have been typing) is worth it.  If it is, any magic words I should try?

[Scarlett]

I think it is definitely worth a phone call, but if it was post marked the day before or day of the due date I think you are out of luck.  Late fees and interest is how these credit cards make money.  It is their business.

Why didn't you pay it online?  You didn't want to set it up for a one time payment?

[elegantlion]

I would imagine  most companies do not look at postmarks these days. I know someone who has run into issue coming closer to due dates when writing checks because they are processed in batches, not necessarily on the day they are received. Since fewer people are writing checks to pay bills, they may not be getting processed as quickly. 

While it wouldn't hurt to call, I would not expect to mail something one day before it was due and have it considered paid on time. I certainly wouldn't use that as a negotiating point. I would, however, consider using the small payment window, you being a new account holder, etc. to see if they will waive the fee. 

 

[marbel]

I would check their policy on payment due dates. 

Not a credit card, but my water bill is overdue if the payment is a day late, regardless of when it was mailed. (I pay that online, but I have noticed that on the bill.)  I have a memory from the past when I had store cards, seeing on the bill a note to the effect of "allow for mailing time because the bill is late even if postmarked before the due date, if it arrives after the due date." I'm sure it was more elegantly worded.

The date you wrote on your check is meaningless to this.  I can write any date on a check; shoot, I am often off by a few days when I write my check for the church offering. 

That said, I've found it never hurts to call and plead for mercy.  I have been successful in having mistakes covered that way.  But honestly, since you have no history of prompt payments with this company, they may not be inclined to be merciful.  

I hope you can work it out!

[Just Kate]

Credit card companies aren’t concerned with the date on your check or the date it was postmarked. If they don’t receive payment on the actual due date, they can add late fees and interest. If you look closely at the fine print, you may even see that they have to receive it by noon (or some other time) in the due date, otherwise they consider it a late payment. 

 

If you paid the bill online (using the credit card’s online pay system), you could pay it in the due date and it would not be considered late. 

[Bambam]

I'd try, but I wouldn't be surprised if you don't succeed. They expect the bill to be paid (i.e. they have received payment) by the due date - not mailed by the due date. Mail takes more than 6 hours to get anywhere, so you have to allow 3+ days for it to make it to the destination.  Mailing a bill on the due date is like leaving for work at 7 am when you are supposed to be there at 7 am. You will be counted late when you finally arrive. 

I'd still ask. Worse thing that can happen is they say no. 

[Annie G]

I thought there was some law passed a few years ago requiring something like 14 or 21 days between when your cycle ends until your payment is due. But I might just be remembering my credit card changing their policy. How long was it from the statement closing date until the bill was due? 

[marbel]

I am also remembering seeing on a store credit card bill or maybe disclosure statement, that I was responsible for paying the bill on time even if the bill did not arrive (for ex, was lost in the mail or otherwise delayed).  I don't know if that is still the standard (legal?) practice though.   This was a long time ago, over 20 years.  (And no doubt irrelevant to the discussion.)

[skimomma]

Still on hold.....

I cannot be sure how much time there was between when the statement in question was mailed and the due date since I wasn't here when it arrived.  But my current statement arrived yesterday and is due on June 8, less than two weeks.  I cannot tell when it was actually mailed from the company.  In both cases, the bill arrived in bad condition, as thought partially "eaten" by machinery.  

The only reference to late payments is that I "may have to pay a late fee up to $38."  

 

[skimomma]

19 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

 

Why didn't you pay it online?  You didn't want to set it up for a one time payment?

 

To be honest, I panicked when I saw that it was almost late.  It seemed quickest to just write a check and toss it in the mail rather than set up an online line account and look up my bank info.  In hindsight, that was dumb.

[Annie G]

I think the company tracks time from when the statement closes, not when you receive the bill in the mail. So it might have been three weeks from statement closing to due date. 

I expect you will get the late fee waived this time. They want to keep you as a customer. Good luck. 

[scholastica]

1 hour ago, skimomma said:

 

To be honest, I panicked when I saw that it was almost late.  It seemed quickest to just write a check and toss it in the mail rather than set up an online line account and look up my bank info.  In hindsight, that was dumb.

For the future, most store credit card bills can be paid in store at the Customer Service desk. You could have gone straight over there and paid the exact amount of your purchase at the time of purchase, or when you thought it might not get there in time.

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, Just Kate said:

Credit card companies aren’t concerned with the date on your check or the date it was postmarked. If they don’t receive payment on the actual due date, they can add late fees and interest. If you look closely at the fine print, you may even see that they have to receive it by noon (or some other time) in the due date, otherwise they consider it a late payment. 

 

If you paid the bill online (using the credit card’s online pay system), you could pay it in the due date and it would not be considered late. 

 

I've noticed some of these credit cards now want it paid online 3 days before the due date to not be considered late!

 

But yes, "postmarked by the due date" is not enough.

 

And I don 't like store cards for just this reason -- not enough time to pay after you receive the bill so I often end up with a late fee for what was supposed to be convenience.

[skimomma]

1 hour ago, scholastica said:

For the future, most store credit card bills can be paid in store at the Customer Service desk. You could have gone straight over there and paid the exact amount of your purchase at the time of purchase, or when you thought it might not get there in time.

 

Had the nearest store not been 4 hours away.....

[skimomma]

Update!

After being on hold for over 30 minutes, I had to hang up as I had taxi service.  So I called again when I returned.  Eventually I got to a real live person.  It turns out there was an error in my billing/due cycle and indeed it was shorter than their company policy and ALSO outside of the legal amount of time.  The late fee and interest were credited to my account.  I call that a win overall but after two phone calls that netted more than an hour of my time it will be quite some time before that savings amount quoted at the register will tempt me to sign up for a card.  What a PITA!

[SKL]

It's always worth asking.  I have friends who have done that even though they had no good excuse, and they were granted the break - but only one time.  ?

[gardenmom5]

it's not what the postmark is, or when the check is dated - but when it arrives.

I've only had trouble with one "store" card from the register - save money if you do this. (tj****x, etc.) - they screwed up so many things that I had to keep "fixing" them.  including when they "received" the payment.  then I ended up having my id stolen from that card. (and it really was the FBI who called to tell me it was - they didn't ask for any financial info, just told me how to flag everything through credit bureaus, etc. - they referred me to the security specialist at my bank.  I looked him up, and it really was him.)

I have home depot, macy's, etc. - never a problem.  that one . . .. was a nightmare.

closing accounts will ding your credit rating.  you allow them to expire.

[Guest]

I’m glad it worked out in your favor. I have noticed credit cards no longer going by postmarked date now. My company card is like this and it annoys me because the real due date is almost a week before. If I try to pay it by mail, it will be counted as late unless there are several business days open. I actually just paid a big fee because of this. <glare>