It's no secret that credit card companies like making money. With all of the recent unemployment and rising numbers of individuals who can't pay their bills, it's also no secret that many credit card companies are overcharging their customers and tacking on fees that shouldn't be there. Here is your how-to guide for fighting credit card companies that overcharge.
The first step in fighting overcharging credit card companies is to stay on top of your monthly statements. One of the most common ways that credit card companies overcharge their customers is with late fees. If you've ever mailed in a payment that arrived late but that you were certain was on time, there is no way of knowing how long your payment sat in the mail room before being posted. If you mailed in a payment, there is no way to prove it got there either, so it's smart to set up a bill pay system through your bank to have a proof of payment and when it was electronically transferred.
Once you have a good record-keeping system in place and you are paying your monthly bills on time. Make sure that the bank isn't charging you late fees or other monthly charges. Many times, credit card companies will charge an "invoice fee" or other such printable statement fee that can range from $1 to $5 per statement. If you have the ability to select paperless billing, this is another way to fight additional fees and charges.
After you have an automatic bill pay system set up and have changed your preferences to support paperless statements, it's crucial that you review your statement each month. If you are still seeing these common fees, it's time to go to bat for your consumer rights and fight the overcharging that many credit card companies utilize to turn additional profit.
Since the most common overcharge fees come in response to late payments, this will be addressed first. If you have a record from your bank showing that your account was paid on the 10th of the month and your payment wasn't due until the 15th, you can send a transmission to your credit card company with the details of that payment. Once you have sent that, you can use that information to get the company to negate erroneous late charges and fees. Once a credit card company knows that it has been caught, most times, it doesn't want to risk a lawsuit so it will deduct those fees from your statement.
If your credit card company wants to argue the payment details, it behooves you to call and ask to close the account. If you have been a good customer with a good payment history, most times, credit card companies will do what it takes to keep your business. Once you have made your position clear, you are in the driver's seat with your credit card company and overcharging fees.
