Getting A Credit Card Late Fee Removed
That’s right, even someone who has a great 5 year track record with credit cards can occasionally make a mistake. This past weekend I submitted an electronic bill pay request for my credit card that was due on Monday. Normally I pay my bills well in advance, but rewards of financial simplicity have started to set in and I only have three bills to pay at the end the month which has dulled my watchfulness. I knew that the payment should take two days to get there, but I just overlooked that for some stupid reason.
Other than carrying a balance this is exactly the type of thing rewards credit cards thrive on and exactly the type of thing that can make having a rewards card quickly not worth it. The fee was $39, which was pretty ridiculous and it was charged instantly without any grace period.
Once I noticed the charged I quickly emailed Chase through there customer support center asking for grace.
Here is the email I sent :
I am writing to request the removal of a late fee that I was charged this month. I sent out an online bill pay before the due date, but it didn’t seem to arrive on time.
Please provide a loyal customer grace and remove the fee.
Thanks
They promptly responded and removed the fee, no questions asked. Chase said I was a valued customer and removed it as a one time courtesy. I wouldn’t expect them to do that too many more times, so I will make sure that I don’t make the same mistake again.
Just remember that everything is negotiable, especially with credit card companies.
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I have called and had this fee removed from both Citi and Chase without problems, but I have only made this mistake once for each credit card issuer.
Asking is always wise. I had a similar experience. I always pay on time but messed up once and they removed the late fee when I called. There are plenty of companies that want your business if they don’t treat you fairly don’t hesitate to leave.
I called to remove a first time late fee for a Chase credit card and was told that they cannot remove it. I even talked with the supervisor. Then I emailed Chase customer service and got a similar response. Any advice?
It depends upon different companies i believe because i got charged for late fee and you got late fee removed , i tried by calling to customer service but there was no use.
if you do happen to get a late fee, often if you call and request them to waive it for you, they will (provided you don’t make a habit of it). They will probably remind you to mail your payment out at least 10 days before it is due because of the postal time and then the company’s own processing time- so be sure to tell them you mailed it out well in advance of the due date.
Under the circumstances I’d have expected an entire late fee to be waived, especially if you really never have had one late before. On the handful of occasions over the years I’ve been late, I’ve usually gotten the whole fee waived. But sometimes they’ve only given half. But it’s been a while – they might have tightened up.
One thing you can do, though, is set up an automatic payment of the minimum payment to be pulled on the due date every month. Cheap insurance.
my situation is that i had 5 days until due date.
and so instead of mailing and taking the chance of it being late, i went online and created account to have it paid from checking account. weeks later, I get note saying that account has not been paid and there was a $40 late fee and $40 of some bounce-back fee and rep told me that the checking account number was entered wrong. I told him that an automatic email came through so I didn’t think anything of the transaction having any discrepancies until after it was brought to my attention with the late charges.
2 seperate phone calls to customer service and supervisor is still not removing any fees.
I asked for a courtesy removal and they told me it is a myth, bull sh%^.
I asked to look over my account for any late payments, they said this year I did not have any of that……what else can I do.
@Florida,
You have two choices. Call back again and again until they do something. Call their bluff on the courtesy removal, because they do that often.
Or
Threaten to cancel and actually cancel. If they don’t treat you well, then in my opinion they don’t really want you as a customer.
I had a similar “courtesy removal” when my Citi account was sold to CHASE and I miss-entered my payment date in the change-over in my computer software. However, about 8 months later…
This morning, I noticed a $39 late payment (and a $5.92 finance charge) on my most recent bill.
I accrued this because my last bill was due on a Sunday and they received the funds the following day, a Monday. I was told they DO NOT remove late fees. The guy actually seemed EAGER to cancel my card. I am what they would call a “Dead-Beat customer”…I pay my bill in full every month so I suspect they are looking for excuses to drop customers like me.
My solution: I immediatly cut up the card. I may or may NOT cancel the card…but I definetly WON’T be using it again…I will pay only what I feel I owe them. The rest is up to them….it was a great 8 years while it lasted.
Same experience as VUD. Called Chase, talked to supervisor, no dice after mis-entering my amount on my billpay. Cancelled the account, which there was not even an attempt to talk me out of it.
@VUD and James Mason
Thanks for sharing. Sounds like Chase continues to need some new customer service lessons. I had heard a bunch of people talk about their experiences before I signed up, but I was willing to give it a try. If they treat me similar to you guys next time, I will most likely be gone too!
I just had to write, because their is HOPE ! I just went through the same experience with my chase credit card payment being late, which had a due date on this past holiday, 10/12/09. They stated they recieved it on the 14th, blah, blah, blah, Late Fee charged $39.99. I had used the so called Myth courtesy removal method with my capital one, (mind you I am never late with a payment either) but Chase customer service stated they no longer do such a thing, and gave me a fax # and told me to put my request in writing and fax, they were also robotic and their tone, to me seemed judgemental? Anyway, I was complaining to my girlfriend, and she told me not to fret, you just call their corporate office, and they remove it ASAP, no Problem! I’m not fooling, even if you forgot to send payment, hence Courtesy removal of late fee lives! Here is the Tel.# 1-888-622-7547 ext.6814, that’s the ext. I called, but I think their are others as well. A very nice women looked up account and no questions asked, took the $39 late fee off and any finance charges that may have accrued. She did ask me where I got her number, and I just simply stated on line. So to all those people who denied their late charge removal, this is for you! Good luck, and just go over those unsypathetic drone like customer service reps and call the corporate office. Sincerely, Renee in MA
The other two Chase Credit Card Corporate Tel. #
she gave me are: 713-262-3866 & 1-800-242-7399
best of luck to all. Renee in MA
@Renee – Thanks for the info, hopefully it will help a few others and hopefully I won’t ever have to use it.
Victory!
Thank you Renee! After being unsuccessful with customer service, I called the numbers you posted. I wasn’t able to reach anyone until I called the 1800 number, but they then connected me to the person with the first number. She was very nice, and cleared up the late fee and interest fee. I was nice and polite and she was nice and polite, and it all worked out in the end:).
Thank you so much for the telephone number! I was about to give up on Customer Service because they were so unhelpful! But the number you gave me got me to speak to Jessica who was so kind and took off both the late fee and the finance charge! YAY!!!
Renee, thank you so much!! Indeed, I called the 800 number and was connected to a representative here in the U.S. who promptly removed the late fee and was actually very nice about it. thank you so much.
FYI- i speak for myself, we should not exhaust the generosity of this “secret” customer service available, so let’s try and pay the bill on time and only use this if absolutely necessary so they don’t think we’re abusing the system and possibly eliminate this as well.
Thanks again. good luck
chase cc services changed my address in 2011 back to my 2010 address where I moved from! then they didn’t call me or autodebt the later charges or fees as they have done before to get my attention! wow! This looks intentional and a scam to obtain money through late charges and fees. Time for a class action law suit! They also canceled me cc acnt. Why were they not calling me in the 1st 6 months; they had my phone number; they hade my address! wow……………I.ripped off $200 extra dollars! I WONDER WHO WORKS IN THE BANK WHO KNOWS MY EXHUSBAND? I’M RECENTLY DIVORSED. CHASE WAITED UNTIL I DON’T HAVE THE FUNDS TO PAY MY BILL!
For late fee & interest charge waivers, my sister always gets them via e-mail request without breaking a sweat ever since Indian service reps started answering the e-mails in 2011. Prior to that, she has to make several LONGGGGG calls just to get a $25 LATE FEE waiver, which were usually denied. Now she even gets interest charge waivers along with the late fees without asking for it. You need to log into the Secure Message Center of Chase website to make the request.
Just got dinged $25 finance charge due to a credit that came in two days after I paid my bill. I promptly called Chase Customer Service and got absolutely nowhere, was told they do not refund finance charges. I asked for a supervisor, got the very same response. Asked to speak with someone else, hit a final brick wall. I asked for the Retention Department, and was told that was with whom I was speaking. I told them that I was a 19-year customer, there was a lot of competition out there and I could easily take my business elsewhere, and was told, “That’s up to you.” I was even told that I was getting the same service as someone who was with them for one year. I replied that I DIDN’T WANT THE SAME SERVICE AS SOMEONE who was with them for ONE YEAR, since I was with them for 19 YEARS!
I was fairly astonished. I figured my next step was to call Corporate on Monday when they were open. However, I took Ronald’s advice above and first tried using the online Message Center to send a very polite and respectful email. Well, within a couple of hours I received the following response:
“As a gesture of commitment to you, I have credited your
account the interest charge in the amount of $25.15
assessed on 03/21/2014. You will see this adjustment
listed on your 04/22/2014 billing statement. I have also
suppressed the final interest charge that may appear on
your next statement, due to a interest charge of $25.15.
“Thank you for the opportunity to assist you in this
matter, and if we can help you with your account in any
additional way, please contact us through the Secure
Message Center, or call us at the number listed below.”
I received superior customer service from a rep in INDIA than I did from THREE REPS IN THE USA. I never incur finance charges, but if I do, I won’t ever call the Customer Service number again, I’ll use the Message Center and email the sane people in India.
Thank you for the suggestion, Ronald.