Adding Injury to Insult
Posted on February 14, 2009
Filed Under Credit Cards | Leave a Comment
Our card that was canceled last month was one that earned rebate rewards, between 1 and 3%. We used that card a lot, and had earned a little over $200 as of our January statement, which had a little flyer telling us we would receive the rebate coupon with our February statement.
We got our February statement this week, and… no rebate coupon. I figured that maybe since they canceled the card, they were withholding the coupon until we paid our balance. In looking over the statement, though, all references to the rebate cash we had earned was gone. Hmmm, not good…
I called Customer Service. The first (English as a second language) person I spoke to said I’d have to call a different number, which he gave me, and turned out to be a wrong number. I called Customer Service again. This time the person I spoke with (also English as a second language) told me I had to talk to a different department, but at least he was able to transfer me instead of telling me to hang up and call someone else.
The person I was transferred to was understandable, but I didn’t like what she had to say. According to her, since the card company had cancelled our card before the closing date for the February statement, we forfeited our rebate cash, almost $200. I explained that we had never missed a payment, had never been late with a payment, had done nothing wrong in fact, and they were taking money away from us that we had earned by using the card in good faith. “Sorry, Mr. yyyyy, that’s our policy. It’s in the card holder’s agreement you signed when you applied for the card.”
My first thought was to go ballistic and curse her out over the phone. Not a very Christian thing to do, and would probably do nothing except make my blood pressure go even higher. Instead, I asked to speak with her supervisor. I explained my tale of woe to the supervisor, and to make a long story short, I was eventually able to get them to apply our rebate to the remaining balance on the card. Here’s what I’ve learned from this experience:
- If your card is cancelled, check your final statement carefully for any extra charges or omissions
- If you feel there are any problems with the statement, call the company and get them resolved as soon as possible
- If the first person you talked to can ‘t or won’t help you, keep working your way up the chain until you get someone who will
- Don’t lose your temper – just explain your situation in a calm but firm manner
- Get the problem fixed before you make your final payment – once you’ve paid off the balance, you no longer have an account with the company and your chances of getting anything back from them are small
- Pay off the balance by the due date (see second and fourth items above though) – don’t give them an excuse to hit you with a late fee or the chance to earn interest
- If you feel the company is acting unethically, you might consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ken
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.