A polite letter yielded the right response to my credit card late payment fee.
Last month's statement did not arrive until the due date because of delays in the post.
This month's statement included a £12 late payment fee, which was correct strictly speaking because the payment was late.
I wrote to Tesco Bank asking them to consider waiving the fee, given the circumstances.
A very pleasant young man called me on the mobile yesterday to tell me the fee would be refunded on my next statement.
I was told there were lots of customers in a similar position.
Tesco knew the statements were late - there was a recorded message saying so on the call centre contact number.
They could have saved themselves a lot of work - each fee has to be notified by a two-page letter - had they not charged it in the first place.
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But you weren't going to bother with this, were you? I'm sure many others haven't.
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I resolved to write to Tesco after being ticked off on here for being too slack with my domestic finances.
It was Focus who really spurred me into action by saying if I could afford to throw £12 away, I could afford to buy a CD by his lad's band.
Have you heard them? I'd rather listen to someone dragging chalk across a board.
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>>I resolved to write to Tesco
There's likely to be a lot of refunds waiting for others who are prepared to spend a couple of minutes on their PC and invest in a 2nd class stamp, then.
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>> It was Focus who really spurred me into action by saying if I could afford
>> to throw £12 away, I could afford to buy a CD by his lad's band.
I was going to post earlier, with a suggestion as to what you could spend the £12 on which you had previously written off.
>> Have you heard them? I'd rather listen to someone dragging chalk across a board.
You're in luck - that's track 3.
Good double page spread in Metal Hammer BTW - they're one of the 'Hot List 2011' bands, with a 'Caution Hot!' warning. The write-up compares their melodies and harmonies favourably with the Beatles.
not all of the above is strictly true
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It's easier to set up a DD for either the minimum amount or the full amount. Then no late payment fees!
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>> Last month's statement did not arrive until the due date because of delays in the
>> post.
Errr, so a payment you make every month WOULD NOT be made, because you haven't been reminded of it?
Do you have somebody to wipe your bottom for you as well?
You've spent on that card, therefore you know you have to pay it back. So just throw a few quid into the account. Try your average monthly payment?
Every month I know I have to pay: Rent, school fees, electricity, the credit card*, the phone, and insurance*.
The marked ones are by direct debit.
I don't need a letter saying: Please pay.
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...Do you have somebody to wipe your bottom for you as well?...
Not yet, but who is to say what I might need in 30 years?
I rely on the arrival of the statement and payment slip to remind me to pay.
The card company's response, and their ready admission lots of other people are in a similar position, indicates they accept the statement will be used in that way.
Also, paying without the payment slip is not a simple matter.
No point in wandering into a bank with the card and some cash, because I don't think they would know where to send the money.
I could register the card online, but there was no time to do that in this circumstance.
I've used credit cards for more than 30 years and the monthly statement works for me.
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I'm with you on this Iffy but I can look online and see the state of my credit card and I can pay it too, at any time. Might be worth looking into for the future?
John
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...Might be worth looking into for the future?...
I tend to keep one credit card ticking over at a time.
My other one - currently not in use - is now online.
Trouble was I missed the payment date on that one as well.
I think they were meant to send an email to say the new statement was online, but if they did, I managed to ignore it.
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Unless you need to spread the repayment, just set up a DD that pays the card off in full when it's due, never had a problem, so far anyway.
No interest payment nor fees, and complete fraud protection.
My lad and his SWM have both had their cards scammed, by the usual suspects at a certain type of filling station, Northants again but i imagine that's a widespread problem, i only use supermarkets for fuel and then i use the pump's card machine in preference.
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>> My lad and his SWM have both had their cards scammed, by the usual suspects
>> at a certain type of filling station, Northants again but i imagine that's a widespread
>> problem, i only use supermarkets for fuel and then i use the pump's card machine
>> in preference.
>>
Silly question - and slightlky off-topic - but every time I buy anything on credit or debit card, my bank sends me a messge via the phone: XXX spent at XYZ retailers. New balance ABCDEFG.
Service is free.
Do you guys not have similar in the UK?
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No, Ian, never herd of that - good idea I suppose...
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smokie, indeed.
When I'm at the hole-in-the-wall, the phone is going buzz-buzz-message-received before the cash is even out the slot!
Unfortunately the crims know about floor limits, so a lot of fraud is still committed at McDs and similar places...
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>> I rely on the arrival of the statement and payment slip to remind me to pay.
Why not get them to send you a free txt message?
(which is in the online settings)
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...late payment fee update...
To save anyone reading the rest of the thread, Tesco agreed to refund a £12 late payment fee on my credit card because they accepted their statement arrived late.
A glance at this month's statement shows the fee has been refunded - twice.
Once on Dec 31, before I'd queried at, and again on Jan 21, after I'd queried it.
So what to do now?
Nothing is always an attractive option, and in this case would be financially advantageous.
But in the same way I would complain if they put a phantom £12 debit on the statement, I feel I should tell them they have credited me too much.
What would you do?
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Tell them - I know it feels wrong but actually it's the right thing to do. They may spot it themselves anyway and not be as understanding next time.
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Something similar happened to me. I tried telling them, but they either couldn't understand, or couldn't be bothered to find out how to rectify it.
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... but they either couldn't understand, or couldn't be bothered to find out how to rectify it...
None of these call centre operations are very good at dealing with anything non-standard.
The card and account is running smoothly and I'm reluctant to upset the applecart.
If I thought I could pick the phone up, get through in a minute or so and sort the job in another minute or so, I would do it.
But I have no faith in them handling the call quickly or efficiently.
I still have the name and address of the customer services lass who I wrote to asking for the refund.
My best bet is to write to her again - no aggro with the phone, and if they can see it in black and white, they might not balls it up.
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That would drive me mad, if I couldn't get the £12 back to them. I have an unhealthy obsession with "being honest" to my detriment.
In the last few weeks I have
Picked up a dropped fiver from an elderly chap and given it back to him
Noticed in a cafe I had been charged for seven items instead of eight, gone back and paid for it
Put a quid in a pool table, which rejected it but gave me the game anyway, so gave the money to the barman
Been charged five quid at a till for a thirty five quid item and told them in time for them to charge the full amount
In all these cases people look at me like I'm utterly bonkers, or step back quickly as if I'm a lunatic. None of the recipients were pleased; even the elderly stranger was clearly just confused.
It's a curse. I was born into the wrong century.
When I was a student we did some psychological thing where we all sat in a circle and were asked to put our hands up if we had ever shop lifted as kids. I was genuinely astonished to discover that out of 25 or so people I was the only one who hadn't, not even a sweet. Just never even crossed my mind. They were as astonished that I had not and all got very aggressive about it. Most embarrassing.
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>> That would drive me mad, if I couldn't get the £12 back to them. I
>> have an unhealthy obsession with "being honest" to my detriment.
>>
>> In the last few weeks I have
Can you let me know your movements for the next month, I want to be one step ahead of you.
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>> Can you let me know your movements for the next month, I want to be
>> one step ahead of you.
Alas, Zero, judging by your posts, you will always be one step ahead of me.
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You are not alone Crankcase. I have never failed to pay a debt, I have never stolen anything in my life and I have never fiddled an expenses claim, ever. I just don't and won't.
Equally, I will pursue even the smallest debt owed to me and have sacked without conscience those I have caught stealing from me or a joint employer no matter how trivial the amount involved.
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It's a funny old thing. Humph, there was a story in our local paper recently about two young girls who found £100 in the street and handed it in to the Police. The money eventually found its way back to the owner. The girls were invited to a special ceremony and much made of them.
I know what my reaction to the story was - I wonder if yours would be the same.
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I expect so Crankcase. Further to my other post about erstwhile school classmates the one I still can't quite get my head around is the guy I know who is now a Church of Scotland minister. He was about the worst offender I knew of when we were at school for shoplifting. Funny old world.
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...two girls found £100...
I've found money in the street a few times.
Always taken the view that handing in a fiver or a tenner would take up more resources at the police station than it's worth.
But where does one draw the line?
Don't think I've ever found more than a tenner to find out.
Crankcase wrote: "In all these cases people look at me like I'm utterly bonkers, or step back quickly as if I'm a lunatic. None of the recipients were pleased; even the elderly stranger was clearly just confused."
I was sitting in a busy cafe in Liverpool city centre over Christmas when a woman at the next table dropped what appeared to be a couple of notes.
It was noisy, and to gain her attention I touched her on the shoulder.
She turned and picked up the money with barely a word - a similar reaction to that experienced by Crankcase.
It comes over as offhand, but I expect it's more to do with the person being startled, relieved and trying to take in the situation, than it is to do with them being ungrateful.
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 21 Feb 11 at 03:46
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Random acts of honesty to baffle people these days. I found a tenner on the street in Falmouth last summer - the chances of finding the loser are zero to non-existent - I flagged down a PCSO who seemed at a loss with how to deal with "Found Property" nice enough bloke but confused with his/my obligations under the law. I kept the tenner but he found it hard to grasp that he was supposed to do - my wife helped him along with key phrases like "found property register" eventually he recorded my details in his note book. But the expectation of honesty amongst the public seems to have passed the Police by.
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A guy with whom I occasionally have a pint in my local once related to me a story about an occasion a few years ago when he was absolutely stony broke, so much so that he was going to have to walk home from work at the end of his shift (a distance of about 4 miles). As he walked out of the factory gates a guy in front of him (who my pal detested) pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. The handkerchief was followed by a ten pound note which laid on the floor as my mate followed. He picked up the tenner, got the bus home, kept the rest and has been wracked with guilt ever since.
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...He picked up the tenner...
A zero-tolerance approach to 'dishonest finding' is all very well provided you can afford it.
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>> You are not alone Crankcase.
>>
+1
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Did pay - won't have to pay - Clk Sec
