HSBC (Household) LIES to get fees - I STOP paying
I just tried to schedule my payment online and it’s due on 6/28 and that’s what I scheduled for the payment date.
The date you selected is invalid because payments cannot be scheduled on a weekend or Federal Banking holiday. Please select a different date.
The million dollar question:
How can a payment be DUE on a “Federal Banking holiday” when you can’t schedule the payment for that date?
OF COURSE you can schedule your payments for holidays, many other credit card issuers have no problem doing so. Just like you can USE the card on banking holidays, you can schedule payments for holidays. Since many people schedule their payments just before the due date, they will have to pay the FEE to make a rush payment.
Rush payments can be requested 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays.
The fee for rush payments is $15.
Household will forward the $15 to the federal reserve because the payment is scheduled for a banking holiday? Hell no.
The $15 are pure profit.
I’m at the point where I can’t take the lies anymore. Why don’t they just state that they designed their online payment system to maximize profits and that’s why you have to schedule payments DUE on a holiday PRIOR to the holiday.
I’ve had enough of the lies. And as I recall, I’ve actually paid this $15 fee once and they refused to give me the credit when I called. So, it’s time to teach them a lesson.
I didn’t schedule any payment.
I hope they sue me. I’d like to do discovery about their clever design. It’s not just the rush payment fees, but people who mail payments are likely to incur late fees if they mail the payment just a few days before the due date.
And please don’t waste your time on submitting comments about how we simply need to schedule our payments earlier. This site is about exposing and documenting how the working people who barely get by are being systemically exploited and forced into default by ruthless bankers.
Posted by Christine on 06/24/2008 at 01:14 PM
2008 Monetary Reform - stopping the bank fraud • (4) Comments • Permalink
I have the same thing going on with every vendor, it seems. Also, BOA is quite famous for this, and when I called, they said that the date changes every month to accommodate the end of your grace period. So that means it creeps up, so that it becomes due (overdue) at a greater rate than you’d expect. Now how are you going to pay if you are working with a budget, owe tons of money, and are receiving statements that are above 30%? (my college kid)
the laws are made to support the banks and collection agencies and exploit us. they’re allowed to use all sorts of tricks to get their hands in your pocketbook. i’ve had the same things happen to me in the past. they post payments late, lose them, etc. and then blame it on you. then YOU have to waste your time to prove they are wrong. i had to do a 3 way call with my bank which sent out the check on time (internet) and the creditor so that the creditor wouldn’t charge me late fees. then they “found” the check and had to admit it was their fault.
I’m getting the feeling that paying is just as hard as not paying. In fact, paying is easier. As I read your post about the three way call, I’ve thought about how many hours I have spent on the phone wrangling over payments of some sort.
I used to set all the BS aside for a quiet afternoon, either put on the phone head set and listen to horrible hold music, or just work at something with speaker phone on the table next to me. For years I have been calling this ‘phone war day’. I can only imagine the time and energy it took to get a three way call with your bank going, and what you went through before it came to that.
I have found myself getting rather hostile and demanding my hourly wage from the company I speak to, All Credit card companies, which I honestly paid, or got caught in the various traps. Truly, time is money and it does affect my ability to earn.
In other countries creditors have to KEEP the envelope the payment was mailed in and the postmark is used to determine whether a payment was late.
That would have eliminated AJ’s problem. In America, it’s always up to the CONSUMER to prove everything.
So they shift the COSTS of dealing with this crap to us and just like Sue, I have asked for reimbursement for the loss of my time. Trouble is, I don’t think any company ever paid unless I sued or I worked for a client.
Once my status changes from a consumer to a professional who charges a fee, it becomes easier to get paid. They always want to see an invoice and I highly recommend having a friend/relative/spouse perform the work and BILL for it.
I also got Home Savings to pay a couple thousand back in the 90s when I had a relative work to resolve their fraudulent foreclosure. They didn’t know that she was a relative and I had her write a bill for $40/hr or so and she kept excellent notes of the countless calls.
Had to threaten to sue and they knew I would, so they paid. Unfortunately, I didn’t get paid for MY time, not to mention the stress of being in foreclosure after having made every payment on time and NOT having the over $8,000 they demanded to bring the loan current. If that happened today, I would have sued.
There is this notion that consumers are slaves to the corporations and it is reinforced by judges who refuse to compensate for consumers’ time.
So I had to conclude that for MANY people and especially people who don’t want to sue, it’s best to simply quit paying the banks. It gets really old to continually have to dispute and waste time to fix the banks’ mistakes.
