Payment due date on my account was 11/03/04. I made an electronic payment on 10/29/04. Providian did not credit my account until 11/05/04. They charged me a $35 late fee, etc. After calling Customer Service and being on hold for a long time, I was transferred and disconnected. Several more calls and hours later I had no satisfaction.
I had to get separate electrontic documentation from both the online pay service and from my bank, and snail mail it to Providian before they reversed the charge. After a couple of hours of my valuable time (a visit to my local bank to have documentation printed out, and a trip to the post office) I eventually got a refund of the $35 fee.
However in the meantime, I was charged daily interest for the $35 dollar late charge (which goes into the "finance charge" category), and when I called customer service requesting that the finance charge amount be credited to my account, I was told by customer service that it would "only be a few pennies." I let it go, but when I think about it, if they do this to a lot a customers, then the combination of customers who missed the overcharge of the late fee, and the interest on the the "mere pennies" could add up to a substantial sum.
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