Below is the letter I am sending out TODAY to try to clear my name and credit score with all the credit bureaus.
December 26
Erin Timmers
Target
PO Box 9475, MS 3A-R
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9475
Account # ending in 9420
Dear Ms. Timmers,
I have recently received a letter from you stating that my account number as listed above is currently 3 months past due and that you'd like to help me with a payment plan. Unfortunately, when I tried to call you at 888-480-5004 at your extension 78453, different representatives answered the phone and indicated that you will NOT be helping me with this account, that they instead will field the questions. After I was hung up on the first time, I called back to simply have it noted that all further communications with Target will be done via mail. The reporting that my account is 3 months past due is inaccurate. Below are the account details that should reflect in Target's system.
1.in February or March of this year, I called Target to work out a payment plan so that I would not be penalized for not being able to pay the full minimum amount due each month.
The minimum due was about $300 or more and, being the only one in my household with a job right now (the debt was incurred by my fianc for his home-based business expenses) I was unable to meet that bill which he had previously been paying as the secondary cardholder. I was informed by the man who assisted me in my request that a payment of $102 would be automatically withdrawn from my bank account on the 22nd of each month. These payments have been made, although Target was irregular about the date of withdrawal from my account. Enclosed are the copies of checks my bank has provided as proof that Target has taken their money each month. Sadly, my account balance has not come down one bit.
2. There were one or two occasions when the $102 did not clear my account, mostly because the payment was not automatically withdrawn on the day as promised, thereby hitting my account when I had thought the payment had already been made, or before money was put into the account to cover the expense, putting my bank account into the negative.
Target never called to indicate the payment was missed.instead, I would call Target only to receive notice that I was kicked off the payment plan and minimum payments in the $300 range resumed. When I called to correct the situation I was placed back on the payment plan, otherwise the $102 payment would not continue.
3. The only recent payment that has not been made was for November. Target has taken it upon themselves to hit my account for $102 for the December payment. Why? I don't know, because any other time I had to call and practically beg to be put back on the plan.
The most interesting thing about this payment arrangement is that the only way I know a payment has not gone through is by looking at my bank account and seeing the payment was refused due to low funds in my bank account. November's payment had a posting date of November 23rd, the day AFTER I expected the money to be withdrawn, leading me to believe I could shop for GROCERIES, of all things. I ended up in the negative and my next Target statement indicated that the regular payment of a few hundred dollars was again due.
4.in November I tried to apply for a debt consolidation loan through my bank, which was denied due to Target's, and Target's ALONE, reporting that I was 30 days past due.
The intention of the loan was to pay off mainly the Target debt. None of my other accounts have EVER been late, and it is funny that Target would report me late as I was working with them. The timeline in which I was reported as 30 days late was NOT even CLOSE to 30 days past due. The payment was due November 22nd, I was denied for the loan on the 5th of December. When I asked my bank what payment was indicated as 30 days late the representative stated that it was because my November payment was not made. I knew my account was not 30 days past due at that time and I did not realize that my payment had not gone through. So, when I called Target to straighten out the November missed payment fiasco, the rude man on the other end of the line informed me that just because they worked out a payment plan for me that they were still going to report me late because, and I quote as accurately as I can remember, in all reality you're not paying your bill. I tried to inform the rude person, who kept trying to talk over me, that the deal that was made earlier this year, as PROMISED TO ME, was that as long as I was working with Target and trying to make those payment plan payments, they were not going to report me late. I was lied to, apparently.
Target has injured my credit score and has caused me severe mental anguish, which has manifested itself in sleeplessness and severe, regular heartburn and headaches. I was under the impression, as stated by the first Target representative to work with me, that I would not be reported late as long as I was working with them. Unfortunately, my bank account has also suffered because of Target's mishandling of the payment withdrawals and the credit card's balance has not come down by much, if at all.
I have also noticed that Target Financial Services or Target National Bank has several negative ratings on The complaint (usacomplaints.com). Complaints range from account mishandling, poor customer service (rude, unhelpful, refusing a supervisor), to raising interest rates for no reason and even taking money from people's bank accounts that was not authorized. Target can start clearing its name with its public by starting to fix such errors and correcting their poor customer service representatives and report said efforts to The complaint. A class action lawsuit can also stem from the complaint's subscribers who have been affected by Target's credit card mishandling.
Seeing that the proof I have provided shows clear as day that Target has intentionally lied to the credit bureaus and to me, and that Target had the audacity to tell me I am 3 months past due when there is no thread of truth to that claim at all, I feel that Target needs to rectify the situation by doing the following:
1. Correct all delinquent or late reportings (after the payment plan was set up this year) to each credit bureau to paid as agreed, because I HAVE been making adjusted payments AS AGREED.
2. If a payment is to be automatically pulled from a bank account, and there was a problem, Target SHOULD call to indicate there was a problem. It would be no different from a collections call, and it is in the best interest of the consumer. If the consumer is not happy, they will no longer shop Target or be an advocate of the Target Card.
3. I pulled my credit report and saw that Target took the opportunity to close my account. I have not received any notice to this effect. I am therefore requesting that this credit be CLOSED IMMEDIATELY and reflect that the consumer closed the account. A payment arrangement can be arranged soon, but only BY MAIL in my interest to protect myself. I will continue to make the $102.00 payments until such time as an agreement has been reached; I cannot afford much more and cannot pay a lump sum as I am the only household income source.
4. The account needs to reflect on my credit report as paid as agreed because false reportings to the credit bureaus can bring serious legal problems for Target. My credit report shows that Target reported me as 60 days late, and yet the letter I received in this same time frame said I am 3 months (90 days) late. Two different pieces of information. Also, how can I be 3 months behind when the September, October, and December payments were made AS AGREED, in the amount of $102.00?
I have tried everything in my power to work with Target only to be let down or hung up on. As a former employee of about 5 years, (at store 650 in Orlando, FL) I am disappointed in the way the company has turned. I do hope that this letter will encourage Target credit services to change their ways to please the consumer, as Target tries to do in their retail environment.
I await communication IN WRITING in regards to settling this account satisfactorily, as I find that phone calls, although supposedly recorded do not help me at all.
Disappointed, former Target shopper and employee,
CC: Gregg W. Steinhafel, President & Chief Executive Officer; Terrence J. Scully, President, Target Financial Services; Timothy R. Baer Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel; Douglas A. Scovanner, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, usacomplaints.com
Corporate sux
Orlando, Florida
U.S.A.
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