I had never had a problem with my Sears credit card until Citibank took over two years ago. Money from my checking account goes into my Sears credit card account every week, so that I never forget to pay my bill. However, last month I went over my credit limit by $350, and my weekly payment was not enough to cover this. About 3 days ago I received my regular statement saying I was over the limit and that if I did not take care of it, I was in danger of Citibank reporting me to the credit bureau.
I immediately called their credit department and took care of this, only to find out that they had reported me 30 days late a few days before I received my statement. I was also told that I was receiving courtesy calls (which are done completely by a computer), however the computer was calling a disconnected number. I changed my number two months ago and forgot to call Sears about my new number (not to make excuses, but I am a working mother with 3 children, and Sears wasn't on my to-do list).
I never received a letter from Citibank informing me that I would be reported to the credit bureau. I was told the reason was that I was making weekly payments to my account, if that makes sense. I feel that I was treated unfairly in this matter. Citibank will not take the 30 days late off my credit report, and I am at the mercy of disputing this with the credit bureau and Citibank. I did call the Sears Executive Office, only to be told that there is nothing they can do because they sold their credit card to Citibank. It doesn't matter to Sears that they will be losing a loyal customer since 1996. I will have this lateness on my report for 7 years.
I am very frustrated about this because, like I said in the beginning, I make weekly payments to my credit card account to avoid something like this. I am tired of these big banks dictating to us, and no one personally handles any matters anymore. Everything is pretty much automated... Very disgusted with the whole process...
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