Establishing credit for the first time, so I applied for my Credit card (which actually uses my own money to start with) w / a $90 anual fee, including set-up and processing fees, etc.
Had my card for 6 months with all payments made on time, when I get a jolting bill on month 7 for a $29 late fee a $29 overlimit fee. They claimed they never recieved my previous months payment with was made via money order using their own bill envelope... First time I ever had a bill payment lost in the mail. Sure, I got suspicious... Having known some sneaky Banks to put payments on the shelf and wait to process them a day or two till they're past due.
So I got on the phone, and they stated that even after 3 weeks they had still not recieved the payment... So I assumed it was lost in the mail and promptly filed a Money Order Trace (which cost me more $) Problem sounds logical so far... But here's the catch:
Their customer service claimed that it takes 10-15 days to recieve payments, I researched all my payment dates and discovered that every one was cashed on day 2 after being dropped in the mail. I of course sent in a dispute (outlined in my Billing Rights Summary) to have the late/overlimit fees removed, along with proof filing the MO trace and copy of the so-called lost payment, (I keep copies of everything). Surprisingly, only 7 days after I had mailed out my dispute, they had granted me a courtesy adjustment and removed their late fee (which caused the additional overimit fee) as well. I was happy to read this, however, it took their letter 3 days to get to me, but then I discovered that only 48 hrs after they had removed those fees, they charged me another set of late/overlimit fees since the cycle date had come.
Troubling? Yes. Like being pulled from the guillotine just to be shot in the head! FNBM Customer service instructed me to make only THIS months payment, and that the disputed lasped (lost) payment month would be held in statis until resolved, so I continued to pay on time, while the Postal MO service where tracing the lost Money Order... Which takes 60 days.
Upset that I was intentionally misguided by their customer service while they play date games to tack on fees... They then tried to tell me to rush to pay via Western Union to make another payment that day... Then told me a min. Payment amount that should cover it, and I should be in the clear. Then I called back to reconfirm this information, a seperate representative gave me a whole different story, and even had I made that "rush minimum" payment, my bill would still be in the negative and tacked on another overlimit fee because a late fee had already been tacked (that didn't show up on my online account statement.) Sound confusing? Yep! One lost payment caused all this hassle, but my dispute over that so-called lost payment should've still been in status until I recieve my statment from the USPS Money Order Trace.
If I find out that FNBM actually cashed the check and failed to record it, I will have a hissy (legal term).
Their customer service will give you differnet stories one minute to the next, and their electronic online account information is erroneous, and doesn't show posted fees that somehow show up on the Bank representaives screen. This leaves the customer in the dark. (3) calls to with 3 different FNBM customer service reps (ALL WITHIN 30 minutes) told me: (1st) my account was fine and not past due (2nd) you will be past due and need to make a rush payment via moneygram or western union today (3rd) You're already past due, and had a late fee added already, and need to make a payment more than twice of what the 2nd rep told me...
Jeeessuuss... What is wrong with these people?
When I get my money order trace report... If it states FNBM had actually cashed it, I will close my account ASAP and not look back.
Grey
New Orleans, Louisiana
U.S.A.
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