Long story short. Today I viewed my account online because for some reason I no longer receive paper bills, but that is another story. Somehow I was charged a late fee after I paid my account in full. Here's why, in 2 reasons: for some unknown and bizarre reason they received information that my account did not exist! Of course I checked my statement, and the debit was not made, even though this is the same account that was used on all previous purchases. Somehow, someone juxtaposed my bank information? I assumed that once this information is in a merchant's system, it would stay there until the customer changed it.
So I called these people and tried to make sense of what was going on. The "Customer Service Rep" asked me a million questions in order to determine my identity, which I thought was a little overkill: account number (after I had entered it at the beginning of the call), my name, address, birth date, and the last 4 digits of my SSN.
I spoke to an older woman with a British accent which was so thick I was not able to get her name, but that was OK, since I had assumed this problem would be corrected and there would be no need to call these people again.
I explained what I perceived as a data entry error with my account number and asked what I needed to do in order to prove that my account does exist. After some apologies for this and that, she stated there was NOTHING that I could do to prove the existence of my checking account. I was in shock that she had the nerve to say that. I immediately became somewhat angry and demanded that the late charge be removed. I also questioned why I received an email thanking me for updating my method of delivery, saying that I would no longer receive paper bills. This of course was never initiated by me.
Surprisingly, she said that my account was set up to receive paper bills, which of course I knew already. She said that the problem with the account number is something I would have to take up with my bank! I said I understood that, but do I need to fax you something for proof? She said that she would connect me with collections and immediately tried to transfer me. In haste I hung up and sent an email to them explaining why I was not at all happy with the service I received from these legal loan sharks. I will let you know the outcome of this bizarre situation.
Never again will I use these idiots. Next time I will use my credit card, which protects me from unauthorized purchases. I believe I did not overreact and that the service I received was less than satisfactory.
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