In a nutshell: Advanta Bank Corp. A "late fee" and reneged on a zero percent interest agreement because I paid my April bill on April 3, which in their words was too early and not in their billing cycle.
In October I opened a zero-percent (until October) Advanta Premium Business Visa Card for my one-person business and transferred a balance to this account. Each month I pay my bills early in the month, I know that paying late would negate our agreement. The otherday I noticed that there was a late charge and interest applied to my May bill. I called Advanta and asked about these fees and interest charges. They told me that the $1,000 payment (way over the minimum) made on April 3rd was applied to my March billing and that the April bill (due on the 27th) was considered late... Which negated our zero percent agreement. I thought this would be a simple missunderstanding, but was told that they could not reinstate my zero percent interest rate and could not back out the fees and interest. I spoke to the representatives Supervisor who told me the same thing. Basically, their cycle falls partially into the next month... So, surprise... Paying your bill in April doesn't mean that your April bill is paid.
There seems to be a narrow 3-week window that you can make a payment at Advanta, otherwise you will have penalties and fees. They told me about being late, but no-one mentioned not to pay too early in the month!
I faxed the Corporation and emailed Advanta's Customer Service rep who told me the same thing.
Any help I can get from other outraged consumers would certainly help my cause. I understand being late and penalized... But being early???
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