First off, my JCPenney bill was due Feb. 14. As anyone has done I had forgotten (I just found out I have a tumor on my pituitary gland so that might explain some of my forgetfulness... Nothing that will kill me JCP so don't send me crap about cheap funeral attire). Anyway, on Feb. 18th (Saturday) I realized I forgot to pay it. I went to JCPenney's website to make a payment. My total bill owed was $357.16. My payment due was $50.00. My total card limit is $800.00. I decided to pay $157.16 so my balance would be an even $200 plus whatever interest for the following month. So, I entered the 157 in the dollar box and the 16 in the cents box, confirmed the amount and then hit the submit button. I got a "Thank You for your $1,571.00 payment" page. After rubbing my eyes I thought that couldn't be right. I went to my bank's page to check my account and there it was... All $1,571 of it had already hit my account. That began my phone calls to JCPenney from about 4:30 P.M. To about 11:00 P.M. I don't recall the names of who all I spoke to on Saturday because I mistakenly assumed whoever I spoke to would correct the error. Yeah, my bad.in the politest way I could I asked for someone to fix the problem. I was hung up on three times. Or should I say told to "hold please while my call was transferred to a supervisor" only to have an automated voice tell me "your call could not be completed as dialed... Click." After the third time I figured out I was politely being hung up on. So yes, by my fourth call when I finally spoke to a 'supervisor' I wasn't in the best mood. Want to know why? Because after all the hang-ups I finally got a supervisor who didn't understand why I was so upset.
Really? Seriously!!! I've been on the phone all night, been hung up on three times and now he's telling me he doesn't think taking $1,571 out of my account is a big deal. Then he told me my payment was late so my account was in collections. Give me a break. No one sends an account to collections four days past due. Heck, I have other credit cards that even give me a ten or fifteen day grace period with no late fee. And I wasn't contesting paying the late fee anyway. He treated me as if I was some kind of deadbeat trying to get out of paying my bill. Hardly, I've only had one other late payment on this account and that was when my Mother-In-Law was in the hospital dying of cancer. I don't know, something in me forgot about my JCP bill while I was busy emotionally supporting my husband and his family. Anyway, as an example, I explained to this supervisor that for all he knew I had $5 left in my account. If my son had an asthma attack I couldn't even afford to refill his inhaler and I'm fairly certain my pharmacist doesn't accept the JCPenney card. He said that was my problem, not his. So yes, I got loud and a little vulgar but at this point who wouldn't? He laughed at me and then had the nuts to tell me I needed to tone down the hostility. He finally told me to call back in the morning.
So that began round two with the people at the Pittsburg call center first thing Sunday morning. I didn't catch the name of the first woman who took my call or who she transferred me to. When I was hung up on again I started taking notes. I called back and spoke to Chloe, sounded like an older woman who completely understood why I was upset (one of the few who did it seemed and you should consider promoting her). She transferred me to Ralph who sent me to transfer/hang-up land. I called right back and got Chloe again. I asked her to transfer me to someone other than Ralph because he hung up on me. So she transferred me to Mitch (who is a woman).
My conversation with Mitch started out with her saying that she could see I had called numerous times the day before along with that day. She wanted to know why I wasn't satisfied with what I had been told the previous night. I had been laughed at, implied that I was deadbeat, basically told my son's health isn't that guy's problem (maybe so... But it becomes a problem when you take far more money out of my account than you are entitled to and then treat me like dirt because, I don't know... I want it back so I have money to ensure I can afford his inhaler). I told her he told me to call back in the morning so that's what I was doing. Mitch told me she didn't see the big deal between a $157 payment and a $1,571 payment (for any JCP supervisor who doesn't know simple subtraction it's roughly a $1,400 difference). At first she said I would be issued a $1,200 store credit. I obviously am not happy with this idea because I'm not stepping foot in the store again.
Then she said they could return my money but in total I wouldn't get my money back for three to four weeks. Hummm... You float me a loan for approximately a month and I pay 29% interest. I float you a loan for approximately a month so am I going to get 29% interest on top of that? Oh, silly me... Of course not. Mitch told me to log back onto the JCPenney page, log onto my account and stop the payment in the change/cancel payment section. As if I hadn't thought of that. I told her I would if I could but it wouldn't even show me I made a payment so there was nothing to cancel or change. Then she got snippy and told me to fix it myself. And of all the weekends to have this happen Monday was Presidents day. My husband wanted me to call JCP that day but I said I'd rather beat my head off a brick wall than talk to those people again.
First thing Tuesday I went to my bank and filed the paperwork through them to get my money back. I was told many things at the bank, not the least of which is that they could have cancelled this payment at any time AND that according to JCP I authorized this payment over the phone! The only thing I remember authorizing them to do over the phone was kissing my a$. By that Friday (Feb. 24th) my bank notified me that they took back all but $157.16 as per the payment I authorized. So, you think it ends there? Nope.
I know I still owe $200 plus interest at this point. I log on to the JCP website on March 5th (and no... I won't pay through their website again... Just wanted to check my balance for the total amount due). I have a $1,213.84 credit on my account. Even if I wanted to pay on their site it wouldn't allow me to because they are still saying I have a store credit. I have a good idea what is going on. It's in the neighborhood of a $30 late fee they want. Joke's on you JCP, I paid you through my bank's bill pay. HaHa!!! You got my payment on the 12th so no late fee from me thank you very much! And I was so going to leave it at that until I got a phone call on Friday...
"As a loyal and valued customer at JCP we would like to offer you..." Loyal? Yes, I make purchases at your store and I pay my bill. Valued? I didn't feel too valued when some guy told me if my son had an asthma attack and I couldn't afford to refill his inhaler it was no skin off his back. "What's that baby? You can't breathe? Don't worry, I can buy you a new pair of jeans and get another pair for a penny. Let's go... Momma's getting a new pair of shoes. Stop turning blue and just get in the truck already." Especially when my bank told me JCP could have fixed it that Saturday when it first happend. Valued as in when I use your credit I pay interest but when you take my money I get nothing in return but laughing and a warning for me to tone down my hostility? That poor woman who called me... I went off on her and explained just how "valued" I felt. I apoligized to her on the phone (and again here). What happend wasn't her fault.
But... JCP, don't treat me like crap, offer not a single apology and then have some nobody call me and tell me how "loyal and valuable" I am. If I were that loyal and valuable someone would have called me and said how sorry they were for this whole mess. Maybe sent me an FTD floral arrangment or a fruit basket. Personally, I'd prefer a beta bowl with a peace lily topper (you probably have some of those in your corporate offices). Don't call me or send anything unless it includes an apology.
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