Make sure that your online payments go through!
Used to have NextCard, Merrick Bank bought my account when NextCard folded. I had trouble last fall when I was unable to make a payment to Merrick bank, because I hadn't received anything from them with a payment address, or any new Merrick account information to make a payment online.
They do have a smooth operation, before you can get a latefee reversed, you have to make your account current. This means, paying the disputed fee, then they might consider refunding the latefee, after you pay it, as credit to your account... Oh, yeah, and they charge $10.00 to make a payment over the phone.
Well, I thought I had it figured out when I made my payment online last month for 20. All was well, or so I thought, when I got a call from a computer, asking me to wait for an important call. I usually hang up on these, but was curious what this was about.
When the guy got on and said that my account was overdue, I asked how this could be as I made a payment online last month. He quickly said that I couldn't have, as their system was down last month. I stated again that I went online, made a online payment, did not receive an error. The guy spat out the customer service # and hung up on me.
I now have to check with my bank to see if a payment was made to Merrick Bank last month. Then, I get to pay last month, this month, and the fee, and then Merrick Bank might 'consider' crediting the latefee to my account. I was told that I would get the latefee credited if I made the payment, and when I questioned further, the customer service agent admitted that she could not guarentee that it would be credited, but that she would submit it, and it 'should' be credited.
I did not notice if there was a confirmation number on the website when I made the online payment last month, I pay many of my bills online, and have never had a problem like this. You can bet that I will check for one with my next payment. And I will have to check with my bank to verify that the transaction has gone through. And I will have to make the payment early enough, so that if it doesn't go through again, I will have time to make another payment before I get another latefee.
Gad, I wish I had enough to pay this account off! You can bet that I will make paying this one off my 1st priority!
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