It pays to be persistent

Dear J and Prime,

I want to share with you a lesson your mommy learned today. And even though you guys are still young, but the lesson still applies to you.

I'm not sure what happened last month but I did not receive 2 of my credit card statements. So imagine your mommy's surprise when I got hit with late charges and finance charges (extra fees). So I called one credit card company and they said, I would have to pay the extra fees and bring my account up to date before they can reverse the additional fees. So I did and called them back and they without saying anything else, reversed those fees and gave me a credit ($ back).

So when I received the 2nd bill which also had extra fees because I didn't pay (because I didn't receive), I just paid the extra fees and then called them back and asking them to do the same thing for me - to reverse the additional fee (give me my money back).

But this lady said if I wanted to dispute the extra charges, I should have called them earlier and since I already paid, she can't reverse it. So I told her the reason I waited to call was because of my experience with another company. Then she said okay, she will reverse the late fee. And I said, what about the finance charge. First she was giving me a hard time again, saying she is not going to but I told her this is the first time and if she looked at my credit history, she will find I always paid on time before. Finally she said okay, saying she can tell I will keep going if she doesn't and she gave your mommy all the fees back. :)

Anyway, I just want to share this experience with you so that both of you learn that sometimes you have to put up a fight and be determined and persistent. Of course, make sure you fight for what is right and also learn from your mistakes.

I think after these 2 incidents I'm going to keep a closer eye or maybe sign up for on-line statements so that I will not have this problem again.

All my love,
mommy