Question
Some weeks back I closed my NW Visa card issued by US Bank Visa. The letter I received to confirm that the account was closed also contained the interesting tidbit about their decision to "continue accepting charges posted to your account."
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? The extra fun in this of course is that now that a merchant did post a charge (though I had given them a different card to use), I also have a $2.50 closed account management fee.
And just to add a bit of extra fun to the whole affair, the statement arrived on the same day it was due, so according to US Bank I also owe finance charges.
Curious to know who else might have had a similar experience, and how/if it was resolved.
Sebastien
Answer
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by SMessier:
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? The extra fun in this of course is that now that a merchant did post a charge (though I had given them a different card to use), I also have a $2.50 closed account management fee.
I had a closed account charged once. The charge was an unauthorised charge from a hotel in San Francisco. (They'd tried making the charge once before and the bank reversed it, so they thought they'd try again a few months later!) I told the bank it was unauthorised, and that they were stupid to keep accepting payments on a closed account anyway.
I had a positive version of this happen recently. Some bonus points on my Qantas Telstra Visa failed to appear in 1999, just before I closed the account. They claimed at the time that the Telstra transaction didn't qualify for them, so I didn't worry too much about it. Well, a few weeks ago, they suddenly credited the bonus points to my account, raised a new rewards statement, etc!
Of course, they weren't smart enough to transfer them somewhere sensible, so I had to phone them to get them to do that.
Answer
I first learned about this when I closed a credit card over the phone. The rep told me that we could "re-activate" the card anytime during the next six months simply by using it. To say I was surprised is an understatement. Now when I close credit card accounts I make sure and stipulate that I want the account closed and no charges are to be accepted against the account. I always put this in writing. I haven't had any problems with charges after closing the accounts.
Answer
Well you better believe it! I once closed my Discover account and bam! I got charges from Hell!!!! In fact after 5-6 months I received a huge bill from Discovery with those hefty finance charges. Of course I fought and won, but the case of getting charges is very common these days especially with Discover
Answer
Well, I did at least manage, on the 3rd phone call and 4th person I talked to, to have the administrative fee waived and I paid the charge that had posted.
However, I now need to call to see what, if any, finance charges have been added on there as a result of my "late payment."
Answer
When you close any account, also tell them that you lost the card and believe it may have been stolen. Send them a ltr/fax saying the same. After they mark a card lost/stolen they should not accept any charges at all and, in any case, you will not be liable for future charges.
Answer
Resolution was simpler than I had feared. In spite of the "late" payment no penalties were billed. In fact, my next statement showed a credit of $2.50 as they waived the closed account fee twice... Being the nice guy that I am, I called and told them they didn't need to send me a check anyway.
But the lost card thing is definitely a good idea the next time around...