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I’m currently in Chicago on a business trip with the hubby. Taking that into consideration, I asked a few inspirational PF bloggers to write a guest post for me this week. This articles comes to you from Ashley who takes an honest look at family finances over at Wide Open Wallet! Her writing has inspired me and I’m very thankful that she took the time to write up such a great article for me. Thanks, Ashley! Without further ado…
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If you have a credit card chances are you’ve gotten a late fee. I consider myself pretty organized when it comes to my bills, but even I’ve paid a late fee in my life. Once was when I moved cross country. It was three weeks of chaos and some things fell through the cracks. Another time I made a mistake paying online and it didn’t get paid when I thought it did. So you know, life happens and sometimes you get a fee. If you follow my dos and don’ts of getting your fee reversed you probably will be able to get that late fee removed. Great! But then what? What does that mean exactly?
What it does mean…
Your balance is reduced by the amount of the fee. Let’s say you get your statement and you see there is late fee of $35 and your new balance is $535. You call and receive a credit for the late fee, so now your balance is $500 before you’ve made your payment.
The bank is making money off of you. If the bank is willing to waive a fee then that means they are getting money from you in another way. Maybe it’s because you have your mortgage with them, or that you have a lot of money in savings. If so, then great. But if it’s because you are carrying a large balance on your credit card, then not so great.
What it doesn’t mean…
Your minimum payment is reduced. Your minimum payment is calculated with the late fee included and that doesn’t change because you’ve been issued a credit. If you don’t pay the payment as listed on your statement then you will incur another fee. If you’re not sure about this then ask while you have customer service on the phone. But when in doubt, pay what is listed on your statement.
You were never late. Your payment was late, nothing can change that. If it was late enough to be reported to your credit then it still will be, fee or no fee. Issuing a credit for the fee is not forgiveness of the mistake, it’s just a courtesy.
