By far the best solution is to set up procedures so 1. you don't "screw up" and 2. if you do they won't have large consequences.

So I have all the bills possible set up for autopay by pull from the original creditor. For the rest of the bills I immediately pay when I receive them (setting them aside can result in you forgetting about them).

For my primary checking account I have email alerts set up so that I receive notices when my account balance is below amount X (so I can add more money if needed) or above Y (so I can transfer excess to interest paying accounts).

I think it is essential to have financial redundancy: so if your wallet is stolen you have a backup card which wasn't in the wallet. Or if a bank account or credit card is frozen you have alternative payment mechanisms.

fatcool said:One more thread to burry all the importatnt discussion.

When this thread blocks the next dozen, "help me!!! I screwed up and don't want to pay1" it will pay for itself.

People said the same thing about the "flame free zone" and how many hundred or thousands of threads did that prevent from being started?

SS7Man said:Always be persistent. I have fought many late fees. Blame it on something. Blame you never got your statement. Blame it to this new "e-statement" thing. Blame the USPS. Blame it on the ACH/debit e-payment system.

You're saying people should lie to get what they want. That's low-class, man. You're the reason CSRs don't treat customers like they should, and no one should consider following your advice.

I don't know if this is the right thread but here it goes:

How often do you find a promo BT rate that hits you with a default interest rate from the beginning of the date of the first BT? I have always known that the rate will generally start from the beginning of the new statement but never from the date of the BT. Just curious.

Alright, I think this is the best place to throw this question, so here goes (warning, long post):

Late in 2005, I received a notice from a collection agency regarding some amount of money owed to a property mananagement company I was renting an apartment from in my college days. I validated the claim and immediately paid it off. They received my money order and faxed something to my former roommate (who was also on the account) and said they would take care of the credit report. Case closed... I thought.

Fast forward to June of this year: I'm married, and me and the wife are trying to get a place to live. While in that process, we find out that the account is still active. I contact the old property manager, and in their communication with the collection agency tell me that the collection agency sees that we've paid for the account and will try again to pull the account off my report. Case closed... I thought.

Fast forward again to Now: I applied for a credit card and was rejected... I used the opportunity to pull up a free credit report and saw that this account is still on my report and active... after contacting the collection agency, they're saying they have no record of me ever paying the amount and that unless I can prove I paid this off in 2005, they're going to keep that account active. Since 2005 and that first letter, no action has been taken by the collection agency to get in contact with me to collect...

Unfortunately for me, I can't get the fax from my roommate regarding the payment of the account, and I feel like I'm stuck having to pay the amount Again if I want this clear from my credit report.... I'm just wondering if anyone's had this sort of experiance before and how they took care of it, or if any gurus out there have any advice

TIA, sorry for the long post.
Wyvern

EricGo07 said:
For those people who pay bills manually -- how do you convince yourself a bill is not lost or missing ? What have you set up in case you are not around ?

Paying most of my bills (utility not CC) automatically. I still follow that the payment appear on my accounts when they should but it's true that without good bookeeping (Quicken) it'd be easy to consider things on autopilot and not keep track of them. Never had a problem pulling from my checking though.

But there are a few things where autopayment cannot be done. For that, I use bill payment from my bank. If their check doesn't make it on time, it's their fault and they have in the agreement something about paying extra costs that would result from their mistake. I set the bill payment check to arrive a couple of days before the due date anyway so that if the bank messes up, it usually won't be by too long, if post office is slowed down, it won't be by much either and if I don't see the check appearing when it should, I can still do something about it in the next couple of days.

Same with CC companies. For the cards I have activity on, I have alerts in Outlook calendar 5 days in advance and then the day before if somehow I still didn't take care of it. It's impractical for me with income stream (weekly pay) to have all my payments lined up the same day so calendar helps me keep track of them.

In one case, I was out of the country for 3 weeks. I had setup all the bills I remembered about ahead of time but had forgotten my yearly life insurance policy. Ended up not paying on time by a couple of days. I just called them and explained the situation. Since I had made payments on time for the last 5 years, they didn't blink and said it'd be no problem since it had not been reported yet and policy had not been cancelled yet.

Same for my pay-as-you-go cell phone minutes. I tried to add to my account a day before they expired but somehow it didn't register the payment. So two days after they had expired, I noticed my balance wasn't right. Called them and they reinstated most of them. They didn't have to and it's not like they're making a lot off me considering my usage but a phone call explaining the situation and mentioning that I had not switched provider in 3 years helped getting me back on track.

So just calling, apologizing, explaining your circumstances, staying civil but insistant and pleading a blonde moment usually works to fix things. Reminding them that you've been a decent customer - well if you have been - and could look elsewhere for your business also adds extra incentive. Meeting them halfway also works wonder when you've clearly messed up.

SUCKISSTAPLES said: Many banks and creditors extend "one time" courtesy waivers to keep you a happy customer.

I had to use this recently. I typically transfer a bit into an online saving account each month. I ended up adding an extra zero to the amount and put nearly our entire Wells Fargo checking account into savings with HSBC. I missed this somehow even though I obviously confirmed the amount to go.

The next day after all the purchases I made went through I saw had negative in the checking account after 10 transactions. I was in shock and immediately covered it with the small amount we have in a WF savings. I thought all might be ok, but at the end of the day all the late charges came in and I was back down to nothing in the account after $34x10 in fees. Thing is they structured the charges so it the most expensive one came first then all the cheap ones, even though that was not the order I made the purchases, the SNEAKY BASTAGES. Otherwise I would have had only 2 overdrafts.

So I called WF and they said they would waive 3 fees - or do an investigation. I said it was my screw up and I guess I'd take the 3, but the lady said she would do the investigation anyway. Next thing I know they reversed the xfer to HSBC saying it was 'unauthorized' and erased all the fees. Yes!

I was pretty happy - until I got locked out from my HSBC account - they were not happy. So after trying to call and get it fixed I finally found I had to speak to a specific account security person in the US after dealing with the difficult overseas customer service, which wasn't fun. After spending hours on the phone every few days and a few weeks of their 'investigating', two months later I was finally able to use my HSBC account and move my money to another online savings account.

With my 0% BTs I have missed one payment so far. Called the CC (BOA) & they gave me the one-time "we'll let you keep your 0% rate" courtesy. It was easy, took maybe 5 minutes. It was emphasized they wouldn't let me do it again. I still had to pay the late fee, but as SIS says, it was probably for the best, I wanted to stay on their good side.

One thing not mentioned, for all your non-0% CCs where you plan on paying it all off, but would like to wait until the last minute to pay, here is what I do. Make a minimum payment online right away, then pay the remainder right before its due. In case something happens where I miss the remaining payment, at least I won't get a "late payment" mark on my credit report. This is also the way to make your last payment for a 0% BT.

Best thing I ever did was to open a high yield checking account that pays more than any savings account, and to set up my chase cards to automatically pull the minimum payment therefrom. All of my cash is there so the balance is always good. My minimum payments are ALWAYS made on time. It does not matter if Chase changes a due date because chase is the one that makes the payment. I have it set to "minimum" payment for my 0% offers, and "pay in full" on my purchase card. And, that way, if I forget to pay the bill with my Bank of America card, it is automatically taken care of between Chase and my Checking account.

I never ever have to worry about transferring money to my checking account.
I never ever have to worry about missing a payment to Chase.

And speaking of chase, always send an E-mail a few months before an offer expires if you don't have one already printed out, asking, "Please tell me the date by which I must pay my bill in full so that I do not have to pay any interest. I need an actual date, and not a formula that tells me how to "calculate" the date. Thank you."

PhrugalPhan said:With my 0% BTs I have missed one payment so far. Called the CC (BOA) & they gave me the one-time "we'll let you keep your 0% rate" courtesy. It was easy, took maybe 5 minutes. It was emphasized they wouldn't let me do it again. I still had to pay the late fee, but as SIS says, it was probably for the best, I wanted to stay on their good side.

One thing not mentioned, for all your non-0% CCs where you plan on paying it all off, but would like to wait until the last minute to pay, here is what I do. Make a minimum payment online right away, then pay the remainder right before its due. In case something happens where I miss the remaining payment, at least I won't get a "late payment" mark on my credit report. This is also the way to make your last payment for a 0% BT.

you have to be more then 30 days late before it will show up on your credit report