I'm trying to put some pressure on my credit card company

[Underwhere]

History:
I was trying to make a payment before the due date.
I believe the due date was on a Monday. I was trying to make the payment on Friday and well within business hours as I was doing this at work. From memory it was before noontime. (I'm not sure I remember the exact day, but it was absolutely BEFORE the due date). When I went to go make a payment I received an online message saying that my payment would not be applied until after the payment due date unless I paid a $15 fee. I reluctantly paid the fee and wrote my credit card company with my disgust. They refused to refund my fee and I have since paid off the balance and do not intend to put another dime on the card.

Today my girlfriend bought a book about personal finance and it stated that in May 2009 a bill was signed into law that prohibited this practice.

I wrote back to my credit card company just to see what they would say.

Bastards

Dear HSBC representative.
Recently in August I attempted to make a payment before my statement due date. I was notified that there would need to be a rush payment fee in order to have my payment applied before the due date.

I was not happy with this late fee as I was making the payment BEFORE the due date.

I stumbled across legislation passed in May 2009 by US Congress.

H.R. 627 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 explicitly states that the creditor MUST consider the actual payment date made by the obligor to be the actual payment date remitted.
This is in section 202 of this bill which was signed into law in May of 2009.

YOU CHARGED ME $15 for paying my statement earlier than my statement date which seems to be violation of this law.

Please advise on how you would like to proceed with this matter.

[drgrant]

IIRC I don't think that law has gone "live" yet, I think it is due to actually take effect early next year.

Still, you should be able to get them to drop the fee. Tell the CSR that if they don't, that you'll be taking your business elsewhere.

-Mike

[Underwhere]

Originally Posted by drgrant

IIRC I don't think that law has gone "live" yet, I think it is due to actually take effect early next year.

Still, you should be able to get them to drop the fee. Tell the CSR that if they don't, that you'll be taking your business elsewhere.

-Mike

Yeah I read that it will go into affect 9 months after they signed it into law.

Still wanted to write them and see what they would say :)

I'm wondering if they will write back something to the effect of "This law hasn't gone into affect yet and we will not be changing policy until it does"

[hicksonj]

Try a 93A letter, but is $15 worth 3 hours of work and a $6 return receipt letter? I know it is about the principal.

[glide]

Pay the balance. Cancel the card. Take your business elsewhere.

HSBC is the WORST bank out there.

[lord1234]

Originally Posted by glide

Pay the balance. Cancel the card. Take your business elsewhere.

HSBC is the WORST bank out there.

correction, pay balance, do not cancel card, charge a stick of gum to it once a year. Improve your credit.

[Navy Moose]

Originally Posted by glide

Pay the balance. Cancel the card. Take your business elsewhere.

HSBC is the WORST bank out there.

I financed my furniture with them, I got a year free interest. I paid it off a month early, if I had not paid it off the interest would have been 23.99%. Never again with them!

[Underwhere]

Originally Posted by glide

Pay the balance. Cancel the card. Take your business elsewhere.

HSBC is the WORST bank out there.

No balance on the card.
I'm keeping it only for emergencies

Originally Posted by lord1234

correction, pay balance, do not cancel card, charge a stick of gum to it once a year. Improve your credit.

Me charging a stick of gum to it once a year won't improve my credit


Here is their response

We are writing to you in response to your inquiry regarding your Account
ending in XXXX issued by HSBC Bank Nevada N.A.

We can certainly understand your concern regarding the rush payment fee. Our
Rush Payment service has been added as a convenient same day payment option
for our Cardmembers. Although there is a charge of $15.00 for this service,
it frequently helps our Cardmembers avoid late charges. We guarantee payment
will be applied the fastest way possible at a cost that is less than a late
penalty. If you wish to process a Rush Payment, please login to your account
online and click on the Pay My Bill button in the Make a Payment box. In the
Schedule a Payment window, select Rush Payment in Payment Type.

For further assistance, please call the number on the back of your credit card
and our Customer Service Department will be happy to assist you.

You are important to us and we appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

Suresh
HSBC Credit Card Customer Care

It's like they didn't even read my email

[Realtor MA]

If you really want to make a point run up about $10k in bills and then settle with them for about $7k.
Of course you'll kill your credit for several years but it's an option.
Other than that I can't imagine how we can ever 'beat' them.

ps. I wouldn't be surprised if the email you received is automated and as you suggested I seriously doubt anyone read your email.

[Underwhere]

Originally Posted by Realtor MA

If you really want to make a point run up about $10k in bills and then settle with them for about $7k.
Of course you'll kill your credit for several years but it's an option.
Other than that I can't imagine how we can ever 'beat' them.

ps. I wouldn't be surprised if the email you received is automated and as you suggested I seriously doubt anyone read your email.

Last time it took a few iterations back and forth to get a "human" response.
Let's see how long it takes this time.