Thursday, March 24, 2011

Banging My Head On A Table

I made what is quite possibly the most bone headed move I've made in QUITE a while.

I was late on a credit card payment.

Actually, scrap that, I was early on a credit card payment.

I made a payment thinking it would be going towards my March bill, but I didn't pay attention to the date on my billing cycle. The payment actually got posted onto my February bill, leaving my second March payment short of what I actually owed.

I'm kicking myself so hard right now, you have no idea. I've never done this before. Short of racking up my credit card balance, this is the stupidest thing I've ever done with it.

The only reason I noticed anything was wrong was the fact that my minimum payment jumped. It had been below $100 a month for a little while now, and my balance had been steadily decreasing, so when it jumped to $120 I looked at it with my head tilted to the side thinking wtf?

Then I saw the little note at the bottom:

Your account is one payment past due, which may result in account suspension. Please contact the account management centre at 1 888 XXX-XXXX to make payment arrangements.

You want to see my eyes bug out? That did it. I checked my bank records. I checked the credit card's payment history. Sure enough, it was all there, just not where I thought it would be.

I am absolutely livid with myself. This was nothing short of bone headed.

Let this be a lesson for everyone in knowing your payment due dates. Learn from me so you don't have to learn for yourself.

*head desk*

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did that once before, when I called they reversed the charges and the interest.

It might be worth a call

good luck

Judy

Cassie said...

I'll keep an eye out for any charges on the account. I'm pretty sure my minimum payment this month was the payment for this month, plus the portion that wasn't accounted for last month. Thanks for the tip.

Louise said...

oh that really annoys me! I've had it happen a few times, really bugs me!!

target10mil said...

That sucks! I've never been too early before though.

One time I was two days late on making a payment (I spaced it) and so I called to see if they would still take it without penalizing me. Nope.

I got an $80 late fee PLUS around $60 in additional interest. I was absolutely livid. I would have cancelled over that, but at the time that credit card had my highest limit and I was worried about how that would affect my credit rating. I also wanted to have the option to use it in emergencies.

That experience however made me switch all bills / credit cards to autopay. So now I just have it autopay the balance in full. Problem solved! I should hope that your credit card company allows you to sign up for auto pay.

I would be very surprised if your credit card company does not charge you a late fee. But maybe they operate differently in Canada than in the US.

The Asian Pear said...

That sucks. :(