OMG -- Definitely Don't Want To Use CC Anymore!

[momtosam]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

 

[wvjules]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

I don't understand what one has to do with the other?

 

[chimilady]

me neither. It sounds like you need to figure out your online banking better.

 

[ccgirl]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

Did the money actually come out of your account to pay? I watch my accounts like a hawk. I am on there at least twice a day. I often use bill pay and have never had an issue. Being late on a credit card is not the credit cards fault. They will not raise you to the default rate unless you are late two months in a row. I always liken this to...would you wait two months past the date you were supposed to get your paycheck?

 

[Hoodie]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

It wasn't Suntrust by any chance? I have never had an issue with online bill pay but I set up 2 to come out a couple of weeks ago and it was never processed. Thankfully I log in to my accounts a couple of times a week and knew when they were supposed to be paid so I noticed that they weren't sent. My account had no record of me scheduling the payments. I just recommend giving a week or so leeway in the payment dates and logging in every day to make sure the payment went through!

 

[momtosam]

I don't understand what one has to do with the other?

My thinking is pay in cash and there is no chance of mistakes.

me neither. It sounds like you need to figure out your online banking better.

I defintely agree! DH and I will be on this pronto. I posted a long time ago about my bank's online features. Many times when I log-in my account info isn't even up to date.

Did the money actually come out of your account to pay? I watch my accounts like a hawk. I am on there at least twice a day. I often use bill pay and have never had an issue. Being late on a credit card is not the credit cards fault. They will not raise you to the default rate unless you are late two months in a row. I always liken this to...would you wait two months past the date you were supposed to get your paycheck?

The money never came out.

It wasn't Suntrust by any chance? I have never had an issue with online bill pay but I set up 2 to come out a couple of weeks ago and it was never processed. Thankfully I log in to my accounts a couple of times a week and knew when they were supposed to be paid so I noticed that they weren't sent. My account had no record of me scheduling the payments. I just recommend giving a week or so leeway in the payment dates and logging in every day to make sure the payment went through!

It wasn't Suntrust, but what you're describing is exactly what happened to me.

 

[clutter]

I try to avoid my bank's bill paying feature and use the vendor's website to pay. I think I use the bank system only for trash and water since they don't have their own system. One advantage is that you get an email from the vendor confirming that you've arranged the payment. The process is usually easier as well. One time, I actually thought I was done one time and it turned out I'd missed on last button to push on the bank system. Oops. Another time, my bank messed up my payments to Verison Wireless and Verizon. Paid both to the same vendor, so I was late on one. Nope, I go to the vendor's website now, if they have one!

I use online banking at work. We had been using a smallish bank that was bought by a smaller one. They used the smaller one's online banking program. It's awful. Large national banks will invest the capital to provide a decent online package, smaller banks will not, in my experience.

 

[POOHsie]

You posted that just paying cash ensures no mistakes. Maybe so, but running around town, waiting in lines, is time-consuming, and you actually could miss a payment deadline if something else comes up the day you planned to make your payment. That's happened to me in the "old days."

The day after my online payments were scheduled, I check that they went through or are pending. A few days after, I check that a debit has been made to my account. If there's no debit showing, I backtrack to ensure that a mistake hadn't been made. I double- and triple-check the online transactions I make. That's all you need to do, and it's way quicker than paying monthly bills with cash.

 

[seashoreCM]

Did you push the wrong keys on your computer or did the bank make the mistake?

Even if you pushed the wrong buttons and the payment did not go through and you got a late fee, that is not an excuse to stop using credit cards.

There are so many benefits of credit cards (including airline points in some cases) and so many problems with debit cards that it is a good idea to keep some credit card accounts open.

After paying on line, check your email for confirmation, and/or check your bank or credit card website for evidence that the transaction went through.

 

[mhambrick]

Wouldn't you rather them to call you and let you know your account's past due rather than them not call, and maybe you don't realize it's past due and get reported to the credit bureau as delinquent?

 

[scrapquitler]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

It sounds more like a problem with your bank than a credit card issue. The bank messing up and not paying the online bills could happen with any bills, not just those for credit cards (things like the phone bill, the gas company, etc could have the same issue because of the banks problem).


And I've never heard of any company sending someone to collections for one missed payment...usually you'd get the next months bill and it would say "PAST DUE, PLEASE REMIT $XX.XX immediately" precisely because sometimes things cross in the mail and things like that.

You should probably call the bank and find out if they have had issues with their system recently. If it turns out that they see it was definitely their fault, you can probably have them write a letter stating that to the companies that were unpaid. It won't make that much difference, but it might get a late fee removed for you, and it will at least make you feel a little better that they know it wasn't your fault they weren't paid last month. Be aware that the bank might not be willing to do this, but it can't hurt to ask.

 

[Planogirl]

I find it hard to believe that three separate payments didn't go through. What's up with this bank?

I don't see how any credit cards are responsible for this...

 

[PrincessDadx2]

One of the big third party bill pay providers had a glitch on March 22nd. Payments did not go through for PNC and sounds like Suntrust, probably others.

If your payments were in this time frame you need to get your bank to make you whole. They should refund any late fees and clear your credit.

 

[marie1203]

So wait you didn't check all the payments came out from the bank account? I think the answer is not stop using cc but start checking your accounts more often.

 

[Marionnette]

This morning I was woken up by a call from a bill collector ! It turns out it was somewhat of a mistake. Somehow I arranged to pay three separate bills online last month and NONE of them went through. (I have to call the bank today and see what happened there -- the money WAS in the account -- UGH!) Anyway, after missing one payment, one company already put me on the list for a past due phone call. It scared the crap out of me and I know I don't want this to ever happen again. Definitely getting rid of the CC's!!

Credit cards don't turn accounts over to collections for one late payment unless you are under a debt forgiveness agreement.

And they are not permitted to call at ungodly hours.

Something is not adding up. But it is your choice whether you use credit cards or not. I just find that this reason is a little weak.

 

[Judique]

Wouldn't you rather them to call you and let you know your account's past due rather than them not call, and maybe you don't realize it's past due and get reported to the credit bureau as delinquent?

I absolutely agree with this. Back when I was writing checks to pay bills many moons ago, I got the call. Checked my ledger and I had paid the bill. After checking with the bank, the check had not been cashed.
I failed to notice.

Next step was a hefty fee which was waived and an immediate credit card over the phone payment to clear the delinquent account.

And later, I found the check in the envelop complete with stamp. It had fallen behind a piece of furniture, and wasn't discovered until the furniture was moved for cleaning.

The call saved me fees because they waived them due to my good payment history. It alerted me to take care of business.

 

[DisneyEater]

Credit cards don't turn accounts over to collections for one late payment unless you are under a debt forgiveness agreement.

And they are not permitted to call at ungodly hours.

Something is not adding up. But it is your choice whether you use credit cards or not. I just find that this reason is a little weak.

They can start calling at 8am and some companies will absolutely call for one late payment. Most credit card companies don't need to "turn over" accounts to collections. They have in house collections that they use first and only turn your account over to outside collections companies after they have charged-off the account and are just looking to recover a % of the loss.

 

[Judique]

Credit cards don't turn accounts over to collections for one late payment unless you are under a debt forgiveness agreement.

And they are not permitted to call at ungodly hours.

Something is not adding up. But it is your choice whether you use credit cards or not. I just find that this reason is a little weak.

When I first read the OP's post I had a similar thought. But then it occurred to me that perhaps the OP was referring to store cards. I've heard lots of people use the term 'put the card away' when they get carried away at Macy's or Nordstrom or Sears or Kmart or whatever. They are not really swearing off using credit cards, just trying to be careful to keep things in check in a particular area.

 

[Green Tea]

I had been reading this and being very pro Suntrust Billpay but have found an issue with my Suntrust account over the weekend. I love the Billpay and pay all from the ST website once a month. Most billers can be paid electronically but local merchants and services are paid by a check they print and mail at their expense. I noticed a check they wrote posted twice to my account. Same check, same merchant, deducted twice. It was small so it didn't matter, but that has me worried now about how good their system is......

 

[NYCDiane]

I wouldn't blame credit cards or banks for this problem. YOU are responsible for making sure your payments go through. I always check mine. I check my account at least twice a day to make sure 1. that payments/debits have gone through and 2. to make sure there's no unauthorized activity.

If your bank doesn't update debits instantly, you need to find another bank. I have TD and I can have my account online in front of me, make a phone payment to my cable company using debit and it will show immediately (before I even hand up the phone). As for CC and other pmts? The companies I pay to usually update overnight so they will show up the next business day.