New year - same fiscal farrago

One was to be paid on December 30th and one on January 6th.

Safe in the knowledge that I had met my payment dates I ate, drank and was merry to excess.

It is now 2011 and my next credit card bills arrive. One is about what I expected whilst one is over twice what I expected.

When I look closely I am in arrears - big time, as it appears that my December 30th payment never left my account.

So the fun begins......

Firstly I telephone the credit card company and ask them to check their system as in front of me I have the date the payment was set up and the date payment was due.

The very nice lady checks and assures me that there was nothing on their system.

As this payment was set up no more than 5 minutes before my other card payment for January 6th I know I made the entry.

However that's of no use when I am now in debt to some considerable sum AND, I am informed, likely to see my credit score damaged, AND, by the way, we've blocked your card........

Now my card has been blocked the day I am off to Wales.

The language in my head was a bit fruity.

So I telephone my bank and, eventually, get to speak to someone in India (no surprise there then...) First time I am refused help since, without telling me they've changed the classification of one of my accounts to 'Business' and so, when asked what account type I had, I got it wrong.

Of course they can't let you try again, but you can redial and have another go.

This I did and, this time clearing their checks was able to explain the dilemma.

As I expected this was of no help since, according to the bank I had never made the payment.

Yes they could find the second one I detailed but no record of the first.

And that, as far as the bank is concerned is that.

So back to the credit card people.

Will they let me pay my bill off?

No, of course not.

I can pay some of it but I have to leave some unpaid so they can screw me for more interest.

So I ask for the maximum I can pay and, when told I agree to pay it there and then with my debit card....

Only I'm not allowed to.

They have an idiot level maximum that you can pay by card on the phone.

So back to my on-line banking at 10:30am Friday morning and I pay the maximum the credit card company will take.

This sum of course vanishes out of my account instantly and appears credited to my credit card...... FIVE DAYS LATER ! And of course in the interim I've accrued even more interest, not just on the sum they wouldn't let me pay but also on everything else I've bought since the last accounting date.

What I don't believe is reasonable is the fact that the credit card company let me over run the payment date by 3 weeks without even having bothered to try to find out why I hadn't paid.

And the reason for this? It can only be one thing. The longer I don't pay the more interest they can screw out of me.

Now my whinge isn't about the credit card company in the first place but about the bank whose system clearly dropped my payment.

Yes, in the second place I'm moaning about the credit card company as surely they have a duty to try to get my payment, not just to let it get larger and larger.

So am I contacting their complaints department?

You betcha.

And am I filled with hope?

No way because it's never them who screw up is it? It's always the customer.

Happy New Year.

Oh and as for my card being blocked - who cares - I shredded it. Their loss, not mine.

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