Getting A Credit Card Late Fee Removed

Posted by The Happy Rock on November 10, 2008

That’s right, even someone who has a great 5 year track record with credit cards can occasionally make a mistake. This past weekend I submitted an electronic bill pay request for my credit card that was due on Monday. Normally I pay my bills well in advance, but rewards of financial simplicity have started to set in and I only have three bills to pay at the end the month which has dulled my watchfulness. I knew that the payment should take two days to get there, but I just overlooked that for some stupid reason.

Other than carrying a balance this is exactly the type of thing rewards credit cards thrive on and exactly the type of thing that can make having a rewards card quickly not worth it. The fee was $39, which was pretty ridiculous and it was charged instantly without any grace period.

Once I noticed the charged I quickly emailed Chase through there customer support center asking for grace.

Here is the email I sent :

I am writing to request the removal of a late fee that I was charged this month. I sent out an online bill pay before the due date, but it didn’t seem to arrive on time.

Please provide a loyal customer grace and remove the fee.

Thanks

They promptly responded and removed the fee, no questions asked. Chase said I was a valued customer and removed it as a one time courtesy. I wouldn’t expect them to do that too many more times, so I will make sure that I don’t make the same mistake again.

Just remember that everything is negotiable, especially with credit card companies.

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» Filed Under Credit Cards

Trackbacks/Pings

Roundup: The Economy and Holiday Shopping | Credit and Personal Finance Blog | Credit Karma on November 16th, 2008 7:21 am
Credit Card Late Fees With Chase Freedom - One Strike Down | The Happy Rock on December 9th, 2008 1:28 am
Removing Finance Charges From My Chase Freedom Credit Card | The Happy Rock on February 16th, 2009 8:26 am

Comments

18 Responses to “Getting A Credit Card Late Fee Removed”

Mike (3 comments.) on November 10th, 2008 1:12 pm

I have called and had this fee removed from both Citi and Chase without problems, but I have only made this mistake once for each credit card issuer.
John @ Curious Cat Investing Blog (10 comments.) on November 23rd, 2008 6:47 pm

Asking is always wise. I had a similar experience. I always pay on time but messed up once and they removed the late fee when I called. There are plenty of companies that want your business if they don’t treat you fairly don’t hesitate to leave.
Geoff on December 18th, 2008 12:58 pm

I called to remove a first time late fee for a Chase credit card and was told that they cannot remove it. I even talked with the supervisor. Then I emailed Chase customer service and got a similar response. Any advice?
Shaw (3 comments.) on February 21st, 2009 8:55 am

It depends upon different companies i believe because i got charged for late fee and you got late fee removed , i tried by calling to customer service but there was no use.
Sharon (2 comments.) on February 22nd, 2009 6:31 am

if you do happen to get a late fee, often if you call and request them to waive it for you, they will (provided you don’t make a habit of it). They will probably remind you to mail your payment out at least 10 days before it is due because of the postal time and then the company’s own processing time- so be sure to tell them you mailed it out well in advance of the due date.
Lyndsey (3 comments.) on February 24th, 2009 2:23 am

Under the circumstances I’d have expected an entire late fee to be waived, especially if you really never have had one late before. On the handful of occasions over the years I’ve been late, I’ve usually gotten the whole fee waived. But sometimes they’ve only given half. But it’s been a while – they might have tightened up.

One thing you can do, though, is set up an automatic payment of the minimum payment to be pulled on the due date every month. Cheap insurance.
florida on August 8th, 2009 3:40 pm

my situation is that i had 5 days until due date.
and so instead of mailing and taking the chance of it being late, i went online and created account to have it paid from checking account. weeks later, I get note saying that account has not been paid and there was a $40 late fee and $40 of some bounce-back fee and rep told me that the checking account number was entered wrong. I told him that an automatic email came through so I didn’t think anything of the transaction having any discrepancies until after it was brought to my attention with the late charges.

2 seperate phone calls to customer service and supervisor is still not removing any fees.
I asked for a courtesy removal and they told me it is a myth, bull sh%^.

I asked to look over my account for any late payments, they said this year I did not have any of that……what else can I do.
The Happy Rock (336 comments.) on August 9th, 2009 10:46 pm

@Florida,

You have two choices. Call back again and again until they do something. Call their bluff on the courtesy removal, because they do that often.

Or

Threaten to cancel and actually cancel. If they don’t treat you well, then in my opinion they don’t really want you as a customer.
VUD on September 11th, 2009 2:22 pm

I had a similar “courtesy removal” when my Citi account was sold to CHASE and I miss-entered my payment date in the change-over in my computer software. However, about 8 months later…

This morning, I noticed a $39 late payment (and a $5.92 finance charge) on my most recent bill.

I accrued this because my last bill was due on a Sunday and they received the funds the following day, a Monday. I was told they DO NOT remove late fees. The guy actually seemed EAGER to cancel my card. I am what they would call a “Dead-Beat customer”…I pay my bill in full every month so I suspect they are looking for excuses to drop customers like me.

My solution: I immediatly cut up the card. I may or may NOT cancel the card…but I definetly WON’T be using it again…I will pay only what I feel I owe them. The rest is up to them….it was a great 8 years while it lasted.
James Mason on September 22nd, 2009 9:03 am

Same experience as VUD. Called Chase, talked to supervisor, no dice after mis-entering my amount on my billpay. Cancelled the account, which there was not even an attempt to talk me out of it.
The Happy Rock (336 comments.) on September 25th, 2009 8:03 pm

@VUD and James Mason

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like Chase continues to need some new customer service lessons. I had heard a bunch of people talk about their experiences before I signed up, but I was willing to give it a try. If they treat me similar to you guys next time, I will most likely be gone too!
Renee in MA on October 15th, 2009 2:25 pm

I just had to write, because their is HOPE ! I just went through the same experience with my chase credit card payment being late, which had a due date on this past holiday, 10/12/09. They stated they recieved it on the 14th, blah, blah, blah, Late Fee charged $39.99. I had used the so called Myth courtesy removal method with my capital one, (mind you I am never late with a payment either) but Chase customer service stated they no longer do such a thing, and gave me a fax # and told me to put my request in writing and fax, they were also robotic and their tone, to me seemed judgemental? Anyway, I was complaining to my girlfriend, and she told me not to fret, you just call their corporate office, and they remove it ASAP, no Problem! I’m not fooling, even if you forgot to send payment, hence Courtesy removal of late fee lives! Here is the Tel.# 1-888-622-7547 ext.6814, that’s the ext. I called, but I think their are others as well. A very nice women looked up account and no questions asked, took the $39 late fee off and any finance charges that may have accrued. She did ask me where I got her number, and I just simply stated on line. So to all those people who denied their late charge removal, this is for you! Good luck, and just go over those unsypathetic drone like customer service reps and call the corporate office. Sincerely, Renee in MA
Renee in MA on October 15th, 2009 2:33 pm

The other two Chase Credit Card Corporate Tel. #
she gave me are: 713-262-3866 & 1-800-242-7399
best of luck to all. Renee in MA
The Happy Rock (336 comments.) on October 19th, 2009 2:59 pm

@Renee – Thanks for the info, hopefully it will help a few others and hopefully I won’t ever have to use it.
McDougall on June 29th, 2010 9:51 am

Victory!
Thank you Renee! After being unsuccessful with customer service, I called the numbers you posted. I wasn’t able to reach anyone until I called the 1800 number, but they then connected me to the person with the first number. She was very nice, and cleared up the late fee and interest fee. I was nice and polite and she was nice and polite, and it all worked out in the end:).