Of course, I paid an over limit fee. No problem, it was my bad. I sent in my payment earlier this month. Because I'm one of those dorks who sometimes can pay no more than my minimum payment on my card, said payment covered the minimum due, plus the amount I was over limit. By all rights, all should be well now and I should be about $60 below limit. Keep in mind that I paid what Household asked me for on my statement. I've run an account or two over limit before; I know how these things work. Since Household received my payment five days in advance of it's due date there really should no longer be an issue.

That was before I called their customer service line and found out that I am still $8 over my limit. Huh? How can that be? They just posted my payment on 10/18.

After talking to two people in their supposed "customer service" department, I sent the following letter to the e-mail address posted under the "contact us" tab on their web site:

"I have a Mastercard with Household. My last payment was due on 10/23; you received mine on 10/18. I sent enough to cover my minimum payment plus the amount I was over my limit. With any other company, I would be back on track now. However, before you received my payment, I was charged another over limit fee. Therefore I am still $8 over my credit limit. In addition, I am being told by Bernadette in your so-called �customer service� dept. that because finance charges will asses on November 7, I may well be charged ANOTHER over limit fee before I even get my next bill! YOUR UNFAIRLY TIMED FEE TOOK ME OVER MY LIMIT AGAIN AND YOU WANT TO CHARGE ME MORE FEES AS A RESULT! Of course, my immediate reaction when told this was to cancel my account, but I am also told that if I do so before I pay it off, I'll be charged an extra $3.50 each month!

"I know that these fees are outlined in my disclosure. I know that I could avoid the extra fee by sending in my payment before I get my statement. I just don�t see why I should have to.

"I understand over limit and late fees, when FAIRLY ASSESSED. The timing of yours is a rip-off. I don't need to work with a company which is obviously intent on ripping off their customers. Also, calling them a 'customer service' department is a joke. That department�s lack of service was appalling. Customer Screwing Department would be more accurate.

"Many of your competitors actually value their customers and treat them fairly. Rest assured that I will pay my account in full next month and it will then be closed. I will take my business elsewhere and you can direct your rip-off scams at some other poor idiot. In fact, I also finance my car through Household. Once I finish this e-mail, I am calling my credit union in order to refinance that loan, as well.

"I hope the few bucks you got out of this scam were worth it."

And I mean every word. I have worked for credit card companies before, actually, and have heard of many sly ways to add on fees while hoping your customer won't notice or at the least won't say anything about it. I can't believe they would add an additional fee after sending my statement, telling me what is due. And then they add that fee in the midst of the billing cycle, before they even give me the chance to get them my payment! Even had I been able to pay the account in full, I would still have a balance due to that stinkin fee!

And to top it off, if I DARE close my account because of my frustration, well they'll just find other, new ways to screw me until my balance is paid off - they'll squeeze an extra $3.50 out of me each month! UNREAL!

Believe me when I tell you that I started out being reasonable. That nice attitude just didn't last long after being told by two different people that basically I should just bend over, smile and like it because nothing's gonna change, even though my argument makes complete sense.

Oh...I see...so long as you tell people by way of your disclosure letter that you're going to be ripping them off, it's OK that you're doing it...

Sorry, but I disagree. I'm agitated all over again, now that I'm re-thinking the situation. I've already got the auto loan refinance going.

I think what really gets me is that they obviously just screw people who don't have enough money to pay their balances in full. Hey - we already don't have any money! We don't need you to compound the problem by assesing unfair fees. It's like all of those banks who won't charge you fees if you have $10,000 on deposit with them, but if you're just another poor slob who has $300 in your savings account (*ahem* not that I know anybody like that) they're going to charge you fees up the ying-yang.

As the song said: "The rich get richer, the poor are gettin' poorer"...except the song says it in Johnny Lydon's English accent.

Karen does not like to be mistreated; she does not like unfairness and she really hates lousy customer service.

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