Waived Goodbye to Late Fee
I received my Discover Card statement and dang! I paid 2 days late and they hit me with a $19.00 late fee. I knew I paid late. It was my own fault. Last month on the 21st, I accessed my statement on-line and saw the due date was the 19th. For years, my due date was the 23rd and I still have that date stuck in my brain. Like many credit card bills, the time in which to pay had been moved up.
My new statement arrived in the mail and while reviewing my charges for the next pay period, I saw that $19.00 late fee. I checked my old statements. The due date change had occurred months earlier. Double dang!
I decided to call Discover Card anyway. The customer service rep, Henry, was super polite. I was too, as I took responsibility for paying late and told him after years of being a customer I still had the old due date in my head. I asked that he waive the fee and he agreed. We discussed a few other points related to changing the date and paying on-line. Afterward I gave Henry top marks on the phone survey that followed our call.
Thanks to Discover Card for properly training Henry in customer service and for empowering him to help me without hesitation. You don’t ask, you don’t get!
Author/speaker Janet F. Williams is a high-end sales professional, sales trainer and coach for personal and professional development. She speaks on topics contained in her award-winning book “You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get” to businesses, networking groups, non-profits, book clubs and more. For more information or to buy the book, please visit: www.JanetFWilliams.com and www.GoodDayMedia.com.
You are so right Janet! You always have to ask…more times than not we just don’t take the time or “have the time.” But you must make the time.
Bi-annually I call up my two credit card companies, and ask for my card percentage to be lowered. Although I have fairly low percentages, it’s always worth the try. I have only once moved a credit card to another – due to the lack of customer service.
Thanks for your post Janet!
Happened to me with Chevron. Was the first credit card I ever got back in 1972. They were very nice about it as well and changed it back to where it was before. Yep, never hurts to ask.
$19 phone call that took perhaps 10 minutes of your time? That’s earning at the rate of $114 per hour. Nice work, if you can get it, and for this instance, you did. Well done.
yes calling and talking does a world of good! ~ Hilary