I bought a house and moved earlier this year. In the process moving, my wife filled out the change address info on the back of our credit card statement we sent in from our old address (our last month there). I also called the customer service number to speak with them about a copy of my latest statement (which I needed to show my debt ratio for closing). During that phone call I also provided information for our change of address.
We have now been in our new house for several months and have never received a new statement. Initially I was not concerned, because we paid off nearly all of our credit card debt in the process of buying our new house. I received a phone call yesterday saying that I was five months past due. I explained that I had never received a statement and that I had called to change my address but they had no record of my phone call, and also said that they had not received a change of address with our payment. They also said that they had called me several times (on our old home number which had a recording of our new number). They never called our new number or my cell phone before yesterday. They also said that they could not forward our statement even though our mail was forwarded to our new house for six months.
Am I responsible for the late fees and interest since this is their fault? How should I go about resolving this issue? I am prepared to pay off the original debt that we had not paid yet, but I don't think that I should have to account for the fees. What should I do?
Write a carefully documented letter to the heads of the bank departments involved, explaining how you believe the bank erred and caused this problem. Indicate that you're prepared to pay off the accounts in full, but would like the bank to assume responsibility for fees. Also, ask the bank to cooperate in correcting whatever late payment information it may have sent to credit bureaus.
If you aren't satisfied with the response, escalate your case to the CEO of the bank, enclosing copies of your earlier correspondence (and any replies). If that isn't successful, write to the bank's regulator's consumer complaint division.
Never rely on a simple address change request to be completed on time and as requested. Verify in some way that your request "took." This may be done by looking online (if access is available), or simply waiting a month and calling to verify it has been processed.
Keep track of when you receive credit card statements, particularly those for cards you regularly use. If you miss a monthly statement by more than three or four days, get on the phone right away to find out why, and request a copy.
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Write a carefully documented letter to the heads of the bank departments involved, explaining how you believe the bank erred and caused this problem. Indicate that you're prepared to pay off the accounts in full, but would like the bank to assume responsibility for fees. Also, ask the bank to cooperate in correcting whatever late payment information it may have sent to credit bureaus.