sticking it to the man
Sep. 14th, 2011 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drunkoffthestarsI feel like a Ninja Bad-ass, but also kind of like a dumbfuck, because I managed to fuck up so many bill payments this month, particularly on my credit cards.
Most of you guys (hopefully) know this already, but just in case: If you are ever charged a late fee, particularly on a credit card, especially on a credit card you usually pay on time and in full, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS call and ask them to waive the late fee. I did it for a new card I just got that is going to eventually give me $60 credit to the GAP (I'll have spent ~$30 all told), after which I am going to cancel it, and I somehow managed to convince myself that I had scheduled my AmEx payment, without actually doing so. For the GAP card, the first lady I talked to was able to waive it, but for the AmEx card, the first dude was not able to do it, but offered to connect me to a supervisor, who then instantly was able to waive the fee. \o/ If you have a less-good payment history, you might have to be a little more convincing/have some sort of sob story/have a really good argument or reason, but it is always worth trying, especially if you've never asked before.
So, I saved myself $50 in about 20 minutes, and that feels pretty good, even if I shouldn't have had to if I'd been paying attention.
Oh, and if you're having trouble getting a human? Just mash the zero button until the machine gives in. And if that still doesn't work, google 'get a human [company name]', and there are websites that collect the phone numbers that actually connect you to a human who can help you, instead of those endless phone trees that go nowhere.
Most of you guys (hopefully) know this already, but just in case: If you are ever charged a late fee, particularly on a credit card, especially on a credit card you usually pay on time and in full, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS call and ask them to waive the late fee. I did it for a new card I just got that is going to eventually give me $60 credit to the GAP (I'll have spent ~$30 all told), after which I am going to cancel it, and I somehow managed to convince myself that I had scheduled my AmEx payment, without actually doing so. For the GAP card, the first lady I talked to was able to waive it, but for the AmEx card, the first dude was not able to do it, but offered to connect me to a supervisor, who then instantly was able to waive the fee. \o/ If you have a less-good payment history, you might have to be a little more convincing/have some sort of sob story/have a really good argument or reason, but it is always worth trying, especially if you've never asked before.
So, I saved myself $50 in about 20 minutes, and that feels pretty good, even if I shouldn't have had to if I'd been paying attention.
Oh, and if you're having trouble getting a human? Just mash the zero button until the machine gives in. And if that still doesn't work, google 'get a human [company name]', and there are websites that collect the phone numbers that actually connect you to a human who can help you, instead of those endless phone trees that go nowhere.
