Anyone had this problem?

[Dakota Rose]

I don't know if any of my fellow intercotees have experienced this problem, or if maybe someone can offer some advice. Or, just some pixie dust would help too. :(

6 mos ago, we bought some furniture and a mattress on a no payments, no interest promotion. The furniture's payment was due in December and the mattress not until Sept 08. I paid the furniture balance based on the statement I'd received at the end of November. But, as we learned today, that supposedly wasn't the current statement :confused: and there was supposedly an additional $6due. We haven't received a statement from the retailer since November 07 so we had no idea there was any sort of balance left. :mad: Now we're being charged $300 in late and finance fees plus they cancelled the deferred payment on the mattress and it's now due. We talked to one customer service guy and he said there's nothing he can do. :ack:

Has anyone fought this and won? Any advice? Pixie dust? Anything?:(

[merlinmagic4]

Well, I would definitely give them a call.

We bought a Nordic Track treadmill on a similar promotion. I was ready to pay it off and realized, in the fine print, that it was actually due earlier than the monthly bill was due every month. I also called for some reason and found out my balance was just a bit more than I had thought.

So, I avoided the fees because I called and noticed the earlier due date for avoiding the finance fee. Otherwise, they would have nailed me, too! :mad:

Of course, they want to get all those finance charges from you. I would fight it and see what happens.

[JPL]

I would call and demand to talk to a supervisor see if you can get satisfaction that way and if not go through the Better Business Burea's website and write to them. They helped me with a few problems in the past.

[kakn7294]

This seems to be a trend in in deferred payment plans - if you don't pay it off in full before it's due, you get socked with large fees and interest charges. I'm not sure what you can do about it, but I would certainly fight it. If you don't get anywhere with the company, contact the Better Business Bureau and see what they can do for you. Good luck!

[Ed]

If dealing with the store management gets you nowhere, consider trying the media.

Most larger TV stations and newspapers have Consumer advocates of some sort; locally we have "The Problem Solvers" on TV, and an Orlando Sentinel staffer troubleshoots these kinds of problems. It's pretty surprising how merchants seem to change their attitudes and become the consumer's best friend when they have a TV camera shoved in their faces, or when their company is cast in a bad light in the newspaper.

Good luck!

[Dakota Rose]

Thanks everybody. Your encouragement to fight is exactly what we needed. Incidentally DH was in the store last week because we're having problems with the mattress which the warranty said wouldn't happen. So, he was going to go up there today and talk to the store manager. We're willing to pay the late fees and finance charges on the stupid $6 balance, and just want the deferred payment reinstated for the mattress. I mean, until my tax return comes, I can't squeeze water from rocks!

[DizneyRox]

This is typical of just about all those "NO PAYMENTS TILL 2010!" scams. We looked into doing this but they made it impossible to do anything to help with payments. It had to be mailed in, etc. The reason is, if they do automatic payments, then it's easy for you to NOT miss any and then they can't terminate the promotion.

Since you are in default, I think it is within their right to do what they are doing. If you read the contract, I'm sure it's in there. They probably didn't explain it, but I'm sure it's in there.

Because of this, I don't participate in any of these types of "deals". I'm afraid your best recourse is to pay it off in full and be done with them. You don't want to know what the new interest rate is if ther is one. On the above mentioned "deal" if we had a late payment, the interest rate would have risen to like 30%. You can try the media, but unless it's a slow news day, they probably won't make a stink about it.

[bleukarma]

Call and talk to a supervisor. I worked for a credit card company in the past and this happened a lot. If you have a good track record and it’s only over $6 then a supervisor might be willing to work with you and reinstate the no interest on the mattress, especially if you are willing to pay the late fee and the $6. If not then tell them you want to close the credit card and they might rethink it. But they may not…it all depends on if you get a nice supervisor and what kind of mood they are in. Now if it was over a higher amount of money then I would tell you that you probably don’t have a very good shot, but over $6…you might get lucky.

[MaryPoppinsFan]

I had this happen on a credit card last year. I underpaid by 1.32 and when I got the next bill, they had started to charge me interest on the balance. it was 0% card. I called and talked to a supervisor who reinstated my 0% becuase of my credit rating but if it happens again I lose it.
I'm extra careful now! but I would call and talk to a supervisor for sure

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I am sending you some Pixie Dust! I honestly don't think you will win and just end up more frustrated than ever. We have bought things on those promotions before and the stores always make the payment due different than your payment dates. We have never been late or missed the deadline thank goodness but I know the penalties were crazy. It's something you have to watch carefully. Our bank offers a billpay service and we always schedule any reoccuring payments. I feel for you, that just plain stinks but it's probably in the contract. One time we paid our mortgage and it was .13 cents, yes .13 cents under! It was in January and they adjusted our payments by that much and I never changed the billpay payments. I got a call one day and did not realize it was the bank looking for their .13 cents. The man was so extremely rude and made me drive to the nearest location and pay. The tellers thought it ridiculous and I was just plain outraged. I know I made a mistake but in 13 years I have never missed a payment or been late and the amount was so low! Hope that story gives you a chuckle, delinquent for .13 cents!

[thrillme]

Actually I think you have a good chance because the balance of $6 is sooooo petty.

Now...there are a few things that confuse me. #1 if you were "on time" for all the payments except the last one, then ask to speak to a supervisor. If that fails contact the company at a National level and ask to speak to a supervisor there. The should wave the $300. I'm guess which is on the furniture.

NOW...the mattress may be another issue. Why did they cancel? It almost sounds like the tacked the matteress to the grand total of the furniture. I DO believe this is fightable but you've got to stop messing with the store and go above their heads.

I LOVE having the no interest no payments etc. deal but...You've GOT to read the fine print and play by the rules. Those rules are designed to snag people. I've had a lot of friends figure they'd pay what they could then when the time came they are suddenly socked with a whole lot of accrued intrest which suddenly comes due. The interest is on the whole amount not just the amount owed.

Argue your entire story with a supervisor at a national level, then if necessary...take it to the media and consumer intervention.

[Dakota Rose]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it. DH is going to call a supervisor in the morning.

[2Epcot]

For the most part I agree with what others have said. Those programs can be good, but you really have to stay on top of the payments. I bought a computer for my mom that way. The company I used showed how much the cost would be if I didn't pay it off in time on the bottom of every statement ... That was a good incentive to make sure to get if paid by the deadline. I ended up saving, or not having to pay, and additonal 500 dollars in finance charges.

[Magic Smiles]

This has never happend to me, but it has always been my understanding that if you were late and did not pay the whole amount off by the due date, that the interest and all other fees were automatically calculated and added from the day of purchase. That would then be your amount owing.
Good luck with your battle.

[Dakota Rose]

Oh yeah, I get all that. The thing is, I paid what the statement showed I was supposed to pay. I even paid it before it was due. But now they're saying that statement was basically wrong and the real amount was $6 more than what I paid. So irritating.

[Mousefever]

I've used these types of promotions several times and I've never had a problem. But we've always paid off the balance more than a month in advance to avoid any shenanigans by the company. I would be surprised if your situation was unusual with your furniture store. I'm sure that these deals are founded on the expectation that a certain percentage of customers will default, whether by their inability to pay off on time, or financial tricks.

I'm sympathetic to your situation and I hope you and your husband receive a satisfactory outcome. Please let us know what you find out!

Amy


:dory:

[Marilyn Michetti]

It's a war, plain and simple - they want to get you for the highest interest allowable, and you want to make sure that doesn't happen.

I hope you win this one because it just sounds so........(can't say it - we have moderators). Anyway, they need to hear your voice, not just look at your numbers on a computer screen. There are some people on the other end out there that might think, "ouch, I'd hate it too".

I've got my fingers crossed for you.:fingers:

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I did the interest free through Jordan's furniture and had absolutely no problems.
And the jewelry store I work at offers interest free on occasion and I make sure to tell people to pay it off or roll it over to another credit card before the due date to avoid having the interest charged on the full amount.
I'd contact the better business bureau and see if they can help. They helped me get my refund from ComCast when I was having a difficult time with them.

[disneydrmr]

I just saw this.. I have no advice to add to all wonderful advice you've already gotten.. but I did want to send you some :pixie:.

[Donald A]

I do not know your exact situation but if it is a big chain store state that you are happy to pay what you owe under a contract but that you will never ever do business with them again and tell them that you will tell all your friends and family how they treated you.

If it is a smaller store that might not care, what is the brand of the mattress? Call this mattress company and state where you bought the mattress and that you will never buy another product by this company because of a bad experience associated with the product. You might be amazed how much this will do.

[Dakota Rose]

It's Denver Mattress Company.

Here's an update to the story. When DH talked to customer service last Monday, they said they'd sent statements in Dec, Jan and Feb so he requested they send out copies. Well we got the letter and stuff from them yesterday and it only contains January's statement. This jogged my memory that when I talked to the collections dept before DH called customer service, she asked if we received our Jan statement. Why would she ask about a statement sent two months earlier and not the statement from just a few weeks earlier? And, furthermore, the January statement doesn't show the full payment I made in December though I have a canceled check.

So DH is calling customer service tomorrow to talk with a supervisor. I personally think they screwed something up but we'll see.

[Dakota Rose]

Praise God for pixie dust and miracles! :thumbsup:

I just wanted to thank each of you who replied with encouragement and sent pixie dust our way.

DH called customer service today and they admitted that they screwed up the account by not applying our payment correctly in December, that there was NO discrepancy in the amount we paid and the amount due and then they reinstated the deferred payment on the mattress and everything is great!

So thank you for your encouragement. I'm happy to report our family witnessed a miracle this morning!

[merlinmagic4]

What a relief - great news!!!

[Magic Smiles]

Thats great news, but the company should also do something to compensate for all of your stress that they put you under.

[Dakota Rose]

I agree, Magic Smiles, considering I'm almost 6 months pregnant and don't need any extra stress. But, I'll take this and be happy. :)

[MissStyles]

That's great news. Thanks for reporting back to us. Now you can rest easy on that mattress tonite! :thumbsup: