Getting a late charge waved

**nuisance26** · 07-07-2011, 11:51 AM

~I was more than skeptical about it working but today I called Home Depot customer service.
Last month I switched most of our bills to online bill pay. Well, the electronic Home Depot payment didn't go through and I noticed it 4 days before the due date. So I wrote a paper check and mailed it. They posted it as a late payment with fee and interest on the previous month's balance. The payment I sent was an in-full payment like I always do.
Anyway, we're never late on anything and although it was my fault for not noticing sooner I thought I'd take a stab at getting the fee removed.
It took just 4 minutes and I was fully prepared for the rep to say no but they wiped the fee and the interest. Now I don't have to write that check for $15! I'm just shocked at how easy that was. Yay!~

**Russ** · 07-07-2011, 01:01 PM

Never hurts to ask.. good job.

**nuisance26** · 08-01-2011, 01:02 PM

~I should have known that dealing with a credit card company would not be this easy.
My bill for this month came. The rep didn't clear the $10 late fee, she credited the account with twice the interest owed. What?
So the new bill, with no new charges, shows $6 of the late fee still owed plus another $1 late fee charge.
So I called again and got those cleared. We'll see if this rep does it right.
Home Depot customer service is so friendly and it's very quick to get to actual person but what's the good of it if they aren't actually doing what they say they're doing?

~

**nodmicks** · 08-01-2011, 02:23 PM

terrific news!

**Frugal Sooner** · 08-01-2011, 04:34 PM

That's right, never hurts to ask. They can only say no. I found a mistake on my cell phone bill this month, after changing plans last month due to some promised discounts hadn't been applied. I called and they admitted it was an error on their part, and they had failed to input the discounts, only the increase in charges due to the plan change. I was pretty upset and let them know how frustrating it is to have to check their work to make sure I'm not getting hosed. I pointed out they had no problem applying the charges for the new services, but the discounts they offered to get me to sign up for the new services were missing. Coincidence?

They apologized and assured me the discounts were now entered and would be retroactive to the original date of service. I said fine, but what are they going to do about the inconvenience to me for having to discover their error and bring it to their attention. I told them my time was worth $100, so they agreed to credit my bill $100.

It helped that we've been loyal customers for many years (which I reminded them throughout the call!).

**frugalfranny** · 08-01-2011, 04:59 PM

Hope the last thing gets worked out nuisance.

Way to go frugal sooner...........that is a good credit!

**shoiji** · 08-03-2011, 12:04 PM

That is great that you decided to call. Had to call cablevision since they overbilled my account. Took a while for them to figure out what was going on with my account. The rep I was speaking to understood and was curious also about why my account was billed so much.

Once you get used to calling when you a sure there is an error it does become easier. The trick for me is to try and stay calm so the rep doesn't feel like they are dealing with an irrate customer.