CC's haunt you even after they're paid off!

**halloweenfreak** · 02-26-2007, 02:05 PM

i checked my online statement after i paid my cc off just to make sure it was correct, not to mention i like seeing that 0.00 under balance. imagine my surprise when i saw 63.80 instead of zeros. i called to see what the deal was and after several minutes of button pushing i was finally able to speak to someone. seems that even tho my card was paid off on the 21st, they decided to charge me an overdraft fee on the 24th. uhmmmm, ok that makes sense.

where does the other 23.80 come from then? january finance charges. why they weren't showing up until my march billing statement, i have no idea. you'd have thought they would have made their way onto my feb. statement. so even tho i thought i had paid it in full, they're STILL finding ways of making me pay! NO MORE! im not going to settle for just locking that card i the lock box, im going to cancle it and destroy it and burn it. then im going to bury the ashes. but of course, i'll prob. be charged some fee for that too....

**kaykwilts** · 02-26-2007, 02:09 PM

I think it is totally crappy for your credit card company to do that to you.

**FrugalMomof3** · 02-26-2007, 02:09 PM

I know what you mean, last year when we paid all our Cc's off and saw a $0 balance, low and behold the following month we were charged interest from the date the billing cycle started to the date it was paid. I was so furious I contacted those Cc's and asked about it but paid them .. I even asked that since I was charge $39 in interest will I be charged interest on that $39 as well? Sarcasticaly of course.

**Nada.Leona** · 02-26-2007, 04:38 PM

Hahaha, of course you'll get charged! And they'll charge you for the "we have to look at your name on our screen" fee, and they'll charge you for "we have to put together a semi-rational thought" fee and then of course there's "we're speaking to you and it's $0.10 per word we speak" fee.

*shakes head* And yet you need the bloody things in order to establish any form of credit. Grrrrr!!!

**AheeK** · 02-26-2007, 04:48 PM

I actually read a blog somewhere that said you shouldn't cancel your credit cards once you've paid them off, because your credit rating is ties to them and you can seriously damage your credit if you cancel a card you've been using for many years. Is that true? The person who wrote the blog recommended stashing the cards away but not cancelling them.

**acidcookie** · 02-26-2007, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by AheeK

I actually read a blog somewhere that said you shouldn't cancel your credit cards once you've paid them off, because your credit rating is ties to them and you can seriously damage your credit if you cancel a card you've been using for many years. Is that true? The person who wrote the blog recommended stashing the cards away but not cancelling them.

This really depends on your credit score, history, and which card you're closing. If you close your oldest card which you've had much longer than the others, it will effectively cut that part of your credit history, shortening it, and therefore possibly dinging your credit score. This still doesn't make you look BAD, but now your credit score can only be based on less history. Also, closing some down will increase the ratio of debt to credit because now you have less available credit. If this ratio is small or you have NO debt, then this isn't a problem either.

**claimsgirl66** · 02-26-2007, 06:29 PM

what a timely thread. I paid mine off a few weeks ago, was so happy, even had a 6 cent credit showing online! I went to check it yesterday & saw $11 balance! I got bill today and looks like it was interest for the portion of the month. Grrrr......

**Persimmon Lace** · 02-26-2007, 07:42 PM

When mine are paid off I close them no matter what. No sense in this day and age of fraud to keep something like that ticking away like a timebomb!

**freyadog** · 02-26-2007, 07:53 PM

When ever I pay off a card I always call and patiently wait until I can talk to a human. I ask what my balance is and if they do tele-checks. Most do. Then I get them to tell me how long it will take for the telecheck to go through. Usually 3 days. At that point I get them to tell me what I will owe up to that 3 day point and pay them off right then. That way there are no surprises in the mail on my account.

**acidcookie** · 02-26-2007, 11:15 PM

I'm curious to know what sorts of credit cards you have that continuously accumulate interest this way. Each of mine only calculates the interest at the time of the statement and it is only due then. Nothing past that will receive any interest.

**Scattymum** · 02-27-2007, 02:58 AM

Grrrr, id be annoyed too!!

**tigo** · 02-28-2007, 11:04 AM

I agree that it is better to close out the account after you close it. Every time I have done this, there hasn't been any surprise fees. I have had an ex-husband who knew I had accounts that were zero but not closed. Very nasty surprise to find you owe a ton of money. Thankfully I was able to work with the fraud unit of our district attorney and get most of it taken care of quickly, but I learned my lesson- Close the Account!