A late fee is usually a flat fee... in your case it was $39.00.

You were late. So yes, you get charged a late fee. The fee is more than likely listed in your user agreement.
Sounds fair to me!

You should never charge more than you can afford to pay in full each month. And you should always pay on time!

I would say it is fair. You agreed to certian terms when you signed up for the credit card. One of which was to make the minumum payment by the due date. We can not choose which rules of the agreement we choose to follow. It is unrealistic to expect the lender to let people pay whenever they feel like it without consequences, otherwise everyone would pay late.

To be fair, if this was a rare mistake on your part, a call to the credit card will probably get them to drop the charge. Otherwise, you have to take it as a lesson learned.

I guess it's a lesson learned.I have never been late always paid my balance in full.In this case two days late.It seems that the late charge was almost the cost of the purchase.It's a good lesson learned"If you can't afford it leave it in the store"

I have a neighbor that paid a late fee on a $8-and-some-cents purchase. It was such a small amount that payment slipped her mind, and she hardly uses that particular card so it is not on her 'radar'.

She got hit for $43 late fee AND interest.

Similar situation happened to me. We were on vacation and ended up paying a couple days late. I always pay the balance in full every month. I don't remember exactly how much the late fee was, but I called the credit card co. and complained...told them I would be paying off the card and canceling it. They waved the late fee. I kept the card. Now I'm careful to not pay late, I'm sure they won't excuse me again.

I was given a new, Rewards debit card by my bank - Chase. After reading some of these posts, I read the small print. I would receive points to be used for free gifts, but there was a $25.00 yearly charge to use the card. I was furious that I should be charged to use my own money. Went to the bank and gave them the cards and told them I wasn't interested.

They thought I was crazy!

Banks are raising fees on both cards and accounts - this is one way the financial crisis hits everyone, whether you are a good credit risk or not.

As arizonarose points out, talking to one of the reps can sometimes get such fees waived, especially if you are a good customer they wouldn't want to lose.

"Banks are raising fees on both cards and accounts - this is one way the financial crisis hits everyone, whether you are a good credit risk or not."

I haven't seen that!
What might I expect in the future?

I have my credit card set up to be paid in full each month with electronic transfer from my bank account = no worrying about payment being late.

Some companies are going to 29.99% and it's happening now. Check your card company.

jane ny,

"I was furious that I should be charged to use my own money."

Eh, jane...why do you expect Chase to manage your account at no charge?

We all have enjoyed having our banking costs subsidized by the large inflows of money into the large banks via the now defunct mortgage business model. That didn't work out so great. So, the industry is now back pedaling rapidly towards a less complex business plan...simple banking. The bank accepts deposits, manages your money's inflow/outflow, & charges you for services rendered. No more (or, greatly reduced) subsidies. Banks were able to offer "free" services because they were generating their income elsewhere. No more. We're returning to pre-1990s banking.

If you want the bank to perform a service for you...great; but they'll have to charge for that service. The annomaly is that, in recent years, people have become accustomed to such services as free checking, no ATM fees, extended banking hours including Saturdays, free Internet services, etc. Expect that to change no matter where you bank. Somebody has to pay the bean counter behind the scenes managing all of those checking accounts, debit cards, credit cards, & Internet transactions.

One way, or another, we've all been benefiting from the business plan that led to the mortgage meltdown. Going forward, expect there to be a charge for those services you've been used to having subsidized. Somehow, banks have to earn enough money to keep the power bill paid. Tighter credit & a return to "fee structured services" is the business model of the future. It's going to affect everybody.

/tricia

"Some companies are going to 29.99% and it's happening now. Check your card company."

Discover increased my credit limit 20% this week and lowered my APR two percentage points. Not that is matters, as I never carry a balance.

AmEx just TRIPLED DH's credit limit.

We have not seen any tightening first hand. Perhaps we won't.

I'm not sure about tightening - maybe in charging more fees, etc., but I don't see the credit card companies slowing down on their 'pre approved' up to astronimical amounts offers.

I have no problem with a bank charging for checking accounts - even charging for ATM usage. I do have a problem with 'fine print' charges.

If at all possible, pay off those credit cards and never carry a balance. I do know sometimes people simply cannot, but if at all possible do it.

Hi goldy,

What kind of problem may you run into if you call them and ask them to waive the fee ... and if they absolutely refuse, of at least part of the fee?

Not a smidgeon, as far as I can see.

If you call, tell a good story, and beg and plead a bit, you may get some, or even all of the fee reduced.

It seems to me that you have a potential gain, and no potential loss or penalty, if you call them.

So - why not do it?

As I've said before around here ... "You don't ask ... you don't get!".

Right?

So - what are you waiting for??

Make that call!

If it helps reduce the outflow from your pocket, come to tell us.

We'll have a party. Someone bring the coffee ... I just bought a box of donut holes at the supermarket - enough to go around, I think (but I don't know how many times - that'll depend on how many join the party, I guess).

And they are sort of small.

Maybe I'd better get another box soon, in case you come back tomorrow with the good news.

ole joyful.

As others have said, it is completely fair. You entered into a contract, and you defaulted by missing a payment.

I have called and asked for a charge to be waived when I was snowbound once, LOL. They allowed me to pay over the phone, and waived the late fee.

But don't expect this sort of treatment unless you ask for it. How do they know what's up with you? Your payment WAS LATE. Fees incur.

Guess what?My granddaughter called them from her job.She works for the government.Caller ID I'm sure.After being transfered to the supervisor and a wait of ten minuets they took it off.Will do my best to not let it happen again.Thankyou all for the imput.

??

What does working for 'the government' and Caller ID have to do with it???

I'm confused....

Working for the goverment showed up on the caller Id.Thought maybe it was Obama calling for me to ask a favor."Joke"Anyway they took it off.

First, the word is "INPUT".

Second, your granddaughter did exactly what you could have done. She called and asked for the late charge to be removed. They did it. I can't believe it had anything to do with her working for the government.

You could have/should have done it yourself.

Mary C I called twice and each time they said"sorry"I mentioned it to my granddaughter and being the nice person she is she said"let me take care of it"So she took care of it.Sometimes someone else can do what you can't seem to do.

"Sometimes someone else can do what you can't seem to do."

That is true. Whether to remove a fee, or not, is discretional. They're under no obligation to remove that late fee. I suspect what happened had nothing to do with your granddaughter working for "the government" and "caller ID"; but rather she spoke with an authoritative & confident voice. If you called & spoke hesitantly or in a complaining, whining voice...mentioning things like, "Is this fair?", likely, the charge would remain. These folks taking the customer service calls are people just like us. They take hundreds of customer complaint calls every day. Calling, quickly stating the facts, & the resolution you want are helpful ways to success.

/tricia

Calling, quickly stating the facts, & the resolution you want are helpful ways to success.
I agree, and often giving too much information, is just seen to them as a waste of their time. Tone of voice and even volume, plays a large part too as stated above.

I have been successful at getting charges removed for myself as well as others. Having been a long time customer with a perfect, or near perfect record helps as well. They really don't want to lose good customers, yet cannot 'forgive' charges for everyone all of the time.

Sue

It has been taken off and to me that's all that counts.I might add my grandaughter asked to speak to a suppervisor and that got the ball rolling.Sooner or later this might happen to someone you know and you can profit by my mistakes.I also might add I'm almost eighty and am not as sharp as I used to be.ThankGod I still have someone looking out for me.

I payoff balances on my two accounts almost every month. BUT as a back up, I always set up accounts with autopay using the minimum payment option. That way if anything unexpected happens I am covered. Then I just pay monthly whatever amount I want via online banking.

I went to the credit union to pay the mortgage loan with a check on Bank A knowing that DH's pay hit the account at Bank A that same day. Well, the mortgage payment hit Bank A the same day but was posted after the mortgage payment. The sequence was mortgage payment, NSF fee, paycheck. I made an appointment with the manager at Bank A and presented my documentation reflecting the sequence and explained that I had OD protection and I worked for JPMorgan Chase for 20 years and knew how these things worked. I said that I could no longer do business with a bank that didn't look out for their long time clients and please help me close my account.

She was begging to work it out--which I anticipated.

Mustang you gave me a good idea.Have them take off the min.and than I will pay the balance.This way I will never be late again.Sometimes little things slip your mined.You see I deducted the payment from my check book but for got to deduct it from my bill (you see I pay on line)Thanks for the tip.