To hell with you, Capital One! I have escaped from your clutches!

[PunditLisa]

However, there was one strange thing that happened. The month after I had made the final payment, I got one more statement with something like $3.50 from Blockbuster. I realized that this was from a late fee from movies rented by my stupid friend at the Blockbuster across town I don’t use. I just paid it and it was done.

When you opened the account at Blockbuster, you probably secured your account using a credit card. That means that you signed a paper agreeing to let them charge your credit card if you didn’t return the movie. So, yes, they can do that, even after you canceled the card. Otherwise one could rent a car with a credit card, cancel the card immediately after leaving the office, then drive off with the car, never to return, and then think that the rental car agency would have no recourse. Trust me, your card would be charged.

I just canceled my Discover card because I never used it. I got a letter from them saying that they canceled my account, but if anyone attempted to use it within the next 6 months, they would consider that as a request to re-open the account, complete with a new, crappy interest rate. They also stipulated that I should notify anyone I had pre-authorized to charge that account, such as BillPays, etc., of the cancellation.

Finally, Mrs. Zep and I decided to try a little experiment. A full week (or 5 biz days) before payment was due, we transferred the funds electronically. Our bank showed that the money had been transferred and GET THIS, when we called for our credit card balance, it showed that the account had been credited. This all occurred before the due date. Then the Mrs. called a live agent, and she informed my wife that we would be charged a late fee because they hadn’t recieved payment. When confronted with the facts, including asking the agent to call the automated number to confirm that they had indeed recieved the payment, the agent was, well, dumbfounded. She conferred with the demi-god of customer service, the Supervisor. They had no explaination. We would not get the finanace charge…again.

Pbzep, quit wasting your valuable time calling the credit card company and arguing with them. I had similar trouble with one vendor and after a lot of aggravation and time, I got smart and called the Online Banking specialists at my bank. I explained the situation to the agent and she took it from there. Lo and behold!, the vendor never again charged me another erroneous late fee.

[PhiloVance]

Arrrgh; and I just signed up for a 5.9 interest rate forever card with these people. :rolleyes: