I was making payments in person at the bank (Chase), on the day that the payment was due. I did this for about six months, each time asking the teller anxiously if my payment would be considered on time. Each time I was assured yes, it would be, and was told that my receipt had a date-stamp on it as evidence I’d paid on time.

At some point I got a form letter from Chase telling me that my interest rate was being jacked up because of my history of late payments. WTF?! I called their 800 number in a panic. I had the infamous date-stamped receipts to prove I’d paid on time. I was told that IF YOU PAY IN PERSON AT THE BANK, you must pay several days in advance. Or else it will be considered late.

I was told told ultimately after being told the opposite–what the tellers had told me–by several customer-service people, includng supervisors.

In other words: The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing.

I was on the phone at least an hour. I was told I had no recourse to get my credit history fixed other than to write a letter to the bank and request that they change my late-payment status. I was told I could not count on them changing their mind.

I was also told to go to the specific branch where I make my payments and speak to the bank manager there, to make sure what the policy is, as each branch has a different policy regarding how many days in advance to make the payment.

I went to the branch and got a very nice manager; he was shocked himself at the notion that paying in person had to be done days in advance. He said he’d check it out with higher-ups and did so; I was in his office an hour while he tried to ascertain just what exactly the policy is.

These 6 months of lay payments affected all my other cards, and I pay sky-rocketing interests rates.

Yes, I already had outstanding balances that were out of control and already had higher rates than I would have liked.

By the way: There was no indication during these 6 months on my statements that my previous payments had been designated as late.

The manager did advise me that, from the bank’s point of view, a customer has 30 whole days to make their payment, so in theory they just not be trying to make the payment on the day it is due.

Well … I have cash-flow problems because I am a full-time freelancer/consultant … and the companies who pay me pay me erratically. Or are late sometimes. So, I like to pay at the last moment.

Anyway, I hope my horror story helps anyone who might not be aware of this practice.

However, if carefuly managed, there is money to be made. In the last year, I’ve had 2 cards loan me nearly $50k total at 0%. One waived the fee. The other capped it at $75. That money went into a high interest online savings account. I scrupulously set reminders in my online bill pay system to pay them the minimums every month, with time to spare. I also set reminders to tell me when the 0% interest period was over, which is NOT the same as your due date for that statement. The story ends with me paying off everything, not paying a cent of interest, and making about $2,000 in interest. All that for a $75 fee and maybe 3 hours of work throughout the whole ordeal.

Wells Fargo did not post the payment until a full week after the due date. Then they charged a late fee and a processing fee, and increased the interest rate to the penalty rate of 26%.

I called to let them know I had proof that they got the check in time. It took them 2 months to take off the fees.

It took two months to transfer the debt to another account and in that time, Wells Fargo also took their sweet time posting the second payment. Again, I had sent with delivery confirmation. It was received 12 days before the due date. They charged another late fee and processing fee. Which they refunded 2 months later.

Several months later, they still have not reduced the 26% interest rate even though I’ve sent them written demands and documentation. At least they haven’t sent anything negative to the credit report companies but I’m keeping my eye on that.

What a scam. I’ve also found out that I’m not the only one this has happened to, but apparently I’m the only one who thought to get proof of delivery for the payments.

When I used a 0% transfer, any purchases made on that card were at the regular interest rate. Even now, the balance on that card is charged two rates – the lower balance transfer rate and the regular purchase rate. All of my principal payments go toward the balance transfer, not the purchases so as to accrue the most interest possible.

Lately I am seeing a lot of stuff out there on people trying to make money off of their 0% cards by transferring an amount, getting cash back, socking it away in an ING account, and paying it off before the promo is up keeping the earned interest. That is a dangerous game to play about as stable as a house of cards.

There is really no such thing as being on schedule since you can’t predict the future, any small event can change that. Interest is in it’s essence evil, period.