*rips hair out*
Okay, let's see how it all happened.
Around April 2006 (or Feb, don't remember) I decided to sign up for a credit card at my store. Because I'm an employee, I had to go to the payroll desk to sign my application (validation of my salary) so that the Store Card employees could determine the amount of credit they could grant me.
The amount was 1500 euros. Silly as I was, it was spent quickly, but this is not the real part of the problem.
The real part of the problem is that this store card stores points (to get gifts) but you can pay with it (aha) only in this store, and when you sign up the automatic option of "immediate payment" means that you buy buy buy and pay only once a month (on the 5th) .
Why is it a problem, you might ask ? Well, the online page where you can check your account is wonky. There's a line that says "Next amount will be... " (aka, next amount taken off on the 5th). Now, that amount includes the credit repayment, as well as any spending you've done. Problem, nowhere does it ever indicates how much you've spent so far *total* , which means you really have to write things down. I might have been quite careless, but it came to a huge problem last month when, July 24th, I see "Next payment, 145" and July 26th, I see "Next payment, 800."
Yup, I shouldn't have spent so much. I have learnt that lesson. However, that made me realize how much the online account checking SUCKS.
The best part ? I went to the same desk I registered the card at, to see if this woman could do something for me. Last time I had someone from the store card office on the phone, they had told me this :
- if payment doesn't go through on the 5th, the charge is re-presented 10 days later
- if payment still doesn't go through, the amount of your purchases is divided into smaller payments but you still have to pay the full amount for the credit reimbursment.
So I figured, better ask to do that at once than risk having the payment denied on August 5th, right ?
Problem is, the lady didn't get my question. She asked me if I still had receipt from my July purchases. I had. She called the bank reps and they said they couldn't help. While she didn't do what I was told would be done, she did all she could.
When I told her I was stupid anyway for not watching my money better, she told me "But there's an option that you could have taken where the money you spent on groceries would be taken out from your account at once, like with your everyday bank card." My eyes widened.
"Oh, I see you haven't been advised properly when you signed up for the card."
.............
SOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo basically, you're telling me that I could have avoided all this, had I known there was this option? And it was never offered aaaaaaaaaaand... so okies, let's sign up for that. This way, I can keep the card and use it to get store credit and points, but I can reimburse the credit money without difficulty. She tells me it can take up to a few days to get started.
It's been two weeks, the option hasn't worked (I've made ONE purchase after signing up for the new option) and I'm tired of it. I'm supposed to be an employee of the store, the payment didn't go through on the 5th, I don't care (their money is my money anyway since part of the company is my boss!) ...
Why is it a problem, you might ask ? Well, the online page where you can check your account is wonky. There's a line that says "Next amount will be... " (aka, next amount taken off on the 5th). Now, that amount includes the credit repayment, as well as any spending you've done. Problem, nowhere does it ever indicates how much you've spent so far *total* , which means you really have to write things down. I might have been quite careless, but it came to a huge problem last month when, July 24th, I see "Next payment, 145" and July 26th, I see "Next payment, 800."
Yup, I shouldn't have spent so much. I have learnt that lesson. However, that made me realize how much the online account checking SUCKS.
The best part ? I went to the same desk I registered the card at, to see if this woman could do something for me. Last time I had someone from the store card office on the phone, they had told me this :
- if payment doesn't go through on the 5th, the charge is re-presented 10 days later
- if payment still doesn't go through, the amount of your purchases is divided into smaller payments but you still have to pay the full amount for the credit reimbursment.
So I figured, better ask to do that at once than risk having the payment denied on August 5th, right ?
Problem is, the lady didn't get my question. She asked me if I still had receipt from my July purchases. I had. She called the bank reps and they said they couldn't help. While she didn't do what I was told would be done, she did all she could.
When I told her I was stupid anyway for not watching my money better, she told me "But there's an option that you could have taken where the money you spent on groceries would be taken out from your account at once, like with your everyday bank card." My eyes widened.
"Oh, I see you haven't been advised properly when you signed up for the card."
.............
SOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo basically, you're telling me that I could have avoided all this, had I known there was this option? And it was never offered aaaaaaaaaaand... so okies, let's sign up for that. This way, I can keep the card and use it to get store credit and points, but I can reimburse the credit money without difficulty. She tells me it can take up to a few days to get started.
It's been two weeks, the option hasn't worked (I've made ONE purchase after signing up for the new option) and I'm tired of it. I'm supposed to be an employee of the store, the payment didn't go through on the 5th, I don't care (their money is my money anyway since part of the company is my boss!) ...
Mom is going to sell some land she got through her father, thanks to her brother who's buying it to help Mom and to have the land stay in the family. Mom said she'd like me to close the card with the money she'd give me.
... since that process will be completed, at the latest, by mid-September, you can't imagine how happy I will be to go over, pay them back all I owe, and cut the damn card in two.