If you find a mistake on your credit card bill, you can dispute the charge and withhold payment on that amount while the charge is being investigated. The error might be a charge for the wrong amount, for something you didn’t accept, or for an item that wasn’t delivered as agreed. Of course, you still have to pay any part of the bill that’s not in dispute, including finance charges as well as other charges.
If you decide to dispute a charge:
- Write to the creditor at the address indicated on your statement for “billing inquiries.” Include your name, address, account number, and a description of the error.
- Send your letter soon. It must reach the creditor within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was mailed to you.
The creditor must acknowledge your complaint in writing within 30 days of receipt, unless the problem has been resolved. At the latest, the dispute must be resolved within two billing cycles, and not more than 90 days.
Unauthorized Charges. If your card is used without your permission, you can be held responsible only for up to $50 per credit card.
If you report the loss before the card is used, you cannot be held responsible for any unauthorized charges. If a thief uses your card before you report it missing, the most you’ll owe for unauthorized charges is $50.
To minimize your liability, report the loss as soon as possible. Some issuers have 24-hour toll-free telephone numbers to accept emergency information. It’s a good idea to follow-up with a letter to the issuer – include your account number, the date you noticed your card missing, as well as the date you reported the loss.
Disputes about Merchandise or Services. You can dispute charges for unsatisfactory goods or services. To do so, you must:
- have made the purchase in your home state or within 100 miles of your current billing address. The charge must be for more than $50. (These limitations don’t apply if the seller is also the credit card issuer or if a special business relationship exists between the seller and the card issuer)
- first make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute with the seller. No special procedures are required to do so.
If these conditions don’t apply, you may want to consider filing an action in small claims court.
by admin on March 9, 2011
in News
If you have a tax liability to pay, you have the option of remitting your taxes by credit card.
This payment option is available to you, regardless whether you file your tax return electronically or file a paper return by mail.
Credit card payments are currently originated only by Official Payments Corporation (OPC), who provides this service to the IRS in most states. OPC will charge you a convenience fee, based on the amount of tax being paid. All of the fee goes to OPC. Only the tax amount goes to the government.
This fee is charged by OPC to cover operating costs associated with servicing thousands of transactions. The credit card payment transaction is strictly between you and OPC, and therefore, any disputes specific to the card payment are between you and OPC.
Benefits of Paying Your Taxes with a Credit Card:
- It’s convenient – Taxpayers can e-file or paper file early, make a payment by credit card and yet delay out-of-pocket expenses.
Payments can be made by phone, on-line or when e-filing.
- It’s safe and secure – standard, commercial card networks are used. The IRS does not receive or store card numbers.
- The payment options are available through service providers.
- There is a fee charged by the service providers. Fees are based on the amount of the payment and may vary by service provider (see below).
- Payment information will not be disclosed for any reason other than processing the transaction authorized by the taxpayer.
- A confirmation number is provided at the end of the phone or Internet transaction.
- The “United States Treasury Tax Payment” is included on the card statement as further proof of payment. The convenience fee will be included on the statement as a “Tax Payment Convenience Fee” (or similar transaction).
- If enrolled in such a program, you may earn rewards for paying your taxes like miles, points, rewards or money back from the credit card issuer.
Discover® More Card – Limited Time Offer
The Discover® More Card – Limited Time Offer provides consumers a 0% introductory interest rate on balance transfers for 24 months. This is an excellent opportunity to transfer a higher interest debt to the Discover® More Card, saving money on interest charges for the next two years.
For instance.. if you are transferring $5000 you will pay a 5% balance transfer fee of $250.
However, you would certainly pay more than that in interest over the next two years if you were to leave the balance on your higher interest rate credit card.
Transferring that balance to the Discover® More Card – Limited Time Offer credit card means you will pay ZERO interest for the next two years.
This credit card also includes the Discover CashbackBonus® feature, giving you up to 5% cash back on gas, groceries, travel, dining out, home improvement purchases and more.
This Discover Card limited time offer was to expire February 28, 2011. However, due to the extreme popularity of this offer it has been extended.
Don’t miss out .. This offer could expire at any time. Apply Today! Opportunities like this are few and far between.
by admin on January 26, 2011
in General
If you don’t have a free period, or if you expect to pay for purchases over time, it’s important to know what method the issuer uses to calculate your finance charge. This can make a big difference in how much you’ll pay in finance charges – even if the APR and your buying patterns remain relatively constant.
Balance computation methods include the following:
Average Daily Balance. This is the most common calculation method. It credits your account from the day payment is received by the issuer. To figure the balance due, the credit card issuer totals the beginning balance for each day in the billing period and subtracts any credits made to your account that day. While new purchases may or may not be added to the balance, depending on your plan, cash advances typically are included. The resulting daily balances are added for the billing cycle. The total is then divided by the number of days in the billing period to get the “average daily balance.”
Adjusted Balance. This is usually the most advantageous method for card holders. Your balance is determined by subtracting payments or credits received during the current billing period from the balance at the end of the previous billing period. Purchases made during the billing period aren’t included.
This method gives you until the end of the billing cycle to pay a portion of your balance to avoid the interest charges on that amount. Some creditors exclude prior, unpaid finance charges from the previous balance.
Previous Balance. This is the amount you owed at the end of the previous billing period. Payments, credits and new purchases during the current billing period are not included. Some creditors also exclude unpaid finance charges.
Two-cycle Balances. Credit Card issuers often use various methods to calculate your balance which will make use of your last two month’s account activity. Read your agreement carefully to find out if your issuer uses this approach and, if so, what specific two-cycle method is used.
If you don’t understand how your balance is calculated, ask your card issuer. An explanation must also appear on your billing statements.
