In November, Layne and I purchased her formal dress at Macy*s. When ringing it up, I was asked if I'd like to open an account and receive 20% off the dress. My first mistake was saying, "YES, please." Credit card arrives, but no statement. Earlier this week, I CALL Macy*s and ask if I will be receiving a bill. (All in all, in this economy, I think that was pretty generous on my part.) I was assured that I was not late, that the bill would be generated in the next week or so and due the end of January.
The next day I began receiving strange phone calls from "Call Center, OH" and a recording that states I should stay on the line for a customer service person to help me. I googled the number (gotta love Caller ID!) and see that it's Macy*s. Um, I am pretty patient, but anyone who knows me knows that I despise the phone and it's pretty UNlikely that I will wait on the line. More calls daily, which I ignore. I even got one at 9:00am call this morning. (Thanks, Macy*s.) I hang up and mention it to Terry who says that in checking our credit reports earlier this week, a delinquent Macy*s account showed up under mine. ("What?!") At 11:00, I got another call. The woman explains how the charge is small ($50'ish) and if I could just make a $5 payment, they would know I am trying. She also told me that the call was being taped, to which I responded: "Good! Macy*s needs to know about the harassing calls I am getting." I explained that I have never received a BILL and that I was not ignoring it ... I simply cannot and will not pay a bill that I haven't received yet. She proceeded to tell me about late charges and how I am now 35 days delinquent. (Apparently the bill-that-was-never-sent was due about the same day we bought the dress?) I demanded that she cancel my account. "Both accounts?" ("What - I have TWO accounts?") "Um, YES, please." She assured me she was doing so. I'm not holding my breath. I assured her that if she will make a note that IF I AM MAILED A BILL, I AM HAPPY TO PAY IT. And that if they called me again, I would contact my attorney. As she began to wish me a Happy New Year, I hung up. I can only take so much telephone in one day.
And that is why I will never shop Macy*s again. Arrrgh.
Once I get out of collections, I shall write a lovely little New Year's Resolutions post and all that jazz. Til then, get off the computer and go watch some football!
Cheryl
1 comment:
This *almost* happened to me with a new Home Depot account a few months ago. I got the credit card and started using it...no bill. I called the # on the back of the card and they told me the date that the bill would be generated (still over a month away, which I thought was strange) and what day it would be due. I wrote the info down (including the name of the person I spoke with). A few days later I got a bill, and it was due shortly thereafter. Good thing I open & read all my mail. Why the phone operator thought they would skip the August billing period is beyond me.
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