Thursday, March 26, 2009

Mistakes

So I've been a bit of a bad blogger lately, not updating every day like I previously have. However, I'm not alone, as it seems we're kind of in the doldrums in the Nunavut blogging community. Or perhaps we're all outside enjoying the extra daylight. I'm not sure.

And really, I've been on a pretty good roll since about September when it comes to posting every day. And I'm ahead of the pace I had last year. I suspect the upcoming adventure in Ottawa in two weeks time will help recharge the batteries.

Anyway, two things to mention today. First, and I know I could probably just check this online, but I figure I've got a readership, let's check with them. Also, it gives me a chance to vent about this.

We had a bit of a large Visa a couple of months ago, mostly due to the fact there were a pair of plane tickets on it. When we got our bill for the past month we noticed we were dinged with $175 in fucking interest, which I thought was a touch strange. Understand, we always pay off our Visa completely and on time every month. Our respective parents drilled that into us from a young age. You don't use the cards unless you have the money to pay them off.

So Cathy called and we were told that we were $10 short in paying off the last Visa. Apparently when I was paying it, I miscalculated or hit a 0 instead of a 1, so we didn't pay it off completely. That means we were billed interest on the entire damn bill, and not the $10 we failed to pay off.

Seriously? I really have to pay $175 in interest on $10? Because that's what Visa is telling me. And if that's true, I suspect Visa is getting another call, a less polite one, from me saying they might want to reconsider that interest amount if they want to keep us as customers.

sigh

Oh, and speaking of mistakes, some of you might recall an article I linked to from Vanity Fair about Iceland from earlier this month. Well, there's been a rebuttal of some the facts in that story and, in the interest of fairness, I figured I should link to it.

I gotta say, that people in Iceland don't believe in elves and fairies as much as the article implied is a real source of disappointment for me. That was my favourite part of the story. Nor are they blowing up Range Rovers. Ah well...

Last Five
1. Boys in the band - The Libertines
2. Miss USA - Andy Stochansky
3. Where the white boys dance - The Killers
4. Public pervert - Interpol
5. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles*

5 comments:

Sara Dorman said...

ok the rebuttal is interesting and plausible, but the guy posting it's grammar is terrible (fewer!!), anyway, he doesn't even mention that icelandic women smoke pipes, which is what i've always found cool....switch to mastercard craig, they're way tougher on suspected fraud (kind of a pain sometimes), and just pay by direct debit......

Anonymous said...

Call visa...kick up a fuss, but be calm at the same time. It happened to me before and they reversed the entire charge.

tanker belle said...

I don't think what visa did is actually legal. Could be wrong, but all other types of loans charge you interest on the amount you haven't paid. Otherwise, couldn't they charge you interest every month on the bill you paid in full? Check the terms and conditions of your agreement before you phone them.

The cc companies are just being bigger pricks these days, it's all the fun and games of the economic crisis. Like people having their credit limit randomly lowered significantly (which can affect credit rating apparently) or no longer qualifying for a mortgage...a normal mortgage, not the subprime garbage.

Steph said...

I cancelled my mastercard because I found their security was too lax. I called to ask them something about my account one day and they didn't ask me any questions about my address, DOB, etc. It was probably just a lazy customer service rep but I cancelled my account asap.

Anonymous said...

Girlfriend had a problem with visa on this the other day. Kick up holy hell and keep escalating up the management food chain. They will either capitulate or offer you some sort of deal where you pay half the interest. Personally I would escalate until they capitulate. But you may reach a point where you come to the realization that that might be the best deal you are going to get. Credit card companies brought in new rules over the last couple of years. And I believe there was something on a differet way they were calcualting interest on balances but I cannnot remember the exact details.