Jokes are often made of elderly people who go from one room to another and forget why they went in there. And although we laugh at the jokes, it may not be so funny to the person experiencing such a problem. As we age, short-term memory loss becomes a real issue with which we must contend.
I actually use a daily medicine dispenser so that I know whether or not I have taken my medicine morning and evening. I keep the outgoing bills in a certain folder so that I know when I have mailed them and when I haven't. It was just for this reason that I became confused and irritated by my credit card company when they sent me a statement with a $39 late fee charge. This was the second time this particular credit card company had done this in just a few months. I knew I couldn't have been late, because I make it a point to mail in all my bills with plenty of time for the checks to reach their destination.
I checked my bank statement and the check had cleared on the 15 th of the month and was not due until the 28 th . So how could this have resulted in a thirty-nine dollar late fee?? With statement in hand, I called the credit card Company and furiously requested an explanation. It seems that I
was in the wrong. I simply had forgotten to check the minimum-due on my statement and had not sent in enough to cover the minimum-thus, the late fee. I have always sent anywhere from thirty to fifty dollars over the minimum on all my credit cards to get them paid down more quickly. But, as with many people suffering from short-term memory loss, I often forget to look at the fine print on my statement and allow the credit card companies to take advantage of this minor error to slap a large penalty on the balance due.
Not only do credit cards double their monthly interest rates in this way, but also use this as a gimmick to threaten its cardholders with an increased over-all percentage rate when they are "late" more than twice in a specified period. Do they care that it is an honest over-sight by a valued customer?-Not in the least. Credit card companies see it as a way to get back the huge income losses that they endure from people who file bankruptcy on their cards or who hire attorneys to get their credit card debt reduced or eliminated all together.
Don't let yourself fall victim to this legal scam and be sure to remember to check your minimum-due before mailing in your credit card payment.
Maybe I'm a bit prejudiced since I've joined the ranks of senior citizens, but I just don't feel it's right for elderly people to be taken advantage of so often. It seems that the older we get, the more often we allow ourselves to get into situations that might not have happened when we were younger. We sign two-year agreement contracts that have fine print stating that there is an exorbitant early termination fee that is not thoroughly explained to us before we sign and this can range anywhere from cell phones to satellite internet and television services. I believe it is Direct-TV that is in a litigation right now over their high fees for early termination of services and I for one hope they lose this one to John-Q-Public!
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