Emerge extracts double payment, refuses to correct Atlanta Georgia

I've had this Emerge Visa account for several years. It started out as FNANB, then it became something else, and now it's "EmergeCard." I have a couple other cards I use, hardly ever using the Emerge Visa which I'm mainly just working on getting paid off so I can close it. The other cards I have, I make payments online. But, Emerge charges $4.95 just to make an online payment (like to hear their rationale for that), so we usually just mail them a check every month.

The problem is, apparently lose checks. But only for a few days.

This month, we sent the check on 15 December, 2008. Saturday morning, 27 December, 2008 I got a call around 0800 (8:00 AM), from a person identifying himself as an Emerge representative. The connection was poor and it was not real clear what the individual was saying. Trying to adjust the phone volume, I accidentally hit the disconnect switch. They did not call back. I tried calling back the number they called from and couldn't connect. Since we had other things going on (real life, family kids, 8:00 o'clock on Saturday morning, etc.), I figured if it was anything important they'd call back and went on with the other things.

Later I got to thinking there was no reason they'd call unless their was a problem with the payment. I subsequently logged on to my checking account where I could see that the payment had not yet cleared. So, I think it was later that day I located the last billing statement and called Emerge using the number that was on it.

The representative I talked to said, no, they had not received the payment mailed on 15 December. This, of course, was not 27 December. This had happened a year or so ago, once before, and the payment for some reason had not posted until almost the end of the month. The rep I talked to tried to get me to make a payment over the phone (which they charge you $12.00 to do!), but I refused. I told them I was going to wait a couple of days, see if it showed up, and if it hadn't by the 30th or 31st of December, I'd go on the emergecard.com web payment page and make the payment.

On the morning of 30 December (again around 0800), I got another call from a person identifying himself as an Emerge representative. He informed me that they had not received my payment and that there was now a $35 late charge, but that if I went ahead and made the payment over the phone, at that time, he would waive the late charge and, also, the $12 fee for making a payment over the phone. I told him that IF I agreed to go ahead and make a phone payment, I was concerned about my check we had sent them and wanted to know where that was. I told him I'd make the payment over the phone, but if the check was found, I did not want that cashed. He agreed that they would return it.

This was on 30 December 2008. On the evening of 31 December 2008, I had occasion to log into my banks online account section where I saw that the check we had mailed Emerge on 15 December had cleared that day: 31 December 2008.

Well, frankly, I don't think the family budget allows for making a double payment this month, especially since I'm basically laid off here a couple of weeks at the end of the year until 02 January when I go back to work. So, here it is, New Year's Eve, and I'm calling Emerge to complain about their payment system/practices and request a refund of that extra payment. I didn't expect to get anybody, but I did. The person I talked to informed me that she could see the two payments, but there was no way she could effect a refund or credit the extra one back to my back account.

What really ticks me off is that obviously, when the Emerge rep called me on 30 December and persuaded me to make that payment over the phone, they already had my check or I doubt it would not have cleared at my bank here in Iowa on 31 December. I was very clear with him that I did NOT want that check deposited if it eventually showed up and he assured me that it would be returned. We'll survive, this, but it's going to cause some problems with all the other bills that have to be covered the first of the month.

I will also convey a summary description of this incident to my United States Senators, Chuck Grassley (R) and Tom Harkin (D), as well as my US Representative Bruce Braley (D). I understand that "Members of Congress" are currently taking a look at some of these credit card companies and their practices. I also plan, about the 1st of next week, after we get through the holidays, to call the Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller's office, and discuss it with them. That and the 29.99 % APR I'm being charged with no clear idea why - the only time I think I've had a late payment with them was about a year or so ago when they, again, seemed to lose a check for a few days. Not sure any state laws were broken by them, but I understand the Iowa AG does keep a list of some of these "bad" credit card companies or ones they get recurring complaints about.

"Bat"
Tripoli, Iowa
U.S.A.

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