Merrick Bank Annual Fee on Closed Account Draper Utah

I have been a Merrick Bank cardholder for two years. By no one's fault but my own, I did not realize that although when I received the card I had no annual fee, an annual fee would be added the following year. I have been having challenges with Merrick not posting my payments on time, causing extravagant late fees and then noticing that I was being charged an amount each month for an “annual fee” I didn’t knowingly agree to, put me at my limit with this company. I called toady and requested my account be immediately closed. I explained that I would continue paying on the card until the balance was paid in full, but that I expected the annual fee payment each month to be discontinued. I was told that IT WOULD NOT BE DISCONTINUED UNTIL THE ACCOUNT WAS PAID IN FULL. I argued for a time and then finally, after confirming the account was closed, decided to look into this matter further from a legal perspective. My understanding is that an annual fee is for an open account. My account is closed. I did not ask for a refund of the previous charges for this year, just that they discontinue. Bottom line: Do not use Merrick Bank. They are, in my experience, a poor excuse for a credit card company that likes to make changes to your account and hide those changes in multiple page change notices that come in the mail after the change has been made. Their processing of payments is suspicious and I've have to go to great lengths each month to "prove" the date and time my payment was entered and accepted to protect myself from fraudulent late charges.  I’m still going to research the legality of continuing to charge an annual fee for a closed account, but will always recommend that Merrick Bank be avoided at all costs to anyone who wants to listen.