GE Money Bank Hidden late fee on billing statement Fairfield, Connecticut

I purchased a motorcycle through Suzuki at end of March 2010.  They used GE money Bank for their financing.  I then set up re-occurring payments through my bank to pay on this account on time or prior to the due date of each payment.  Shortly after everything was set up automatically -- I promptly forgot the transaction.  Because it was all to be automatic, right?

This month I opened one of the statements and found a "$39.99 - Applied to fees" on my account.  I called GE and found out that every one of my payments was late.  Apparently it takes around 10 days to process a payment once the money has been sent to them -- causing every one of my last 6 payments to be late and the charge added to each following payment (which I was blinding paying -- yes, my fault for not paying better attention).

My beef with GE Money Bank is not explaining what was going on anywhere in the statement.  There is no reference to a late fee anywhere on my statement -- only the "$39.99 - Applied to fees".

I have asked my bank to assist and determine why the payment is taking up to 10 days to process.  Seems like a nice scam.  Receive the payment and then hold onto the check until after the due date to cause the account to be overdue and damaging my excellent credit in the offing.  No matter.  I am paying off the account and will never do business with GE Money Bank again.  I am also warning others that if they do deal with these guys, send your payments at least 2-3 weeks prior to being due to thwart tem at their own game. 

BTW - also found out that GE does not accept electronic transfers like most any other business in the 21st century. The organizations that offer bill pay services (banks, etc) must apparently send GE physical checks -- allowing them to perpetuate this scam.