Complaint Description:
I made a purchase back in July/August 2007 from a online store and paid it through "Bill Me Later" - 6 month finance purchase offer. Being an IT person and working for a big bank, I deal with all my payments and invoices online. Upon receiving their very first statement, I signed up with their online website, selected the option to get statement online (paperless), used my checking out to set up payments spread over 6 month period to utilize the offer.
I have been getting emails that my statement is ready from them and also my bank has been prompt with all payments. This month being the 6th (last month), I logged into their website to check my payments and to make sure that I didnt miscalculate the break up of payments. To my surprise, "Bill Me Later" didnt not honor the 6 month finance purchase offer and have been billing me finance charges from SECOND month onwards. I was SHOCKED, I called the Customer Service right away, and Brenda the rep was laughing at me that I didnt check my statements and she said there is no way they will go and change their system to credit me the finance charges. She kept pointing the finger at me that I should have checked my statements, And really mocked at me when I said I want to speak to the supervisor. This is atrocious, that you will trust a company thats giving you an offer only to be cheated. How can a company like this not have the ability to make changes to payments? Their Message: WELCOME TO BILL ME LATER - THE BEST WAY TO BUY FAST, FEEL SECURE AND PAY LATER. - seems such a sham when they want to us to pay the finance charges because they cannot correct their system or charges WHICH shouldn't have happened at FIRST place if they had set things right at the first instance.
Is this how they make money by not honoring the promotion and blaming the customer for not checking the statements and not calling early enough. It doesnt surprise me that there a loads of complaints against this company and its billing system.
I have logged a complaint through BBB and couple of consumer/complaint websites. Hope to recover the charges.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I too have had a ridiculous encounter with "bill me later" had a bill for 39.00 wich was paid. 2 months later was called at 10:00 pm and told it was not paid and new balance with late fees was now 89.00. have been going round and round with this company. how can I file a complaint?
L. Bruner and Robert Ibbotson,
I work for Bill Me Later and would be happy to speak with you about your situation. Please feel free to contact me at heather.fields[at]billmelater.com
The exact same thing happened to me just now. I purchased flights on 11/12/2007 and they were due 6 months later through this company. So I get my statement on 5/20 and it says minimum amt due: 0.00 and due date 6/14/2008. I thought it was strange because I knew the amount was due in June. I got one of there crappy customer service people who told me to read the BOTTOM of my statement . . .which stated that all was supposed to be paid 6/1/2008 if I didn't want to get charged the finance charges. This is trickery. If someone opens up their statement and it says zero payment due, do you think they are going to read all the way down their statement for something else? Come on! I too will be filing a complaint with the BBB.
I had a very similar experience with Bill Me Later. I subscribed to e-harmony for one month and was automatically extended a second month. I sent a letter to document my cancellation of services. I paid a total of $100.oo after harrassment by Bill Me Later. They now claim interest and late fees for a "loan" in the amount of $300.00. Apparently they believe they can charge interest rates in excess of 200% for a financing agreement I never signed up for, and for money I never borrowed. The usury rate in Florida is 18.% I have more than paid for the useless services they provided. I am tempted to complain to the consumer fraud authorities.
Bill me Later is the biggest Joke of a Bank online Scam on the planet! Stay away from them! they are greedy sons of ###! last year I placed my account in a debt management because I am on SSI the economy was getting worse! a couple of times I was late getting the payments out "Bill me Later does not like to work with people at all!
my payment is like 35 a month and they charged me a 39.00 late fee! I thought I finally got it under control I logged into my online account to check my bal and it said I owed 5.00 for this month. So, I paid it through my bank last week. I thought electronic meant fast speed of light...lol yeah right. its due today, my payment still has not been processed. Monday was a holiday and so because of that they will probably charge me another 39.00 late fee! What gets me is ; how they can get away with charging so damn much interest! that is Bull! if I would have known about this before I probably would not have agreed to the terms and kept the account! I am sick and tired of these damn banks getting away with this! oh yeah, last month my billing due date is at the end of the month. well, I paid the payment through debt management around the 5th they still have plenty of time to receive it! ### by the 10th Bill me Later was Harassing me day and night! my payment was not even late then! see folks, we as Americas allow this to happen! how do we put a STOP to it! Stop applying for credit! let the banks know how is BOSS! With out US as consumers they dont have a chance! by the way if some of you dont already know this Bill me Later is Citi Corp Bank. yeah goood old Citi bank! and Heather is a joke also she goes around reading this ### and reports it back to her boss and a guy will contact you act like everything is all good and crap when it isnt! keep reading the bashers comments ...
Bill me later ripped me off. I had an account with Bill me later and had to return items and upon returning I kept getting calls regarding payment. Come to find out they never credited my account so I called to find out what happened and was told the returns had not been credited to my account. Well they finally took off the charges but then wouldn't let me continue my account they said due to credit factors but my credit is good! I have paid them as soon as I get the bill! DONT USE BILL ME LATER!
I’ve read several stories about consumers being charged inflated finance charges and interest fees – some exceeding an APR of more than 100 percent.
These charges are unfair and illegal according to California’s consumer protection laws. I work with a law firm investigating Bill Me Later for illegal billing practices and they want to hear from California residents taken by this scheme who may be interested in participating in a case. Share your story at http://www.hbsslaw.com/bill_me_later.htm
Good luck!
Tina