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Backstory:
When I was in high school, my parents got me a "young adult" Visa card with a $500 limit. It had my and my dad's name on it, so that in case I wouldn't (or couldn't) pay the bill, they could bill my dad instead. Basically it's a card with both our names on it and the bill has both our names on it as well. I haven't used it in years; I got my own card several years ago. I kept the young adult card around for a few online subscriptions I had on it, but eventually I even canceled those and I haven't used it in a couple of years now. The kicker is, I can't do anything to close or change the account. Since my dad is considered the "adult" on the card, only he can make changes, like increasing the credit limit or closing the account. He knows that I never use the card (and he doesn't either) and I've told him he could just close it, but he never bothered doing so. The bill for this card still goes to his address, and I can check the balance and pay it online, although I rarely do since I never use the card. I assumed he was...you know...opening the bill every month since it was coming to his address, even though nothing is (or should have been) on it.
/backstory
About a month ago, my parents started getting nasty phone calls from what we assumed was a fraud company. As it turns out, it's apparently some sleezy collections agency trying to collect a $105 balance on the young adult card my dad and I have. My mom told me I must have accidentally used that card instead of my normal card at some point in the last few months and now it's accumulating interest and late fees. I checked the balance online, and sure enough, there were two charges on it, for about $40 total, in September and October. However, they were not charges that I had made. They were from a company that runs an MMORPG that I used to have a subscription to years ago, but haven't payed for or played in over a year and half at least.
I called the MMO company and asked about the charges. They are now doing an investigation to see if the charges are fraudulent or a mistake by their billing department. Either way, they said they would refund me the $40 after their investigation is complete, which could take a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I called the credit card company to explain what happened and find out about canceling the card. The woman I talked to was a COW. She had a very unprofessional greeting -- "Card Member Services", no offer to help or even her name -- and when I gave her the card number, she went on rant about how the account is not in her system and it must be delinquent and she doesn't handle delinquent accounts and I need to talk to someone else. She was very rude and short the whole time. Then she said she would transfer me to the correct department, and instead she transferred me back to the beginning of the automated system that I had just spent 5 minutes wading through to get to her.
Thankfully, the next agent I got was able to help me (without transferring me to this supposed other department -- imagine that) but unfortunately, my dad still needs to handle closing the account since he's still technically the "adult" on the card.
I called my dad and told him all of this.
Dad: So, is the company that charged you initially going to refund us?
Me: Yeah, eventually, after they do their investigation.
Dad: For how much?
Me: About $40 or so.
Dad: What about all the interest and late fees?
Me: I don't think they're going to refund us for that.
Dad: So, for $40 we're getting charged for $105! This is ridiculous! Isn't there anything else you can do about this!?
Excuse me? Isn't there anything else I can do about this? Maybe if you had actually opened the bill, which comes to your address and with your name on it, or even better, canceled the card when I told you I wasn't using it anymore, we wouldn't be in this mess, you ASS.
I am so pissed, both at the CSR I had to deal with, and with my father.
When I was in high school, my parents got me a "young adult" Visa card with a $500 limit. It had my and my dad's name on it, so that in case I wouldn't (or couldn't) pay the bill, they could bill my dad instead. Basically it's a card with both our names on it and the bill has both our names on it as well. I haven't used it in years; I got my own card several years ago. I kept the young adult card around for a few online subscriptions I had on it, but eventually I even canceled those and I haven't used it in a couple of years now. The kicker is, I can't do anything to close or change the account. Since my dad is considered the "adult" on the card, only he can make changes, like increasing the credit limit or closing the account. He knows that I never use the card (and he doesn't either) and I've told him he could just close it, but he never bothered doing so. The bill for this card still goes to his address, and I can check the balance and pay it online, although I rarely do since I never use the card. I assumed he was...you know...opening the bill every month since it was coming to his address, even though nothing is (or should have been) on it.
/backstory
About a month ago, my parents started getting nasty phone calls from what we assumed was a fraud company. As it turns out, it's apparently some sleezy collections agency trying to collect a $105 balance on the young adult card my dad and I have. My mom told me I must have accidentally used that card instead of my normal card at some point in the last few months and now it's accumulating interest and late fees. I checked the balance online, and sure enough, there were two charges on it, for about $40 total, in September and October. However, they were not charges that I had made. They were from a company that runs an MMORPG that I used to have a subscription to years ago, but haven't payed for or played in over a year and half at least.
I called the MMO company and asked about the charges. They are now doing an investigation to see if the charges are fraudulent or a mistake by their billing department. Either way, they said they would refund me the $40 after their investigation is complete, which could take a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I called the credit card company to explain what happened and find out about canceling the card. The woman I talked to was a COW. She had a very unprofessional greeting -- "Card Member Services", no offer to help or even her name -- and when I gave her the card number, she went on rant about how the account is not in her system and it must be delinquent and she doesn't handle delinquent accounts and I need to talk to someone else. She was very rude and short the whole time. Then she said she would transfer me to the correct department, and instead she transferred me back to the beginning of the automated system that I had just spent 5 minutes wading through to get to her.
Thankfully, the next agent I got was able to help me (without transferring me to this supposed other department -- imagine that) but unfortunately, my dad still needs to handle closing the account since he's still technically the "adult" on the card.
I called my dad and told him all of this.
Dad: So, is the company that charged you initially going to refund us?
Me: Yeah, eventually, after they do their investigation.
Dad: For how much?
Me: About $40 or so.
Dad: What about all the interest and late fees?
Me: I don't think they're going to refund us for that.
Dad: So, for $40 we're getting charged for $105! This is ridiculous! Isn't there anything else you can do about this!?
Excuse me? Isn't there anything else I can do about this? Maybe if you had actually opened the bill, which comes to your address and with your name on it, or even better, canceled the card when I told you I wasn't using it anymore, we wouldn't be in this mess, you ASS.
I am so pissed, both at the CSR I had to deal with, and with my father.
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