Citi Sears MC won't let me pay until balance reports - is this legal?

[Anonymous]

Technically I do not keep a balance on my Sears Citi card, but it appears as though I do because their payment system will not let me pay more than my last statement.  Sometimes it's 14.00 and sometimes it's 800.00, so I must appear wildly out of control to the CRA's....

What I'm wondering is whether or not this is legal.  Why can't I pay a bill before it's due, as long as the balance is valid, I'm not disputing anything and there is even a box for paying ''current balance''?

My CL is 2200 on this puppy, so sometimes I look as though my util is high even though I pay in full as soon as allowed. They report about two days after statement close, and they report the statement balance.

Oh, and this is a card that lowered my limit after I paid my bill in full earlier this year.  Third card in one year to do that.

[haulingthescoreup]

It sounds like there's something wrong with how your online payment function is set up. I pay mine early all the time. The first month, I think I had to wait for a balance to report before paying, but after that, no problem. I always have $0 reporting, despite however much or little I used the card during the month.

Temporary fix: pay from your online bank account and "push" the payment in. They can't do anything about that.

Genuine fix: call CS and ask them to look at how your account is set up. I've always had great CS with them. Try calling in the late afternoon/ early evening Eastern time (don't know where you live) to get the home-grown reps in the Dakotas. At least, their accents sound Dakotan, doncha know. (random allusion to "Fargo" )

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  My Billpay works great for this.

Now that I've done that, I almost don't care...but I should get it fixed anyway.  I'll call the nice midwestern ladies - yes, you're right; they're there in the evenings.