Costly Mistake (Bloomingdales)

[GQ-007]

Let me give you an example of the impact from the lack of attention to detail. Typically, I rarely allow balances to post to my accounts. In this one instance, my Bloomingdales account posted a balance. Without the statement, I went into the store to pay the balance. I asked for my balance and paid in full. At least I thought I did. Apparently, interest incurred and I paid all but  $6.  Never paid any attention to my statement the next month because I often receive statements with 0 balances. Reported 30 days late and knocked my vantage score for Experian  from 982 to 814. It has yet to report with Trans Union and Equifax so I don't know what the impact on my Fico score. Last month my Equifax was 757 and Trans Union 780.

My last lateness was almost 6 yrs ago. I can kick myself in the butt. And to make matters worse, Bloomingdales is my oldest account dating back to 1984. I rarely use the account and only kept it open to maintain my AA.

I called them yesterday and requested given my history they remove the lateness. They refused. I couldn't get mad at them because it was  late. But I explained that I asked for my balance from the sales person and paid what I was told. Why would I pay 150.00 and intentionally, leave several dollars?

Stupid! Just stupid on my part. 

[Anonymous]

Some people don't like to do this but I have all of my accounts on auto pay for the minimum payment. While I almost always pay things off in full that little feature allows me to be sure I don't miss a payment when life is crazy.

I've heard all sorts of reasons why people don't like auto pay systems but the truth is it's saved me more than once and I've never had a problem with it on any of my cards or accounts.

[john398]

this is when services like mint.com or pageonce come in handy...they will alert you when you have a bill coming due,and they are free

[DI]

I have a computer with Internet connection.  There's no reason to not check all of my accounts daily whether they're dormant or not. 

[GQ-007]

I have Mint. But I realize this account would not register with them. Mint would not recognize the account

[john398]

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@GQ-007 wrote:

I have Mint. But I realize this account would not register with them. Mint would not recognize the account

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oh ok yeah for some reason I acnt get walmart to either

[GQ-007]

Now i'm concerned with how long it will take me to recover. Before this occurrence, I thought I managed my accounts to a "Tee." Now I will review what I'm doing to ensure this will not happen again

[pizzadude]

I believe that the impact of a single 30 day late like this will dissipate quickly over time, such that within a year or two it might not have much of a FICO® score hit at all.

Don't take no for an answer with your GW requests - write a few letters, tell them how loyal you are to Bloomingales, etc... Eventually your letter will find its way to the right person - it just takes time and persistance. 

Good luck !

[GQ-007]

I really appreciate the suggestion. I'm going to follow up with Bloomies immediately. 

[ChesterPDexter]

I sympathize with you; this could happen to anyone.  I have a Bloomingdale's and a Neiman Marcus card and I use them very infrequently, then pay for either a month or two or three and then pay it off.  Recent example:  I paid $36 for a pair of sneakers, just to keep the Bloomingdale's card active.  I paid for them in two payments.

If you are not careful, it is very easy for an interest payment to be applied on the statement after the one in which you thought you paid the account off.  I have seen a "minimum finance charge" of $1.50 appear the month after I thought I paid off one of these accounts.

If you have paperless statements and miss one of these, the result can be what happened to you.  For this reason, I try to keep these accounts sending me paper statements.  Really, though, I get so nervous every time I use one of these that I log in for a  few months afterward just to make sure the account is good and paid off.  Sorry this happened to you.