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So I had a Bank of America credit card for over 2 years, which I closed last May. 3 weeks after this, they still accepted a payment which was on autopayment but failed to notify me. How I realized that I have a balance was my credit score dropped from 740s to 620 in a single day !! Now I've been dealing with them for a month to resolve this issue but finally they said it wasn't bank's fault and they can't do anything. I also tried to contact the merchant to refund the payment and charge me again but they won't do that either.
I know closing a card affects your score but I assume it wouldn't affect this bad so I think main problem is the 4 month late payment ( which was for $50 + $12 late fees).
I would really really appreciate anyone who can explain me what I did wrong and any advices on what to do to reverse the damage. Thanks!
@bluest wrote:So I had a Bank of America credit card for over 2 years, which I closed last May. 3 weeks after this, they still accepted a payment which was on autopayment but failed to notify me. How I realized that I have a balance was my credit score dropped from 740s to 620 in a single day !! Now I've been dealing with them for a month to resolve this issue but finally they said it wasn't bank's fault and they can't do anything. I also tried to contact the merchant to refund the payment and charge me again but they won't do that either.
I know closing a card affects your score but I assume it wouldn't affect this bad so I think main problem is the 4 month late payment ( which was for $50 + $12 late fees).
I would really really appreciate anyone who can explain me what I did wrong and any advices on what to do to reverse the damage. Thanks!
I think I understand what you are talking about. What you did wrong was not removing the credit card info from your auto payment. I'm sure lots of people have done the same thing. I haven't had this issue because normally credit card companies will just refuse the charge if the card was closed out. The only thing I can think of is maybe a goodwill letter to the credit card company? You could try disputing the late charge with the credit reporting agencies, but I don't kow that it will go anywhere. My issue isn't so much with them approving the charge as that is partially your fault (although they really shouldn't be approving anything on a closed card IMO). My concern is that they did not notify you of the charge. Did you have paperless billing? If not, then why wouldn't they send a new statement out?
Thanks for your message.
I've been actually calling them like twice a week for the past month and they finally said they will open a case and look into it but after that their attitude and answer was 100% the same.
The only way they say they can make a difference to remove the late payment history but they only do that if there is a bank error. I think it's their fault to accept that payment but they say it was a courtesy and it's not an error. So they won't remove the history and I don't know what else I can ask them to do..
That was my assumption too, after all what does it even mean to "close" the account if it's still active and accepting payments?
I received statements in mail before but never relied on them since I always do everything online. And they closed my online account the day I closed the card. They said they sent those after the payment went through, which I'm not sure since they still send me promotional stuff and I don't remember receiving anything like a stament. Although I'm not 100% sure. I also pointed them out if I changed my address after that, I would never be notified since they haven't called me or sent an email, even though they had all my contact info.
Also I just don't understand how come a balance so small ($50) can affect my score so bad!
http://consumerist.com/2008/02/04/your-account-is-never-really-closed-at-bank-of-america/
Just so you know your not the only one. BoA is a horrible company and has been doing this for years. I refuse to deal with them. I have also seen this same thing happen with Amex.
@bluest wrote:That was my assumption too, after all what does it even mean to "close" the account if it's still active and accepting payments?
I received statements in mail before but never relied on them since I always do everything online. And they closed my online account the day I closed the card. They said they sent those after the payment went through, which I'm not sure since they still send me promotional stuff and I don't remember receiving anything like a stament. Although I'm not 100% sure. I also pointed them out if I changed my address after that, I would never be notified since they haven't called me or sent an email, even though they had all my contact info.
Also I just don't understand how come a balance so small ($50) can affect my score so bad!
The mistake is kinda on your end here, since you did authorize those charges. However, the main purpose is to get this fixed, not to point fingers at whose fault it is.
There are clauses in T&C for credit and checking accounts that allow the bank to reopen the account whenever there is a new charge / credit going in there, which is what happened. This, in a way, helps to alleviate issues where people closed an account, but returned an item to a store that would only refund back onto the same card. However for you, it's harming you instead.
Before you do anything, pay off that $50 and any late fees right away, before it goes into collections. It's going to be much harder to fix once it get sold off to a collection agency.
Your best solution right now is to keep calling that merchant. If they are a local mom and pop store, you probably will have better luck since they're usually more negotiable. Offer to pay them the $50 first, and then have them credit that payment back onto your account. As long as they're willing to process the refund, it will be much easier explaining to BofA and having everything else corrected, since everything started from this charge.
If that doesn't work, call BofA and also send in goodwill letters. It will take some perseverance, but if you're lucky and happen to get the "right guy" who's willing to help, then your issues could be resolved. Just try to be really nice about it and hopefully the person on the other end will be willing to help too.
If both the merchant and BofA are unwilling to budge, then that's pretty much it. A honest mistake is still a mistake on your part. BofA simply reported the information accurately to the CRAs. You can't dispute a charge that you knowingly authorized. It might just result in more undesirable implications. So, just keep contacting the merchant and BofA until they're willing to budge. Worst case scenario you just have to let it age off on its own.
I would keep calling BofA and fixing the issue with them. Try calling them with one of the backdoor numbers on the forum. Transactions for closed accounts should not have gone through. I guess the case is different with most banks.