Wal Mart CC closed for returned payments?

money_talks · ‎05-10-2015

I had a couple of payments that were returned last month. Since my April due date was approaching I went to a Wal Mart store and paid my minimum amount due with cash to satisfy the date. My statement printed on May 3rd and it gave me a new minimum amount due for May and there was nothing about a closed account. But I logged into my online account yesterday and it says "Account closed due to payments returned". What are my options here? I would like to keep this account open.

I found this weird since it only was a couple of payments that were returned last month and not something that was constant. I've had the account since 2013 and never had payments returned until last month.

If Wal Mart were to be a pain and wouldn't reopen my account, would my total balance be due immediately? The balance is something I couldn't pay in full for at least 5 months.

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished · ‎05-10-2015

When you bounce a check with a merchant, they are charged each time by their bank. They also have to process the returned payment involving labor time of their staff.

I would certainly try to get it reopened. Give them a good reason for why it happened and why it won't happen again. I suspect they won't reopen and will invite you to apply again in the future.

They won't make you pay it all off at once. You can make payments on it until it's paid in full.

Sorry to hear this. This is why I prefer to push payments from my bank online. That way if there weren't funds available, the payment would simply not be sent. Also if you can set up an overdraft line with your bank you can just get a $35 charge and not have accounts closed.

RobertEG · ‎05-10-2015

Closed means you can no longer charge to the account.

Unless your original account agreement specified that account closure made the entire debt due immediately, which wuuld be highly unusual, then you contnue to receive monthly billing under the minimum montly payment terms of your account agreement.

Existentialist · ‎05-11-2015

@money_talks wrote:
I had a couple of payments that were returned last month. Since my April due date was approaching I went to a Wal Mart store and paid my minimum amount due with cash to satisfy the date. My statement printed on May 3rd and it gave me a new minimum amount due for May and there was nothing about a closed account. But I logged into my online account yesterday and it says "Account closed due to payments returned". What are my options here? I would like to keep this account open.

I found this weird since it only was a couple of payments that were returned last month and not something that was constant. I've had the account since 2013 and never had payments returned until last month.

If Wal Mart were to be a pain and wouldn't reopen my account, would my total balance be due immediately? The balance is something I couldn't pay in full for at least 5 months.

With all due respect U seem to be taking the issue of returned payments a bit too lightly. Returned payments is quite serious actually. Back in the day when I first opened my Wally account I mistakenly entered the wrong routing# during setup. My initial payment went thru but my second pif apparently didnt. So I log n2 my account one day to see that it had been closed due to "too many payments returned" (although it was just one mind u). So I proceeded to scrutinize my account when I realized I had entered the wrong routing# and subsequently called to relate what the issue was and confirm that an initial payment had already been processed.

Point is... Walmart (as do most merchants) take the issue of returned payments seriously. They may not all result in immediate account closure but clearly as in this case its been known to happen. Unless u hav a good reason for the return payments getting the decision recon'd could prove uneventful. If my account was shut down after a single payment error its not at all difficult to imagine it happening to someone else. Although my situation took place years ago I still recall how I literally had to plead my case and then needed supervisor approval to get account reopened. It wasnt even about needing the account rather vindicating myself over what was clearly an error (albeit my own error) cuz I didnt want CRs listed as me not paying my bills.

Not to mention U stated U wouldnt be able to pay off balance in full (@ least 5 mo's later) if closed which means u were already over-extended. Unfortunately u placed yourself in an ill-advised position but yes... things happen. If by chance you are able to get your account reestablished (and I hope so) please be more mindful going forward. And realize that in the credit game NOTHING can be taken for granted. Good luck.

Anonymous · ‎11-27-2015

The exact same thing happened to me as the last poster. I set up automated billing, transposed 2 numbers on my checking account, and the first payment did not go through. I received an email telling me they were unable to process payment, I immediately corrected it and initiated payment. Fast forward about 8 months, and I log in to pay my monthly payment (at the time, they would only allow you to set up like 7 monthly payments ahead) - went in to set it up for the next 7 months only to find a notice in red that say my account had been closed due to returned payment(s). Mind you, I've never once been late on a payment, even the initial payment, clear through the point that I paid it off. I contacted them immediately, and after an hour and a half, I still couldn't get anywhere with them, went to my online banking on my checking account, printed off all of my statements showing there were NO returned payments of any type, let alone to Synchrony bank for my walmart card, called the credit center back, and still did not get anywhere with them. I saved my statement printoffs and they are in the file with my Walmart Credit card info, so I will at least have proof if it ever shows up as a negative impact on my credit so I can dispute it. Sometimes you have to move on - and in this case, it was my fault because I transposed the two digits.

Hope you get a satisfactory resolution from them.

UncleB · ‎11-28-2015

I'm truly sorry to hear of the account closings due to payment issues, but this is exactly the reason I have never been one to favor allowing a creditor to initiate an ACH 'pull' from my checking account. Mistakes happen, sometimes it's as simple as a couple of digits being swapped around - but the creditors generally don't care... they simply see it as a 'failed' payment.

As CH-7-Rebuilding states, if you enter a number wrong when using your own bank's billpay, the payment simply goes nowhere... it could be late if you're not paying attention, but if you are watching closely the first few times you'll catch any issues before they become problems.

That being said, I do use the cards 'bill pay' feature from time-to-time, but I have overdraft protection on my checking which guarantees the payments won't bounce, and when I first entered my checking account/routing number I did a copy-and-paste directly from my bank's webpage; I'm the first to admit it's a bit paranoid, but I've also never had any problems.

To the OP, if you can't get the account reopened, at some point you can likely reapply for it (I remember reading once that Synchrony will make you wait a year, but you might want to verify this). While this would be a new trade line, on the 'plus' side you would be starting over with clean payment history as well.

Good luck whatever you decide!