Dealing with Credit Card Late Fees
Don’t Take Credit Card Late Fees Laying Down
Credit cards certainly have many advantages for consumers, but credit card late fees can be discouraging to otherwise content credit card users. It’s great to be able to purchase everything you need without having to carry a lot of cash in your wallet. It’s also great to be able to buy an item you want without having to wait until payday or even longer. However, if you’re not careful, all of those conveniences may come at a pretty hefty price.
The Ugliness of Credit Card Late Fees
Credit card late fees can be quite costly. It happens to all of us at one time or another. No matter how closely you plan, for some reason you miss a credit card payment. Perhaps your credit card statement got stuck behind a sofa cushion or you forgot to put a stamp on the envelope before you mailed it. Maybe it had nothing to do with you and the post office misplaced the envelope you mailed. Most consumers don’t even realize that the payment was missed until they are hit with the credit card late fees.
Unfortunately, credit card late fees aren’t just $10 or $15 like they used to be. Credit card late fees have skyrocketed in recent years and some consumers have reported paying almost $30 for making a single late payment, not to mention the fact their interest rates go up. Is there anything you can do about it?
Do Your Part
First things first -- try your best to avoid credit card late fees. If you discover that you forgot to drop your payment in the mail and it is too late to do so, you might need to pay by phone. Some credit card companies accept payments by phone, and the fee that they charge for this service is usually considerably less than the credit card late fees.
Whatever the reason is, if you are hit with late fees, you can start to resent ever getting your credit cards in the first place. Obviously, the best thing to do is try your best to avoid getting credit card late fees. If you can’t manage to avoid all credit card late fees, there is still an alternative.
When It’s Not Your Fault
The good news is that you can negotiate credit card late fees. If you have a history of paying your credit card bills on time, many credit card companies will waive the late fee -- the trick is that you have to call them and ask them to do it. There are limits to the amount of credit card late fees that can be waived over the course of a year. More often than not, credit card companies will waive one late fee annually.
Credit card use can have many advantages but not if you are frequently getting hit with late fees. Be attentive and try your best to avoid credit card late fees, but definitely try to negotiate any credit card late fees you do get charged.