WalletRehab - Ways to save money

Ramit over at I Will Teach You To Be Rich wrote a recent article on how he negotiated out of bank fees.

It reminded me of the last time I had to pay a late fee on one of my credit cards. I was out of the country for an extended period of time (as usual, and as I am at the moment). Most of my banking is done electronically via the Internet, and somehow, one of my credit cards had been renewed (with a yearly service fee) and charged with the annual fee. I had no problem with the fee (since it’s a specialty credit card), but I didn’t receive any notice of the fee itself. When I got wind of it, it was already a month past due.

I was worried about two things: the late fee and my credit report. I was worried that I would get dinged because of something that honestly wasn’t my fault. So I called them up to get rectify this situation.

They (banks, cell phone, credit card companies, etc.) want happy customers.

The first thing I realized was that the bank and the customer service people want to make me happy. Ultimately, their lives are easier if I am happy (and reasonable), and the bank gives them a certain amount of discretion to ensure this happens. Imagine if every single time a charge was reversed a call had to be made to Acme Bank headquarters. Customer service representatives are empowered to make decisions to keep you a customer.

Late payments don’t automatically get reported.

In this case, the nice woman on the end of the line was named Mona. I asked her about the credit issue, right off the bat. “Will this appear on my credit report? Is there any way to prevent it?”

She patiently explained to me that for that particular bank, they don’t report credit problems until after the payment is past due for two months. I don’t know if this is industry-wide or specific to a certain bank, but do not assume that you will automatically get dinged for a late payment. If you think you might, call and ask about it.

To prevent my credit report from being affected, all I needed to do was pay her directly over the phone the annual service fee and the late penalty.

Ask to get that fee reduced or waived.

I asked her if there was anything she could do to help me with the late fee. It truly wasn’t my fault. As silly as it sounds, all I had to do was say:

Is there anything you can do to help me with this fee?

That’s all you need to say. Most of the time, your fee will be reduced, or even eliminated. Even if you are in the wrong, most companies will reduce your late fees, just because you have asked. It is good practice to challenge every late fee or service fee that comes your way, because in almost every single case, you will get that fine reduced.

Above all, for this to work, you need to be sincere, polite and sorry. Apologize for incurring the fee, and chalk it up to not understanding the situation or extenuating circumstances. Be polite. Make jokes. Ask the operator about his/her family. If you’re so talented, maybe even flirt a little bit. But above all, Be CALM and POLITE.

Don’t take my word for it!

But don’t just take my word from it. From the comments section on Ramit’s site, you’ll read:

eBay once ran up 300 some dollars in fees to my bank account. I walked in to the bank, told them simply “I’d like all of those fees to be reembursed please.” and they did it without hesitation. The problem all to often is that people do not ASK. So — they still make good money on a large percentage of the population.

I have always been exceptional at balancing my checking account, but a couple of years ago I overdrafted by only a couple of dollars. The fee was 30.00, which I thought was outrageous. I was angry, but was as calm and polite as I could be with the service rep on the phone, and sure enough, he was happy to waive the fee for me. I suspect a lot of it had to do with my attitude.

So, go ahead, ask for help with that pesky late fine. You’ll be surprised at how forgiving banks are!