Bills and late fees .....

[Telstra]

so
"big" companies can charge late fees right away and NOTHING we can do about it.


late fees range from $5, $15 ........ and go up and up ??



is it legal?

 

[M4P]

Yes - they're regulated

Only way to avoid them is to pay on time or shop around for another bank and credit card

 

[WYSIWYG]

Just got a CC bill with a late fee....in BOLD letters it said yearly interest rate was 50.25%

They can charge whatever they want, and they will!!!

 

[Orlandude]

The BEST way to avoid them is stay out of debt as best you can. Yes you have to buy a car and other needs but you don't need a wallet full of credit cards. Personal bankruptcies are soaring again and most of it involves credit card debt. I keep ONE credit card. Period. Don't want anymore. If I max it out, I hide it in my safety deposit box at the bank and make the payments ON TIME until it's back down to zero balance. In the meantime I learned to live without credit cards. It's not that hard, especially now when ATM and Debit cards are accepted everywhere. Jsut have to make sure you have funds in the bank or those debit cards will tack on all kinds of fees too.

Banks are regulated by the State and called State Usury Laws. That is why banks are now going after those check cashing stores you see around. They are not subject to State Usury Laws and charge absurd interest rates and fees. Some states have passed laws to regulate them. Some have outright sued them and tried to force them out of business. A lot of banks are gettin in on the act by doing away with bounced checks. My bank just did this. If you write a check and do not have enough to cover it, the bank pays it anyway and charges you a fee on top of the difference you owe. Like the old NSF fee. They don't bounce checks anymore. They just pay them. If you don't make up the difference plus their fees, they will cancel your account and turn you over to some collection agency.

 

[josher]

You made an agreement with the credit card issuer to either pay on time or pay the consquences.

It isn't their fault if you messed up.

 

[Telstra]

u guys got the wrong idea.

i'm talking about the late fees for phone, eletricity, gas, traffic tickets ... etc ONLY and not the banks.

 

[RationalLunacy]

u guys got the wrong idea.

i'm talking about the late fees for phone, eletricity, gas, traffic tickets ... etc ONLY and not the banks.

You didn't provide us with this explanation for more than an hour after your OP.

Therefore, you are being charged a late fee.

 

[Homoerectus]

... late fees for phone, eletricity, gas, traffic tickets ??? Is that a land line or a cell phone? How much of your bill is texting fees and how much is over your monthly contract usage? Can you wean yourself from using your cell phone? When you are a responsible adult you pay your utility bills first, buy groceries next, set aside money for tranportation to work. No vacations, electronics, i-Pods or concerts. Life is a bitch and then you die. Late fees will eat more of your earnings than you can afford and I must add traffic tickets are sheer stupidity. .

 

[kevbo]

I work for an electric/gas company, and I know most, if not all energy companies (at least in the US) are regulated. And we give grace periods, and some of our service areas don't have late fees at all...

 

[Telstra]

... late fees for phone, eletricity, gas, traffic tickets ??? Is that a land line or a cell phone? How much of your bill is texting fees and how much is over your monthly contract usage? Can you wean yourself from using your cell phone? When you are a responsible adult you pay your utility bills first, buy groceries next, set aside money for tranportation to work. No vacations, electronics, i-Pods or concerts. Life is a bitch and then you die. Late fees will eat more of your earnings than you can afford and I must add traffic tickets are sheer stupidity. .

late fee should be refund if the amount owed is paid.
if ALL the customers take them to court for $5, $10 late fees, the company would go broke.