A billing error turns out
to be almost anything you question or
don't like on your card statement. There
is a billing error on your credit card
account under federal law if the
statement:
1. Lists a charge for
something you did not buy.
Example: There is a
charge for $23.97 on your bill from the
Marriott Hotel in South Beach, Miami. You
have never been to Miami.
2. Lists a charge and you
cannot figure out what it is for.
Example: There is a
charge for $100.06 listed as "Product
#243CACA," and you live Chicago and have
not been to California in years. When you
get a copy of the billing slip, you see
that it is for a showerhead you purchased
at a local chain store. For some reason it
was processed at the chain's headquarters
in California.
3. Lists good or services
that were not accepted by you.
Example: You charge
a squirt gun that does not squirt. You
probably have not legally accepted the
gun.
4. Lists good and services
not delivered according to your deal with
the seller
Example: You charge
a new sofa to be delivered next Monday. It
is not delivered until twelve weeks later.
Or it is only twelve weeks before
collapsing. It was not delivered in
accordance with your deal with the seller.
Improper delivery is almost the same at
item three above.
5. Does not show correct
credit for payments made, or goods
returned.
Example: You make a
payment of $100 by mailing it to the right
address on June 10. It arrives there June
12. The payment is not credited to your
account until August 1, which means
you get charged $5 in interest that would
not have been due had the $100 been
credited when it should have been. Both
the failure to credit your account the day
the payment arrived and the $5 charge for
interest are billing errors.
Example: You return
a blender to the store on June 15. When
the credit card statement arrives August
1, the $32.50 price of the blender is not
credited to your account. This failure to
properly credit is a billing error.
6. Shows a mistake in
arithmetic, including prices, finance
charges, late payments, or any other
charges.
Example: You charge
a shirt for $12.12 including tax. When the
bill comes it is listed as $212.12.
7. Was not mailed or
delivered to your current address, as long
as the credit card company got written
notice of your new address at least twenty
days before the closing date of the
statement.
Example: On May 1
the card company gets your written notice
that your address has changed. On May 28
it closes your statement for the month and
mails it to your old address.
8. Just about anything
that looks wrong to you on your bill. If
you call it a billing error in writing,
the law says the credit card company must
treat it as a billing error.
