In theory, to get a
billing error repaired, you write to the
card company. You do this within sixty
days of the mailing of the bill with the
problem charge on it. In your letter you
explain what you think is wrong.
The card company either
fixes the problem within thirty days of
getting your letter or writes back,
telling you it has your letter and that it
will investigate and resolve your problem
within, at most, ninety days from the time
it got your letter. Then it does
investigate and does resolve the problem.
If you don't agree with the resolution
from the company you have ten days to
write back and say you don't agree. If you
do that, the company must notify you in
writing of the identity of any credit
reporting agencies it tells you are
delinquent on that payment and must also
tell the agencies that you dispute the
charges. Card companies very rarely tell
the agency that the charges are disputed;
failure to do so is a violation of law.
Unfortunately the process
doesn't always go this way. Banks exist to
make profits, and following the legal rule
may cut into those profits.
Now, let's look at how
to really get billing error problems
worked out:
First, to get the
protection of the Federal Fair Credit
Billing Act, you must notify the card
company in writing that there is a billing
error on your account. You do not legally
have to use the phrase 'billing error' in
your letter, but it is recommended that
you do.
The card company has to
get your letter within sixty days of the
time it mailed you the first statement
containing the error. Here is an example:
May 28 - Card company mails you your
statement.
June 1 - Statement arrives at your house.
June 28 - You discover a $100 mistake on
your May 28 statement.
You are too late
(sixty-one days after the day the company
mailed out the mistake statement) to use
your federal billing error correction
rights. Of course, you would probably
still want to write to the company and ask
for a correction of the billing error.
Though the company would not legally be
required to correct the problem under the
federal billing error law, other
provisions of the federal law might apply,
and the laws of your state might give you
rights above and beyond your federal
rights. Also, most card companies are
bound by various operating regulations of,
for example, Visa U.S.A., and MasterCard
International, which often require that
card companies go beyond the legal
requirements to resolve disputed items. Or
the company might actually be interested
in solving its customers' problems even if
it is not legally required to do so.
Do not telephone! If you
telephone, you are in severe danger of
losing all your legal rights. If the card
company does not get written notice of a
billing error within sixty days from the
day it mailed you the incorrect bill, you
are probably not protected by the federal
billing error rules.
Second, you have to send
your letter to the proper address. This is
probably not the same address you send
your card payments to, but it could be.
The card company gets to decide.
The way to tell where to
send your letter is to look on your bill
from the card company. There, the law
says, you will find the address where the
company want you to send questions or
billing error inquiries. It may be hard to
find, printed in little blue type on the
back of the statement perhaps, but it is
required to be there. If you can't find
it, call the card company.
Third, in your letter put
this information:
a. The account number,
your name, your address, and the date of
your letter.
b. The statement that there is a billing
error on your account.
c. The reason that there is a billing. For
example, 'The June 28, 2004 bill shows a
charge of $563.03 for a TV I did not buy
and know nothing about.'
Some judges have said that
even a penciled note scribbled on a credit
card bill and sent to an address other
than the one given on the bill is legal
notice to a card company of a billing
error.
Fourth, keep a copy of the
letter so that you have a record of what
you sent. And note on your copy the sate
your mailed the letter.
