Customer Service Rant

Last month, I opened my bill from Circuit City to find I'd been slapped with a 35 dollar late fee. The bill showed that my payment had been credited to my account one day after the due date.

Never mind the fact that I'd paid the bill on time. I'd paid it at the store, and I was fortunate enough that I'd kept the receipt, which proved the date and time I'd made the payment.

I called the toll-free number to sort this out, and while they readily agreed that I'd been improperly assessed a late fee, they told me to go ahead and pay it anyway, and that they'd adjust it on my next bill.

The hell with that! I told them that this was unacceptable; that it wasn't my responsibility that the store screwed up and credited my payment incorrectly. As I'd paid my bill by the agreed-upon time, I wasn't about to be inconvenienced by having to pay a late fee, even if they did credit it back to me next month.

I had to talk to a supervisor, but they eventually saw it my way.

I opened my bill for this month and guess what? They did it again! I'd made a point of saving my receipt this time, so I called the toll free number again, and was again advised to pay the late fee and that they'd credit it to me next month. And once again, I explained why this was unacceptable and why it simply wasn't going to happen. This time, I didn't need the supervisor to get my point across.

No wonder they're going out of business.