Why I've decided to cancel my membership and boycott Macy's
Macy's offers several ways to pay your Red Star Account
You can make payments and receive your statements online. This is offered free. They have partnered with CheckFree™, a leader in online
billing, to bring you a secure method for receiving your statement and paying your Macy's bill online. Payments will post to your account within
three business days. You need a valid checking account with a U.S. bank to use this service.
I went online to check my Macy's Account - the following came up on my Account Summary:
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I used the CheckFree™, to avoid finance charges I decided to pay the account in full. The Due Date was 03/29/2008, I sent the $102.76 in
on 03/29/2008. The online system shows the "payment date" as 04/01/2008. . . Note the three business days above. I then got an
automated call (04/01/2008) advising me to call Macy's at 1-800-511-3207. After calling the number I was told by the agent (the agents are
based in India) that I was due a payment and was being charged a late charge. After somewhat of a fuss, he said he would remove the late
charge.
I asked if I'm using the CheckFree™, why do I get charged the late fee? He said "if you pay online it takes 5-7 business days (so
much for the three business days) to get posted....hence the Late Fee, at least $15.00, possibly more. When I asked to speak to a
supervisor, after somewhat of a long wait, the supervisor comes on the phone, he says "I cannot hear you". I decided to hang up because
of the possible "bad connection". When I called and asked for a supervisor again, I got the same thing, this time the supervisor gave me a
different number ( 1-800-545-1256), after the third attempt to talking to the supervisor (in which the agent says "I cannot hear you"), I tried
the 303-390-2200 phone number on the bill. Lo and behold, it automatically sends you back to India and the same supervisor!
Quoted from website
"You Can Pay By Phone
All you have to do is call one of their Star Rewards Specialists at 888-431-6229. You must have a valid US bank account.
There is a $10 fee for this service. "
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MACY'S RED STAR REWARDS ACCOUNT STATEMENT
For Jan 30, 2008 to Feb 29, 2008
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My First & Last Name
Account number: **-***-***-439
Questions? (866) 593-2543
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Balance of last statement
Payments
New Transaction this statement
FINANCE CHARGES
$ New balance
Minimum payment due on Mar 29, 2008
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$199.23
$99.23
$0.00
$2.76
$102.76
$5.00
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Financial Terms
DAILY PERIODIC RATE
ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE
AVERAGE DAILY BALANCE
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Payments may be mailed to:
PO Box 6938
The Lakes, NV 88901-6938
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING TO RECEIVE YOUR MONTHLY
STATEMENT AND PAY YOUR BILL ONLINE. WE WILL DISCONTINUE
THE PAPER COPY OF YOUR MONTHLY STATEMENT AFTER YOU
MAKE YOUR THIRD ONLINE PAYMENT.
CREDIT IS EXTENDED BY DEPARTMENT STORES NATION BANK.
You can print this page for your records or click the e-Bills link to return to you e-Bills page.
[SUCCESS LOGO] Congratulations!
The following payment was scheduled. You can view or change it on the Payment Activity page.
Payment Total Payment
ACCOUNT e-Bill Information Date Amount Account Tracking Number
Due Date 3/29/2008
Amount Due: $5.00 04/01/2008 $102.76 (bank) 7LBD1-ML***
Account Balance: $102.76
*******5439
macy's
Date that prints on the bottom of page
3/29/2008
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Date that prints on the bottom of page
3/29/2008
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After printing the above information, I decided to pay the bill in full to avoid the 0.06822% (APR 24.9%) finance charges. I continued to pay
the bill in full, and was taken to the Congratulations page:
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You get email from CheckFree™ notifying you of a new bill. I got one (would you believe dated 04/01/2008), after the phone call with the
agents .......during the morning........here's what it looked like:
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You have a new bill from Macy's.
From: mycheckfree@customercenter.net
Sent: Tue 4/01/08 8:08 PM
Reply-to: mycheckfree.reply@customercenter.net
To: my-email@my-email.com
You have a new e-Bill from Macy's
e-Bill Information
Biller Account Number:
Due Date:
Minimum Amount Due:
Amount Due:
Account Balance:
To pay this e-Bill, click the red CheckFree pay button. You can then change the payment date, payment amount, and payment account, if
necessary. To view the e-Bill before paying it, click View e-Bill.
Note: If you have already paid this bill, please disregard this message. It is simply a reminder that you have an e-Bill.
*******5439
04/29/2008
$39.00
$39.00
$133.81
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Re: My macys.com Order (KMM43172138I8897****)
From: Macy's - Customer Service (customerservice@macys.com)
Sent: Fri 4/04/08 10:35 AM
To: my-email@my-email.com
Dear My Name, Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your Macy's account.
I am happy to review your request.
Please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience in this matter.
We value the input of our customers. I have forwarded your
correspondence to a member of our management team for their consideration.
If you have further questions or comments, please contact Macy's Credit
Customer Service online at http://www.macys.com and
selecting Macy's Credit Card, or by telephone Monday through Saturday 9:00am-9:00pm
and Sunday 11:00am-8:00pm at 1-866-593-2543.
Sincerely,
Caren Harper
Credit Customer Service
www.macys.com
Now pay your bill on-line at http://www.macys.com/service/credit/paybill/index.ogncClick here for details.
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IF YOU SEND A RESPONSE TO THIS EMAIL:
Please be sure to attach any/all previous emails related to this issue.
If this information is not included in your response we may have difficulty resolving your issue.
Thank you in advance for this consideration.
*****************************************************************
Macys.com Acknowledgement (KMM43168285I8897****)
From: Macy's - Customer Service (customerservice@macys.com)
Sent: Tue 4/01/08 5:49 PM
To: my-email@m-email.com
Thank you for contacting Macys.com. An Internet Customer Service Representative will research your inquiry and respond to you shortly.
If you would like to check the status of your order, you may do so by clicking the following link: https://www.macys.com/myinfo/status/signin.
ognc? signIn=Required
If you have a question concerning credit you may access the credit services site at: http://www1.macys.com/service/credit/index.ognc
The macys.com site at: http://www.macys.com is available for on-line shopping. Please visit the site today for special offers.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS MESSAGE IS SYSTEM GENERATED. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS MESSAGE.
Sincerely,
Macys.com Internet Staff
http://www.macys.com
Macys.com Acknowledgement - Follow up (KMM43174420I8897****)
From: Macy's - Customer Service (customerservice@macys.com)
Sent: Wed 4/02/08 3:31 AM
To: my-email@my-email.com
Thank you for your recent email. Please accept our sincere apology for the delay in responding to your inquiry. You should receive a
response within 3 to 5 days. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
If you would like to check the status of your order, you may do so by clicking the following link:
https://www.macys.com/myinfo/status/signin.ognc? signIn=Required
If you have a question concerning credit you may access the credit services site at: http://www1.macys.com/service/credit/index.ognc
The macys.com site at: http://www.macys.com is available for on-line shopping. Please visit the site today for special offers.
Sincerely,
Macys.com Internet Staff
http://www.macys.com
I then re-checked my account at CheckFree, it had been changed from what the email said. It looks like this:
Are we to believe what we are told by an agent or what we find on CheckFree? The agents tell you one thing, the online billing is not
the same.
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In fairness to the agent, he said he would remove the late charges (at least he said he would) ........................NOT
Since I could not reach a supervisor, I went online and registered at Macy's website.
I used the contact us form and sent them this:
MACY'S RED STAR REWARDS ACCOUNT STATEMENT
For Mar 01, 2008 to Mar 29, 2008
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My First & Last Name
Account number: **-***-***-439
Questions? (866) 593-2543
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Balance of last statement
Payments
New Transaction this statement
FINANCE CHARGES
$ New balance
Minimum payment due on Mar 29, 2008
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$102.76
$0.00
$29.00
$2.05
$133.81
$39.00
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Financial Terms
DAILY PERIODIC RATE
ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE
AVERAGE DAILY BALANCE
|
Payments may be mailed to:
PO Box 6938
The Lakes, NV 88901-6938
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING TO RECEIVE YOUR MONTHLY
STATEMENT AND PAY YOUR BILL ONLINE. WE WILL DISCONTINUE
THE PAPER COPY OF YOUR MONTHLY STATEMENT AFTER YOU
MAKE YOUR THIRD ONLINE PAYMENT.
CREDIT IS EXTENDED BY DEPARTMENT STORES NATION BANK.
Date that prints on the bottom of page
4/03/2008
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As you can imagine, I called Customer Service again. In reference to the Account Summary above (Print Out # 6), I asked what the $29.00
New Transaction this Statement was. I further explained that the bill was already paid (see Print Out # 2) The agent said it was for Late
Charges. I guess they place Late Charges and new purchases under this "catch-all" line since I had not made any purchases since
November of 2007. Keep in mind the bill was paid in full $102.76 (see Print Out # 2). And what about the $2.05 Finance Charge? I called
the number today April 04 at 9:06 AM MST the account balance is still $2.05 and no indication it will be removed.
I finally got a response from a real person, I assume she is real because she gives her name. With automated systems I would not bet the
following is from a real person....maybe just another auto-generated email.
I am writing to you for myself AND for my wife's account (wife name). It seems that I get calls telling me that I should call your
1-800-511-3207 or 1-800-545-1256. After calling, I'm told that I have late charges on my account. I use the MyCheckfree and have a
printout giving the Payment Date and Amount. Your agent tells me that even though I pay before the Due Date, I'm being charged late
fees because it takes 5-7 days to be processed. He further explained that the only way to avoid the Late Charge online is to pay 7
DAYS BEFORE the Due Date. I believe this is a totally unfair business practice. I will be closing both accounts and shopping at other
outlets. I will further place this information on my main webpage at http://www.chilemasters.com/index.html. When I asked for a supervisor
the "supervisor says he/she cannot hear me" even though your agent hears me just fine. My Name
I got this in an automated response:
The above was NOT a real person responding, nor is the second email below:
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When you call the above number.....guess what? You're off to India again. Seems to me that since all calls made to Customer Service are
recorded....or at least the announcement says it is. Why wouldn't Caren Harper address the situation instead of forwarding it to their
management team? Who knows how long it will take for management to respond ~ if a supervisor and management are one and the
same, will I get the same "I cannot hear you" ? I will answer the above email.....My response:
I quote
Your company is quick to charge and very slow to respond (If at all). Please send my final bill to my home address......I already know there
could be further charges for who knows what. As soon as I receive it, I'll pay it. Sometimes it's better to "cut your losses", than to continue
doing business with a company engaged in unfair billing practices, POLICIES and little regard for their customers.
Per your instructions:
****************************************************************
IF YOU SEND A RESPONSE TO THIS EMAIL:
Please be sure to attach any/all previous emails related to this issue.
If this information is not included in your response we may have difficulty resolving your issue.
Thank you in advance for this consideration.
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You can find any and all emails I have received to date at http://www.chilemasters.com
If not already done, I will be closing my account and my wife's account.