Credit card question - tangle of events (pay, rate, charge)

[Andy1369]

I have an ordinary credit card from BoFA, and I'm in kind of a pickle. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Information on a need-to-know basis:

• My statements end/start on the 6th of every month.
• My interest rate is 12.99%. However, I was on a promotional 0% interest period that ended 12/6, which may further complicate things.

I've always paid my balance off in full every month for the 1.5 years I've had the credit card. However, in late November, things became messy. I made a big purchase of $2500, at the end of November. It was an impulse purchase, and I cancelled the order, but the purchase had already went through. It returned back on my credit card on 12/7 as a full refund, only one day after the previous month's statement closed. I also made another purchase and had it refunded, although it looks like the refund showed up on the statement, so I shouldn't have to worry about that.

Due to this large purchase, my "statement balance" is ~$3200, even though I had a current balance of ~$1900, which I just paid off today. It has not yet reflected the $1900 payment, which would bring my current balance to $0, in plenty of time for 1/6/2016. Looking at the list of items (purchases/credits), the beginning balance was ~$3200, reflecting the "statement balance", but gradually went down to ~$1900, which should be $0 in several business days, based on today's payment.

When calling BoFA twice, I got two conflicting answers. One said that as long as I paid the $1900, I would pay $0 interest and owe nothing in January. The other said that I still owed on the original beginning-of-December balance of ~$3200, and that the $2500 would be subtracted from it, leaving me with a ~$800 balance to pay, in addition to the current balance I had (~$1900).

I paid ~$1000 towards the last month's balance, only because I knew I'd cancel the $2500 purchase, and based my payment on that.

I am very, very confused. Apparently, I am bad at math and at this whole thing. Looking further back, it looks like the ~$3200 includes the beginning-of-November balance that was due, but I had paid it off (not the exact amount, but more). So, I am very, very confused, and would like advice and help on how to best proceed. Should I just worry about the current balance being paid off, which it was, or...? I was told that if I paid my monthly bills/balance in full every month (which I did), then I wouldn't pay any interest.

Many thanks, and if you need any clarification or more details, please do let me know!

[rjm1cc]

Ok, I think you are saying if the credit came one day earlier you would be ok.

If you are charged interest and should not, call customer service and explain problem and as then to remove the interest charge for a good customer. I think they will.

If you need to look and see the transaction date. It could be one or two days before the posting to your account. Thus you should not have interest.

If that fails write a letter asking to remove the interest.

I think you should be ok.

[Elke Mariotti]

A couple of things here.

If your statement date is the 6th of the month, the due date is usually 1-3 days before the 6th, so we're talking more than a day.

If you're returning an item or are cancelling an order, give the card issuer a courtesy call so they can make a notation - most often, they will temporarily suspend the charge for that item and you won't be charged interest or late charges; how much time they'll give you depends on the company.

Oh and by the way, most card issuers will remove late charges (and interest, if applicable) once per year for good customers.


For now, call customer service and plead your case; good luck!