June 8th, 2009 
Vijaianand Many times we end up paying financial charges or late fees on our credit card and utility bills, even after being extra careful in paying them on time. It may be an one time affair and rare mistake from our part. Still we feel hesitant to ask for credit. Because, we don’t want to embrass ourself to hear the answer “NO” since it’s our mistake.
“Only crying baby gets the milk” – Author unknown
Did you ever heard of this saying? It is a more common phrase used back in my native place(south India). Babies cry when they are hungry to get the attention of care giver, so they are feed them milk. But not all babies are smart enough to cry out of milk. Some babies just don’t cry or cry enough to catch the attention of care giver who assume the baby is alright.
I want to use this phase for adults to make some money sense. Being human, we all are prone to make mistakes. If it’s one time thing or rare one, I feel the mistake should be forgiven and charges should be voided. I sure, No company will do unless you ask for it.
You need be expressive enough to request or ask for credit when you are charged with fees by your service providers after being loyal to them. I don’t mean to literaly cry out like baby instead express your concern in words. Just try to ask for credit in a good way and you will get money back most of the time. If you hesitate to ask at first place, you are going to miss out on those dollars wasted on fees and charges.
Let me share few of my real stories on how I “Cried like a baby” asking for credit when I really deserve.
Credit card Financial charges
Usually I pay my bills on time and never charged with any financial charges. I always like to walk my talk. As I money mentor, I better follow my own advice and be an example first. In many years, I didn’t pay a penny as fees/charges. That’s the big reason for my FICO score to be in upper 700’s.
I guess there is always an end to any pride. My proudest moment came to an end last month. I was slacking on paying bills because of my unplanned trip to India in March. When I got back, I wasn’t paying attention messing up my payment schedule.
First on the list was my credit card bill. I paid my credit card bill wrongly. Instead of March amount due, I paid the Feb amount due. I didn’t notice until I got my April month bill with a financial charge of $9.32. (Below is my original statement)
Always call the bank/service provider
I wasn’t sure why I was charged the financial charge. I wanted to email rather decided to call. It is always better to have personal conversation either by phone or going to the bank if you need any credit back. Emails doesn’t work well because it doesn’t express your emotions properly. So I called my credit union and seeked for explanation. Customer rep checked my accounts and came back to sayg, “You paid the amount less than amount due for Mar bill”. I was surprised because I never paid less amount and always paid full. I myself checked the statements and found that I made the mistake. I did confused with amount due from March and Feb.
Accept your fault if any
I realized my fault and I accepted it. I told her, it was the first time it ever happened. I asked her to check my account history. Afterwards I kindly requested her, “Is there any way possible to get the credit of the financial charges? if I pay the balance”. She took her time to check my account history and said, “Yes, you do have a good history of paying on time full. So we are going to give your credit of the financial charges. Just go ahead pay the next month bill full. You will see the credit month after next bill”. I was happy and Thank’ed her for the kindness.
Do your job right
Next month, I paid my full bill including the financial charges since its added to the bill to avoid any more charges for not paying amount due. The month after next(May), financial charge was credit in my bill as shown below.
You sure worth more than you think. You deserve, what you are worth. It is always good to pay bills on time whether you are paying minimum or full amount. It builds a rapport with your service provider which helps at times to negotiate deals or requesting for credits.
It is always good to cry means ask for help instead of expecting things to happen on its own. It is nothing to be embrassed when it comes to money.
More stories to come on your way…
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Some what of a good news is , it has slowed down quite a bit in the past month or so. Obviously, it has to slow down because companies can’t throw out every body otherwise they cannot survive. Also slowing of layoff’s doesn’t means jobs are getting created. It just companies reached a saturation point stripping down so much and they cannot do anymore job cuts.