Renato1
Established Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2015
- Posts
- 1,730
Hi Everyone,
I don't know if this has affected anyone else, but I have been having a very weird time with Telstra and my credit cards. I've missed payments each of the last five months due to direct debits being rejected, and having then been charged $15 overdue fees each time, then me arguing on the phone to get the fees refunded.
I had been paying my bills with direct debit from my NAB Amex card. In the Telstra "My Account", I changed the card to my Citibank Visa Signature card about 10 days before the next payment was due, and cancelled the Amex card. Then I was told the payment was declined and was charged a $15 fee. I rang Telstra where the chap was adamant that this was an issue between my bank and me, and that it had nothing to do with Telstra. I got him to confirm that the Citibank card was that on their system with the correct number, by reading out my card number to him. Then I asked Citibank, who said thay hadn't declined any payment. From within "My Account" I then clicked the make a payment button, and payment came out from the Citibank card without an issue.
So I decided to test Telstra, and changed the direct debit card in "My Account" to my Bankwest Platinum Card, again well before the payment due date. Result was that again the payment didn't go through, and again I made the then late payment from within "My Account" from the Bankwest card. Again I had them give me back my $15 late fee, and they said all should be well.
Then the next month, again the same problem with my payment bouncing, only this time I had actually checked "My Account" on the day the payment was due - and it said I owed nothing, thus the payment had gone through. Only it turned out not to have done so when I looked at My Account the next day.
Which brings me to this morning, when I again got an SMS from Telstra that my payment hadn't gone through. I rang Telstra and the chap there again said that the payment had been made and then reversed, and that it had nothing to do with Telstra and that I should see my bank about it. I said "No Way, this is five months in a row that Telstra has stuffed it up".
After going back and forth, he asked me to tell him the last four digits of my AMERICAN EXPRESS card, to which I said "WHAT?". And thus it transpired that in the bill payment details of my account that he had on his computer, it showed my old American Express card, whereas in the bill payment details of "My Account" that I was looking at on my computer it showed my BankWest card.
Plainly, something was indeed very wrong with Telstra's computer system. He entered my BankWest card into his system as a new card, which should fix the problem (one hopes).
Thus, if you occasionally change credit cards with Telstra while cancelling your old card, and you wind up getting overdue fees from them, do not accept their claim that it is your fault or that of your bank.
Regards,
Renato
I don't know if this has affected anyone else, but I have been having a very weird time with Telstra and my credit cards. I've missed payments each of the last five months due to direct debits being rejected, and having then been charged $15 overdue fees each time, then me arguing on the phone to get the fees refunded.
I had been paying my bills with direct debit from my NAB Amex card. In the Telstra "My Account", I changed the card to my Citibank Visa Signature card about 10 days before the next payment was due, and cancelled the Amex card. Then I was told the payment was declined and was charged a $15 fee. I rang Telstra where the chap was adamant that this was an issue between my bank and me, and that it had nothing to do with Telstra. I got him to confirm that the Citibank card was that on their system with the correct number, by reading out my card number to him. Then I asked Citibank, who said thay hadn't declined any payment. From within "My Account" I then clicked the make a payment button, and payment came out from the Citibank card without an issue.
So I decided to test Telstra, and changed the direct debit card in "My Account" to my Bankwest Platinum Card, again well before the payment due date. Result was that again the payment didn't go through, and again I made the then late payment from within "My Account" from the Bankwest card. Again I had them give me back my $15 late fee, and they said all should be well.
Then the next month, again the same problem with my payment bouncing, only this time I had actually checked "My Account" on the day the payment was due - and it said I owed nothing, thus the payment had gone through. Only it turned out not to have done so when I looked at My Account the next day.
Which brings me to this morning, when I again got an SMS from Telstra that my payment hadn't gone through. I rang Telstra and the chap there again said that the payment had been made and then reversed, and that it had nothing to do with Telstra and that I should see my bank about it. I said "No Way, this is five months in a row that Telstra has stuffed it up".
After going back and forth, he asked me to tell him the last four digits of my AMERICAN EXPRESS card, to which I said "WHAT?". And thus it transpired that in the bill payment details of my account that he had on his computer, it showed my old American Express card, whereas in the bill payment details of "My Account" that I was looking at on my computer it showed my BankWest card.
Plainly, something was indeed very wrong with Telstra's computer system. He entered my BankWest card into his system as a new card, which should fix the problem (one hopes).
Thus, if you occasionally change credit cards with Telstra while cancelling your old card, and you wind up getting overdue fees from them, do not accept their claim that it is your fault or that of your bank.
Regards,
Renato
