I recently did a balance transfer with Pen Fed. 4.99% fixed rate with no fees. Sounded great.

I got my first statement and thought the finance charge seemed a little high. I will admit I didn't really know EXACTLY how finance charges were calculated until today. I don't normally carry any balances ... but in the past when I have I just trusted I was being charged correctly.

I read up on how to calculate balance. Figured it out and came up with a much smaller number.

I called up their customer service literally 5 times and explained the situation. I got put on hold a lot, and kept being told I was calculating it incorrectly but nobody could tell me how to calculate it correctly.

Finally after a 20 minute hold, they apologized, they were charging me the STANDARD rate.

This is a huge concern to me. I have had 1 other loan with them. This one was relatively big. 10,000$. A few years back when I was big into debt I consolidated all of my balances with them. In my ignorance I never bothered to check the math. I am having them mail me my prior statements so I can calculate and hopefully not find the same thing. Unfortunately they will only go back 1 year.

Moral of the story is don't trust someone elses math when it comes to YOUR money. Or don't take out loans.

 

the nerve of them people, i bet they do this as a standard practice and wit and see if the customer catches on, if not its all money in their pocket. them cutting into you're bombing fund like that......... Time for you to open your junk mail and jump on the next 0% interest on balnace transfer deals.......

 

This reminds me of the insurance industries policy of automaticaly dening claims just to see if you'll go away without a fight. It is seriously a policy at some companies, they don't even really take a look at it, just,........ Denied!

I had a John Deere credit line for a tractor I bought that came with the wrong APR a few years back, since I'm a tight wad I noticed it wasn't the "promotional rate" right away and got it straight.

Hey, atleast you figured it out now. It's never too late to not get ripped off.

You're the wise to the process now too.

 

I wonder if they just try to slip things by and hope nobody notices? Nothing like a little extra profit....

The jeweler I purchased my fiance's engagement ring from had a 12-month no interest deal going, so I signed up. When I got the bill last week they charged me $54 in interest...for one month! Needless to say, I made a call. They claimed it was a mistake and they didn't know why the account wasn't converted to the zero interest plan. Yeah, I bet. Of course, the minimum monthly payment jumped about $100 per month when the account was converted.

Seems there are a lot of pretty shady business dealings going on, and you really have to stay on top of things to avoid getting ripped off.