Telephone
When you speak with customer service, make sure you know exactly what you want out of the encounter. (For instance: Reverse the late fee, reimburse interest that you dispute, or dispute a charge.) Be sure to be friendly, but succinct. Let them know how long you have been a customer, how valuable you are to them, what you think they did wrong, what would fix it, and how happy you would be if they did.
Here is an example of what to say:
I have been a customer for 10 years. I spend, on average, $4,000 per month on my credit card. If my problem is not solved, I will ask you to close my account.
I believe that you charged me a late fee when you shouldn’t have. I mailed my payment on the 4th of January. That is the same day that I mail my payment every month. But, for some reason, you say that it arrived late this month.
I would like you to: (a) reverse the late fee that you charged, and (b) ensure that no reporting has been done to the credit agency.
I appreciate your help, and understand mistakes happen. But we can resolve this quickly and I will recommend your service to a friend if you are able to reverse that late fee issue on this phone call.
If the agent does not help you, then you should ask to speak with the team that handles complaints. If there is no such team, then ask for a manager. You will go through the same script as above. If you still don’t have resolution, then let them know your next steps.
Below is an example of what to say:
I am very disappointed that we were not able to reach a solution on this phone call. As I stated at the beginning of the call, I believe that you should give me? You leave me no choice. I will now reach out to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau to lodge a formal complaint. In addition, I may need to seek legal guidance. Please register this as a formal complaint, and expect to hear from the CFPB shortly.
Can we please proceed with closing my account? (If they want to transfer you to a team that handles closing customer accounts let them. These teams are usually called Retention? and they may have more authority to waive fees or fix your problem. It is worth a try!)
Why mention closing the account? Banks hate to lose customers. Most call centers receive incentives to stop customers from leaving the bank. You can always change your mind at the very end if you want to keep the account open. But when you are transferred to a Retention team, you will be offered the best offers to stay. That often includes the ability to reverse fees, reduce APRs and increase limits.
Remember - you can close an account, even if there is a balance. Closing just means that any open credit limit is closed, and you can’t use the card to spend. The magic words to use if you carry a balance:
I am going to close my account, and I have a check from another card issuer. I am going to use them now to pay off my remaining balance and do a balance transfer. It would be really easy for you to stop me.
Social media
Complain via social media? Really? Believe it or not, banks are very conscious of their social media presence. They typically have small, highly trained, higher paid on-shore employees working on their social media desks. If you are willing to post a complaint on the Facebook page of a bank, you will usually have someone personally look into it. Their goal is for you to be happy and praise them at the end of the complaint.
Consider the following tips on Facebook:
A message that works well would look like this:
Typically, someone will send you a message and will likely give you contact information. Only once you make direct contact can you then go into details.
If they resolve your issue post a thank you note online. Tell them how happy you are. (If they don’t help out, keep reading below!).