Belk And JC Penney Department Stores And GE Money Bank Belk Department Store rewards 82 year old loyal customer of 40 years by sticking her with a $250.00 bogus late fee. This poor woman, who is in failing health, has been harassed unmercifully for the past year over late fees she never incurred. Belk waits until bills are past due to send a bill and attaches late fees to the first bill the customer ever receives. Titusville Merritt Island Florida
My 82 year old mother, who has several life-threatening conditions and can hardly walk, has been harassed for the past year by Belk, GE Money Bank and various collection agencies her bogus debt has been passed around to.
Shortly after Christmas 2005, my mother made a small purchase with her Belk charge card just to get a measley extra 10% off her purchase. By the time she received the first bill, late charges had already been added.
She then promptly paid the bill (minus the late charges), sent a dispute letter and made several calls to Belk, which she documented, and was assured by two seperate representatives that the late charges would be removed.
The date she made the calls was in June 2006. By September 2006, she was still receiving bills with late fees that had grown to twice what they were when she was promised that they would be removed.
Belk never acknowledged her dispute letter. When she called yet again in September to try to get the mess straightened out, she was subjected to verbal abuse by a rude, belligerent phone representative who told her they had no record that she ever even paid for the merchandise.
My mother then went on a wild goose chase searching for the canceled check to send to prove that she had paid for the merchandise. After spending considerable time searching, she found it and called Belk yet again. She was then told that they had the record of her payment all along and that she just needed to write another letter.
Predictably, her letter was again ignored and the next thing she knew, she was getting letters from one, then another, then another collection agency, which she has had to respond to each time within a short deadline and spend money sending each response by certified mail.
My mother and I both have had similier experiences with JCPenney (who, interestingly enough, uses the same people to handle their billing - GE Money Bank. However, I was recently told by a local Belk store manager that Belk only recently turned their billing over to them).
JCPenney put us both through considerable stress and aggravation in the same way for about the same length of time (about a year), trying to get late fees that should not have been there removed.
I am hoping and praying that my mothers problem is soon resolved in her favor. This is not the way a person of her age and state of health should have to live their final days.
Thank you.
Ali
Titusville, Florida
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Laurie
Haslet,Texas,
U.S.A.
I do not believe the SO -called GE Money People either
#5Consumer Comment
Mon, October 20, 2008
FILE FORMAL COMPLAINTS with the Federal Trade Commission and The Office of Thrift Supervision. So they get investigated for their illegal busines practices.
My written demand for information regarding suspicious activity on my JCP account that was sent to collections for unauthorized charges, unauthorized address change and no collection calls was completely ignored.
All I received back an unsigned form letter telling me to call the collection agency.
They pass the buck - and flat out refuse to resolve customer disputes.
We recently had a Belk's open near where I live - never heard of them before.
I will not get a credit card with them period- because of the errors with my JC Penney card, that I am having to spend considerable time to try and get them to fix.
They make major mistakes and refuse to acknowledge or fix them.
Its falling on deaf ears.
I did send an email to JCP.COM and told them GEMB just lost them another customer. and they referred to GE Money and not to JCP executives who need to know their finance company is driving away customers.
Hopefully my snail mail letter to the CFO will get something fixed.
Ces
Start,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
to gemb representative from plano
#5Consumer Comment
Sat, August 02, 2008
To gemb representative - you are a shining example of what is wrong with GE moneybank. Your sarcastic, heartless attitude towards a person with a mother in poor health is pathetic beyond words. You should get out of the service industry! Your attitude is pathetic. I believe this consumer. GE moneybank reps are rude liars!
Jdmspg
Mount Holly,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
Possible Help for 82 year old mother
#5UPDATE Employee
Sun, July 13, 2008
I am an employee with GEMB and just came across this website. I am interested to know if this problem has been resolved for your mother. I deal with this type of situation on a daily basis and always with a favorable outcome for the customer. Granted it is not always an easy problem to resolve but it is definitely one that can be and should be resolved. I would be happy to give any advise to help if the problem has not been resolved.
I'm sorry you and your mother had such a terrible experience. Unfortunately not everyone in customer service should be in the customer service field.
Gembemployee
Plano,Texas,
U.S.A.
gemb employee with something to say
#5UPDATE Employee
Fri, April 18, 2008
unless ur dear old "dying" mother lives in canada, ALL jcpenney stmnts are sent out a full month in advance of payment being due, and arive 7-10 business days later.
if she lives in canada, their mail system is horrible and while those stmnts are sent out at the same time as the us cardholders, they take OVER a month to arrive.
theres more to the story ur not sharing with us. one phone call to jc penney credit services would clear this up in 6 mins or less. provided the story is true.