Credit Where Credit is Due, part III

Well, I finally heard back from the credit card company. Here’s a condensed version of what they had to say:

“Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding your account.
We are sorry to hear you are disappointed with our service. Please be advised that our system will not allow you to schedule a payment that is less than $15.00. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We received your request and have closed your account. We have waived the Payment by Phone fee of $14.95. You will see a credit on your next 1 to 2 billing statements.
Sincerely, Customer Service Representative”

Okay, I must admit I do NOT understand big business psychology. If it were my business, here’s what I would have done:

1. I would have CALLED the customer! (Or at the very least sent an email with the following items in it.)
2. I would have apologized for the inconvenience, waived the payment fee, and asked the customer to please reconsider keeping their account instead of closing it.
3. I would have been more personal, with a NAME, not just “Customer Service Representative.”

Granted, WaMu did waive the fee, but this was AFTER they told me not once, but twice (once by phone and once by email), that they would NOT do so. Why change their minds and waive the fee without attempting to change MY mind and keep me as a customer?

And I was willing to live with paying the fee since I lost track of that little charge and the due date, until they forced me to overpay what I owed, then chided me for doing so. That rather torqued me off.

I’ve had this card for years, never missed a payment before that I can remember, and had a credit limit … well, let’s just say it was in the 5-digit range. Substantial. So while they’re sending out credit applications to every Tom, Dick & Harry for smaller $1000 accounts, including some I know who can’t possibly pay their bills, they just wrote me off without even trying to keep me as a customer.

Nope, I don’t understand “big” business.