posted on March 26, 2007 09:03:14 AM
Cancel your credit cards..This is Hilarious
Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die. This is so priceless, and so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today. A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then
added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now is somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to Citibank:
a.. Family Member: "I am calling to tell you that she died in January."
b.. Bank: "The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply."
c.. Family Member: "Maybe, you should turn it over to collections."
d.. Bank: "Since it is two months past due, it already has been."
e.. Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?"
f.. Bank: "Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!"
g.. Family Member: "Do you think God will be mad at her?"
h.. Bank: "Excuse me?"
i.. Family Member: "Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?"
j.. Bank: "Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor."
Supervisor gets on the phone:
a.. Family Member: "I'm calling to tell you, she died in January."
b.. Bank: "The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply."
c.. Family Member: "You mean you want to collect from her estate?"
d.. Bank: (Stammer) "Are you her lawyer?"
e.. Family Member: "No, I'm her great nephew." (Lawyer info given)
f.. Bank: "Could you fax us a certificate of death?"
g.. Family Member: "Sure." (fax number is given)
After they get the fax:
a.. Bank: "Our system just isn't set-up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help."
b.. Family Member: "Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care."
c.. Bank: "Well, the late fees and charges do still apply."
d.. Family Member: "Would you like her new billing address?"
e.. Bank: "That might help."
f.. Family Member: " Odessa Memorial Cemetery , Highway 129, Plot Number 69."
g.. Bank: "Sir, that's a cemetery!"
h.. Family Member: "What do you do with dead people on your planet?"
posted on March 26, 2007 09:40:43 AM
Must vary by company. I had to cancel my mother's cards and all fees/min balance payments etc. were frozen as of date of death (balance will be claim against her estate during probate). It seemed like a pretty routine matter.
The "not set up for death" sounds a bit too much like an urban legend - surely they have had more than one customer pass away.
posted on March 26, 2007 11:33:42 AM
While waiting for something else I took a minute to google this - sure enough, likely urban legend (on snopes.com)
(first item to come up when googling Odessa Memorial Cemetery)
posted on March 26, 2007 12:46:30 PM
Then perhaps the CS we spoke to had heard of this legend (I doubt it as it was 6 or 7 years ago) but they basically said death had no affect on the card until paid.
I'm not making that up. Urban myth or not we wound up paying interest on $8,000+ in CC Debt for several months until all the bills were accounted for.
posted on March 26, 2007 07:03:07 PM
It's up to the estate to cancel the deceased's credit cards and settle the accounts. Often the deceased's family or lawyer will contact the banks and finance companies to notify them to close or suspend the accounts.
posted on March 27, 2007 08:33:39 AM
My Mom died 13 years go. She had a balance on her Master Card (don't remember bank) of about $1500. I called to inform them that she had passed away and they wrote off the entire balance. Guess I was lucky. Her doctor, on the other hand, hounded me until every penny was paid.
