[post toastie]

This is what it is like trying to deal with these people, SHOULD I CANCEL MY CREDIT CARD BEFORE I DIE?


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 added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00.

A family member placed a call to Citibank. Here is the exchange:

Family Member: ‘I am calling to tell you she died back in January.’

Citibank: ‘The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.’

Family Member: 'Maybe you should turn it over to collections.'

Citibank: 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank: 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank : 'Excuse me?'

Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?'

Citibank: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'

Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: ‘I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank: 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank: (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'’

Family Member: 'No, I'm her great nephew. ' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member: 'Sure.' (Fax number was given)

After they get the fax :

Citibank: 'Our system just isn't setup for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care.'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges will still apply.'

(What is wrong with these people?!)

Family Member: 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank: 'That might help.'

Family Member: ‘Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank: 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member: 'And what do you do with dead people on your planet?'

[Drag Star Le Mans]

That does not suprise me one bit. My mom died 2 years ago. Some of the things that have happened since boggle the mind. I still can't get AARP to stop send their junk mail? Only if I could reach through the phone and choke these dumbies out!!!

[rexs73gto]

Here one for the books. My 1st wife & I have been divorced for over 30 + years. She like me is now at retirement age & time to get Medicare. I have gotten at least 100+ pieces of mail with her name & my address on it. She lives in Iowa , I think now. I live in MI. I have sent back as return to sender in bug letters with the words NOT AT THIS ADDRESS FOR 30 + YEARS. They have to pay for the return, & as stated I have sent them all back as of late. It's going on almost 2 years now & every day I get at least 1-or-2 letters for her. I don't think they get the hint. It starting to make me mad as this is my money they are wasting to send these letters to my house & not hers.

[dataway]

I would have advised her to max out her card before she died ... let them do the legwork to try to collect it.

[The Boss]

10 Years ago, I had business & personal accounts at Bank of America and closed my business account because of their deposit hold practices - I unfortunately left about $12 in my personal account. After the second month of fees it went negative, they then assessed an overdraft fee on it daily until they had racked up somewhere around $160-180 dollars and decided to close the account and call me. To their surprise, I had no intentions of paying them so they threatened to send me to collections (which they did) and to ruin my credit.

For a couple of years I would get a call every few months and would explain exactly what happened to the credit company, and being reasonable people, they stopped calling but my account would get sold to another credit company & they would call - repeat above. I never paid it and nothing ever showed up on my credit history.

I use every opportunity I get to tell people not to use Bank of America.

[sdbob]

Yep,you wonder who is 'dead'. I say you have to brain dead a week to think like that.

[69goatboy]

If this story really happened and not just a joke, I'd believe it from Citibank.

I called to cancel my Citibank card a number of years ago after they raised the interest rate for no reason. after finally getting to talk to a supervisor, I had to talk over her every sentence with "Cancel my account, please." for 30 minutes straight before they got the message.

[69 DAYTONA]

...roughly 10 years ago my mother in law passed away...since I had her mail directed to my house, I got new magazine subscriptions for her and even small gift items and Christmas ornaments...I called several of the places and was told she still had to pay for the stuff(she had been dead for months before the orders were even placed), I didnt pay any of them.....
...the best one, told them she was dead, they said she ordered it...had her signature on the order they said...I told the nasty lady she had been dead 7 months before the order was placed but I had talked to her at her grave, she was sorry for the confusion and wanted to pay for the item, if they would stop by her grave she would stick her arm up thru the dirt and hand them a check...lady told me I was sick, I told her she was a stupid b!tch, they never called back...I call it the old "Paper Moon" scam...if you never saw the movie, he stopped at the homes of the recently deceased with a fancy expensive bible he had ordered for the family just before he died...scam

...and yes, one did tell me it would affect her credit rating...I told him she had cut down on her purchases since she died anyway...he finally seemed to understand

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by The Boss

10 Years ago, I had business & personal accounts at Bank of America and closed my business account because of their deposit hold practices - I unfortunately left about $12 in my personal account. After the second month of fees it went negative, they then assessed an overdraft fee on it daily until they had racked up somewhere around $160-180 dollars and decided to close the account and call me. To their surprise, I had no intentions of paying them so they threatened to send me to collections (which they did) and to ruin my credit.

For a couple of years I would get a call every few months and would explain exactly what happened to the credit company, and being reasonable people, they stopped calling but my account would get sold to another credit company & they would call - repeat above. I never paid it and nothing ever showed up on my credit history.

I use every opportunity I get to tell people not to use Bank of America.

They should change the name of it to, Bank of ISIS, because hey don't deserve to have America in their corporate name.

After escaping from having one of their credit cards and their buying up our mortgage after Freddy and Fanny went bust. Fortunately they again sold off our mortgage, one down. I paid off the final credit card balance over the phone, upon I exclaimed "Free at last, I'm free of BOA". The girl on the other end of the phone was laughing after I made my departure exclamation.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by 69goatboy

If this story really happened and not just a joke, I'd believe it from Citibank.

It's an urban legend, it's been floating around the internet for years.

[carbking]

Originally Posted by 69goatboy

If this story really happened and not just a joke, I'd believe it from Citibank.

Yep - me too!

Will not bore you with the details!

Jon.

[Chris65LeMans]

I'm not surprised at all. I can tell you plenty of stories.

[bird72]

For any parent who has lost a child, it is pretty unnerving getting solicitation mail in their name a year after they died....

[gary bennett]

69 Daytona , that was great

[69Goat1]

Originally Posted by rexs73gto

Here one for the books. My 1st wife & I have been divorced for over 30 + years. She like me is now at retirement age & time to get Medicare. I have gotten at least 100+ pieces of mail with her name & my address on it. She lives in Iowa , I think now. I live in MI. I have sent back as return to sender in bug letters with the words NOT AT THIS ADDRESS FOR 30 + YEARS. They have to pay for the return, & as stated I have sent them all back as of late. It's going on almost 2 years now & every day I get at least 1-or-2 letters for her. I don't think they get the hint. It starting to make me mad as this is my money they are wasting to send these letters to my house & not hers.

You get that stuff because either she is drawing Social Security on your number or you are drawing it on hers. If you were married more than 10 years and neither of you are deceased then the person who made less in the HH can draw off of the more well off spouses SS#. It doesn't actually take money out of your pocket and is roughly 1/2 the amount that you get...

Same thing go's for if you were married and your spouse passed away.

[Old Man Taylor]

My story is a little different. I was following up on my wife's medical bills after she died. I had questions about the hospital bill. Even though I was the spouse, they said the HIPAA laws precluded them giving me that information. My response wasn't very polite, but it was basically that dead people can't ask. She's been gone 12 years, and I still get 10-20 telemarketing calls a day because she had a business license. I canceled the license 12 years ago, but the info still exists on the Internet somewhere.