Oh man am I steamed....
So in late July I decided to get a Chevron Texaco card and start buying my gas regularly from the Chevron station on my way to the office. The card was offering 5 cents per gallon rebate and always gets about 10 cents off the posted price, this made Chevron gas as cheap or cheaper than most other stations and its really a decent gas. I make my application on line and followup with the required phone call to verify my identity and all that jazz. The lady on the phone congratulates me for being approved for a new card with $300 limit. Since I planned to use this card for both my cars the $300 limit was a bit tight but since I was planning on paying online pretty much the same day it didn't bother me much.
I used the card once and made a payment to see how it all worked, everything was as smooth as could be so I went about my business. My wife pays the bills so she took over the watching of the account. Rather than make multiple payments during the rest of the billing cycle she decided to make one payment near the end. She schedule the payment for $273 (the amount we had racked up since my last payment) and we went about our business. I filled up again a week or two ago and all was good. I go to fill up a couple days ago and the card had been closed. I called to get things straightened out, it seems the account was overdrawn as a result of my last purchase because the $273 payment was on hold but that wasn't a problem because the overdrawn amount wasn't due for another month...? Uh, ok why is it on hold if it has been out of my bank for many days and why am i overdrawn if i made the payment that you now have on hold? No answer. I requested (for the second time i think) an increase to the credit line since $300 was clearly not servicing our needs and was denied. At this point I was part angry, part amused and thoroughly insulted. I have a very high credit score, make good money and carry less than 10% debt to credit ratio and I can't get a $200 increase to my credit line? SO, I instructed the lady to simply CLOSE my useless account. Ahh, but I couldn't because I still needed to pay my outstanding balance THEN and only then can I close the account, I would have to call again to ask for the closure.
I Immediately scheduled a payment which was posted to the account on the 12th, I got the "alert" today telling me a payment had been posted so I looked on line to see what was what. Balance due $0 Available to spend $27 account closed. The $27 threw me and the account being closed without a phone call was odd so I called. The gentleman informed me that it was my gas card that was closed the VISA was still active and had $27 avilable credit. I had been demoted, no longer did I have a $300 limit I had a $27 limit? So, after spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how I could have a gas card that was closed and a visa that was open when I had only applied for a visa. Turned out they had tied to my account a reference to a closed gas card i had more than 20 years ago. But i digress ...About this $27 limit, what gives? "Oh sir, your payment of $273 is on hold, the $27 is the remaining portion of your infinitesimally small and useless credit limit". Confused I asked for clarification...the payment i made weeks ago has been posted, the payment I made monday has posted but the one in the middle has not? "Yes sir, we are trying to establish a payment pattern. Until we establish a payment pattern the payment will be on hold" he said as if it made sense. I expressed my inability to understand what he just explained so he elaborated... "you see, you made two payments in one month so we are trying to establish a payment pattern". Yup! a whole lot clearer. Again, i asked for clarification, this time introducing a NEW variable ...I had actually made THREE payments. I explained that One is a surprise, two is a coincidence but I am sure three is a pattern... He repeated the same explanation leaving me no choice but to offend his mothers honor before asking him to can the script he was reading and level with me. "it's because you don't like me isn't it? You don't TRUST me?" I could hear him break"....yes sir, that's pretty much it...UNTIL we establish a payment pattern"
Astonished, I decided to start all over with him. I took him back to the day I made the stupid decision to get a chevron card ...he was with me while I explained how i was both amused and offended by the $300 limit ...he was by my side when I explained my plan to make multiple payments so the otherwise useless card would be of value to me ...and soon we were at the foot of "I made a payment but you won't post it until you find the pattern" mountain. I strapped the harness on both of us and again began to climb this intrepid mountain. He lost his balance when I asked him again why making two (or 3) payments in one month was SO hard to handle. He fell to his bloody death when I asked him how I am supposed to fill up my tank when They have my money but wont extend the credit they promised me. HE really had no answer for me and was utterly powerless but I think I made him understand how frustratingly stupid things has become.
Needless to say the account is closed now, who knows when they will consider the payment posted but it doesn't matter to me now.
