With all of the injustices to shake a stick at, here is one you probably hadn’t fathomed — one that is solely directed toward diligent credit-worthy people, people trying to keep ahead of the game. 

It is the fact that you can incur a late payment fee for paying your credit card bills early. How is that possible, you ask? It happens if you make a payment on the account before the statement closing date, unless you remit the complete balance. If a partial balance remains, the debtor expects an additional payment on or by the prescribed due date. 

While you are busy patting yourself on the back in your euphoric world of accomplishing what you think is a leg up and one less worry for the coming month, your credit card company is benefiting from your early payment and calculating a way to charge you 35 additional dollars on the unpaid remainder.

Of course when you call to question the bill, the aforementioned, it is completely blamed on the computer as if it has a mind of its own. 

Your conscientiousness matters not. In most cases they will waive the fee as if you have done something wrong and they are being benevolent. Changing the system is out of the question because you are just a consumer, supporter of the company and the peon they make a profit on by your usage.

So what can we do, I found three choices:

1.     Refrain from paying bills much before the due date and pay unnecessary interest as much as 25 percent on some cards.

2.     Pay off the balance each month completely.

3.     Pay cash and skip the credit card.

     If these suggestions are not an option, be prepared for recordings of robotic voices giving button pushing exercises to reach other recordings that say that you are being recorded; music on the 1960s hit parade; foreigners that you don’t understand and that don’t understand you {you might be reaching the Marshall Islands for assistance}, repetition of information at least threefold; technical difficulties that may result in the dropping and or cuting off of the call, and an air of condescension when you finally reach a real person that has the authority to issue a refund.

Maybe.

Warning: don’t attempt this on your lunch hour.

 Think about it