Never Pay A Credit Card Late Fee!

I have a quick note on how I saved myself $68.00 today.

I pay my credit cards online and always pay them in full before the due date... usually. This month I was a few days late. For random reasons, I have two credits cards, and hence got hit with double late fees. $68.00 total. Ouch!

So, I used an online form and wrote Capital One and requested that they refund me the late fees. My letter looked like this:

Hello. I am writing to request a refund for my late fee. I was a few days late to pay this month. I love Capital One and have been a very good customer. I have paid my balance in full. Thanks in advance!

Sure enough, I got a reply back that said, "Good news. Your late fees have been refunded."

Notice that I didn't need to threaten, lie or even make a phone call. I spent about 10 minutes of my time and got a $68 refund. I heard that this past quarter Capital One posted a loss of 1.42 billion dollars. I'm glad they didn't cut corners and try to hoard late fees. No rants today!