Banksters stealing $14B with grey charges on credit cards

[boutons_deux]

One in three credit card holders is being charged for an unwanted product or service. Average cost of a 'gray charge' is $61.

Look closely at your monthly credit card statement. There may be a few surprises – small, "gray charges" that can add up quickly.

These are fees that companies put on your credit card bill without clearly notifying you about what they are. These small charges are a hassle to deal with and easy to brush off, which is what the company wants you to do.

In 2012, there were an estimated 233 million gray charges, which cost consumers more than $14.3 billion, according to a recent study (https://www.billguard.com/greycharges) from BillGuard and the Aite Research Group. The average gray charge amounted to $61.

One in three cardholders is being charged for an unwanted service or product, according to the report.

Over 40 percent of the gray charges come from free-to-paid fees, where customers receive a product or service for a free trial and are then charged if they don't cancel the good or service within the specified time frame. These charges are legal, as long as they are mentioned in their contracts. The next most common gray charge is where consumers order a product online, but are also charged for a second item they did not purchase.

The report identified 11 types of gray charges that are not properly disclosed to consumers. These include unknown subscriptions, recurring memberships, and automatic renewals.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2013/0818/Beware-of-gray-charges-on-your-credit-cards

[The Reckoning]

ive had my CC number stolen three times now with over 1k in charges each time. this shit has got to stop.

[Jacob1983]

Thanks Obama!

[The Reckoning]

Thanks Obama!


http://i.imgur.com/miWEv6e.jpg

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

http://img.pandawhale.com/post-14573-Thanks-Obama-gif-Tiger-Woods-g-B2a1.gif

[boutons_deux]

the specific problem here is that the cc issuers ALLOW (with glee, no doubt) the 3rd party items on the cc bills, and they certainly get a cut of what they pass back to the 3rd party suppliers.

I repeat that few years ago, a report said the bank has $13B in profits with $35B in revenue alone from checking account overdraft charges, so without the overdraft revenue, they would have been $20B in the red.

(and remember they got caught debiting the largest charge first, of several over charges, so you went negative earlier then $35 per overdraft for the smaller charges)

what's would the APR on overdraft charges? 5000%? :lol

and you tea baggers think Obama and (ineffective) gun control are America's biggest problem to bitch and whine about? :lol

[101A]

Charges or fees? Which is it? Charges would mean someone has your CC info. and is billing you. The bank is putting it on your statement; if you aren't smart enough to look at your statement, and have an illegitimate charge removed, you ought not have a credit card (or checking account, for that matter).

[TeyshaBlue]

The specific problem is that the cc issuers are bound by contract to process charges from 3rd party items.
I've never had a single problem reversing these charges when they appear. Cell bills are especially susceptible to these types of charges as kids will fucking download anything that they think is free.:bang

The solution is to simply monitor your purchases and exercise even a little diligence when opening your statement. It's not rocket science.