Before you die.....

[Sheldon J]

Cancel your credit card before you die.......... .(hilarious! – and yet so sad…)


Now some people are really stupid!!!!
Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die.

This is so priceless, and so, 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???'



(Priceless!! )
You wondered why Citibank is going broke and need the feds to bail them out!!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Erick46590]

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???'

Haha, this is hilarious... but ridiculous that Citibank would act like that.

[deadguy]

LOL. I'm laughing because we deal with these folks all the time on this stuff.

[DefConGun]

It would not surprise me if they really do try to collect from her estate & it wouldn't surprise me if her lawyer pays it if her estate has the funds to do so.

It really worries me at how common sense seems to be loosing ground today. You see less and less of it anymore. I'm sure your Grandmother isn't the first person that has died with a balance on their card or didn't close their account before they died. It sounds like you spoke to a poorly trained rep which is no excuse fOr Citibank.

Very funny exchange but at the same time, I'm sorry for your loss.

DCG

[alachner]

HILARIOUS! It was priceless how he gave them the address of her grave. What a bunch of douche bags!

[SIXTO]

Very funny exchange but at the same time, I'm sorry for your loss.

I just wanted to point out that nowhere in the original post does it say it's the OP's grandmother or an relation for that matter. It is written as a fictional, but humorous commentary on customer service.

Carryon, I just wanted to get that in there before we this thread turns into a obit.

[Guantes]

Such incidents are not uncommon with all kinds of entities. When my first wife passed away from cancer I had a number of such incidents with various entities from magazines to financial institutions. I had one, IIRC, magazine insist on talking to her. I finally lost my patience and told them they could not talk to her because she was dead and hung up.

[MitchellCT]

I'd just tell them that if they want to sue, they are welcome to do it.

Don't tell them she's dead...if they sue the estate they can collect, if they sue the person, they are SOL.

[claude clay]

my dad and BOA in 2003......same conversation

but i had learned from a previous experience and had 1st given them a change of address
Arlington National Cemetery

when their mail kept coming back stamped DECEASED they called me--you guessed it--
for his following address.
i gave his estate attorney in FL and set my phone to reject their number calling.

------------------
one thing the net does well is bring together so many storys we share...funny/sad.

[adric22]

I'm not that surprised about that. People that answer the phone these days are just robots. Back in the 1990's I used to work for a major computer company as a technical support rep. Most of us that worked there were very adept at analyzing and solving problems. 90% of the customers that called in were essentially morons who didn't know how to use their computer. The other 10% had legitimate problems. But today it is exactly the opposite. The people who answer the phone for technical support are paid so little that they do not know anything outside of the script that their computer screen tells them to read to the customer. The customers are actually often more intelligent than the technical support people.

[Hopyard]

It would not surprise me if they really do try to collect from her estate
DCG

They might keep trying even long after the estate has been settled by a probate court. They have no respect for the law.

These institutions (not picking on this one, it extends to almost everyone we must do some sort of business with nowadays), are hopelessly clueless and crooked.

That's how they foreclose on homes that they never held a mortgage on. That's how they send collectors after relatives who never had anything to do with either a deceased person's financial affairs or a role as Executor of the estate.

Yesterday, there were news stories about the FCC finally taking some bare bones minimum step to stop the cramming of cell phone bills--as if those acts aren't fraud to start with. The perpetrators as well as the large telecoms all deserve criminal charges for the practice, but are deregulated in ways that allow the telecoms to knowingly participate in fraud and profit from it.

The problem goes on and on and on and on.

Congress loves it this way (both sides). They let the corporate crooks and bullies have a free hand and they get bankrolled for their next campaign. It ain't gonna change.

[Eagleks]

I handled 2 estates (1 in 1978 & 1 in 1996). Believe it or not, I believe every single word of that. I went thru the same types of stupid discussions. I was 'dumbfounded' by it.

They told me , "well, you would believe what some people tell us some times , even that they've died, so we have to verify it" .

I did put "return to sender" on some mail, to get them off her mailing list. I also gave them a forwarding address to the cemetary.

The other , low-life scum of a thing you may find, people will come up with "FAKE LOANS AND BILLS" that the deceased supposedly owe on. They will check obituaries and then find an address and mail them "fake bills" . NO JOKE ! ! ! ! I had several of them, and also turned them into the DA's office for consumer fraud, etc. I remember in one case, asking them .... how do you know him, really, then describe him to me ..... they couldn't tell me "one" thing about what they looked like even though they had met with them "several times".

When my father died, businesses that owed him money said they had paid him off, etc... but could not produce anything to show they had, not even a cancelled check. Two were sued, and lost badly. Judges don't like that stuff. Ironically, the one guy who was the worse scammer was a guy he considered a best friend, and the guy died 2 months after he had to pay up and it was all settled.

[TerriLi]

A friend of mine had all kinds of fun after her mother passed away with collection agencies, even after receiving death certificates. One particular idiot then threatened my friend to start going after her for the money....she was so upset after that I ended up having to take over dealing with them. It pays to have a sister that works for the AG of a state.

[DefConGun]

I just wanted to point out that nowhere in the original post does it say it's the OP's grandmother or an relation for that matter. It is written as a fictional, but humorous commentary on customer service.

Carryon, I just wanted to get that in there before we this thread turns into a obit.

Ha-ha. My mistake! Not sure why I thought he said it was his grandmother, maybe that's why I thought it was for real.

Glad its a commentary and not a real event.

Quality customer service is hard to find these days though.

[Cattus Vir]

Funny yes but, the sad fact is the collection agent will send a letter and then have legal rights to collect on the debt if you do not respond in writting. To aid in stopping them reply to the letter in writing via certified mail with delivery confirmation request. The letter should simply ask the collection agency to prove the debt is yours/hers and if they can not send proof (a copy of the orginal bill with her your information on it) to not contact you about the matter again. It should also state that changing the the last date of use (most states are 7 years I believe) is against the Fair Debt and Collections Act. They can not add the debt to your/her credit report either once you notify them in writting. Keep a copy of the letter they sent you, a copy of the letter you sent them and the reciepts from the post office FOREVER!!

What they will do is keep selling the debt until a legitmate agency finally trashes it. I went through this when my uncle, of the same name, passed away and they kept trying to get me to pay his debts.

If you need an example letter google clark howard and in his search type in "drop dead letter" I found this after having hired a group help me clear all of that up.