So I visit Macy's last December to buy some sweaters.
At checkout, the clerk asks me if I would like to register for a Macy's card and save 20 percent on the sweaters.
Considering the cost of the sweaters stacked on the counter, I decide it's worth the time to fill out the paperwork.
The first bill arrives in the mail and I pay a partial amount. Usually I would pay a credit card bill in full, but for some reason (maybe all of those post-Christmas bills coming in at once) I don't.
A few months go by and I don't receive another bill. Being busy, I make a mental note of it but don't react. A few more months go by. In fact, seven months go by and Macy's never sends a new bill.
Until I get a nasty letter and nasty phone calls from a credit services firm, basically telling me I have defaulted on my Macy's card and that my credit history is now tainted.
Problem is, Macy's never sent another bill. To me, that's out of sight, out of mind.
Aren't credit card bills supposed to arrive in the mail each month if they're not paid in full?
So now I have to pay the bill with seven months accumulated interest or live with a bad credit report.
As someone who has never had a black mark on a credit report, this bothers me.
Macy's bothers me.
Macy's should accept the fact that they never followed up with billing and give me the opportunity to pay what is owed, without interest.
But since Macy's didn't bother to contact me before handing my account over to a credit agency, I have to pay off the card with interest.
So much for the 20 percent savings.
Raymond Babbitt had it wrong.
Macy's sucks.