I was dissatisfied with a Juniper(Barclay) credit card so I opened a credit card account with a Credit Union. Their method of transferring money was to send a check directly to Barclays (at the time I wasn't aware that Juniper WAS Barclays). The payment was for full balance and prior to the due date. I ignored notices that I still owed interest thinking they were behind in billing practises. Over five hundred dollars later (interest on interest plus fees) and ruined credit, they tell me "in the fine print it said for payoff, you should have called first". I then went to the Credit Union who said it was my responsibility to do that.

First of all, who reads the mountain of crap they send, secondly it seems the Credit Union should have checked it since they knew I was paying it off, & finally, what happened to usuary laws saying you can't charge interest on interest?

I don't shirk responsibility and am not trying to blame everyone but myself, but this should NOT be legal.

On July 17, 2008 I received a phone call from customer service stating that my payment did not process my bank because my bank account is closes, I told the customer representative that this is not so. My account is not closed and in fact has been open for more than ten years that I pay all of my account with this account and have never had a problem, the representative instructed me to contact my bank and then call her back at 866-283-6635.

I called my bank any my representative stated that the payment was cleared on the 9th of this month.

I called Juniper back and spoke with a customer service representative who stated that my bank account is closed that I have been charge a $25.00 fee for a returned payment and that now my account will be going into an over the limit status which will incur further fees. I said to this person, my account is not closed, I have called the bank, and the payment has cleared my bank. She told me this is not true and that I will have to fax in proof to 866-823-8178. I told her I will do so but could she please explain to me how something like this can happen. She said yes I can, you went to the bank and closed you account. I then asked the representative if I could speak to her supervisor.

Trying not to get angry with the representative who kept asking me to leave a phone number with her and she would get someone to call me back. I said no I will hold for a supervisor. She kept me on hold for approximately forty fixed minutes, occasionally picking up the line to ask, are you still there.

I realize that there are customers who will lie and say just about anything to not have to make a payment, however if a representative looks at a customers payment history and sees that they have never missed a payment, have never been late on a payment, then perhaps the representative has the responsibility to be civil and treat the customer with respect and give then the benefit of the doubt that they indeed are not a liar.

Once the supervisor finally got on the line, she introduced herself as Grace. Asked me to explain to her what is going on, which I did. She then stated there is really nothing I can do to help you, your bank account is closed and that Juniper had called my bank and confirmed that my account was closed on July 15th. I said there is no way someone from Juniper called my bank because if they had done so they would have known that the account was open and had more than ample funds available for the payment. She said then there is some sort of problem with my bank because my bank is telling them that my account is closed. I said my account is not closed, the payment was made to Juniper, and the payment cleared my bank on the 9th. Again she said no, the payment did not clear and my bank account is closed.

I asked her if there is anyone there who could help me because so far no one has been able to. She said this is the top of the line and no one else can help me. I said to her, so if I go on the internet and find out that is in charger of Juniper Bank, your name will be the one I see. She said no, that she is in charge of customer service and she began to take on a nicer tone. I asked who else I can speak with; she said to fax my bank statement to 302-255-8080 along with a letter explaining the situation; which I am doing now.

I asked her how long this will take to fix and she stated it varies for each situation, anywhere from 3 to 30 days and that the fees may or may not be reversed.

I can not believe this is standard customer service behaviour. I find this to be appalling and believe that Juniper Bank is finding ways to charge erroneous fees to their customers. I am awaiting the outcome of this particular situation and continuing to research to find out who I need to report this behaviour and practice to.