Consumer complaint received 2024-09-28
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: U.S. BANCORP (IL)

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding the mishandling of payments and unjust fees charged by my credit card issuer, Elan Financial Services, through Fidelity. Additionally, I am concerned about the inaccurate reporting of late payments to the credit bureaus, which is negatively impacting my credit score despite my efforts to pay on time. 

Payment History : On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, I made my minimum payments from the same XXXX bank account linked through Fidelity.com. These payments were processed without any issues or fees. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made another minimum payment of {$94.00} from this same linked XXXX account. However, without my knowledge, Elan marked the payment as returned and charged me a {$30.00} returned payment fee on XX/XX/XXXX. My bank has no record of any returned payments, and sufficient funds were available at the time of the payment. 

Further Attempts to Resolve : On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into Fidelity.com and made a payment of {$200.00} to cover the new minimum amount. However, between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from Elan stating that the payment had not been processed. My XXXX account was well-funded, so I immediately attempted to resolve the issue by making another payment of {$280.00} from the same linked account via Fidelity.com. 

Elan has contacted me on multiple occasions regarding the non-processing of payments. Each time, I acted responsibly by attempting to make additional payments to resolve the issue, unaware that each payment would be met with additional fees. At no point was it made clear to me why these payments were not being processed, as my checking account remained well funded throughout. Despite my attempts to fix the issue, I was repeatedly charged fees for returned payments that my bank has no record of returning. 

Issues with Fees and Reporting : Despite my bank confirming no bounce-back fees or issues, Elan has charged me the following fees : {$30.00} returned payment fee on XX/XX/XXXX {$41.00} returned payment fee on XX/XX/XXXX {$41.00} returned payment fee on XX/XX/XXXX In addition, Elan has reported these payments as late to the credit bureaus. The payments were made from my well-funded XXXX checking account linked to Fidelity, and I have been responsible in making timely payments. I am concerned that this incorrect reporting will harm my XXXX XXXX and damage my financial standing, particularly as I am in a transitional period of unemployment starting on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Bank Confusion : My XXXX bank has no record of any returned payments or bounce-back fees, and there have been no issues with my account being sufficiently funded to cover these payments. Elan mentioned something about the routing number being for XXXXXXXX XXXX, which I have never used. My payments in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX were processed successfully using the same linked XXXX account, which makes this situation even more confusing. 

Financial and Emotional Impact : On XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified by my employer that my position is being offshored, and I will become unemployed on XX/XX/XXXX. Despite explaining my situation to Elan and providing evidence that my payments were made on time and my XXXX account was well-funded, Elan refuses to refund the fees or correct the inaccurate reporting to the credit bureaus. 

The incorrect reporting of late payments has caused me significant emotional distress. My wife and I had planned to buy our first home, but now this unjust damage to my credit score could prevent us from moving forward with those plans. I have never had a late payment in over a decade of managing credit cards, and I feel that this situation is unfair and not reflective of my payment history.