Consumer complaint received 2024-10-23
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: Mercury Financial Intermediate LLC (GA)

ATTENTION - CFPB PLEASE FLAG FOR REGULATORY ACTION FOR SYSTEMIC ISSUES - MULTIPLE BANKS ARE DOING THIS - PAPER STATEMENT FEES ARE A JUNK FEE AND PROBLEMATIC PRACTICE UNDERMINING SOUND FINANCIAL RECORDS RETENTION, WHICH SHOULD BE ABOLISHED THROUGH PROMULGATION OF AN APPROPRIATE CFPB RULE. 

I have a Mercury credit card ending in XXXX. 

On XX/XX/2024, I received an email ( XXXX XXXX ), entitled, Important : Changes To Your Account Terms, which said that they were going to start charging a XXXX XXXX per month fee to receive paper ( rather than electronic ) statements, unless I opted out by XXXX XXXX XXXX 

This change is unacceptable and problematic because it is an effort to coerce customers into a statement delivery format that is not secure nor reliable for the purposes of good fiduciary stewardship of personal financial records ; or to discriminate against customers who wish to retain their personal financial records in a secure and reliable format ( by charging XXXX XXXX per month, or XXXX XXXX  per year ). Personal financial records are generally recommended to be kept for seven to ten years at least. If someone saves an electronic copy of a billing statement on ones mobile device and the phone breaks or malfunctions, then one loses all their financial information. Same for laptops. 

Mercury Card is only one of several banks engaging in this problematic and unacceptable junk fee practice. According to an article appearing on XXXX XXXX XXXX website, Credit card companies now charging extra fees for paper statements : Big name retailers have been silently rolling out a fee of {$1.00} if you wish to keep receiving paper statements, dated XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX On today, XXXX XXXX XXXX  I called Mercury Bank customer service to timely reject the change in terms, at the phone number listed in the email ( XXXX ) XXXX. 

First, I spoke with XXXX in Customer Service, ID XXXX. She said she had no ID number but it was later provided by supervisor XXXX, then again by supervisor XXXX. Because she provided no ID number, I asked for supervisor. 

Second, I spoke with XXXX, ID XXXX, supervisor in Customer Service. I rejected the proposed paper statement fee policy change change and explained my concerns regarding the proposed change. XXXX stated I would receive a paper letter in the mail confirming the account closure. She stated I would need to speak to another department to select paper statements going forward. She provided me with ID number for the previous agent and transferred me to Web Support and Applications to select paper statements. 

Third, I spoke with XXXX in Web Support and Applications, ID XXXX. She insisted that I would still have to pay XXXXXXXX XXXX per month for paper statements and alleged that I did not opt out in time. I insisted that I did, in fact, opt out in time because today is XXXX XXXX XXXX and I had until XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, which is approximately five weeks away from now. I asked her to confer with a supervisor and get back to me with correct information. Instead of conferring with a supervisor in Customer Service, she transferred me to her supervisor in the Web Support and Applications Department. 

Fourth I spoke with XXXX, Supervisor in Web Support and Applications, ID XXXX. She was extremely rude. My draft CFPB complaint on the CFPB website timed out and I lost all my typed notes ( including the names and ID numbers of the previous three agents or supervisors ). I asked XXXX to provide the names and ID numbers of the previous three agents or supervisors, but she said she could not do so for the other Department ( Customer Service ). Attempting to take notes regarding our conversation, I said, so you have no records of those calls. She said no, I have the date, time, and content of the call, but not with whom you spoke. So, I said, okay, so you have the date, time, and content of the call, but not with whom you spoke ( exactly what she just said ) ; and she disagreed that that was an accurate summary of what she just said. Then she mispronounced my last name, omitting the final syllable. I corrected her on the pronunciation and she ignored me. I asked if it was too much to ask her to pronounce my name correctly. She refused to do so and said she would call me Sir so she could avoid my last name ( XXXX ). ( Ill refer to you as Sir so we dont have a problem with your name. ) At that point, I said she was being outrageous and asked for her supervisor, but she said she could only put in a request for me to be called back ( which is also unacceptable ). Then I asked to be transferred back to Customer Service so I could get the names and ID numbers of the previous agents and supervisors for my CFPB complaint. I stated I would then ask to be transferred back to her department ( hopefully someone else ) so I could finally opt into paper statements. 

Fifth, I spoke with XXXX in customer service. She said she had no ID number. Her ID number, which was later provided by her supervisor XXXX, is ID XXXX. I asked for supervisor in customer service. 

Sixth, I spoke with XXXX, supervisor in Customer Service, ID XXXX. He provided the names and ID numbers that I was missing for all the previous agents and supervisors in Customer Service. He confirmed that the account was closed and that it would opt me out of the changes in terms. He said the account was still set for paperless statements. He said, even if you enroll in paper statements now you will not be charged a XXXXXXXX XXXX  fee, I can guarantee that. If I was told otherwise that was misinformation, he confirmed. He said I still needed to speak with the other department but that he would facilitate the call. He said, Dont worry abouXXXX XXXX XXXX fee - that I wouldnt have been charged even if they gave me misinformation ( given that I timely already opted out ). He transferred me to the Web Support and Applications department. 

Seventh, I spoke with XXXX XXXX, ID number XXXX. He said he didnt have an ID number but it was later provided by his supervisor, XXXX XXXX XXXX opted me into paper statements. He confirmed I wouldnt be charged a paper statement fee because I timely opted out, even though the disclosure he said he had to read stated that I may be charged a paper statement fee of XXXX dollars. Because he wouldnt provide an ID, I asked for supervisor. 

Eighth, I spoke with XXXX, supervisor Web Support and Applications, ID XXXX. She provide ID number for XXXX.