Are you aware of credit card companies (especially Lloyds TSB) doing this?

[petunia]

I'm the sort of customer that credit card companies hate- don't put much on my card and pay it off in full (by cheque through the post) each month within a day or 2 of getting a bill! I was with Loyds TSB but am wondering how many other c.card companies are doing what happened to me.
For Augusts bill, I had a statement on the 4th September. I thought I had 2 or 3 weeks to pay and had to leave it a few days. In the end I left it a week, went to write a cheque, and noticed that the payment date was the next day. So from actually receiving the statement, I only had 10 days to pay, 7 of those have to be working days if you pay by cheque through the post. I rang customer services and said that they'd reduced the time I had to pay. They said they couldn't do anything about the date. The only way I could avoid a late payment charge, was to go to a branch and pay by cash. She then tried to sell me Card Protection! So I ended up having to go to a branch (a real pain to do because parking isn't great) and paying that way. I also was so cross, I closed my current and savings accounts!
But because I bought something over the internet 3 days before this happened, I knew that I'd have another bill coming. This one was dated the 28th August, but it arrived Saturday. So it's taken 10 days to reach me (I have a suspicion it's been "held back" by LLoyds TSB, no statement should take that long to reach a customer) and they give 'til this Friday (so 5 working days) to make a payment, perhaps so that they can slap a late payment charge on when my payment turns up late.
Just wondering if anyone has had this happen to them. In protest I've sent a stroppy letter along with my (chopped up in to tiny pieces) credit card!

I have always been aware of the fact i have 56 days of interest free credit, but to take advantage of it I have to keep hold of the first bill or else by the time the 2nd one comes in it is too late and ive been charged interest. Also lloydstsb.

Had problems before with TSB bills arriving late & having a few days to pay, stopped using the card as well. They also reduced my credit limit by about 5 thousand without a by your leave. I realise I hadn't used the card for yonks & it was only v high (6K) because I had requested it for a one off thing which I paid off in 2 instalments from an endowment maturing & a bonus payment. The way they'd worded the notification was as if I had an adverse credit rating which is the complete opposite to actuality. Very annoyed with them too.

Jbck- what happened to you with the late bills sounds like what happened to me. It'll be interesting what reply (if they reply!) they can come up with to my letter. Really annoys me all this because I'd been with lloydstsb for 13 years so they obviously don't appreciate loyal customers (I know shouldn't be surprised when it comes to banks now).

Never had this happen with Bank of Scotland - which is surprising given the problems i have with my current account. What i have noticed though is this

If a payment has to be made by (as an example) the 6th of the month, which is a wednesday. I send the cheque off on the 4th the monday. they geet it the next day, its credited to the account that day and comes off our current acount the next day. if however i send it in ten days in advance, they don't credit to the account until the 6th, and it doesn't come off my current account until the 6th. Why is that i wonder?

Perhaps when you send a cheque 10 days early, they don't cash it straight away so that your payment date stays the same each month. Maybe they're trying not to mess you around.

i heard sometime ago that credit card companies would be doing it.i think i read it in a paper or something because they're not making any money out of customers who pay in full every month.

Yes, I've had trouble too in the past with short window for payment. Previously I travelled a great deal for work, and would often be away for 10-14 days at a time. If the credit card bill arrived while I was away, I was almost inevitably thrown into "late fee" charges - which IMO are exorbitantly high.

I now pay my credit card via online banking. I've learned the hard way that in order to be "on time" with payements, I must pay 3-4 days before the due date as it takes them that long to "process" payment. It's absolutely infuriating to see the money deducted from my chequing account, but not credited toward the outstanding balance on my credit card for several days - especially if it pushes me into one of their blasted "late fees". My solution is to only have one credit card. Sometimes I don't even want that one!

Doesnt surprise me at all with Lloyds, tbh.

Should add that my problem wasn't with Lloyds TSB, so perhaps is irrelevant to this thread. Or perhaps it shows that this problem is not limited to Lloyds.

Earlybird- goes to show that isn't just Lloyds doing this then.
Well nearly a week on, I've still not had a reply to my stroppy letter!

don't see why you don't just set up a direct debit to pay the full amount each month then you don't have to think about it

I didn't because it had never been a problem before. I always stuck a cheque in the post the day the statement arrived so I knew it was "done and dusted" for that month.