Finance Charge Fraud

[Cathie123]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey
Back in April 2004, I purchased eye glasses at a Lenscrafters store, and had voluntarily opted for their credit card promotion which was 6 months of interest free payments. The credit company is GE Capital Cons Cardco. I started with a balance of $700, which I paid every month on time and always paid more than the minimum amount. The promotion period has now ended as of this month and I have begun to incur finance charges which I have no problem with. The problem that I have is that this company has now charged me finance charges from the beginning balance of $700, thus charging me $56.76 in finance charges (with an insane rate of 22%) for this month alone. How can they do this? I would understand charging me interest on whatever the current balance is, which is $298.
Do I have any recourse or should I just eat it and pay up? Thank you for your response.

 

[racer72]

And you didn't see the small print that said "0% interest if balance is paid in full prior to the end of the promotional period"? And it will say "if the balance is not paid in full prior to the end of the promotional period, interest will be charged to the full amount financed". I took advantage of the promotion too but paid my full bill in 2 months.

 

[cmorris]

And you didn't see the small print that said "0% interest if balance is paid in full prior to the end of the promotional period"? And it will say "if the balance is not paid in full prior to the end of the promotional period, interest will be charged to the full amount financed". I took advantage of the promotion too but paid my full bill in 2 months.

Exactly. I used to work at a retail store that offered those promotions for financing. Same deal. If it is not paid off in full, interest is charged for the full amount. It's just in the fine print, which most people neglect to read.