Yesterday I had to call one of my credit cards up to ask why they imposed a late fee payment on it. I had make the payment on the day it was due, but for some reason, it still showed up.

The woman on the other side said they could remove the late fee, but that it would take one to two cycles for it to appear. When I asked what that meant, she said that I would still have to pay the higher amount on my next payment, but that I would get the credit for it one to two months down the road.

I said that didn't seem right, since the payment wasn't late, and that I shouldn't have to pay the higher amount now for a credit down the line. She said once the amount due was created, they couldn't change it.

Credit card issuers have been taking a lot of heat lately from many corners, including the Obama Administration, and now we can see why. If a company decided it needed some extra money, it could decide to drop an "accidental" high late payment fee on everyone, then those who called up would tell them "oops", we'll give you the credit 2 months down the road, but you still have to pay what we say is the minimum fee for the month.

Frankly, that's one of the worst customer service moves I've seen in a long time, and it makes me wonder if this is another creditor whom I just need to pay off and leave behind. Oh yeah, the credit experts are now telling us that canceling credit cards is bad for our credit scores; ugh.

Have you checked your customer service policies lately to see if any of them are anti-customer? For that matter, have you checked on the people handling your customer service issues lately? This might be a good time to do it.