Consumer WARNING re: Flexiti Financial

[Stephen W.]

The wife received a text message from Flexiti Financial stating that her Charm Diamond Centres credit card was in arrears and that she owed $1054 in payment, interest and late fees. She checked all her receipts and was positive that she had a zero balance owing. In fact she had paid everything off earlier than she had to. (She only uses this card when Charms have a no interest, no payment for six or twelve month type of sale on.)
She called the number on the back of her credit card; she did not click the link in the text. Then, spent over an hour on the home phone to Flexiti customer service, (or lack thereof) as well as making calls to the Charm’s Store to verify that what she believed was in fact correct. What she learned from Flexiti was this; supposedly she was $0.01 short on a payment for a purchase from April of 2022. That one cent had ballooned to the $1054 she was now being forced to pay. Somehow it was never brought to her attention even after making subsequent purchases with and then paying off the balances on this exact same card and account!
Things got very heated and I became quite concerned as she is still recuperating from her heart attack. Finally the girl from Flexiti gave up trying to pressure her into paying this bogus amount. Sometime later the wife received an email stating that her card had zero balance owing. However, there was a harshly worded warning that outstanding balances were subject to fines, services charges and would reflect badly on the card holder’s credit rating.
I believe this is an out and out fraud! Whether it’s a part of their business model or someone working for them who is running a scam doesn’t matter. A big financial firm like this should have checks and balances in place so this type of mistake never happens! (If it was a mistake and I don’t for one second believe that.)
I do not think Flexiti will ever see any business from us again. As soon as my two pendants come back from repairs we’ll probably stop shopping at Charm Diamond Centres too. The staff in the store at the Belleville Mall considers us more than just one of their top customers. We’ve become good friends.
Feel free to share this. I am fed up with getting screwed by every company and institution I have to deal with. (Don’t get me started on the Scotia Bank!)
Howard Beale’s line from the movie Network is my new mantra: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

[Sapphireho]

If I liked the store I would still do business with them, just wouldn't have their card.

[x808drifter]

https://www.justice.gov/criminal/cri...d/report-fraud

[Ultramaroon]

...and for Canada, we have https://www.antifraudcentre-centrean...gnalez-eng.htm

[FR-S2GT86]

@Stephen W.

Most of these "interest-free for XX months" deals are reliant upon not missing a single payment during the entire length of the loan, not just during the interest-free time period. It's called a deferred interest loan. If you accidentally fail to pay the entire minimum payment for even one month during the loan, you may still be liable for the entire finance charge amount that you would have otherwise not have had to pay in the "deal" that you agreed to. Steve Lehto, my favorite YouTube attorney recently discussed this topic on his channel. See the link below. I'm not sure how the laws operate up there in Canada, but as long as it's legal for them to do so, and you agreed to it in the fine print (that I trust you and your wife read in its entirety) within the legally binding contract, then its legit. It may not be morally correct, but a contract is a contract.

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

@Stephen W.

Most of these "interest-free for XX months" deals are reliant upon not missing a single payment during the entire length of the loan...

Yes it's the same up here and we know this. The wife has never missed a "minimum" payment, when required, during the "deal" time period, ever.
The crux of our issue is that Flexiti claimed a $0.01 missed amount on a single payment for a purchase from 2022. This "missed" payment ballooned to $1054 in less than two years. However, it was never brought to her attention until she received the text. There were several other purchases made in the interim and each was paid off in full. She routinely double checks her Flexiti account to ensure payments are received in time. It always showed “zero balance owing”. The girl she talked to could not find where this $0.01 outstanding balance came from. On items that required a monthly minimum payment it showed payments received. As I stated the Flexiti customer service girl finally gave up and sent a text that agreed with the wife’s financial statements. So, we thought this incident was put to bed.
However, a few days later we get a letter in the mail stating that she can pay off her “outstanding dept. of $1054 by making monthly payments of $56 and some change. Another call to Flexiti to chat with a supervisor and again this is supposedly put to bed. The wife doesn’t owe anything!
It’s the principal that I’m fighting for. Here in Canada we no longer have a one cent coin. Everything is rounded off to the nearest five cents when paying in cash. If a credit or debit card is used than the exact amount is paid. So why would a huge financial company supposedly let a one cent payment balloon up to over a thousand dollars without notifying the customer? Why not just round it down to zero like it was a cash transaction? Correct, because they believe that gullible, busy consumers may not think twice or get frustrated and just pay it. So what if there was no outstanding balance to begin with. They figure people will pay anyway. Even if no actual debt was owed. (Which is what I believe is the case here.)

[FR-S2GT86]

Yeah, the rich get richer on the ignorance and lack of education of the middle class and poor. In my opinion, banks and credit card companies that operate in the way you describe are nothing but leeches.