In an earlier post, I recommended the PenFed cash-back credit card for people who spend a lot on gas. Well, PenFed just lost $2,300 of my money.
Shortly after receiving an email saying that my credit card statement was ready, I payed the balance of $2,300 in full. However, I had also signed up to their automatic bill pay service, which was scheduled to pay off the full balance from my checking account a week later. And it did, even though I had made the payment already manually, creating an overdraft fee on my checking account. Whether my own fault or not, I had now made two payments of $2,300, both showing up in my online PenFed account.
As soon as I noticed this, I called up PenFed and asked them to reverse the second transfer. There would have been a $20 fee to wire the money back to my bank, so I opted for a check instead.
A day later, the adjustment of $2,300 for the check showed up on my online credit card account (as it should). However, now the second payment of $2,300 no longer showed up in my list of transactions (highly irregular)! As a result, I’m missing $2,300, and my credit card balance still appears unpaid. Do I have to pay a third time?
When I called them about this, they couldn’t find proof of the second payment and asked me to fax them my checking account statement. They are currently working on it. More to follow.
Update: They sorted it out and credited my account with the missing money. It took 4 phone calls, lasting about one hour in total.
On a different note, they just sent me a letter saying that the PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards card will only pay 0.25% cash back on most purchases from now on, instead of 1% as before. This reduces its attractiveness, unless you only use it for gas purchases.
