Lawrence.com

Billy---this is bullshit. And if you make a big, nasty, loud enough stink about it, you can get some of that shit written off. Not all, probably, but any is better than none.

We got scammed on that "free" credit report, too--when we noticed the charges showing up, a few months later, I called and put all my customer-service experience to use. One hour and two supervisors later, we had a refund.

And call your bank. Have all of your information, including the date you requested an address change, and preferably proof of when you changed addresses.

(PS--if you tend to lose your cool from frustration when dealing with these asshole corporations, get someone who doesn't, put the phone on speaker, and let them talk for you.)

I'm sending LadyLaw this way---she has mucho experience with and contacts in state government, she can tell you who to contact in the state banking commission, or whatever it's called, or at least the right names to drop in your conversation with the bank to make them more apt to cooperate.

Thanks for the heads up Misty.

Billy, this is a major pain for you b/c no one else is going to stay on it like you will. So you are going to have to be real organized and persistent for quite awhile if you want to (a) get it straightned out and (b) get the bad guys in trouble (and your $$ back!). The good news is that there ARE some agencies that may be able to help you get it straightened out.

In no particular order, try the following if you do not get this straightened out RIGHT AWAY by all concerned.

Contact the Kansas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division and file a complaint. Consumers are not required to pay for things that they did not agree to buy. And there are laws that can be used to punish providers of consumer services who make bad things happen to consumers simply b/c they did not pay for something they did not order.
Go to the AG's web site at http://www.ksag.org/content/page/id/54 to fill in a complaint form (you can file a consumer complaint on-line.). Not all transactions or situations qualify as a consumer protection act situation. But if you file a complaint, they'll let you know pretty fast (by government standards) whether or not they think they can assist you.

Contact the State Banking Commissioner's office to complain about your bank's conduct. They don't actually have a consumer protection division in that office, and they don't have power over every bank operating in Kansas (some are under federal authorities). However, that agency may be able to (a) get you to the right authorities who do in fact control this particular bank and (b) give you some ideas as to how to best go about getting things straightened out. http://www.osbckansas.org/ is their web site and their general counsel (Sonya Allen) is one smart lady. If nothing else, filing a complaint with the right regulatory body about how your bank handled this situation will go into their "permanent record"!

For credit issues you may also want to contact the Federal Trace Commission (FTC) http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.shtm see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/rights.shtm

Good luck!

Sorry, Billy, this is happening, but there are some double faults here.

All the consumer protection laws, rules and programs don't work unless everyone READS THEM. People will sign up for any program and not read the required notices and disclosures they are provided. Anyone here read the 12 page, 8 point type agreement you got with your credit card? No. If you did, you'd understand your rights and responsibilities and the credit card companies responsibilities.

You cannot be charged for something you did not agree to. Check with these providers and demand documented proof of enrollment and a copy of the agreement. They HAVE TO provide it to you. They must keep copies of all past agreements on file.

If you did not enroll in some/all of these programs, you might be able to recoup some if not all costs to you. Where you are going to get into problems is timely inspection of the monthly statement they are required to send to you and your timely reporting of errors.

You normally have 60 days after your discovery of unauthorized transactions or errors to report them to your credit card company.
If you do not, you can loose your chargeback rights. You can also loose your chargeback rights if you did not report errors that resulted in other errors that could have been prevented by timely reporting. You cannot be charged fees from errors.

Since you did not inspect your monthly statement, you could be responsible. It's a big mistake to expect any business to care about you. You are responsible for your own finances. These large credit card companies are doing what they are required to do. They are federally examined annually and highly regulated. We the consumer have to do our due diligence as well, and most people don't.

Thanks for weighing in Asphericview. I recognize my own culpability, I will be disputing the stuff that has happened int he past 60 days. I'm just frustrated. And I know it is going to take several hours of phone conversations to fix anything.

I was looking closely at all my spend because my mom, the midwife, just got pushed out of her contract at her job for failure to be able to perform her duties because her arm was left partially paralyzed after a spinal injury she suffered while delivering one of her little beloved rugrats. I was really hoping to be able to help out. Then I saw this stuff and I was like, "woe." Then I realized it was going to take me a month or so to sort all this out and get things back on track. In other words, it will be a month before I could do anything fiscally to help my mom.

That makes me feel like poop.