CANCEL YOUR CREDIT CARD BEFORE YOU DIE !!!

[maggiebee]

Reported in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle U.K. recently:

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless. And so easy to see happening - customer service, being what it is today!

A lady died this past September, and MBNA bank billed her in October and
November for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then in
December added late fees and interest on the monthly charge.
The balance that had been £0.00, now is somewhere around £60.00.

A family member placed a call to the MBNA Bank . . . :


Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you that my grandma died in September.'
MBNA: 'But the account was never closed and so the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'Maybe, you should turn it over to your collections section.'
MBNA: ‘Since it is two months over due, it already has been.'

Family Member: ‘So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'
MBNA: 'Either report her account to the Frauds Department or report her to
The Credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'
MBNA: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you . . The part about her being dead?'

MBNA: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'
Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died in September.'
MBNA: 'But the account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'
MBNA: (Stammer) 'Are you her solicitor?'

Family Member: 'No, I'm her grandson'
MBNA: 'Could you fax us a death certificate?'

Family Member: 'Sure.'

( fax number is given )

After they get the fax:

MBNA: 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'
Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care.'

MBNA: 'Well, the late fees and charges will still apply.'
Family Member: ‘Would you like her new billing address?'

MBNA: 'That would help.'

Family Member: ' Plot 1049.' Heaton Cemetary, Heaton Road , Newcastle upon Tyne
MBNA: 'But, that's a cemetery!'


Family Member: 'Well, what the ***** do you do with dead people on your planet?'


The MBNA were not available for comment when a reporter from the Newcastle Evening Chronicle rang them.

[tinkerbell23]

Brilliant. Feckin idiots!!!!

No respect for people who are grieving... Glad the family member had some wit xx

[pillj123]

brilliant

[jno]

what, not Citibank?

http://www.snopes.com...ess/bank/deadcard.asp

[MartinBev58]

I had a similar problem with a house alarm company.
My neighbour passed away and a service engineer called to service their alarm.
I told him the lady had passed away and I did not know the relatives.
I never saw them but I think they were calling when they were at work.
After the house was sold I received an invoice for the alarm rental.
I phoned them and said I was nothing to do with the neighbours estate.
The alarm company just kept phoning and asking for the relatives address which I did not know.
After several phone calls I got an invoice for £220 followed by several threats of legal action.
The letters did however stop after about a year and no legal action happened.

Martin

[woofgang]

The vocabulary in that one is quite American.
Very seriously when I rang the gas board (British Gas) to deal with my late mother's affairs, I rang and explained that I was the daughter of a deceased customer of theirs and the lady said, and I kid you not.
"And do you have your mother's permission to talk to us about the account?"
I am afraid I was a bit at the end of my rope that day and I said
"No, shall I go and dig her up and ask her?"
Which would have been hard as she was cremated.

[jomifl]

I always cancel my credit cards before I die.

[tastymorsel]

I have also been met with similar stupidity when I asked a catalogue company to remove my late aunts name from their data base as it was upsetting my uncle to receive mail for her.They told me they couldn't remove her name without her written permission.How the Hell was i supposed to get that ??

[squarebear]

This never happened. It is a popular email that does the rounds but is a joke and not to be taken seriously.

[woofgang]

very true square bear but my experience was real!

[chrissa1]

I just received this email as a "Fwd". Very funny but not legit methinks.

[suagrtits]

hahahah hilarious. you cant believe the nerve of some of these companies really cant you, dont think they have a heart. My father in law still gets calls for his wife who died 7 years ago trying to sell things, as soon as he explains that she died (which may i also add that he still is very hurt by as she really really suffered towards the end) they casually say 'well are you interested' no apology, no remorse....nothing

[maggiebee]

This one was sent to me so wasn't sure if it was legit. However have had some very strange conversations with 02, Talktalk, British Gas etc. so who knows.......

[chaptazbru]

LOL at jomifl .....

[Davethedog]

Squarebear is right its an Urban Myth. However companies refuse to believe that people die, they think they are trying to defraud them out of their £20 or whatever. You can't teach common sense.

However I know from, very bitter, experience that a manager can expunge debts from accounts if you can get them to see the light.

But it is funny.

[Frank97]

My mother still keeps getting calls from Sky asking to speak to my Father regarding the cancellation of his subscription, five years after his death! Every time she tells them that he has passed away and they say they will amend their records, but sure enough a few months later they call again.

[Rodge2]

Surprising. The companies I have dealt with in similar circumstances had well honed procedures in place.

[Brinjal]

When I worked in a bank we used to check the despatch columns in the news papers and if any of our customers appeared we would put a check on the account and follow up to see if it was our client then accounts would be frozen and charges wouldn't acrue.

[gness]

When my husband died I changed all the direct debit payments to my account. This included Tesco internet. Some months later the internet was disconnected. The young lad I spoke to said it was because my husband hadn`t paid the bill. True. He no longer had a bank account. But I had paid the bill each month from my account. A supervisor agreed that payment had been made but they hadn`t changed the name of the account holder to mine. She then agreed to reconnect the internet but only when she had spoken to the account holder. I hung up and went elsewhere.

[parkie]

I heard of someone who wrote and told a company her father was now deceased and the next thing she knows she gets a letter addressed to Mr ******* (Deceased).

[Mamyalynne]

I have had the letter addressed to Mr ****** (deceased ) too after my husband died.