Late fee - 2 'monthly' payments in August!

[munkybiskitz]

I've just been charged £12 for missing the payment date for my Halifax All-In-One credit card by one day. This was because I had naively assumed that having been given a deadline date of 02 August, the next payment date would be early in September (it was, in fact, 31 August, the same month). Annoyingly, they would have received it, but for the bank holiday! Halifax are refusing to rescind the charge. Do I have any grounds for complaint regarding the concept of a 'monthly' payment, or do I just accept that I should have read their correspondence more closely, where the date was actually stated!?

[factor-fiction]

i don't think the cycle is monthly is it? My credit card statement intervals seem to be 28 or 30 days. I'm not sure why.
Did you get a statement with the payment due date on?

[jno]

no, you're supposed to take holidays and weekends into account, and getting the cheque there on time is your responsibility. I got caught like that once, and so I then set up automatic payment online. (Also useful if you're going to be on holiday for a couple of weeks or more.) The blighters aren't going to get another penny out of me. I recommend it.

[munkybiskitz]

Thanks, guys. I'm resigned to learning a lesson here. I already pay online, but clearly need to reset it earlier in case of weekends, bank holidays, anomalous deadline dates etc. I don't recall getting a letter with the late August date, but that doesn't prove they didn't send one. Incidentally the due dates have always been around the 4th-6th of every month until August (2nd and 31st, followed by a due date of 4th Oct!!) I guess because it's interest free for 9 months Halifax have to make their money by stealth. Never had this problem with the Co-op!