Credit card companies just don't play fair

My son had a problem recently with a classmate who was acting aggressively when they played tag. Whenever it was this little boy's turn to chase the kids, he always ran after my son to tag him out first.

"It really hurts my feelings," my 8-year-old said.

"Well, son, tell that kid you won't play with him anymore if he continues to come after you all the time," my husband said.

"Why doesn't he play fair, dad?" my son kept asking. "It's just not right."

"Son," my husband said firmly. "Some people won't play nice, and when they don't, you just shouldn't play with them."

"OK, Dad," my son said.

If only adults could follow the same advice. We can often be complicit with companies that don't treat us fairly. For example, credit card companies often don't play nice when you hit a financial rough time.

Actually, they frequently don't play fair even when we do everything according to their terms. Take "universal default," for instance. It's an industry practice in which the credit card issuer reserves the right to raise your interest rate if you are late or overextended on another credit account.

Then there is the practice of two-cycle billing. Under this method, the interest is calculated on the balance you carry over the previous two months.

Recently the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations took a look at certain credit card industry practices. Executives from several credit card companies were summoned to Congress in January and again for the subcommittee hearing this month to defend outrageous fees and interest rates.

To prove how unfair the practices are, the subcommittee panel brought in one consumer, Wesley Wannemacher of Lima, Ohio, who testified that he got a Chase credit card in 2001 to help pay for wedding expenses. His limit on the card was $3,000. He charged $3,200.

"My wife and I wanted to show everyone a good time and have a memorable experience," Wannemacher said in his written testimony to the Senate panel. "As a young adult, I really had no idea just how much my wedding would cost."

Eventually, Chase charged Wannemacher $4,900 in interest, $1,100 in late fees, and $1,500 in over-limit fees. He was hit 47 times with over-limit fees, although he only went over his limit three times. After making $6,300 in payments since 2001, he still owed $4,400 as of last month.

Just before the hearing in which Wannemacher was to testify, Chase decided to forgive his remaining $4,400 in debt. Why did it take so long for someone at the company to see that the methods which resulted in the charges and fees imposed on his account were abusive?

"We blew it," testified Richard J. Srednicki, chief executive of Chase's card services division. "Our policies and procedures failed and we deeply regret it."

It's great that Wannemacher's remaining debt is going to be wiped away. But what about other consumers who have been similarly overcharged? Will Chase -- and other issuers -- also wipe out those excessive fees?

"We look at any situation in which we have made a mistake," said Paul Hartwick, a spokesman for Chase. "We think that we are pretty fair and responsible in the way we deal with our customers."

Some credit issuers say they are ready to change some of the practices that have been criticized. Citigroup has said it will get rid of its universal default practice. Chase Card Services has promised to stop over-limit fees at 90 days.

These changes are good, but they're not enough. Part of the problem is that far too many consumers won't be able to play the credit game wisely because the rules are convoluted.

"I don't believe that the average consumer understands it, believes it, thinks it's fair, and I don't either," said Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Granted, Wannemacher should have paid his bill and should not have gone over his limit. Clearly, as he even admitted, he wasn't prepared to handle the downside of the credit game.

Just as with tag, if playing the game means you have to subject yourself to unfair and excessive treatment, it's time to stop playing.

Michelle Singletary is a columnist for The Washington Post.