To reduce the amount of mail, I signed up for electronic statements. I have not made a purchase for some time now therefore I am paying on an outstanding balance that really should not be increasing.

This evening I went on line to pay my bill and it was at this time I noticed the payment date had changed and the last payment I made, that I paid in person and thought was on time, was recorded as late, resulting in an additional $29.00 late fee. Unbeknownest to me, Macy's changed my payment date from the 5th to the 3rd. As a result any payments I made on the fourth and fifth have resulted in additional late charges. They raised their late payments fee from $25.00 to $29.00. What are the components of this late fee? In my case, they no longer have to mail out a statement, saves on costs of paper, saves on costs of envelopes, saves on costs of postage and most importantly, manpower.

When you contact Macy's, the individual you speak with is from a foreign country with of course an American name, who you can't understand and when you finally get to speak to someone, you can somewhat understand, to inquire about removing the late fee, they do not take into consideration your strong record of paying your bill monthly and on time, so you thought, and the fact that you pay more than the minimum amount. They refuse to work with you.

The payment I made last month, which was more than the minimum amount, is now covering the late payment for this month and last's month and some of the balance. I am paying nothing on my balance. When I attempted to run a report of all my payments I must have some special software to download the information therefore prohibiting me from accessing this information to audit thier records.

Who do you turn to in order to get this snowball effect to cease? With today's economy people can't afford to be paying late fees on top of late fees. Macy's should do the right thing and waive the late fees if the payment is received with in 10 days of the payment date.

I am switching back to paper statements. I bet my payment date changes again.