Banks Forgetting Their Customers

It looks like banks and other credit card issuers are sinking to a new low in customer service--from negligent to predatory [“Credit Card Users Paying More Than Ever Amid a ‘Fee Frenzy,’ ” Money Savvy Weekend, Aug. 13].

These companies are operating under the ethos that their customers need them, not the other way around. About a year ago, I made a credit card payment that was a day or two late and got hit with a $29.95 fee. I called the issuer and asked a representative about it. She said the new late fees had been explained in a recent terms-of-service notice. You know, those scraps of paper with your bill that everybody reads.

I told her I didn’t like that kind of treatment and wanted to close my credit card account. She immediately voided the fee.

TOM GRAVES

Long Beach

*

Business welcomes your letters. Write to Letters to the Business Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Submit e-mail letters to bizletters@latimes.com. Letters must contain your address and phone number. Please keep letters brief; they are subject to editing.