Quickie Reader Survey: Have you used "Bill Me Later?"

Peter,

Yes, I've used the Bill Me Later function many times. Use it for buying my contacts at 1-800-DENTIST. Love it. It's not that I don't like inputting my credit card on websites b/c I do that all the time (anyway, that's silly, folks should be more concerned giving their CC to the waitress then..). Comes down to the simple fact of holding on to my money for a few more days. Never had a bad experience with BML.

Rich

I don't use BML as I have a very low interest rate credit card and HATE debt.

Ramon!

As a small business, the use of Bill Me Later has been great since they are hooked into deals with newegg.com where I can make purchases of $200 and have 3 months to pay the full amount with No Interest. Great for cash flow and the billing statements are postal mailed besides e-mail notifications. Excellent way to do business but just watch out for an interest charge billed during the 3 month pay period which in my case was promply adjusted after calling customer service.

I have used BML and I really liked it but I lost the bill once and paid late... a minor amount (less than $50) so then they never let me use it again although I have impeccable credit rating and history. Bummer!

I use MBNA shopsafe which allows me to generate a unique CC number each time along with expiration date and amount. This way I don't have to worry about my "number" being stolen as it is not my real CC number.

I read with great interest your article "Hold the Plastic". I agree that the process proves up a need for another method to pay online, but this method seems to add the additional step of billing the customer, via snail mail or e-mail.

Just so you know my interest in this subject, I am an investor in a two and a half year old company named "Quake" that is in the same payment arena as "Bill Me Later". Quake handles ACH transactions for both the Internet and telephone sales, using the purchaser's cell phone to confirm the ACH (and has the ability to handle credit cards, as your article pointed out, at this time there isn't much of an economic incentive to handle credit card transactions).

The purchaser registers one time with Quake, and Quake encrypts the purchaser's payment information, keeps part of it, and pushes the remainder to the purchaser's cell phone for storage. This eliminates the possibility (or as the company's attorneys say, it drastically reduces) of theft of the purchaser's financial data.

For an online transaction the purchaser only needs to input his or her cell phone number and ok the payment. The merchant's payment system contacts Quake, which contacts the purchaser's cell phone, the purchaser then OKs the payment (by inputting a four digit PIN), which releases their portion of the encrypted ACH information, forwards it to Quake, who unencrypts the data, sends the payment through normal ACH payment channels and notifies the merchant. All of this takes place in the background in less than one second.

The process is eaiser for the merchant and the purchaser as there is immediate payment, no follow up bills, and the purchaser has positively identified him or herself and approved the transaction.

During the last week of 2005 Quake and JetPay executed a contract for JetPay (a major national payment processor with over 30,000 merchant customers) to provide ACH clearing and software support. The two companies plan to have the Quake product in beta testing with at least two of JetPay's merchants by the middle of the second quarter of this year.

A nationally quoted industry cell phone consultant, Roger Entner, with Ovum Consulting, has advised Quake during the company's product development.

Should you like additional information about Quake the company's president, Trent Landreth, may be reached at trentl@centurytel.net or 406-270-1694.

Sorry for the long message, but you hit on a subject that I am very interested in today.

I went nuts with Bill Me Later and charged over $2000 in 6 months... I don't currently have a job and couldn't figure out another way to get things I needed so I ordered a bunch of gift cards and some Christmas gifts from walmart.com. I realize it was a mistake, but the option was there, now I just have to figure out a way to pay them off...

BML may seem like a good option, but if you have any mixups, they're customer service is non-existent. Near Christmas, my wife made the made a purchase using BML. Using on-line billing, she mistakenly missed the actual account number by a digit. The transfer was made to a non-existing account number with BML. My wife realized the mistake after making two payments to the non-existing account. That was the beginning of trouble. BML's customer service may possibly be the worst in the history of customer service.

First, we were told to have our bank fax a copy of the payment to BML. That has been done twice since January 06. After twice trying to resovle this via the telephon, my wife sent a letter. BML's response was to send there own letter telling us to have the credit union fax them the payment records.

The first line call takers at BML will not give you their names and each time you call, you get another call taker. After demanding to speak with a supervisor, the call-taker reluctantly transferred the call to an alleged supervisor, who also refusted to give their name.

At this time, we are still trying to get this matter resolved after three months of attempts. All I can say is, if you use BML, you better pray there are no problems needing BML's help.

I charged $50 to Bill Me Later because I had just paid my cc off and wanted to just pay it with a money order. I had to return the item because it did not fit and I have struggled with BML ever since for a $5.95 balance. I paid this balance in February and they call me every week to ask for late fees and this payment of $5.95. I go round and round with them and am put on hold, speak to a supervisor and then am apologized to and assured it has been taken care of...yes, we see your payment, so sorry....then I get the same call a week later. I have been playing this game for two months now and just received another call five minutes ago. So, my take on BML? Good luck getting your payment logged if you return anything. When I told the latest caller to 'just push the Payment Received button' her response was "you wish". She said it has to completely clear their system? My phone went dead so I am now going to send a letter. My take on BML? Just use your credit card and get it over with.

I used BML for my earthlink monthly fee. No probs for the first six months. Then it went haywire. They had a billing glitch communicating the payments to earthlink. Was doubled billed then called by earthlink to make payment, which I did. This was never communicated to BML. Their customer service does not exist. Called earthlink, was told everything's current and gave me a credit for next month. BML did not post any of this to the account. My $21 monthly bill grew to $92 in one and half months. I made copies of all the checks and sent them to earthlink. In fact I overpaid as BML collection department was calling constantly - (6-8) times per day. They know how to bill and collect just don't know how to post payments. MY advice DO NOT under any circumstances use 3rd party billing services. It can get very complicated. You end up getting bounced between companies and nobody does what they tell you they'd do. It is obvious the communications are poor, the systems are not tied in so they are not on the same page.

these comments are very interesting considering i work for bill me later's collections department collecting on past due payments. i know what has happened in all the situation posted here.
this may sound funny to you all but very seldom do customer listen to what we are telling them to resolve their bill.
it's crazy the calls we get from customers. in the earthlink situation posted by nick
when a dell computer is bought you get to pick either aol or earthlink as a trial for 6 months.
a lot of people pick earthlink because they may have seen a commercial or see they have a low introductory price after the trial is up.
bill me later pays the acct and like a credit card would do. ( because we are exactly like a credit card)
earthlink bills a month in advance and everything is ok until a payment is missed by the customer.
at that time the acct goes delinquent and comes to my department (collections). No, we do not pay earthlink that month's service. you have not paid us.
HELLO, (TAPPING PEOPLE ON THEIR HEAD) YOU ARE IN BREACH OF AGREEMENT BY NOT PAYING YOUR ACCT ON TIME.
YOUR ACCT IS PAST DUE AND IN COLLECTIONS.
when earthlink attempts to put through a charge for the amount of your service we authorize decline it. your acct status is at delinquent.
we then call to offer a free check by phone to take care of the matter and resolve the acct.
if you do your acct is activated again.
HERE IS WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES.
WHEN EARTHLINK DOES NOT RECEIVE THAT MONEY THEY TRY TO CONTACT YOU FOR THAT PAYMENT AS WELL BECAUSE TO NOT INTERRUPT YOUR INTERNET SERVICE THEY BILL IT THROUGH THEMSELVES.
SO THEY GENERATE A BILL AND COLLECT. BUT SAY YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR PAST DUE WITH BML. THEY SEE THIS AND AUTOMATICALLY NOT MANUALLYBUT OF COURSE THROUGH COMPUTER YOU ARE BILLED THE NEW MONTH AND THE MISSED MONTH THEY STILL HAVE AN INVOICE FOR . THERE IT IS DOUBLE BILLED.
IN NICK'S CASE HE PAID EARTHLINK. BUT BECAUSE EARTHLINK BILLS A MONTH IN ADVANCE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAID FOR THE MONTH IN QUESTION NOW EARTHLINK HAS BEEN PAID TWICE FOR THE MONTH IN QUESTION ONCE BY US AND ONCE FROM YOU. YOUR ACCT IS DELINQUENT BECAUSE YOU NEEDED TO PAY US. WE AT BML DO NOT SEE THOSE PAYMENTS. A PAYMENT TO EARTHLINK IS A PAYEMNT TO THEM.
SOME PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING THAT WE ARE NOT THE SAME COMPANY AND BML HAS OVER 230 VENDORS AND EARTHLINK I ONLY ONE.

WANT THE BOTTOM LINE THIS IS THE SAME SITUATION IF IT HAD HAPPENED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD. IF YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY REVOKES YOUR ACCT FOR NONPAYMENT AND THEN YOU PAY EARTHLINK DO YOU THINK BANK OF AMERICA (HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING) CAN POST THAT TO YOUR ACCT AND BRING THE ACCT CURRENT. NO !!!!!!!!!

earthlink situation are always throughly listened to at bml and then if its a earthlink problem we do direct it back to them. if you are not liable for the charges you need to contact earthlink and speak witha supervisor if need be. have the credit and go over the acct throughly and DO NOT HANG UP THAT PHONE UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND. so what if earthlink is in india and they do not speak good english. ( the most common complaint with earthlink customer service) and know they give out a conf. number for everything means nothing to us without a credit or payment attached to it.

from what you posted i just get the impression that you guys cant figure a way to get the customer to understand whats going on... and thats usually the service's fault from either frustration with customer or impatience. no matter the situation you're supposed to calmly explain what's exactly going on until the customer can hang up and say "ok i got it." if you're going to be inconsiderate and keep on assuming the customer is missing some parts of his brain (gee havent you thought that you actually work at BML and is the only one who knows whats going on) then try explaining it differently or more slowly, otherwise nothing gets solved.

We were scammed by Bill Me Later via their connection to Earthlink. We got a new computer from Dell last fall and took advantage of the "free" trial...used Earthlink for only a few days and didn't like it, so we cancelled (at least we assumed we had). Several months later we started getting billed by Earthlink on our AmX card, and (get this) TWICE by Bill Me Later...for the same non-existing services. We never cancelled our previous server, and they KNEW that we never used them. I have been told numerous times by both Earthlink and Bill Me Later that the matter has been taken care of, but our latest Am X bill still had Earthlink charge on it, and I just received another dunning call from Bill Me Later.

I have turned the matter over to our Attorney General after wasting at least 5 or 6 hours, mostly on hold, trying to resolve it.

Be careful of those so-called "free trials"....once they have your credit card number, you are certain to be cheated by these psychopaths.

Just read the comment from the customer service rep at Bill Me Later. We NEVER signed up for Bill Me Later. There was no reason to. They started billing us TWICE for the same service that Earthlink was already billing us for SIMULTANEOUSLY. The customer service rep kept whining that they had already paid Earthlink for a sevice that we neither wanted or used and had tried to cancel. Seems to me that was a problem between Earthlink and Bill me Later.

If anybody uses their services, PLEASE read the bills very carefully, because, as I said, they were billing us TWICE for something we were not receiving and were already being billed for on our Am X card.

And their efforts to help straighten it out were nil....3 months later, I am still being billed by Am X and harassed by Bill Me Later.

Bill me later uses "bait and switch" methods to get your business by stating you'll receive 90 days same as cash, and then switching and charging you interest I've spoken to the reps. numerous occasions and they have put the blame on Continental airlines (I paid for airline tickets using the BML service).
I contacted Continental Airlines several times and they said they had nothing to do with the charges.

Bill Me Later needs to be shut down, and lawmakers are just letting these companies do what ever they want with the consumers, and I feel as though we cdannot do anything about it.

Where do I go to get some help regarding this matter?

In reference to Faye - Ummm isn't one of the ideas behind - BML is pay same as cash for 90 Days. Pay it off in the 90 days and there is no interest - same as cash. If you go past the 90 days - yes there will be interest and you will have monthly payments until the balance is paid.

How is that bait and switch?

At least that was my take on it when we purchased a digital camera. Paid it off in 90 days. It was not a problem.

Now my parents bought airline tickets - Continental Airlines - they used BML - they just got their first statement - so we shall see how it works this time around.

I used Bill Me Later to buy motorcycle tires from motorcyclesuperstore.com. The problem began when my account with BML was compromised, BML went and made me a new account number but at the time I had my account online registered under that old account number, ever since this happen I can not make online payments, I have talked to BML about 4 times now about the problem and everytime had them get rid of the late fee since I wasnt able to make the payment online. The last time I spoke to them on the phone the one girl went farther to try to solve the problem but couldnt and made a note to the problems department etc.. to fix the issue for good. Im going on 9-10 months now of using BML and they still havent fixed the problem so now and I guess they never will. Would not ever use them again as I feel its stupid that I gotta send checks in the mail for such a little issue that should be on there behalf to fix it. Dont get me wrong, its ok if the problem persisted after 2 calls but after 3-4 calls now come on.

i recently had a payment for the amount of $1500.00 sent to BML twice in error which resulted in credit balance for $1500.00 . I called BML who advised they could send me a check for the credit balance. It took them 2 weeks to process the request, and has now been 2 more weeks and I still don't have the check. When I call them, they tell me they have to research this to make sure the check has not cleared!! They also could not provide me with timeframe for this request. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, someone got on the phone and told me it would take at least another 15 business days to research the request. This is ridiculous. Can you imagine if you tried to tell them that you sent a check 2 weeks ago to pay your bill and they hadn't received it yet. Better yet, tell them you wouldn't pay it for another 15 business days until you had time to make sure the check you sent didn't clear. Imagine the charges to the account you would have then!!

I bought a weight bench from www.sportsauthority.com. I chose BML because it gave me the "no pay for 90 days" option.

30 days later I started getting calls from BML for being late on a $10 payment. I said that was on a 90 day no pay plan and they told me to contact the merchant. The merchant said it was BML's fault. *sigh* I started to get a twitch in my left eye.

So I pay $100 just to shut them up for a while and 30 days later, I get a call on a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. for being 2 days late on another $10 payment....geez.

BML just does the old "bait and switch technique". They sucker you in with the "no payment for 90 days if you use our service", and then they start billing you immediately.

Just say "NO" to Bill-Me-Later.

I use BML all the time, it's great. I don't like putting online purchases on a credit card as I tend to avoid paying them off as quickly as I promise myself, so BML works out perfectly. Once I received someone elses bill in my email which was sort of odd, but I contacted them and they straightened it out quickly

I was about to use bill me later so i can build up credit, but with all that said i am not.

Most of the complaints seem to be because people did not bother to read the terms & conditions. When I got my computer I had 6 months of internet free - to get it I had to either put in a credit card or click on Bill me later & give my info. I took that choice. Because of previous problems with other companies I also read the terms & Conditions (You have to check to state you read them so why not do it?) It is not enough to just stop using the internet service - you have to cancel the account with the provider - in my case Earthlink. I had one bill from BML and called and explained - I had cancelled on the same day that Earthlink billed them. The rep explained that I needed to call and request a refund but if that did not work, I should dispute the charge & also told me how to do that. She was extremely helpful. Next problem was a purchase from Walmart on 90 days no payments. This time I didn't read and missed that the purchase had to be over $250 to qualify. I called the first time I saw interest and this was explained to me very calmly and simply. I paid my bill free of charge online as soon as the call was over. The payment was posted to my account the very same day. I have had nothing but excellent customer service from bill me later but then maybe I don't call them with an attitude - I notice from the way most of these complaints are written that the people concerned have a definite attitude problem. You get what you give folks!

I have used bill me later and have not had any problems with them,

Hi,

I run a small e-commerce venture selling furniture online and would really like to incorporate Bill Me Later type feature into my site but my company doesn't meet BML's minimum revenues requirements.

Does anyone know of an alternative company that offers this type financing for small businesses?

Bill Me Later - Has the absolute WORST customer service people working for them!!! They are a joke! NO ONE should use this service - for one the interest is way too high and two - the RUDE and unhelpful people working there make that place the absolute worst company to have business with!!!

Bill Me Later is the worst. AFter a $0 balance, they claimed that I made another purchase and it was not true. Went through their whole investigation process. Customer service was and is TERRIBLE. All communication has been initiated by me only to fight a losing battle. I repeat my story every time. They also had the nerve to charge me late and finance charges while the investigation was going on. Never received any bills or investigation determination after multiple phone calls to them. Run and don't look back!

Same problems as above.

I am being charged finance and late fees for a balance that shouldn't exist.

After NUMEROUS calls I finally for a "Supervisor" on the phone. She blamed previous reps for not knowing how to do their job.

The balance was in error, but she cannot physically/manually enter it into the computer. What can I do to fix it?

Write a letter.

Seriously.

After all the hassle of finally getting an answer it is to "Write a letter."

The kicker?

My grace period for writing the letter has come and gone - thanks to the run-around I got from 500 million idiot agents.

I read my terms and agreements and I have done everything possible.

Anyone have a DECENT number for these people?

Anyone have ANY suggestions - as I am STILL getting billed for these charges that were put on my account IN ERROR. The reps and supervisor have already comfirmed this - but evidently it takes an Act of God to use a computer there.

Help?

My email is toni_marek@yahoo.com

Bill Me Later is only after the late fees. Search the internet about them. You send your payment in 7 to 12 days ahead of time and they will sit on them to get the late fees. I live in the same state as where the bill goes. The last time they moved my due date up supposedly to help. Get next statement they have already started moving my due date back. From now on I will put confirmation on payments and never use them again for purchases.

Roc, you can use 2checkout.com , they will give you access to Bill Me Later. However, their fees are high compared to other companies (5.5%).

never never never use bill me later. my payments have been sent, the checks cashed, money taken out of my bank account, yet bill me later says that i still have a balance with them and are charging me interest. i have personally called the BML "customer service" line about once a week since the first payment wasn't credited to my account... 2 months ago. i have asked my bank to fax copies of the cashed check, and have faxed copies myself to BML's "payments research" department. i agree with the numerous complaints above that BML has terrible customer service... and i belive that there is no payments research department.. since 1) i cannot call them, 2)after asking the "customer service" rep to memo payments research to contact me they never have. i have filed a complaint with the BBB, in hopes of resolving this out of small claims... if you look up BML rating on the BBB website you will see it isn't a good company to use... as there have been about 60 complaints in the last 3 years... most dealing with credit issues... never use bill me later.

Bill Me Later, so far has technically not wronged me. I've made sure to pay on time. I've done everything to avoid any finance charges or late fees. However, I want anyone thinking of using Bill Me Later to be very careful when sending payment to them. They took 11 days after I sent payment to post it to my account. Exactly two days before my due date. They cashed my check one day before my due date. I live in Florida, they are located in Georgia. It does not take 11 days for a letter to arrive anywhere in the USA. I've sent payments to credit card companies in Washington (state) from Florida and it's arrived in 4 days. I called them to ask about this, even though nothing was technically wrong, I wanted to ask, why is this happening. I don't want to have to worry, every time I send payment "is it going to arrive in time and are they going to process it in time" Why does it take 11 days for payment to arrive and be posted with Bill Me Later, but only takes about 4-5 days with anyone else. Their customer service had no answers. In fact they were even indignant at times with my questions. They replied with "Thats not my department" your customer service, you should be able to help with anything. They say "what do you have to worry about, it got here in time" Yes with two days to spare, despite sending payment quickly, it took 11 days to arrive to you.

"The mail can be slow" I've sold over 1000 items online, I've received over 100 packages through online services. I send and receive letters daily. I go to the post office everyday. First Class mail and letters take 4-5 days to arrive anywhere in the USA. In my case, from one bordering state to another, it took 11 days. I don't think so.

Though I've technically had no problems with them, yet and hopefully never. You better make sure to pay very soon after getting your bill, if you plan to mail a check. I don't know if their slow to process checks or running some sort of seedy practice to get you to be late. Whatever it is, I'm not buying the blame the post office theory. I've shipped/received many packages and letters with the post office and I've been with many credit card and credit companies to be stupid enough to fall for that one.

So go for it if you like what you see and if you like what they offer, but pay quickly and be alert.

I have had problems with checks mailed via the USPS for other merchants. It took one check 12 days to travel 30 miles. I have had a good experience with Bill Me Later and it makes shopping online convenient.

All I can say is I'm glad I have not used this "service?"

Of all the comments posted, the majority seem to loathe this company.

Yikes. Thanks for the warning.

I am just joining the many complaints against BML about the Earthlink hook-up, with Dell. I never downloaded Earthlink and I have fought with them for a year. They call you at night, on Sundays and are very rude during a very brief conversation. I placed all of their phone numbers on "blocked". The bill is for $6.95 and they add $5.00 late charge and a finance fee every month. Something must be done about this company..HELP

If you read the rules on the back of your statement they say it can take up to 5 days for them to credit your account when they receive your payment.

Well every single time i sent a payment, no matter when during the month, they always told me it was late. Probably HOLDING my check until it was past due, then crediting my account and tacking on a LATE FEE charge.

This company is completely unreliable, I had to pay online to get them to stop "forgetting" to cash my checks.

NEVER EVER AGAIN WILL I DEAL WITH BML. I also intend on reporting them to the BBB.

Never again...I applied just for the convenience but BML denied and later billed me for the same amount the Hotel had already billed me for and was paid. It has been a headache to get this resolved through the poor customer service. No names, agent numbers, no responsibility... Next step is BBB to see whether it can be resolved.

I too am having current problems with BML. I have called and requested to speak with many supervisors only for them to never provide names, etc. I have faxed info to a number provided for them to credit back my account and have not heard from them. Their customer service is horrible! I am reporting them to the BBB also.

DO NOT USE BML.

Well, to those of you who love BML, all the more power to you, I just hope you keep on having those good vibes, cuz I did too until March of this year.

March 8th of this year I booked airline tix from Phoenix to Jax, Fl so 5 of us could go to our son's wedding 1st weekend in May. First problem: USAirs website was messing up and booked those lovely tix twice, I caught it and called the airlines to get a refund. This was on the 8th of March. I checked USAirs website and the refunds were issued March 10th. But along with that little info is a nice little blurb that it could take up to two billing cycles for BML to pick them up. OK.

I called mid April just to check things out, BML said to wait that the next cycle needs to happen. First week of May I get real antsie and call the airlines, who assure me the refund was issued, and BML is clueless. I have spent hours on the phone with both yoyos. I will no longer be a customer of USAIR either, have told them so for the simple fact that they were rude and as bad as BML on the phone.

Anyway, I finally called BML last week and they suggested I file a dispute, which should take about 7 bus days. I compile my little letter and fax it. Sooo,

I call BML today, nothing is showing, nobody knows anything, and I do agree, there is no customer service. So I ask for a superviser, his name was Kevin and emp code is 2628. And guess what, he asked why I waited so long to file a dispute.....I went thru the phone. I told him this whole sob story, he half way apologized, and when I asked if there was a higher up I could talk to, he told me he was the highest. Give me a break. I asked him if he owns BML, if not, then he has a boss and I will find them. BTW, BML seems to be in Md. now.

So I am going to make waves and pitch a fit, greasy wheel you know, and my recommendation is never use BML. I will cancel the account when I get this cleared up. I am with some of you, I hate credit and plan on digging my way out.

HELP!!! I tried to go online to www.billmelater.com and pay my balance but the site doesn't exist anymore!! Has anyone else had this problem?

I, too, tried to log onto the site to pay my balance and found that it doesn't exist. Does anyone know how we pay so we won't be sued later!

Same problem as Julie in Need--site no longer exists, and they are messing up my credit! Can anyone tell me what has happened to the BML website??

YES. Same thing here. Haven't had any problems with Bill Me Later until today when I tried to log on to pay a bill and the website is a "register your domain name" site. Now what ?!?!?!?!?

Please add me to the list of those concerned - I cannot access the BML website now and do not know how to pay my bill. I'm still looking for answers.

It would seem they have let the domain name registration lapse. You can still make payments over the phone by calling their customer service number at 1-866-528-3733. Hope this helps you.

To: BML customer service Rep. Why is the BML website no longer available? I have been trying to view my account activity online, but the website is no longer available.

Good thing I saw this page before using Bill Me Later or should I say Cheat Me Later am gonna call customer service make up a false story and harass them like they do helpless customers as pay back for all you whove been cheated

good thing i read this before signing up for bml....i ALMOST did but i decided to research it first

Uh, you've got to type in the correct address...their website is www.bill-me-later.com and after two years of using my account to make online purchases AND paying my bill on time, I've never had a problem. There is no scam, just another company in the business like Visa or Paypal. I love this service because I don't have to type in my personal Visa or MC numbers and personal info all of the web. What a great idea to decrease my chance of identity theft and have convenience too. There's a lot of sour apples in this thread, but to those of you who haven't tried it check it out. I did on the web and with the Better Business Bureau and they are legit. I still use my Visa & MC & Paypal too, but when possible I use the bill me later and will continue to do so.

well they denied me credit yesterday on newegg for whatever reason, (uh i dont have bad credit, they lost a good honest billpaying customer) but now im pretty glad they did after reading about them

That customer service reps comments from awhile ago were priceless, i love when they get online and try and defend these corporations they work for when at the drop of a hat they'd be let go and replaced by minimum wagers if it was hurting the 'bottom line'.. just do your job in customer service, leave the internet damage control

I have used bill me later twice. The first time I paid my bill in full when I got my statement and the second I chose to pay over three months. I did not have a problem with my payments being recieved on time. I believe bill me later was backed by Chase at first and now CIT.

We used Bill Me Later to pay our monthly Earthlink bill. We have excellent credit and we just wanted the option of monthly billing rather than giving a card number. Everything was OK from Nov 2003 to May 2007. In May 2007 we paid our $21.95 Earthlink bill, it arrived to Bill Me Later 2 days late and now we are being charged $85! How can this be? Earthlink shows our account has never been delinquent. Bill Me later basically told us over the phone that the late fees were our problem and they were not going to investigate them matter! We cut ties with Bill Me Later, I will not pay any late fees, these are trumped up charges that I do not owe!

Late with a payment for a 46.00 balance and was charged additionally 19.00 plus 2.00 'finance charge.' Made online account to pay 21.00 balance and they show I owe 31.00? (46.20 check sent late has been cashed). Get this: 'Annual percentage rate for this billing cycle: 51.95%'
Never, ever, ever again will I use this service. May also submit to BBB for action on interest rate.

I also have great credit and was denied credit with BML. After reading all of this I am very happy they denied me!

oh i am so glad i've researched about BML..almost signed up for it..whew!! saved me hella headache from the sound of it..thanks guyz..

Thanks all of you! It help me, I am not going to use BML. I am not going to take this risk!

Thanx for your thoughts about bill me later i almost signed up for it cuz it sounded great but after reading these i dont think im going to the website again!

Thanks everyone. I'm sorry for you that you had to go through all that crap, but you've stopped me (and apparently countless others) from using this "business." Now if we could just let everyone else know. Dateline, where are you?

Thank you all for your comments, I don't think I'll be using this service. Has anyone reported them yet?

I just had a bad experience with the triangle of Dell-Earthlink-BillMeLaater. I just received a bill from BML for $21.95 for Earthlink Internet Service. I don't use Earthlink. I've had the same Yahoo/AT&T DSL account for 2 years. BML told me I needed to dispute the charge with Earthlink. Earthlink proceeds to tell me that I was signed up with a free 6 month subscription to Earthlink when I bought my new laptop in Jan. '07. I've never used the service at all and had no idea I was even signed up. Earthlink customer service was very nice and after some discussion they agreed to refund my charge and close the account. They even gave me a confirmation number to that effect. BML on the other hand had very rude customer service people who more or less told me I had to pay the charge no matter what Earthlink did. They said Earthlink would have to pay them before they would stop the charge. I was so furious that a 3rd party billing company had all my personal information and I could not remember ever authorizing this. I also contacted Dell and made a complaint about more or less scamming computer purchasers....then we have to deal with harassment from BML. I then wrote a letter to the Texas Attorney General about it. I'm also going to write a letter to the BBB. I called BML back after making all these other calls and requested that this account be closed because I never authorized this charge. They insisted I did authorize the charge but did agree to close the account and said they would send me a letter to that effect via mail. After reading all the other complaints here, I get the feeling this is not the last I'll hear from BML. I will not pay them any money no matter what. I will continue to dispute any charges they try to bill me forever if I have to.

This BML is a freakin stupid scam. We did not use EArthlink for more than a month; cancelled like we were supposed to and now BML wants payment..and past charges. For what?! We never used the damn service and we cancelled it on time. Why was payment ever needed if the damn service was offered free?! Now when we pay Earthlink to help resolve the issue, BML wants payment too. I did not sign up to give BML free money! Its a headache and annoying and here I read even if we pay to shut them up, they will still call and bug.

What the hell kind of deal is this??

Credit card info ...you're not worried about identity theft from Bill Me later? They have other personal information that can be used...like your social and mother's info! We were offered a free service and we're getting harrassed by BML so you people talking about..I always paid on time..blah blah blah...you used them to pay something off. WE signed up for FREE service and cancelled it in time!

Well, I just had to deal with BML's customer service and I was able to speak to a cs manager. However, my situation has to do with a balance that is due by Oct 2007 (or, I will pay interest) and another balance due by July 2008. I have been making the payments for the October 2007 due in full date and BML has been incorrectly applying the payments to the July 2008 balance. I told customer service a month ago that I wanted my payment to be applied to the October 2007 balance. Well, I check my current billing statement online and again, for the second month, the payments are being applied to the July 2008 balance.
The cs manager will not make a correction to my account. I'm so fed up with them that I went online through my bank and have scheduled to pay-off the total balance in full by Friday. So, by Monday, my account will show paid in full and I will again call up BML and demand that they close out my account. BML is awful. I will never use their services again.

A BUNCH OF IDIOTS WORK AT BILL ME LATER>>>

Wow......and to think I was about to open a balance of about $2000 with them.......

Thank God for this!!

I am getting a real bad feeling here - I bought a laptop and signed up with BML to purchase it. The amount owed was $2014.85 and "no interest charges if paid in full by 10/01/2007" - I paid in full by 09/15/2007 and they show it on my statement; however, they also show a LATE FEE on 09/17/2007 of $39.00, a *finance charge* of $2.00, and a minimum monthly payment (ON WHAT??? I don't have a balance) of $41.00 - for a new balance of $79.00. Perplexed? Me too. I have a great credit rating which I work very hard to maintain and if these people mess it up, they will encounter a whirling dervish the likes of which they have never seen. Too late, I discovered they do not have a real phone - only a menu phone with no option to speak to a human. I will see if they respond to my email by morning - I have no problem with driving to wherever they are to explain how upset I really am about getting my finances jerked around by crooks.

Whew...that was close. Almost clicked "I Accept" with the Wal-Mart/Bill Me Later option. I'm glad I decided to research a little first! Thanks everyone for your comments, and sorry for all the grief you've gone through!

So, I was about to use this service to buy airplane tickets... I wanted to pay for about half this month, and then the other half in a month or so... In other words, I wasn't planning on ever getting into the "After 90-Day" finance territory; I just wanted to divide my bill into installments-- I even planned on doing so online, as I hate sending anything... but, reading all of this, I'm naturally hesitant. Has anyone SUCCESSFULLY just paid BML before their Free-90 Days was up and not encountered any further difficulties with them???

I have an Acct with them and i have just went through what they call a reage progeram where youi pay your balance at a reduced rate for 3 months and then your acct is current from here on out. So i did that lo and behold the account has an outstanding balance of 671 and then on top of that the acct has supposedly ben raged but the minimum payment is almost 90 dollars i spoke tho the reps who say they put in a request to find out why the acct has not been lowered to the correct amount. And to call back in 2 weeks

They are beyond the worst and i hope they shut down as soon as i get my refund i am sending them athe full amount just to get rid of them and i will never use them again

Wow. I'm glad I read up on this crappy company before I used the "service". I have seen the BML logo on quite a few reputable companies websites, and assumed BML was reputable as well.
Add me to the list of people who would have used BML if not for all the horror stories.
Thanks for the warning.

When BML is out of business maybe then they will realize that putting the customer first is the only way to run a successful buisness.

Yes, I've used Billmelater. I've only had good experiences with it so far. If only Ebay would start using it!

I have used Bill Me Later and advise anyone even considering using it to DO NOT DO IT!!!!! Once you get sucked into their seemingly professional come-on of 90 days no interest---they will start charging you egregious Late Fees and Finance Charges from day one. I challenged the fees and was told by a first-line responder that he would forgoe the Finance charges as these charges are not set forth in their come-ons--this constitutes illegal inducement. I requested a print-out of my account be sent--and to their credit it was. Per the agreement with Bill Me Later--I sent them payment- in- full (as stated on the check) for all outstandning debt plus the $39 Late Fees but not for the Finance charges.

I just got a letter stating they had closed my account per my request but that I would continue to receive monthly statements until my account is paid-in-full. What???? Clever and, I am convinced is illegal as it breaches the verbal agreement I had with them in settling my complaint. I do think Congress needs to investigate the practices of this company. Call your Representative and Senator to complain.

I made the mistake of using Bill Me Later on an online purchase. The merchant shipped me the wrong item and I had to return it. The merchant promised through emails full refund, but when the credit was issued, only 80% was credited, because they were charging me a 20% restocking fee. I tried to resolve the issue with the merchant, but I kept getting the typical runaround.

Usually, when I pay with a regular credit card, I can dispute the charge and the credit card company helps me resolve the issue.

So, I contacted Bill Me Later Customer Dis-Service, because they can't call themselves Customer Service, to help me with this issue. I sent my dispute in writing to comply with the terms of their billing dispute "policy". I enclosed a copy of my email where the merchant promised full refund.

Bill Me Later Customer Dis-Service responded that the merchant had already issued a credit and that if I was expecting any additional credit to contact the merchant directly.

Can you call that customer service? They totally ignored my evidence and refused to help me with the problem.

I feel I have been robbed, because on my $300 purchase, it cost me $50 to return the item to the merchant and a $60 restocking fee, for a total cost of $110 and nothing to show for it.

yea, I'm one of the many who have excellent credit and have been denied by bml. I'm glad i did get denied because i guess they did me a favour by saving me from a headache dealing with them again.

Never Again! I have been had by Bill Me Later. I have paid more late fees then purchase price, double payments, etc. Not to mention never being able to talk to a human being at Bill Me Later who can do anything to help resolve the matters at hand. First of all when I recieved the first statement, there was no indication of what the purchase was even for. It looked like a piece of junk mail and almost got tossed out. I purchase online regularly and have not ever once had difficulty with any other payment method! Problem STILL not resolved and I get up to 5 calls a day from Bill Me Later. Auto generated calls, customer service claims they have no control over? What kind of operation is that? I have called and made final payments over the phone and that still did not do it! I could go on and on about how unsatisfied I am.

Bill Me Later needs work on there customer service. I ordered a product which is a monthly order.I recieved my first order but not my second.BILLING PROBLEM...The problem as they put it was,they can not ship a product to another address different from billing address.I called and thought I solved the problem.It took a second call for the same thing as again no delivery. AS a result I do not recommend Bill Me Later

I have used Bill Me Later once. So far I have had no problems. But then I don't use Earthlink, and I don't pay my service provider with bill me later. Maybe I am dumb, or maybe I am smarter then the average bear (I don't know, but a site that gives 90 days same as cash would never cross my mind to use in a reacurring payment. For reaccuring payments I use Check Free or my bank. So far I bought some stuff from B&H photo and have had zero problems, and I intend to use it for future stuff especelly expensive cameras, lenses etc. Also I don't intend to use it again until I have a zero balance again. Every time I use it I will come back down to zero before using it again. If it continues to work it is a great money management tool, 90 day to 6 month intrest free is like free money to invest.

I am very elated that I research heavily before I make a decision in matters such as being discussed here.
I have been searching and pouring over comments regarding BML since early Tuesday (11/14) and it is now 1:00 AM Wednesday when I tripped across this site.
I was about to use BML for the JC Whitney site to avoid using credit card. Thanks to all that have posted here, I wlll never use BML.

Wow. I am sorry for everyone who had a terrible experience with BML. I was about two seconds away from using them for a $2000 item, and I am really glad I did some research first. I also felt the need to point out that if C Money, who posted a ways back, is actually an employee for BML and in collections, then I know it's not a company I would trust. CM was fairly rude, quite illiterate, and I get the feeling English wasn't his/her primary language, contrary to the foreigner-slang he/she threw out there about Earth Link. Immature, and stupid is all I can say, and I don't want someone like that in charge of my credit or finances. Thanks to everyone who took the time to post here and let the rest of us know about your experiences.

I was about to make a huge Sweetwater purchase with BML, but thanks for the advice everyone, I won't now. I really hope BML gets sued.

I was about to start using BML for my Christmas purchases this season and decided to do some quick research first. Boy, am I glad I did. Especially after reading the RUDE comments made by the customer service rep for BML. Who needs that kind of treatment if you do have an issue? Also, I have an 820 credit score last time I checked but by the sounds of it, I would probably be declined anyway. LOL I think I'll just stick to using my credit card.

I was thinking about using BML to buy my new computer. Boy am I glad I did some research on this too good to be true offer. I definitely will not be using BML.

I think you should all report BML to the BBB. These assholes need to stop stealing people's money.

I agree with all of the negative comments about BML. I purchased an item online from Walmart using BML. I decided that I did not need the item and called Walmart to say that I would not be picking up the item. The accounting department at this particular Walmart was not familiar with BML's process. That is, the accounting department did not know what to do with the refund, so the refund was NOT sent back to BML as is should have been. BML continued billing me for an item that I never received. Not only that, I was charged interest even though the purchase was a 90-day no interest type of purchase. It took 3 months before the mess was straightened out. I had to call the Walmart home office with my complaint. BML did NOTHING but pass the buck to Walmart. BML could have at lease asked Walmart to return the funds to BML as the merchandise was not picked up by me, the customer. After talking to about 4 or 5 people at Walmart's home office, the refund was finally sent to BML, as BML furnished the initital funds to Walmart. Isn't this confusing? The bottom line is this,if BML is going to be utilized by a lot of retailers, BML and the Retailers should have procedures in place that makee for good cutomer service. Each retailer should understand how BML works, and BML should utilize their complaint department to its fullest. That said, I will never use BML AGAIN!!

Well I thought I would chime in since I have used BML for all my travel arrangements with Continental. I have never had an issue with BML. I personally would not buy from Dell since their pc's are crap and I dont do dial-up/DSL Earthlink either.

Side Note: I used to work at best buy and the tech dep. would get flooded with Dell's to be fixed because their warranty and services has more holes than swiss cheese!

I am surprised by the issues but I am still on the fence I will look further into their refunds and how they work.

But its always buyer beware!

Oh one more thing I transferred a balance that I had on BML to my credit card and it work on the same day I thought that was a great service!

Boy am I glad I googled BML! I was about to treat myself and put the bill on BML so I would have less financial burden over the holidays. YIKES is all I have to say about some of these stories!

I guess if it looks too good to be true, it is!

DO NOT EVER USE BML. I HAVE CALLED
TO RESOLVE disputed late fee and interest with no results. I have reprted them to the BBB.

I am glad I checked BML before using it.
I am sorry for your experiences and thank you for sharing.

I too am glad I Google'ed BillMeLater before using it. They seem like a very shady company.

I almost signed up for this service to buy apple macbook, phew! Thanks for the warning, and sorry that you had to go through all that

Does anyone know if BML performs a "hard credit pull" when approving you? I have heard about some internets banks that do this, very often the ones offering high interest rate online checking/savings accounts. People generally say that it is bad to have too many inquiries into your credit, and avoid any new accounts which they will use a "hard pull" for.

There are 300 million Americans and have of them are morons. Seems like the majority of them have posted here. Can't you folks read anything like the terms and conditions of the agreement? Perhaps you could pay your bills in a timely matter? The reality is that BML provides a service to those who would like to avoid using a credit card for online purchases, people who like to spread the cost of a purchase over time and for people with no credit or bad credit. Why do I suspect that the majority of the posts in this forum are fall into the latter category? Trying taking responsibility for your own actions and life is so much easier. Failed to read how the system works: suffer the consequences. Don't pay on time, late fees will be applied. Return an item, well, somebody has to pay for the shipping, probably you. This is all so simple. Thank god I don't do business with you morons!

Used BML for 2 years now, first through Newegg.com and most recently with Wal-mart.

I've never had a problem with them. And yea the 90 days thing is something the customer needs to read more throughly. It's not their fault that people don't take the time to throughly understand (ie. terms & conditions) what it is "before" they click OK for a transaction.

I can't comment on their customer service as I've never needed it.

But I'd imagine that the truth here lies somewhere in the middle. ALL companies have reps that souls never speak to a customer, all institutions have glitches sometimes. (even banks heh)

And there are a lot of customers out there that to be honest are idiots ;)

So there's truth to both sides of the argument imo

All you can do is READ and be as aware of what you're agreeing to as possible. And if you do happen to have a problem, TRY to be patient, Clear and understand that the person you're talking to is not responsible for your trouble...you need to treat them like your best friend, not your worst enemy ;)

That's my cheap advice for what it's worth.

Regards & Happy Holidays!

Stu

Bill Me Later is not an option at all. I used their service, was told there was deferred billing and then received three phone calls from them stating my account was late. Within these three calls I was given three different due dates, two different one in one phone call! This is a scam. I paid my account off immediately--the entire balance--and told them I'd make sure to tell anyone I knew not to use their service. If you have good credit, just stick to your credit card--don't fall for the promise of deferred billing or the 'ease' of the service. It's not so easy when they go messing with your credit rating.

SCAM ALERT****DON'T USE BILL ME LATER
I WAS SHOPPING FOR THRU HOTELS.COM ONLINE AND PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON TRYING TO GET A PRICE QUOTE FOR A POSSIBLE VACATION AND BILL ME LATER WON'T DROP THEIR $25.00 MANDATORY CHARGE FOR PRESSING THE BUTTON AND NOW THEY ARE ADDING $19.00 A MONTH LATE FEES UNTIL I PAY. HOTELS.COM DROPPED ALL THE CHARGES AND SAID BILL ME LATER IS NOT MAKING FRIENDS AND THEY HAVEN'T HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE COMPANY.

i used BML one time for a christmas purchase this year. i thought it seemed interesting, so i wanted to try it. my purchase was under $30. they sent me a bill online. i could not figure out how to log in to the website to pay it, and i kept putting it off. it ended up being late because i forgot about it (my fault, i know).

so, when i finally figured out how to log in to the site, they were charging me 95% APR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

so, i ended up having to pay over 45 bucks for the thing. i couldn't believe it. obviously, it was my fault that the payment was late, BUT it should be ILLEGAL to charge someone that much in interest. my god. i am just glad i didn't put something expensive on there.

i will never use it again, just because i can't believe they would charge their customers that much for a late payment. that is unheard of, and ridiculous.

Horrible experience with Bill Me Later. They had a gliche and my deferred payments were not deferred and a terrible interest rate of 19.9 percent, which is stated. Fair enough. But my payments were supposed to be deferred and interest free for 12 months.

Their customer service was non-existent, when finally reached they confirmed a gliche and said they were looking into it.

Never heard from them, did not respond to phone, letters, or e-mails. 150.00 later in interest fees I paid it off. At least the company I purchased the product from gave me a 50.00 Credit even though the billing was not through them. They also confirmed a problem with BML's billing.

Robbery.I would not recommend them at all.

I made a purchase using the billmelater service,on a laptop computer purchase from thenerds.net. If I had known what I would be getting into at the time there is no way that I would have used their service. My credit is not bad but no matter what they would like me to believe it is. They tried to overcharge me on finance charges. I would encourage anyone that can afford to pay cash stay away from them. The way that I resolved my issue was by calling their corporate office and telling the lady that I spoke with about how their credit account departmant needs to improve their math skills. She definately knew that I was angry and I told her that I would never do business with them again.

Company needs to be shut down immediatly. Made the mistake of using them for 90 day same as cash on a $82 purchase. 34 days later I received an invoice for $103. Including $19 missed payment fee and $2 late fee plus a 30% interest rate on what was supposed to be free. I called and the y said this is a common problem and would be corrected with some paperwork on their part. This is called FRAUD. STAY AWAY and report to your state Attorney Generals office.

I work for Bill Me Later and would be happy to speak with you about your situation. Please feel free to contact me at heather.fields@billmelater.com

I was about to use BillMeLater but i needed to check out the reviews on google about it & well i'm certainly not using BML ever.

Question??
If all you have to put in is your last 4 of your SS and your DOB, couldnt anyone that knows you use your account.. Now I don't have an account and i'm sorry to hear about all the problems you all are having but isn't this another issue or am I wrong??
Thanks

BillMeLater is terrible. I was jerked around by their customer service and received the ever so common "I apologize" which means that they will not help you and don't care to.
I'm getting tired of these on-line banks who will approve your transaction one day but deny it the next because they run a credit history for each transaction.
Purchase with my credit card, five seconds, try to use BillMeLater, five days. And my credit card companies actually solve my problems without having to apologize.

even sending a certified return receipt request with a copy of the check showing proof of payment, these idiots have the gall to send me another statement today! I am contacting my Attorney Generals office. They are fraudulent

Well you all have got me nervous as hell now. I just purchased an electronic item for 400 bucks via B&H and am now worried about what I have gotten myself into. My credit is excellent and I dont want it ruined. I fully planned on paying the full amount of what I owe within the next 45 days, but some posters here have indicated that they have received late notices after 34 days. Should I be worried? I know than I should eliminate the complaints about earthlink and returned items (god I hope), as well as those from people who paid late (I mean truly late, not a check sitting in their office somewhere) or who have multiple purchases as they dont apply to my situation so far. Man this sucks...

BML is horrible! I have been going back and forth with them for months now. Each time you make a payment towards your promotional 90 balance they DONT apply it towards the promotiional amount due! If you have ANY other charges on your account they will apply the payment towards those so you will be late on your 90 promo and they can charge you finance. I have to keep calling each time I make a payment to have them do a "payment allocation" towards the promo amount. This takes time..some of the reps have no idea how to do it and it really makes a mess of your account. When you call and request them to "investigate" your account it takes up to 3 weeks. Customer service is horrible and now they have my balance completely wront. Some how while doing payment allocations they put charges on more than once so it appears I have twice the balance I am suposed to. A supervisor was to call me today between 8am and 12 noon and of course I heard nothing. SO IRRITATING. Beware...I used them last year and had no problems but this year its been HORRIBLE!

I actually opened a BML account years ago and stopped using it. Somehow my account got hacked because I had not used BML in a while, and a group went to Las Vegas on my account. I got the bill 90 days later. I filed a complaint and BML credited me back the money. I never heard anything again. This was two years ago and never got another bill. I since then closed my BML account.

DO NOT USE BILL-ME-LATER:

To make a long story short they are the worst company that I have ever can across.
It was a horrible night mare dealing with these people. Some how my account was split in 2 accounts, I could not pay on one of them so they were charging me interest and late fees. to the sum of several 100 dollars. Please do your self a favor and do not use this service.

DO NOT TRUST BILL ME LATER to do ANYTHING but DEFRAUD you!

In July 2007, I orderd $575.99 worth of furniture from Gately's www.designdining.com website. I chose BillMeLater as my method of payment. I already had an acct w/them and had never had any problems. At the time the order was placed, I took advantage of the 3 months-deferred-payments plan. My furniture was supposed to arrive weeks after my order. The furniture didn't arrive when it was supposed to. I went to the furniture website and entered my order#. It said that the dining set was on backorder and that I could "click here" to PROCEED with waiting, or NOT click so that the order would self-cancel. I elected to self-cancel.

Fastforward to my first bill from BML. I shouldn't have received it, first of all. The order had been cancelled. I had not RECEIVED it. At this point, I try to call Gatelys. COuldn't get a human on the phone. So then I call BML, who tells me how to file a formal complaint. The next day, I sent a certified letter to BML, along with the complaint form PLUS a copy of THEIR (BML) terms of service. Per #7a at https://www.securecheckout.billmelater.com/paycapture-content/fetch?hash=PD4106KD&content=bmlweb/bmlwebtnc.html. In early January, I received a written response to my complaint stating that all charges would be reversed, and they were. I thought that was the end of it. Boy was I wrong.

I received no statements for Feb and Mar 2008 b/c there was no activity on the account. This month (April 2008), I received a statement. I thought, "Here we go again." Now here's the kicker. BML allowed Gatelys to charge my account for the charges BML REMOVED IN JANUARY! So now I'm right back where I started. So once again, I call customer service, who tells me that this is NOT a chargeback, and that Gatelys was the merchant that put the charge on the account. I was told, once again, to file a formal complaint.

Let me say this first. Less than one week after I ordered the furniture, Gatelys filed bankruptcy. However, their sites were still up and running and TAKING ORDERS from consumers for at LEAST 6 weeks AFTER filing bankruptcy. When I tried to login to their site in December (when the first catastrophe w/BML occurred, it stated that it was "temporarily closed" for "updating". What a crock. They were also no longer listed on BML as a BML merchant. So how in the heck are they charging my acct now when they don't even have a merchant acct w/BML??????

Back to the story. On April 17, 2008, I filed my second formal complaint. Today, April 26, 2008, I received a response. BML has changed their tune now. They're saying that the charges are valid "“because the merchant states that you were beyond the timeframe to receive a refund.” Uh, no. That's a lie. There WAS no cancellation policy. And even if there was, I NEVER GOT THE DA*M FURNITURE! BML is in full and willful violation of their OWN LEGALLY BINDING TERMS OF SERVICE by continuing to bill me for this. They cannot provide any evidence of this said "cancellation" policy, and just b/c that fraud of a company Gatelys SAID there was an agreement does NOT make it true. And they also cannot provide me with a delivery receipt, much less one bearing my signature.

Their worthless Consumer Dispute dept in Timonium, MD is a joke. In the letter I sent to them, they COMPLETELY ignored my questions (which were in bold, underlined text) asking why I was responsible for paying for items NOT received. I'm complaining to the CEO of the company now. If that doesn't work, I'll have no choice but to complain to the Attorney General in my state, in Maryland, and in Nebraska, and any other state necessary. I will do the same with the BBB. I will also complain to the FTC. I will also complain to TV news "troubleshooters". If all of this fails, I will hire an attorney, and I'll win. I will also request reimbursement of attorney's fees, traveling expense, etc. No judge is going to rule in favor of BML when they don't even abide by their OWN terms of service. It's poor business practice, and I am amazed at how many people have been scammed by them.

In July 2007, I ordered furniture from www.designdining.com (owned by Gatelys) and elected to use BML as my payment source (I already had an account with BML). When I placed the order, I took advantage of the 3 month deferred payment option. I was told that the furniture would not arrive for somewhere around 6 weeks. Cannot remember the EXACT date they stated. Anyway, when the furniture didn't arrive, I went to the furniture site and put my order # in. It stated that the furniture was backordered, and that if I wanted to CONTINUE TO WAIT FOR IT, I needed to "click here". By not "clicking here", the order would self-cancel. I elected to NOT click here so that the order self-canceled. I STILL got billed for it. On December 17, 2007, I sent a formal complaint via certified mail to the Timonium, MD office. BML investigated the case, and on January 2 and January 9, all charges incurred from Gatelys were removed, and balance was taken back to zero.

I received no bills from BML in Feb 2008 and March 2008 because there was no activity on the account. This month, 4/08, I got a bill containing the charges that were REMOVED IN JANUARY. Once again, I call customer service, who tells me to file a formal complaint. So once again, I file a formal complaint. It was sent via certified mail on 4/17. In the complaint, in BOLD UNDERLINED TEXT, I asked WHY I was being held responsible for items that I never even received. The consumer dispute department TOTALLY ignored that question. Their response, received on 4/26/08, stated that the charges were valid "“because the merchant states that you were beyond the timeframe to receive a refund.” That is a lie. There was no "timeframe", or "cancellation" policy, or "refund" policy. Would I NOT have to receive the item in order to get a REFUND? This was a solid granite-top dining table and four chairs which would've been delivered via FREIGHT. There would be a paper trail of this delivery, including where I would've had to SIGN FOR IT. If you look at https://www.securecheckout.billmelater.com/paycapture-content/fetch?hash=PD4106KD&content=bmlweb/bmlwebtnc.html, section 7a, I should NOT be responsible for these charges, as the merchandise was NOT DELIVERD in MY NAME to MY ADDRESS. Again, this was COMPLETELY ignored. It obviously took almost 3 months (from the time the charges were removed until 3/27, when the charges were tacked back onto my account) for BML and Gately's to come up with such a flimsy excuse.

BML is in direct and willfil violation of their OWN TERMS OF SERVICE, which ARE legally binding. Regardless of what the incompetent people in the MD office think, they can't use the TOS only when it benefits them.

Furthermore, Gatelys, the company I ordered the furniture from, filed bankruptcy less than one week after I placed my order. However, they were STILL taking orders at LEAST 6 weeks AFTER filing bankruptcy. They are NO LONGER merchants of BML, and weren't merchants of BML as of 12/07, yet they are STILL ABLE to OVERRIDE the first decision by BML to remove my charges? They have the power to tack charges back onto my account?

BML cannot produce any "proof" that I'm responsible for the charges. No signed receipt, nothing. No delivery information from the frieght company, etc. They can't produce it because it doesn't exist.

I am filing formal complaints with the Attorney General in NC (where I live), in MD (where the Consumer Dispute Dept is), and in NB (where the BML CEO is). I am calling my CBS station troubleshooter and will make sure that my story is heard by over 2,000,000 people. I shouldn't have a problem, seeing as how this station loves complaints on companies with "big names". And finally, I am hiring an attorney. I refuse to be scammed because BML thinks they're above the law and their own TOS, and assumes that I will just allow it and not fight back while I am defrauded.

We had a small balance on our BML card and asked how much to pay it off in full.

We sent in that amount and then they later billed us $2.00 with finance charges over and over and they call every day like I'm a dead beat.

Avoid these people like the plague

thanks every1 im not using BML, i gotta say tho it sounds very tempting to use it... but after reading a few of these im not using it...

Bill Me Later is an excellent. I am glad its available! I have had no problems with it.

I didn't had any problem till now that i'm a little concern because, i know they changed the bank or something like that and now i was checking my account and it says AA (for armed forces) and im not in AA, my country or state is not in the list as before and as stated the last time i logged a few months ago.

I have been paying on my Bill me Later account for years. Chase Bank had own this lending service before CitiBank took over
and i had no problem with Chase, however, now twice in the past year.....paid on account and the BillMeLater said it was not paid!!!
Late fees and higher balance...incurs..... the same ole scam that these Aholes-CitiBank- were hall into Congressional hearing for their Credit Card Practices, they are doing to the BillMeLater site....beware and spread the word!!!!

I will be contacting my representatives and the State Attorney Office....as their special interest Chimp could not say....First time shame on you.... second time shame on me.......

Guys, I was just on overstock.com and i had an item on the checkout and i picked BML, I didnt think it was going to go through then i get Order was successful!, Gave me order number and stuff. Did it really go through? I really didnt want it to go through since i dont have credit I figured I wouldnt get accepted. Boy i think im in deep Doodoo.

holy cow...those are scary stories...i am really sorry everyone for having to go thru the hassles. thank god i didnt use this. i was just a few seconds from purchasing something with this service and i got curious...so googled it and this is probably the best thing i did today hehe...thanks everyone for the warning.something has to be done with this company...i am surprised no one has done anything yet!!!goodluck for those of you still fighting this company.hopefully BML will be wiped off the face of earth soon and the crooks punished!!!

Bill Me Later has horrible customer relations and questionable business practices. I made a charge through Continental Airlines in March. The charge didn't even appear on my Bill Me Later account until June, and after 2 other charges I made in April had posted. I had paid my account in full in May - but since they never even posted my March charge until June, I didn't see it. Luckily I caught it in July, after they charged me a finance fee. So, it's only $10 - but when I called they were horrible. They blamed Continental and me, and told me I had to fax them a dispute form and evidence. Of course, they do that so I'll just get ticked off and pay the $10... well it worked, but I'm also going everywhere I can to warn you!

STAY AWAY FROM BILL ME LATER - they're horrible!

I will be paying off my Bill Me Later account ASAP. I was late on a payment one day and charged with a ridiculous $29.00 late fee. Called customer service and told them I would pay the late fee in two payments. I keep getting REPEATED phone calls attempting to collect on the rest of the amount owed. I have spoken with 4-5 customer service reps stating I will pay on this date, this amount, etc. and the harassment still has not stopped.

NEVER AGAIN.

I was wrong...the late fee was $39.00 not $29.00.

As someone stated earlier, shame on your first. Twice shame on me.

Bill Me Later is a scam. I got a bill from them saying that I owe $16.95 for some credit report I never ordered. I called Bill Me Later and I told them that I have NEVER even openned an account with them, how could I get charged? They told me to call the company that charged the $16.95. It was Experian and they said that someone ordered this. Now I know I could be a victim of identity theift, but there is nothing else wrong except for this charge - noone is using my credit. I figure if they stole my identity they would charge a lot more than $16.95!

The second time I called Bill Me Later (after Experian removing these unauthorized charges), they said everything is fine. Next month I get another bill with a $5.00 late fee!!! They are lucky their office is closed right now!!! They'll get it tomorrow.

I am going to report them anywhere I can. They already have a bad reputation from what I can tell - and its not going to get better. Hopefully they'll go out of business and soon.

Bill me Later is a joke. I will never use them again. After an order on the internet an offer popped up "free shipping with Bill me Later". Long story short, I never got the free shipping and now I have to pay finace charge. What a rip off.

I've used Bill Me Later for a couple of years with no problems until recently. Twice in the last six months, I've scheduled an online payment that BML did not collect. Both times I've had to pay a ridiculous late fee for a payment that I had scheduled and the company failed to collect. I'll admit that this is partially my responsibility because I should have double-checked to make sure they drafted the payment, but I've never had that problem anywhere else that I made an online payment. My advice now would be not to use BML, and if you do, don't trust their online payment service. I know that I'm done with them.

We paid our bill off in March and hadn't received a bill/statement from them since March. Now, we are getting letters from a collection agency saying we owe the same exact amount that we paid in March. It seems a little fishy to me. Unfortunately, we moved and do not have a copy of the money order receipt. But on-line it shows that we had a $0 balance in March and now all of a sudden it is the same exact amount. Is there anything we can do? Don't use this company. How come they didn't send bills for 6 months and now we owe all of this money again? Someone is trying to rip us off. Maybe a call from an attorney might straighten them out. It sounds like this company needs a lot of work with customer service or else they will not have a company much longer.

I have always has a good experience with BML till now when I was denied a $1350 charge with Tower Hobbies. A few months ago I was approved a $1500 charge with Newegg and that was completely payed off. My account balance is now zero. What gives?

I NEVER SIGNED UP BILL ME LATER AND THEY START BILLING ME FROM COUPLES OF MONTHS AGO!! At the beginning I didn't take it seriously because I was thinking it is just some ad letter which makes look like a statement that tempt to get your attention to read it! But I was wrong! I was the actually statement for the money I never spent and an account I didn't open! Besides the account balance everything was matched to my real personal info...Therefore I started to search online to see what BILL ME LATER really is........

THIS IS A JOKE!!!!!!WHOEVER CAN MAKE YOU PAY FOR THEM AS LONG AS THEY KNOW YOUR D.O.B AND LAST 4 DIGIT OF S.S!!I'm going to call their customer service today...but after reading the above stories, I think that I'd better get prepare to report to the police.

BILLmeNEVERagain: They sent me an email from 'customer care' about $10 for over $50 purchases. I linked to their website and ordered blinds for $88, but my bill had no $10 credit. After weeks of calling and email and faxing, I am told it is for new customers, even though the offer is also on our billing page or told to call next week, ad infinitum. For us, they are BILLmeNEVER again.

Im sorry to all of you that seem to have problems there is a recurring theme.. you pay your bills late, and dont read the rules behind the 90 days same as cash. I have used BML since 2003, it is a great option for people with no CC, or that dont want to use them online.

Read the rules, generally the no payments for 90 days is with a minimum purchase, and the no interest for 90 days is with a minimum payment. The interest rate in 19.9%... thats just the way it is, you dont have to use it.

Pay your bills early, i personally use online bill pay and have never had a problem, and you wont get late payment fees. It is common knowledge that the US mail has 10 business days to deliver mail, BML has 5 business days to post to your account, which means that if you are sending a paper check, send it the day you get the bill.

For those of you that dont like BML or think its a scam, learn to read what you are signing your name to (click thrus are legal).

Please dont knock a great company because you dont know how to follow the rules of credit. Read everything and pay on time.

bill me later doesnt work for me...what is the deal? What a useless service, why bother having a option like that if it never works? Even for something 20 bucks, still nothing!

Yes, I've used bill me later. I never had a problem with it at all. So far, so good. Sure it's a high interest rate, but if you need something and you don't have cash, it's great. Just pay it on time, and make sure that if you sent something back, that you don't accidentally pay for it.

Be very careful with Bill Me Later and keep on top of it! While I have generally had no problem with them, I've missed two payments in the past two years. The first one I just thought that I had forgotten about it, but this last one I noticed that I DID NOT RECIEVE A STATEMENT FOR THE PREVIOUS MONTH! Yes, I realize that's no excuse and I've paid their $19 late fee and minimum $2 finance charge (on a $20 purchase! 119% interest, right on the bill!). But, it seems that you can't necessarily trust them to send you a bill.

I used Bill Me later on a pair of shoes that cost 25.00. The bill ended up to be 67.00 b/c of late fees. Everytime I try to pay it they never cash the check on time and then charge me a late fee. I paid it off again for the last time, we'll see if they send me another bill for late fees.
I WILL NEVER USE BILL ME LATER AGAIN!

If you read terms of agreement you will see, you don't pay, you get late fees. Finance charges accrue as well. People just don't read the agreements they sign up for, and forget about it. Also, people that don't get statements...check your spam folders you sign up for the email statements then don't check for them. Or, update your information so you get the statements. Statements are readily available online at any time. Poor excuse for not paying. As for interest, might be high but if you read the AGREEMENT then don't complain. Very easy to use and can be a great financing option by taking advantage of promotions and paying on time. Bottom line, pay your bill. I used to work for a collections agency and 90% of the time people don't listen to what the rep is saying and that's where the problem is. The goal is win/win not to piss someone off, but, there needs to be cooperation. Again, pay your bill and read the agreements.

All of these people that say they are filing charges with the attorney general....yet nothing ever comes of it, wonder why....hmmmmm

Speaking on behalf of my parents, who don't have internet access, never shopped online, nor have an account with BML, yet they received a mysterious statement which included the infamous $29 late fee and $2.93 service charge. When called, they suggested that someone had opened an account under my father's name, but regardless, he was responsible for the charges. With so little personal information required to open an account, this makes an easy target for identity theft. Thanks BML! When it's all said and done, it comes down to greed.

I used BML for the first time in Nov 08. I charged a measely amount of $232 using the 90 days same as cash option.

The pay off date for this charge was April 01 2009. I payed the entire balance of $232 online on Mar 31 2009.

Fortunatlely my bill was credited to reflect this payment.

Short story I tried to make a two purchases that totaled $210 on April 17 and April 19. The first payment of $60 went through and was approved on the 17th of April.

I tried to make the second payment of $160 on April 18. The second payment was denied.

When I called customer service on April 18, I was told, I did not have an extensive enough payment history with BML to warrant approval of the second charge.

When I demanded to talk to the supervisor, I was told the same thing.

My credit and my credit report have not changed. I received my annual free credit report about two weeks ago and the balances of all of my account are slighlty less than when I was approved for credit with BML in Nov 08.

Let me know if BML reasoning passes the "common sense test".

When they did not know me and I had abosultely no payment history with them I got approved for more money then I requested now, after I have had a limited payment history with then.

Maybe I am missing something. Others please let me know if this makes sense to you.

I bought a Blue Mountain e-card membership for $15.99 in Feb, 2009. I made my payment of $22.99 on April 14th and now the company is insisting that I pay $41.00! This is over a 2 month period.

Watch out for these predators!

I am contacting the California Attorney General's Office-Consumer Protection Division.

LHefner,

I work for Bill Me Later and would be glad to help follow up on this matter with you. Please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience at: HeatherFields@Billmelater.com.

Souan and LHefner,

I work for Bill Me Later and would be happy to help with each of these situations you've mentioned. All apologies for the slight misprint of my email in the above post. You may contact me at the following (correct!) email address: heather.fields@billmelater.com

Sincerely,
Heather Fields
Bill Me Later, Inc.
heather.fields@billmelater.com

Bill Me Later is billing me now. My reservations were made and I was sucked into using Bill Me Later since I would have 60 more days to pay over my credit card. NO - they want paid or will add in retroactive interest in 90 days. They are saying that the 90 days start when I made the reservation not after I have completed my stay like my credit card. This is deceptive and there are notices that this is true when the reservation was made. I know see many other such stories on the internet about this company. I filed a complaint with Marriotts. Hotels.com suggested that I cancel the reservation and made a different reservation. I would except now the rate has gone up $70 a night. I made the reservation ahead of time to save money not pay more.

Do you use Bill Me Later unless you want ripped off.

Wow, looks like i will not use bill me later. Am glad i read this before i clicked the button. I hope you all that were ripped off, take this company to court or at least get them on the right track

after reading all of your comments, i don't think i will use bill me later either. it seems like a lot more trouble than its worth.

i have actually noticed that paypal's customer service is pretty bad too. i'm not a big fan of either, anymore.

BUYER BEWARE! I couldn't believe it! It's a SCAM!

I ordered merchandise from Musician’s Friend. They asked me how I would like to pay for the order, credit card or would I like them to bill me later. I said “bill me later” ASSUMING (Ass out of U and Me) that I would be sent an invoice from Musician’s Friend and then I could pay them by check. I would deem that a normal response for how I expected to pay for these items.

Fast forward a few days later. I receive a piece of mail, by all accounts, appeared to be junk mail. The address in the upper left hand corner read “BillMeLater®.” with a PO Box number under it. The right hand corner had a “Presorted, FIRST CLASS MAIL, U.S. POSTAGE PAID, Mail Services, Inc.” pre-printed stamp. It was the kind of stamp one would see on junk mail. You know the kind of mail you never open and throw away. The face of the envelope, in reverse printing, said “Statement Enclosed.” I thought it was another solicitation for a credit card. Nowhere in the statement did it say it was a bill from Musician’s Friend. Upon further scrutiny, in the middle of the statement I saw a description that read, MSCN-FRND-WB with a phone number and amount. Only then did the light go on! “BillMeLater®.” is a payment system employed by Musician’s Friend!

Then, words like surreptitious, devious, sneaky, and misleading crossed my mind. This is probably not illegal but I’m reporting them the Massachusetts Attorney General and let them figure that part out.

In the meantime, I won’t be doing business with Musician’s Friend again. They are not a “friend” of mine!

By the way, the Annual Percentage rate is 19.99%, minimum finance charge is $2.00, and the fee for paying late for items over $249.99 is $39.00.

So, if I threw that piece of mail out, which I almost did, I’d be screwed!

DO NOT USE BILL ME LATER... SCAM SCAM SCAM

ITs AMAZING to me that this company is still out there!! I was assessed a late fee 3 days AFTER my payment was received?!?!

I payed it in part because I read complaints and do not have any faith in there company to help with customer service. They pretty much just answer the phone....

Now if my payment were late and it were my fault I would take total responsibility and accept it. However this company really is a SCAM and they will take their leisure time in dealing with you to ensure that you are assessed ANOTHER late fee???

After reading some posts..... I agree there are many people who want something for nothing... However there are companies who do not run their business fairly and I want to ensure that NO ONE else is going to be burned!
Thanks and I really hope this saves someone some money!

If you have an account with them, pay in full and do not use them AGAIN! They will get you eventually, if not the first time!

I have been trying to get a BillMeLater Business account for months, but keep getting declined. When I call customer service they say I will receive a letter explaining why in a couple weeks. No letter ever received despite numerous attempts. Customer service is pretty awful. They have no way of looking into the matter. The latest woman I spoke to actually hung up on me - how professional. Seems like maybe they were doing us a favor by declining us, based on what I have read here. I am going to stop pursuing this matter.

For me, Bill Me Later is more trouble than it is worth. I have been using a Debit Card lately more than CC as I don't have to make payments and I have less time wasted balancing accounts and doing paperwork. Just called Bill Me Later to close my account and their systems were down and you can't close your account online. So I am writing them a letter and sent email. More wasted time on accounting.

has anyone ever heard of the better business. File a complaint and im sure billmelater will return your calls and help you.
www.bbb.com