John’s fiancee bought an Apple computer earlier this year, financing it with a Juniper Visa account, then paying the account off early. That’s the responsible thing to do, right? Not according to Juniper, which branded her as a filthy, filthy deadbeat. The bank marked the payment she sent in as “late” for arriving three hours before the end of the billing cycle.

My fiance and I are currently in the market for a new home. We found one in a great neighborhood that we absolutely fell in love with and decided to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Imagine our surprise when our mortgage counselor informs us that my fiances credit is less than desirable. We are both working professionals with long credit histories who pay on-time. When we asked what the problem was, she told us that the Juniper credit card that my fiance used to purchase an Apple computer earlier in the year was showing as more than 30 days late.

When we contacted Juniper about the issue, we were informed that my fiance had paid the month in question too early to be credited towards that billing cycle. How early? 3 hours. She paid the card off three hours too soon. And not at some random, early morning hour. The payment posted at 4pm and was technically due at 7pm. Who would have thought that a bank would post a payment at COB? I guess not Juniper. As a result, late fees began to accumulate and they reported her to the credit agencies. When speaking with them on the phone, she repeatedly got the “canned answer” from their representative as they denied any wrongdoing. Where does that leave us? Out of the housing market. Thanks, Juniper.

In the hopes that others won’t get caught in a trap like this, I wanted to share with you guys.

We recommend that John and his fiancee not take this sitting down. Her case seems ideal for a credit report dispute, or escalating her case as high within the company as she can.

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(Photo: Nesster)

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