Philadelphia Woman Fights Capital One Over $286 Million Bill

Most Americans have credit card debt, but most have never received a bill like the one Patrice Perry received from Capital One.

In August, Perry opened her mail and found a $286 million bill from Capital One. You did not read that incorrectly. To be exact, her bill was for $286,651,237. Now, how could Patrice Perry, a hotel clerk, possibly rack up that much in debt? She had gone into some debt when her hours were cut back at work, but how did Capital One determine that she owed this much?

A little over a year ago, Perry’s credit card bill was $4,807, but after she received another bill two months later, she decided to wait to pay it. Her confusion was due to the amount Capital One said that she owed. Her second bill was $100 less than her first bill, even though she did not make any payments to it. She followed the bill amounts for the next few months, and they would shoot up and drop down again and again. When she received the now infamous $286 million bill, there was a letter saying that if she did not send the full amount for the bill, they would sue her.

Rather than be intimidated, Perry got a lawyer and sued Capital One for “terroristic debt collection methods,” saying that Capital One was essentially “knocking on the door and punching [her] in the face” when she answers.

Capital One is blaming the situation on a computer error followed by human error, but Perry thinks that Capital One was trying to intimidate her into paying. The question is what amount did Capital One want her to pay? Was it the first bill or the lower second bill? Is she supposed to pay the $6,000 that Capital One now claims that she owes them? Even scarier, how many other people have received credit card bills that have similar errors on them?

I hope that more people are willing to stand up to the credit card companies the way Perry has done. A credit card company should not be charging one of their customers for $286,645,237 more than they actually owe and intimidating them with threats of legal action. Pay what you owe and keep your credit score in good standing, but when you know that you are being overcharged, stand up for yourself.

To learn more about responsible credit card use, go to http://blog.mycreditspecialist.com, and go to http://www.mycreditspecialist.com to sign up for a free credit evaluation.