Call Kurtis: Zero% Interest, Zero% Comfort
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Zero percent financing deals sound tempting when making a big purchase.
Hey, just couple of days on a no-interest deal can make a huge difference, right?
Well, Justin Miller has a big comfortable bed and says "the bed is great; we love the bed!"
It's how he financed the Temperpedic Mattress from a mattress discounter that's keeping him up at night.
"We could obviously pay up front or they had this special deal," he says.
The deal: a Citibank credit plan offering 12 months interest-free on the $5,600 purchase.
"No interest for a year is a great deal; it sounded good"
Or, at least it did.
After he made what he thought was his 12th and final payment, along came a bill from Citibank for $1,300.
A year's worth of interest which Citi calculates at a whopping 25%.
"I thought this is crazy. Either this is some kind of joke or some kind of scam."
How could it happen?
Well, it turns out that Miller's one year interest-free deal expired December 2nd, 2010; it says so in very tiny type on his monthly statement
But surprise, Miller's final payment was due four days later on December 6th, after the interest free deal expired.
"So the statement due date was different from what they call the plan due date."
Miller thinks that's intentional, a trap to fool customers into making their last payment "after" the interest free deal expires.
"It's in the fine print; it's one of those gotcha fees," says Jose Quinonez, who helps educate consumers about financial products. "This is a very common practice in the retail."
He says banks rarely go out of their way to tell customer's about expiration dates on interest-free deals.
His advice: "My recommendation to people is to make sure to pay off the whole balance, completely in full, by the 11th month, not wait 'til the 12th month to pay it off."
Citibank refused to discuss the specifics of Miller's case but it says the terms of the deal are clearly explained in the seven page contract.
Justin Miller doesn't think so, and he's telling his story on Facebook, hoping to get the last word.
"I'm never going to do business with Citibank again."
Justin managed to convince Citi to reduce that penalty interest charge from $1,300 to $650.
After our sister station KPIX in San Francisco got involved, Citi refunded all of his money
