Have you been checking your credit card or checking account statements regularly? If not, you should be. You may notice some new, mysterious charges. In 2007, I signed up for a checking account with Citizens Bank that came with a “free” rewards program whenever I used my Mastercard debit. Fast-forward to 2009, and suddenly there’s a $25.00 “service charge” on the account. After seeing this, I did what anyone with vague, unexpected charges on their statement should do: pick up the phone. Don’t bother Googling it or e-mailing customer service or sifting through your statements to try to figure it out on your own. Go straight to the source. And say this:

“Hello, I had a question about a service charge on my statement. Can you tell me what the $25 fee assessed on August 5, 2009 was for?”

Get right to the point. At this juncture, they should tell you what the charge was for. In my case, it was for a rewards program. But that doesn’t answer all the questions.

“I don’t remember agreeing to this fee. Can you tell me when I enrolled?”

As I mentioned above, I signed up in 2007 but wasn’t charged an annual fee until 2009. Of course, it’s possible that I had been charged this fee in the past but simply missed it (meaning I’d have no case). So I said:

“Can you confirm when I was last assessed this fee?”

At which point the customer service representative could not, which confirmed that this was indeed, an anomaly fee. Follow up:

“I don’t understand why I was charged this fee this year but was not assessed the fee prior to this. Can you explain?”

And then the cat comes out of the bag: the rewards program was free, but due to some “changes to the program” I was now being charged an annual fee. At this point, I was justified in building up some indignation:

“Was I ever notified of this fee? When did I agree to this change in terms?”

The customer service representative then informed me that this fee had been assessed without my prior consent and without notification. This is troubling in some regard. True, the bank may have sent me some reading material posing as junk mail that had this quaint little detail buried within it somewhere, but at no point was it clearly communicated that new fees were coming, nor was I given a clear chance to opt out. Perhaps this type of practice calls for escalation or a formal complaint, but for now, it’s important to ensure that there aren’t any other surprise on the horizon. Be sure to ask this:

“What other services am I currently enrolled in that may result in a fee?”

You may be surprised at the answer to this one, especially if you opened an account several years ago. Overdraft protection, minimum balance fees and so-called “membership fees” for higher level accounts are likely culprits when unfamiliar charges begin showing up on your account. Make sure you get your customer service representative to confirm that you are signed up for a truly free account (if that’s what you thought you signed up for) and if you’re not, put up a stink and see if you can get the fees waived and your enrollment nixed. In my case, the customer service rep helped me remove the $25 service charge and advised me on when to cancel the program so that I would retain my rewards points and avoid being charged a fee next year.

Even if you don’t have any suspicious charges on your bank or credit card statement, it may be wise to give your bank a call just to touch base. Given the recent upheaval of fee structures and rewards programs, it’s highly likely that things are different (i.e. less free) than they were last year. Get someone on the phone to spell it out to you in plain English, rather than relying on the upbeat, Orwellian direct mailings that pitch higher fees and less rewards as an “exciting new change.”

Related posts:

1. Why It Pays to be Nice to the Customer Service Rep
2. 20 Common Credit Card Fees to Watch Out For!
3. Don’t Pay the Geek Squad: Extended Warranty is Free Through Visa
4. Virtual Credit Card Numbers: A Security Risk?
5. Annual fees and why they’re silly