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I have a questions, that I hope someone out there can answer.

I recently opened a new charge and bought a pool table. The bill came through end of Dec 2000 and payment was due on 1/10/01. I made a payment over the amount requested. My new statement just came in, and the card co. has charged me a deferred fin. chg for Dec/Jan (since I did not pay the whole amount) and then charged me for Jan/Feb. Next pymnt due 2/10/01. Can they do this. Charge me for Dec/Jan since I did not pay the whole balance? I have never had a co. do this before.

thanks for any help

Yes, they can.

Finance charges accrue on the balance over the course of the month. When you pay the account in full, the finance charges are not billed. When you make a partial payment, you can be billed the accrued finance charges from the course of that month, plus the finance charges that have accrued for the subsequent month. The only way to get out of this cycle is to pay your bill in full and keep it paid in full. The seemingly "extra" finance charges will only happen in the month that you carry a balance when there has not previously been a revolving balance on the card.

The_Insider