Credit card crooks!

[Christy]

I'm soooo ticked off! We just received our Wachovia (now owned by 1st USA, which has always been a friggin scam and a half company) credit card bill this month and our interest rate went from 13% to 23%.

We looked through all of our past statements, just to check if we'd ever been late, which we knew we weren't, we NEVER pay ANY of our bills late, and nope, no late payments.

So I call up Wachovia, (and got a really nasty wench named Joyce Cain on the line). She tells me that we were notified back in January that they had done a review on our credit report, and made the determination to raise our interest rate. My response was . Our credit rating is in the high 600's (as it should be), as we just had our credit run a week ago. She then commenced to get really ##### and I commenced to ask her how it felt to work for a sham of a company.

She then says she can transfer me to another department and they can probably lower our rate, to which I essentially responded with . I'll transfer to another credit card company. They'll not see a dime from me!

Anyhow..... Does anyone know where I can lodge a complaint? Burn their azzes? Make it very well known what scam they're running? What recourse do I have, since I have good credit and they essentially just bumped up our percentage rate because they thought they could get away with it.

 

[Christy]

Olha N.M. Rybakoff, Deputy Attorney General
(302)577-8513

Just posting, so I can remember to call tomorrow.

 

[Kain99]

Man... You're having a really bad week! First, the mailbox and now this! Makes ya wanna kick some serious azz huh?

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by cariblue
I thought I was bad...sending myself email and leaving messages on my own phone.

LOL! I'm on a mission! And it's too late to call the Attorney General for Fraud Investigations.

 

[Christy]

Steve just got off the phone with one of our other credit card companies, and they've never heard of such a thing as what Wachovia/First USA/Bank One is pulling. She's in panic mode, because she has a Wachovia card! Says "Oh my God, I need to go check my statement!"

Oh well, just more incentive to get ALL my credit cards paid off so I don't have to deal with these crooks anymore.

 

[jazz lady]

We had the same sort of problems with Wachovia/First USA/Bank One as you've had. That's why they no longer have our business.

I have only three credit cards: Fleet Bank (fusioncard.com) and MBNA (mbnaonline.com) - interest rates between 8.9 and 9.9% plus they have a lot of incentives - plus a business American Express card. I've never had a problem with any of them.

The other one I've had problems with is Discover - same schnitt of raising your rate at will.

 

[SmallTown]

hey, i'm sure you can find it if you do a search, but first usa has been involved in SEVERAL class action law suits regarding their fees and rates. There is even a website totally focused on the dishonest practices of first usa and gives many many real life examples. If you guys don't find it tonight, I'll look tomorrow. (I USED to have a first usa card, hence the reason I know about all their bs. Been there, done that)
These people are awful.

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by SmallTown
hey, i'm sure you can find it if you do a search, but first usa has been involved in SEVERAL class action law suits regarding their fees and rates. There is even a website totally focused on the dishonest practices of first usa and gives many many real life examples. If you guys don't find it tonight, I'll look tomorrow. (I USED to have a first usa card, hence the reason I know about all their bs. Been there, done that)
These people are awful.

First USA are DEFINITELY crooks, however, we did have them kissing our azz in a big way for a while. It was when they were charging folks late fees, even the one's who did automatic payments via electronic transfer. The did a dateline special on the scam and we contacted dateline after it aired. I tell you what, First USA called us within the week.

What really kills me though, I always seem to friggin inherit First USA! The card I'm ranting about is actually my first ever credit card from YEARS ago, when it was Central Fidelity out of Virginia. They were bought off a couple of years ago by Wachovia, which has now been bought by First USA.

 

[SmallTown]

Yea, my card jumped in intererst rate from 14 to 23% for no other reason then I graduated college(where I had no income) to getting my first real job. You would think the rate would go in reverse, that I would be a higher risk with no job... But noooo.

And then they "lost payments" I made, thus boosting the rate even higher. Oh, I could go on and on about them. The story is one I look back on and think "What the F?!"

Seems the hate first usa website is not being used anymore.
http://members.tripod.com/fusa1/index.html
still has interesting stories.

Ok, I wasn't going to go more into the story, but sitting here thinking about it just ticks me off and I must get it off my chest!
One of my last conversations with them concerned the fact that it took *2.5* weeks to receive my payment in Atlanta from MD. I claimed they were "holding payments" until the due date past, then they processed them. Thus causing me late fees and higher rates. They go off on me for accusing them of that. Right after that is when one of the stories broke that this is EXACTLY what was going on down there... Arghh.
Anways, I've been First USA free for 4 years now! woohoo! One card I had turned into a first usa card and it was promptly cancelled

 

[RoseRed]

DAYUM!!! 10% increase! That is crazy and I would drop them too. We have one card with MBNA and have had no trouble with them whatsoever.

And ladies, I'm in the "Leave Myself a Message Club" too, I do it all the time!

 

[Kizzy]

They should have their heads cut off for charging 23% interest on a card that has always been paid on time.

And ladies, I'm in the "Leave Myself a Message Club" too, I do it all the time!

I stick post it notes everyone as reminders to do things.

 

[SxyPrincess]

Thank gawd I pay CASH for everything... (aside from transportation of course) My logic: if I don't have the funds, I don't need it...

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by RoseRed
DAYUM!!! 10% increase!

Hey Rose.

10% in actual points. I did the math while waiting for Customer Service, and the increase, from 13.15% to 22.99% represents an overall 74% increase from the rate last month!!!

And Christy is not BSing when she says she's been a customer for years. Christy has had Wachovia since I've known her. We have actually used Wachovia to get rid of other sham cards in the past, because they were so fair with their customers. Now this!

Not surprising, since Wachovia was bought out by First USA about 9 months ago (by memory; it could be more or less.)

The point, though, is that you do your dutiful role and pay the additional interest even though it hurts like hell to see money going out the door for nothing. But that's fine, we agree to it. Isn't that the whole idea of credit cards? It sucks, but you know what you agreed to. Then they turn around and do this, then you have to play the game of moving debt around to avoid the obnoxious interest! And all the while, the clock is ticking. Because if you don't act fast, there's one more day of interest you could have avoided.

And what recourse, short of simply filing a complaint, does one have? I have to say, its almost like they are trying to force you into default by their actions. They know they got you by the gonads, and they twist whenever they feel like it.

Oh, but I do love the beginning of a financial battle!! Keeps you on your toes, wit against wit, know what I mean? Hee hee.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by SxyPrincess
Thank gawd I pay CASH for everything... (aside from transportation of course) My logic: if I don't have the funds, I don't need it...

And that doesn't work either. Why? Because our whole financial scheme is built upon good credit ratings. Pay for everything in cash, then go apply for a car loan, or mortgage(!) and have no credit history. The response will be "Thanks for applying. See ya!"

That you can pay cash for everything is great! More power to ya'! But if you don't have $25K to buy a car in cash, or $200K to buy a house, you'll need that credit rating. How do you get a good one? By paying your friggin' cards each month, dutifully, with just a little bit more (or a lot more) to pay 'em off quick. Do that and you apparently get what we got: a jacked up rate with "Oh, I'm sorry. But that's just the way it is."

 

[RoseRed]

Originally posted by Steve
Hey Rose.

10% in actual points. I did the math while waiting for Customer Service, and the increase, from 13.15% to 22.99% represents an overall 74% increase from the rate last month!!!

Good grief! That is rediculous! I have played the credit card shuffle too, it can be a pain in the butt, but better in the long run with the lower rates. I always pay extra as well, to pay it off sooner and make up to cover the interest rate to make an actual dent in it.

I am like Sxy and hardly ever use my MasterCard except for large purchases either. No ticket, not laundry!

 

[SmallTown]

Yes, just like Steve reported, paying cash for everything is actually more harmful to your credit. If nothing else, use the card and pay it every time the bill comes in.
We don't make the rules. I know this seems opposite of what it shoud be, but we have to play be their rules.

But on the same token, like sxy said, too many people use credit cards when they really don't have the money for something. After all, it really isn't money, just a piece of plastic. That is where people get into big trouble.

 

[Kyle]

Originally posted by SxyPrincess
... My logic: if I don't have the funds, I don't need it...

That sure doesn't sound like a woman...

j/k

I pay cash for almost everything. When I do use plastic it gets paid off on the next billing cycle. Never had a problem with a loan either.

 

[Pete]

Credit Unions......I have had my little old VISA through my local CU for years, rock steady 10% for as long as I have had it.

I did the draconian credit card game with the "Financial Industrial Complex" it was a pain. To them it is a huge "slight of hand trick". What can we slip in? What can we fine print? What kind of silly clause can we use?

Now I just read the backs of the "You're PRE-APPROVED" flyers I get everyday and giggle at the tricks.

1. Annual fee- This is a way they can extort money out of you people that pay off your card every month avoiding interest. "Some might say well $59 is not a bad annual fee for the convenience". BS, they get a fee everytime you use your card from the vendor you used it with. Take 5 cents and multiply it by the number of credit card transactions per day and tell me they are hurting.

2. Conditional interest rates. Might as well roll dice. If you have a credit card for 5 years, thats 60 payments that have to be received, mailed, processed and creditied. What are the odds that one of those 60 might be late for some reason? Do they care? NO

3. Unreal credit limits. Credit limits based on no logic at all. When I was 25, made around 28K per year I had credit cards with limits higher than my annual gross income, with more offers in the mail everyday. If I loan someone money who has a debt to income ratio of 85% and owes 5 other people a ton of money, what do I get called....STUPID. If a Huge bank does it via a CC it's just business. Then when they can't pay they crank up the rates on everyone else because of their foolishness to re-coup their losses.

I have a friend who worked for MBNA. She had a real ethical problem with their tactics. What it boiled down to was they took advantage of people who were "less than bright". They would purposely advance more credit to people who were in trouble with their balances, in effect getting these people in hock to MBNA for decades. Their bet was they were so afraid of getting a smudge on their credit report they would make minimum payments for 20 years. Credit Unions are the way to go, I don't even know why traditional banks are still in business.

 

[SxyPrincess]

Originally posted by Steve
And that doesn't work either. Why? Because our whole financial scheme is built upon good credit ratings. Pay for everything in cash, then go apply for a car loan, or mortgage(!) and have no credit history. The response will be "Thanks for applying. See ya!"

You're right however, I bought my first brand spankin' new car when I was 19 years old. I had very little credit established, and still managed to come out with a 5 yr, 7% interest rate. Probably because the lender thought I was so cute...

 

[SxyPrincess]

Originally posted by kwillia