Example 10
I sent a notice to close my VISA card account along with a cut-up card to them in late October. AT that time I paid of the entire balance including some disputed charges. I am still being ivoiced for interst and "late charges" after sending a second written notice. What does it take to close an account?
Example 11
Thanks for this page, wish I had looked into it before I
applied for my
First USA Platinum card.
I also received an promo (pre-approved) package offering the 5.9%
rate
and on the application which I sent in asked that the balance of
another
card be transferred (my First Union M/C) to this First USA
account, this
was the last week of October '97.
At the end of November I recieved my statement from First Union
showing
that the account had not been paid off and included a late charge
fee
along with the finance charge for another month.
The day I received this statement from First Union I called First
USA
and asked what was going on, I spoke with a fellow named Richard.
They
didn't have any record of my request for a transfer, however, it
was
right on the application that got me my card!! On December 9th I
was
contacted by First Union requesting payment. I told them I had
just
spoken with First USA and they were wiring the money as of the
6th and
they should have already gotten it, I was promised it would be
there by
the 22nd, the date it was due at First Union.
On December 19th I was again contacted by First Union informing
me that
they still had not received the payment. On December 20th, I
again
called First USA. I was given a run around but this time was told
the
original wire transfer was declined on Noveember 11th. Hum, no
mention
of that on my call to them on the 6th of December, this time it
was
Michael telling me they were sorry and First USA would take care
of any
late fees and extra finance charges due First Union and he would
get the
money wired that day to pay off my account at First Union.
On December 26th I got another call from First Union saying they
still
had not received the money from First USA. Today, December 29th,
I
called First USA again. At first they couldn't even find my
account but
after some prodding on my part Diane found it and just couldn't
explain
what happened but she'd take care of it TODAY!
Of course during this whole mess I was also contacted by someone
who
said they were from First USA with a good deal for $40.00 worth
of
gasoline from anywhere I wanted to buy it and 30 days FREE in
some
travel program and thereafter $59.95 per year, but I could cancel
after
the 30 days without penalty.
Well I still haven't recieved the package, and after reading
another
example on this page don't expect to, but if I ever get a bill
from
First USA I suspect I'll be billed for the $59.95. Let me tell
you they
don't stand a chance in hell of collecting a penny from me for
anything
after reading this page and going through some other links!!!!
Example 12
Our interst rate started at 5.9% also, was then raised to
12.99%, and then
again to 17.99%. The last increase was in June 97 to a
whopping 22.99%
which I did not notice until the end of August when I realized my
payment
was barely covering interest! We did NOT receive any notice
of an
increase, although when I spoke to an advisor in August, she
insisted that
one had been sent (yeah, right). I immediately canceled the
card since the
two options she gave me were to get the rate dropped ( I opted
for this
first but was not approved) or to cancel the card and have the
rate
returned to 17.99%. We have never been late, we do carry a
balance
(transferred from a "high rate" card), and pay over the
minimum due each
month.
We received a letter dated Sept 9, 1997 assuring us that the
account was
closed and confirming the outstanding balance. We later
received a letter
dated Sept 26, 1997 again stating the account was closed and the
rate would
revert back to 17.99% on the November 1997 billing.
Interesting how they
can increase the rate in a snap but it takes three months to
reduce it!
We received the Nov 1997 billing, and of course the rate wasn't
reduced. I
called an advisor on 11/20/97 and was told that the account had
just been
adjusted that day and the interest charges would be credited BUT
she could
not tell me the amount of the credit. I would have to call
back the next
day and I could find out the amount and if it hadn't changed I
would need
to talk to someone in the "interest rate dept".
Dummy me, I didn't check
back the next day, but trusted that everything had been taken
care of,
which of course it hadn't.
Received the Dec 1997 billing with same 22.99% and called another
advisor
on 12/17/97. The first call I made that day, the man
answering stated they
had no "interest rate dept" and then I got cut
off(?). The next call, the
woman apologized for my being cut off, said there was no credit
showing,
and interest rate was not adjusted. She transferred me to
another woman
who confirmed nothing had been done BUT the info had been sent to
the
correct dept and it may show within a week or on the next
statement.
As of today, 12/30/97, this is still unresolved and unfortunately
I am
unable to transfer the balance to another card. One thing I
did do just to
piss them off is to take them up on their offer of a platinum
card for my
husband at 5.9% (he is on the original account, and they have
sent us at
least five (5) offers just since 8/97) and have them transfer
there 22.99%
Visa balance to it. I sent this in on 12/8 and have not yet
heard back.
Also, there is nothing in the offer that says I can't do this, so
we'll
see.
Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps someone else.
Example 13
I can echo your sentiments about First USA. My rate was
guaranteed at
12.9% and all of a sudden it was raised to 19%. They claim
I was
notified on my statement which is total BS. I went back and
looked back
at all my statements and there was no such communication.
They would
not give me a good reason for the rate increase. I have
subsequently
closed my account and wish someone would take them out.
Example 14
I got the bait and switch scam from first USA. I got the
initial 5.9%
interest rate offered. Used the card
for the initial 6 month period. It then mysteriously jumped up to
13%. I
called about this. They had no valid explanation for this. I
requested
to close the account. The next thing I knew they were charging me
22.24%. Needless to say I have been trying to pay this off. I
have been
sending in large checks. I sent in
three totalling over 3500.00. They have been taking their sweet
time in
processing these. The last on e
was sent on 12/6/97 for 1500.00 and they still havent posted it
to my
account. They said it was lost. It was sent priority mail. I
doubt it.
Now, I have been trying to talk to someone at first USA and keep
getting
"they are getting excessive numbers of calls. please try
again later.
I just called Phil Goldsmith. I will do anything I can to get
this
unjustice resolved.
Example 15
I wish I would have seen your site before I got the
card. I was lucky
in that I had resources to transfer the balance quickly and only
get
nailed for 1 month of the higher interest rate. Other
things that
happened to me include:
* Payments taking up to two weeks to get posted
* They put a hold on my account on two separate occasions for no
reason
which caused embarassment on my part
I think I will follow up on some of the things below. This
really
pisses me off since I have great credit and never did anything to
have
my rate increased.