Sunday, March 15, 2009

The New Credit Card Schemes?

Ok I have a couple of credit cards...we all do...or most of us.


Do I want them? No. Do I need them? For the most part, No. But since the Shankster is on so much medication since the heart attack...Yes I do need at least one for those times when I just do not have the funds to pay for the medication. So I had one for just that reason with a low APR in case I had to go over a month to make payments.

I have done well with keeping them paid off and was surprised to say the least when I got a call from the company telling me there had been all kinds of activity on my credit card I had not used since March of 2007. Fraud was suggested.

Mind you I said the company called me.
I did as they suggested and have kept doing that since December of 2008.
They were supposed to "take care of it" and I needed to do nothing but watch in case it happened again even though we closed the compromised account and opened a new one.

Yeah right.

After more than a month of them NOT "taking care of it" I took matters in my own hands and called all the online places where my credit was used and got them all taken off my account. All but one.
These idiots would not budge.
Of course they gave me all kinds of information that I thought my credit card company would be interested in, like the name, IP address etc....

Yeah right.

After over 3 months they have done nothing.
No matter how many times I have called I get nowhere.
No matter what I say and how nice I am, I get nowhere.
I usually get someone I cannot understand and am as patient as I can be, but still I get nowhere.
After spending hours a day on the phone getting nowhere I find my account has a new HIGHER APR.
Considerably higher. From 9.99% to 34.99%
I also notice my available credit went from $4000 to a mere $300.
Luckily I had no balance until the little thieves hit. Luckily the only one left is considerably lower than the $300 so not to get a over limit fee.

I called again. I really was getting nowhere.
A couple of weeks back I finally got loud and a bit impatient, even mentioned attorney a few times. After several hours on the phone I was disconnected several times.

The next day my account was credited with the last amount that the little thieves put on it.
Then the day after that, I got another letter.

Which was really weird as it was all like I had just reported my credit card as stolen.

These stinkin people called me! What is going on at this place I wonder?
And no matter how many times I have mentioned my account and how it has messed with my credit and the lowering of my available credit, it has yet to be addressed by anyone.
No one has ever called me and I have been told each time I call that someone will be calling me.

I envision the ones I talk to are hold up in a bedroom in a town in another country with a bunch of kids running around, all the while smoking one cigarette after another, drinking red bull, while reading standard replies out of the company's manual to anything I say, after asking me if there is ANYTHING else they can help me with, only to hang up and do it again to someone else.
But this is NOT someone else, this is ME.

The last 4 months have been absolutely ridiculous. I cannot get back any of the time I have spent on the phone. Which has been nothing more than a waste of my time. After getting the last letter, I replied with what I was asked for and then some and took the time to fax it all along with sending snail mail as well. I even give them all the information I had gotten from the online vendor figuring they would be happy to have the information. I had hoped by faxing it, it would all be taken care of quicker.

Yeah right.

I got another letter yesterday which told me they never have received anything from me and I am now responsible for the amount for which the little thieves placed on my account.
What? You have really got to be kidding me.
I again filled out the form. Along with another letter and the original letter and sent it all in the mail again. I didn't go pay for another fax.
I mean really, why bother?

Then today I read this article on the web. You can go here to read for yourself. I Guess they can do just whatever they want and I am not the only one. No wonder they never called or addressed the issue of my available credit or credit score or APR. Evidently they don't have to.

Whatever.





Oh in case you were wondering, HSBC.

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2 Comments:

Blogger SymplyAmused said...

Wow, sorry it's a pain in the ass for you. My credit cards are pretty much maxed to the limit and I am trying to pay them off. Good luck to any thieves on mine. I believe disputes with credit card companies are handled with arbitration. Read the back of the statement and see if it says anything about it. Good luck!! Oh, I'm so busy with this Business Law class that I can barely do anything but research law cases!

3/24/2009 11:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Get rid of all your credit cards and take cash money instead. Then you always know you have no dept. It works for us.... P.s. sorry, haven`t read your blogs since November 2008......

3/30/2009 4:35 AM  

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