We had a kitchen remodel done with Sears, and was financed through GEMB which was a joke. The salesperson who's name will be with held (A San Diego Rep) said the loan would be with Sears, yet transferred to GEMB. GEMB had contacted us with a promotion 12 months later in 07/08 to lower our interest rate from 14.99% to 9.9% for a total of 12 months which would be until 07/09. We accepted. So far so good until 03/28/09 when this miniature pamphlet enclosed in our 04/09 statement which was almost to small to read stated that the terms on our account were about to change, and if we were to reject the "new terms" that would have a much higher rate, would have to surrender our credit card they issued that still has $3000.00 available credit on it. That was pretty strange, and even stranger, they said the deadline to reject "only in writing", was April 1 (Today)! No emails or faxes would be accepted in this process, only snail mail. How can a letter make it to Rapid City, South Dakota in just one day I thought? The rep, whose name was "Pat, said that they would honor our rejection letter as long as it was postmarked before the deadline of 04/01/09. I'm waiting to see what happens on this one, because it smacks of fraud to me. Also, our balance has dropped from $21,381.94 to $19,700.00 and are still being required to pay 2.5% of the highest daily average amount. This is crazy! In a time where we as consumers could use a little relief in our monthly monetary obligations, GEMB continues to sock it to the consumer. Is there any relief out there that anyone has discovered to take some type of control of these sharks? All they ever say to your questions or requests is a big fat... NO! As a Realtor, my family has suffered extreme financial hardships, and will continue to through this crisis. I'm sure I'm not alone. If GEMB fails to cushion the financial blow, this could go to collection, and ruin was little credit I'll ever have to get by on. We took out this loan far before things went bad in this country, and have always made payments on time. This is what we get... Right? My concerns is that Pat does not have the authority to guarantee anything, and is nothing more than a phone jockey, therefore opening the possibility of having our rejection letter denied, jacking our interest rate to 21.49%, and saying that they never received my letter. I need GEMB to continue to honor my 9.9% they offered me in 07/08 for the duration of my loan. They will still make their money, and to grant a minimum payment of only 1.5% of the current balance would greatly help me in providing food on the table for my family rather than lining the pockets of the greedy corporate sharks! Thank you.
Jeff
San Clemente, California
U.S.A.
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