I was a freshman in college (8 years ago) when I recieved an application for 1st Financial Bank USA. They accepted me and gave me a $150 limit with 0% APR. Over the years I have paid it off, and also had my limit raised. My limit is $8400, and I am now at 29.99% APR. I have maybe had 3 late payments in 8 years. A few years ago I was hospitalized twice in one year and got behind on my bills due to the increasing medical bills. Stupidly I paid all of my medical bills off with my card, not thinking about the interest rates. It now has a balance of $7800. And every once in awhile I had to use the card when my money is tight, primarily because I make a $200 payment (the minimum is $185, it is all I can afford), which $150 goes to interest. I have called numerous times and asked if they could lower my interest rates, and every time they tell me I am at the lowest APR they offer. I am not getting anywhere on this card. The balance has not changed in a year, despite the roughly $2400 I have paid them. I have gone to numerous banks and loan companies to try and get a loan to pay off this revolving debt. No bank will give me the money because I have no collateral. My credit score is very good but this card is killing me. I was reccommended to call Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Ohio. Long story short they work with these companies to get a better interest rate, I pay them and they pay the companies. (I did a lot of research on this company before signing on, and was recommended by two people who work in financial institutions and have used them in the past) I signed up to work with CCCS on a debt management program which would pay off my debt in 4 years and save $15,000 in interest. My first payment was due on the 20th of May, my 1FBUSA card payment was due the 13th of May. My credit counselor and I discussed this, and she said that was usual, that it was almost impossible to get them all done before the proposals were sent. She said that I didn't need to call 1FBUSA but that if it made me feel better to go ahead and explain the situation to them. I called 1FBUSA to inform them that the payment would be 1 week late that I was working with CCCS. They said that was fine, they would put a note on the account and wait for the proposal from CCCS. Exactly one week after my due date went by 1FBUSA called to ask why payment was late because it was never late. I told them that I had called the week before and explained my situation. The girl who called was very rude and told me that I still had to make a payment that day because it would be really late before they got CCCS payment.By the time I gave up talking to them I had been put through to 3 different people, ending with a "supervisor", who informed me that I had to make this payment or they would not work with CCCS at all. Then he changed his story and told me that if they got the proposal in to them in the next few days they might consider it. Then the story changed again. The payment wasn't even 14 days late!!! I kept telling them to call my counselor at CCCS and she would talk to them. They kept ignoring that and bullying me, trying to get me to make a payment. He even tried to get me to defer my car payment to pay them, when I said I wouldn't do that he tried to get me to talk to my landlord about not paying rent for a month. Little did he know that my fiance is my "landlord" and he pays the house payment every month but that is just unethical. I kept asking why I was told by the woman I talked to before that it was ok that it would be late and they just kept changing the subject back to how and when I was going to pay them. These people were so rude, and talked to me like I was very stupid. The "supervisor" would go from rude to fake sympathetic telling me that he could get the calls stopped for a few days if I post dated a check to them. I just kept telling him that it was impossible because I had paid CCCS. I told them that had I known this would be such a big deal I would have paid them first but that I was told from one of their employees that it would be ok. I called my credit counselor and she said that they do that to strongarm people to get them to pay because they get a percentage of the late payment fee. That I was never to defer my car payment to pay a credit card company! She could not believe that they did this after being only one week late. I am still waiting to see if they accept CCCS's proposal, they should recieve it within a few days. Hopefully they will because it is more a month than I usually pay. I am very nervous about this because the next option is bankruptcy and that is not my style. I want to pay back what I owe but I need help! And since they evidently will not help (of course they won't, they are rolling in my hard earned dollars), I will work with CCCS. Please, if you have this card, cut it up and pay it off! Please, if you know someone with this card, warn them!
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