I have been working with Philadelphia Federal Credit Union
for many years, and a few years ago they sold their credit services to FIA
Credit Services (actually B of A). The rationale was that PFCU gave me notice
and they expected me to have the knowledge about what it is I was getting into.
I have contacted them repeatedly about my annoyance at being tied to a
financial shark. I had a bad patch last year with a series of events that make
me have difficulty paying my bills, and at one point I could not afford to eat
and still paid FIA their blood money. It was my way to show that I was beingserious and gave as
much money as I could to show my good faith. The way the system is set up is
they want customers to fail and when they do they heap so many fees on them it
makes it nearly impossible to catch up.
So I managed to land the equivalent of
two extra jobs and was able to catch up on the payments. At one time the
payment (in just fees for three months) was over $700! Now the fun part begins.
During this time I received a late payment warning from FIA that a Penalty APR
of 28.75% would be charged. My original APR was 11.75% (up until June)
and with my financial difficulty my APR changed to 28.75% (starting July).
This credit card company demonstrated callousness when it did not accept my
good faith payments as proof of my intention to honor my obligations when I
could not afford to buy food. The new law states: If the cardholder triggers
the default rate because of a 60-day delinquency, the bank must restore the
lower rate once the cardholder makes 6 consecutive on-time payments. I made my
payments and was conscientious - during this time THANKFULLY I did not use the
card because unbeknownst to me they lowered my credit to less than half,
refused to lower the amount in violation of the new law, and when I paid all
money in full summery dropped my account.
This was their response after many
letters were sent and their refusal to even consider taking me back to where I
started. They cannot be contacted online. When I called they said we will not
help me and their advice was that I ask a friend or family member for the money
since they will not help me. When I was behind in payments they called me every
hour on the hour even on Sunday. I gave up answering the telephone and took it
off line. Just this week the final amount has been paid and I am sure they will
squeeze more interest from me if they can. Where does someone begin to report
something like this? I am a teacher with a teacher's salary and was trapped by
them, and I know that many teachers' in unions are also attached to this
noxious anti-American business entity. (Why cant teachers be paid well?) There
must be a way to combat such a nasty fraudulent company when so many people
depend upon them for some stability? I have been with the credit union for many
years, in excess of 15, and was treated like garage to be tossed away.
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