It all started with one of those innocent looking mailer things from FNAB, and this story is only a bit similar to one of the other reports on this usacomplaints.com site. I donh't have good credit, but i can still pay my bills, except for the ripoff tactics that ended up being used on me. At some point, the account was transferred to Fleet (po box 1168, Newark NJ 07101-1168), which then turned into B of A.
Interesting how these guys never give a physical address or all the facts about what they are about. If there is a website, it only lies with advertising spin. There's never a place to complain or a way to get real help. But, before FNAB went to Fleet, it wasn't too bad, and i didn't search too hard to find out about them.
FNAB wasn't too bad to deal with, but Fleet was a nightmare in a hurry. It's always different employees, they never know anything you need to know, or have any authority except to do what they want to do, and they are always curt and rude, whether i am nice or yell in their ear. When i do yell in their ear, it's because i know they are lying, but i can't prove it. Surely that isn't new, and i'm sure i'm not the only one to do that, upon occasion. They always act superior or smug, especially the male employees.
With Fleet on the phone, it either sounds like a boiler room or a flat out party, not an office that does any business. When i would be late, they'd call, which i don't mind, and for a while they did phone checks, until one bounced. Odd thing is, they still took the same checks in the mail from the same acocunt, after that, and i still have the same account, and have for, gee, twenty years, i think. Same idea for the next new company that Fleet converted my papers to, later, except they are a little more polished about it, or rigidly politically correct, which i abswolutely hate.
About the same time that B of A picked up Fleet, tv ads for B of A were advertising how sensitive they were to their customer's needs. Funny how that never included old accounts bought from other companies that no one wants to hear history on. I have no property to take a loan form, and they know more about me than i do. They prey on people, esp young people, to get them to sign up, knowing the level of consumer apathy and ignorance there is. They're leeches, but do i owe them something, how much something is the question. And somehow, our wonderful politicians have allowed banks to set up corporate HQs in states that have no consumer protection regs. How convenient for people like Fleet, B of A, and the other feeders in the credit card / banking chain. What do they get out of this feeding chain - they must, if they are not helping us?
I have only one other card, with my credit union (OCTFCU), which is still active, but they won't buy Fleet's papers to consolidate. I sincerely wish they would, because these people are actually honest, reasonable, and pleasant to talk to (OCTFCU is in the Santa Ana, California area). Their rates are reasonable, and i can handle both debts together, if i could consolidate at a decent interest rate. All ears are deaf, there.
I have been late on payments, but 21 to 24% interest is more than ridiculous, it's flat robber and extortion. The last Fleet bill i got (jamuary 2005) showed 24%, which defeats any willingness on my part to cooperate with any part them. It doesn't help to pay off the thing, and it insures you can't get out of it, or ever pay it off. They count on the inability of a person to pay a lawyer, or i would have one, by now. But, with the reports on ripoof report, what good would that do?
I am 56, and have put 26 years at my job as a technhician at a local college, and could retire in a few years. I will likely be dead before getting this paid off, at 24% interst. Savings is a joke for me, and i am in a bind with no where to go, except to yell at these people. From what i read on usacomplaints.com site, i can expect no help by what they do to people who haven't been late, or still have good credit. I'm screwed, glued, and tatooed, e ven though I may have already paid the principle from years back, but they won't run a comparison to see where i stand. I am powerless. There's no Fanny Mae or Ditech for me.
They at Fleet or the new company routinely don't provide answers, or lie about anything they think will get you to pay what they want. I do tell them off, and they order me to calm down, as if that mattered. When Fleet converted the paper to what is now called "Credit Card Services" in Wilmington Del, at another po box, i was not given a written notice.ccS is a generic name that thousands of companies have, by the internet search i did, which makes it impossible to track them on the internet. Why should i trust this new one any more than Fleet or B of A? And how do i know how to check out any thrid party help? Thre isn't a watch dog group for that, either, that i have found. I do not have a printed bill, yet, either, from the new people at CCS. I was past due with Fleet, and i am also sick, at the moment, so my attitude does suck, right now. I am also visually limited, and i do have trouble with tracking my bills because of that. That's not the same as fraudulent.
I live alone, but i do pay my bills, either side of a month usually. I am one of the millions doing juggling. I have had the same job for 26 years, though, have given too much to my workplace in tools and hardware, and have lived in the same city and complex since the eighties, and the current apt since 2001. That kind of stability doesn't matter to people like Fleet and CCS. I don't have a car because my vision won't let me drive. No mortgages, no car bills, no jewels, no stocks, no protfolio, no assetts. I am easy to find, and they know it. My puny identity is at their mercy, of any disgruntled employee in how many companies, by now? I worry about that, a lot.
Any private investigator can get the dope on me real fast, with just my full name - the news shows that, at least once a month. I don't even look at my credit, because i can't do anything with it, anyway. They allow few options for hard working people like me, on the bottom of the credit pile, but who can still pay something on the bill, but never get ahead, now. It doesn't matter if you pay more, because they have ways to adjust the amounts.
Both the inactive card at Fleet and the active on with my credit union were/are close to maxed, and both together sit at about nine thousand, just under the tne thousand most credit help people want to see more than in debt. There is no American Dream for me, and never was, no matter how hard a single woman works, and i still do. And, believe me, it doesn't help to be white or visually disabled. I'm not poor and i don't have a bad attitude, but i didn't see how the money people rigged it so that they always get more dough for immoral reasons.
I have never been able to buy a house, and i have a reasonably good job, but i've always been single, and appratently way too vulnerable. A thirty year mortgage at my age, now, of 56 is less than a figment of imagination. They saw me coming, years ago, and now, i can't get the monkey off my back. How the hell can i afford a lawyer, if i'm paycheck to paycheck on normal stuff? If you ask for lower interest, the only option is a 'hardship deal' for a limited time, but the hoops are ridiculous to jump through. They get you coming and going.
You can't work a straight up deal with money people, especially if you deon't have clout, and i dont. I'll bet i've already paid much of the principle on the original card, which neither Fleet nor the new company wants to talk about. No back history is possible to discuss, and Fleet was amazing for their constant inability to communicate between departments (it's like getting Sprint or a newspaper to stop service)- always adifferent number for this and that, and half of them don't work, or it's the worng pigeon hole. Sprint is another one, i'll write about, later. These people are incredible.
The new people, CCS, after Fleet, recommended 'Consumer Credit Counseling' (800 251 2227), an org that the banks "donate" to as a non profit, that's supposed to 'help' you with your debt. I believe the deck and the lasws are stacked against people like me, including via the Consumer Credit Counseling, which won't answer general questions without having your personal data. I won't give that without knowing what's going on, and i repeatedly told them that. I went through a 20 minute argument with two different people (celest, bridgette) to get a person to call me back the next day (Bill Brannock). They always throw a smooth talking guy in when they want to convince a female to do something.ccS and CCC also kept recommending a man named Clark Howard, whoever the hell that is. No way, i didn't bite for an org that is financed by the same people i'm fighting with.
The last straw is when the new Credit Card Services (stephanie) calls me back and claims i refused to pay the bill, which i did not. I had left the previous phone call the day before with thinking bout which option to take, which were pay by mail or phone, take the hardship deal, or use CCC. Here we go, again, twisting my words and the situation to their advantage. Of course, i got mad when lie went on top of lie, and i screamed in her ear as loud as i could. She called back twice, and i told her to stop harassing me. After the last call, i realized i couldn't mail a payment to a place i don't have the address to, so i called back. Stephanie wouldn't just give me the address, she wanted to note whatever on my account, and i'm sure she already knew who i was, anyway. Apparently, the above number always goes to Stephanie (866 721 0337), or did, today. Oh, yeah, asking for a supervisor doesn't work with these guys, and i'm not sure the government will stop them, ever.
When i told the new company in one of the conversations, that Fleet wouldn't do a phone check after one bounced, she saw that on the computer, and said it was past 6 months, but the only way to know if i could do that now, was to start the process. I'd already been around that loop more than three times with Fleet. I saisd to give me the address, but apparently she didn't want to. She eventually did, after we insulted each other. Two women in a credit fight isn't pretty.
I lost it, demanded the adress, repeatedly, and it took three phone calls altogether to get it (POBox 15045, Wilmington, DEL 19850). I want to know who the CEO is, and all the other skinny any other company has to make public. I want full disclosure, honest dealings, and that Good Faith and Fair Practice that contract law speaks of in this country.
Yes, i cussed, yes i yelled, and yes, i am extremely frustrated, never mind very pissed. I either want a reasonable deal or the whole thing written off for the thieves they are. They chose a name that can't be easily traced, and they rigged it so i have no edge or lever at all, under any circumstances. They made it not fair, as if they were always on time and legit with all that they do. From the reports on the rippof site, i'll bet they aren't current on their bills, either. Many bussinesses typically aren't, and i'm suspicious of any bank that's linked to Fleet, CCS, CCC, or B of A.
I want to know if the headquarters for this new CCS outfit is in a state with no regulation to protect the consumer, and i think the AG and our politicians should do something about that. It's time the peon citizen had a chance to be fairly dealt with, and it shouldn't take an act of congress to get daily justice. As it is, i will probably have to work after i retire without this debt, and with a propensity for bronchitis and pneumonia, i don't know how long i can do that. I guess single citizens don't count in this country, and yes, that part of my attitude is hard. It's all i can do to pray for the people in these ripoff institutions, who are jsut as human as i am.
I'm not sure if there is a link to Credit Card Services, so if there isn't, or i don't recognize it, i will choose either Fleet or B of A.
Thank you for listening, and God bless you and your families.
Mary
cypress, California
U.S.A.
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