I was told that this was a credit card and could be used as such, like a visa anywhere for purchases and cash advances. It was contracted to repair my credit history. They told me that I would have a $2000.00 credit line if I sent them $200.00 which would be added to my credit line for reimbursement. After receiving the card in the mail, I was disappointed to find out that it was a merchant card and not a credit card. The money and credit line was to be used for the merchandise offered in the enclosed catalogs.
At that time, I figured, okay this is to repair my credit and I can use the $200.00 that I had already submitted to the company. So I looked through the catalog and chose a few items to purchase. I went to fill out the order form, and found that I was required to make a down payment on the order.
I then called the company several times and finally got an answer. A man named Mike told me that to order, I had to put a 35% deposit down on the full order amount. So, I told him that I didn't agree to that along with the understanding that this was supposed to be a credit card to be used anywhere like a visa.
I asked him about the $200.00 that I had already submitted on the account, and he said that I could use the $50.00 gift certificates (four of them enclosed with the catalogs) to access the money in the account, but that I could only use one per order and that could not be used for the 35% down payment.
In addition to the 35% down payment, they also required a 23% charge for shipping and handling on the down payment amount. If the order was less than $25.00 in down payments, it also required a $2.50 surcharge plus the regular shipping charges.
As shady as all of this is, I have not ordered anything and they still have my $200.00.
In addition to all of this, after not ordering for 3 months, the company charged my checking account $30.00 for a non-active account which put my checking account overdrawn. The bank did reimburse me the $30.00 and I filled out a form stating that this company was not authorized to debit my account for any charges other than the initial $200.00 that they had already received.
How can I get my money back? It has been sometime now. According to the card from them, my account does not expire until April.
These type of companies need to be stopped. It is not bad enough that some of us have had bad experiences on our own with credit, but for people to get away with deception like this is horrible.
Please help!
Darleen
Vineland, New Jersey
U.S.A.
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