I had a Providian Visa Card with an excellent credit rating with them. I paid my payments on time and received large credit line increases.
One day, out of the blue, at my old address (not even the last address I had on record with Providian), I got a bill from Emerge Mastercard. After recently going through a divorce, I was skeptical about paying any bills without knowing what they were for.
I called the customer service # on the bill and inquired about the charges. They said that it was a bill that I owe and would not give my any further information. I then tried writing to the address indicated. I never received a response. I tried to call several other time and was told that they did not understand what my problem was and that I needed to pay my bills.
I was referred to as "people like you" and "dead beat" and was made to feel worthless. After all this, I still had no indication who this company was.
Finally, during one of the many collection calls, one of the reps identified themselves as being from Emerge Mastercard, formerly Providian. This all started making sense and I asked the rep what I could do to bring this acct current because I was counting on the remaining credit limit to help pay for my wedding that is coming up this summer.
I was told that the acct was so delinquent that they terminated my charging priviledges, needed $400 to make the acct current and stop collection activity and they have reported it to the credit bureau and now I have bad marks on my credit because I could not find out who these people were before I paid them any money. This took 6 weeks to get the info, so my account did not go over 60 days past due.
To add to my being ripped off, I did not receive my normal bill from Providian and was oblivious to the "merger", so I sent a $100 to Providian to the normal mailing address and put my Providian acct # on the check. The check was cashed, but the money never appeared on my Emerge acct, and when I call Providian I am told those accounts were sold and they have no access to the information and they cannot tell me where my $100 went.
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