Providian emerge attempted rip-off!!! Or tried to anyway... Mistreated and ripped off COLOMBUS Georgia...
I am writing on behalf of my husband who was a victim of the PROVIDIAN/EMERGE rip off. He had held his PROVIDIAN card for almost 5 years when all of a sudden he gets a letter from EMERGE stating that they have taken over Providian and he will NO longer be issued credit as he is a credit risk. We had never been late on a payment, usually paid more than the minimum amount due and his card was increased to over 2K for the last 4 years. I called Emerge was kept on hold FOREVER after I finally got through only to be told. Sorry, those are the new guidelines we cannot help you.
So, we refused to pay the card and the large balance on it. Daily we received phone calls from these people threatening us that we needed to pay this bill "or else"... Well being a paralegal myself, their threats went unheard. For over 6 months now, we have refused to pay the bill. Now, when they call I hit answer and hang up one right after the other, by law they are only allowed to call you a certain number of times a day, so they give up after a couple of times.
When I do feel like having fun, I talk to them and tell them when they ask why we are not paying the bill that we refuse because there are other credit card companies that we use that didn't take our charging priviledges away and they are the ones who are being paid.
When they threaten to place it in the credit bureau, I call their bluff and tell them to feel free, you're one bad report will not harm his credit as we as consumers have a right to place a brief description as to why we are refusing to pay and when we explain that there is an unjustice being practiced, no one will give a second thought to your posting. So, do as you wish. But remember too the consequences if the "bad practice" information gets into the wrong hands.
Well, I guess they finally gave up and called us a couple of weeks ago stating that if we paid the amount due minus the interest that has accumulated they will re-instate his card and give him no interest unitl the balace is paid off. Then he will start with his original credit limit again and the apr will be reduced. So, I agreed and paid the minimum due. Upon receiving the bill for this month, it does not reflect his reinstatement but does refer to his card being reinstated at the beginning of the next cycle.
Well, that is when I will make another payment. I in good faith made the payment they requested, so now they will have to in good faith do as they said and reinstate his card before I make another payment. I will not send payment this month and see if when I get the next bill his card is reinstated, if not, I will report them to the better business bureau AND consumer protection agency, I will also file a complaint with the US Dept of Justice and credit commission. I will not allow us to be a victim of scams/frauds/misrepresentations. Will update you, when more info is available. If necessary maybe a class action is in order here???
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