I opened account with Providian 3 years ago. Paid on time and online.in July I forgot a payment, went on line as usual made my payment for July and Aug and it was accepted. 1 week later went back to see what my balance was so I could pay off the account, should have been $260, I could not access the account.
It gave me an e-mail address, which I have a print out of, to go to, I sent e-mail to access the account and got an e-mail reply that they could not find my account and would research and respond in 5 days. I never received a response and e-mailed again, with again no response. I then called Providian and they told me they could not pull up my account or accept payment as it had been sold to another company. I told them that the e-mail address provided could not find my account and there was no phone number, Providian told me they could not help me.
3 months later Oct I started receiving notices of late payments from a company called Emerge, with no phone number, just an address.in Dec I finally received the first bill from Emerge stating they had my Providian account.By this time I had penalties, late fees, over the credit line fees, in addition to the interest rate being higher.in addition they did not send my statement out on time, so by the time I received my payment would be late. I had 5 days to pay my bill without late fees.
I called them, finally I got a phone number and explained I did not know that Providian sold my account, nor had they asked my permission to give my information to another company.in addition that I had proof that I had e-mailed their company Emerge, which I did not know at the time it was Emerge, to get my account information so I could make payment and was e-mailed stating they could not find the account, but would respond in 5 days. That I had received no response from them and that I had received late notices from Emerge with no phone number 3 months later. That Dec was the first time I received a bill and by then my account balance had shot up to over $400. I told them that I was not going to pay the late fees, penalties or over credit limit fee of $35 and I wanted it credited it back so I could pay the account off. I requested a supervisor, none of the employees could speak good english, and his name was Anthony who told me if I made a payment to bring the account current he would take off all the fees. I gave them a payment of $65 over the phone.
The next month, I received my bill again 5 days before the payment due date, and none of the fees had been taken off. Furthermore, they added a late fee, over credit limit fee $35 and a phone payment charge to the account. Bringing the balance up to $500. My payment didn't even touch the account. I called again and asked to talk to Anthony the supervisor and was told that there was no Anthony! I then told them that they were ripping me off and I refused to pay the account until the fees were taken off. To this date they have not and I have not paid the account.
I have been turned over to various collection agencies, lawyers. At one time, I received a call from Providian's collection department a year later stating they never sold the account to Emerge and I owed them the money. I told them that Emerge stated I owed them the money and was also trying to collect the account through a collection agency. Who was I suppose to pay?
At a later time I received a letter from an attorney and a collection agency trying to collect the account at the same time.
At both times I told them they needed to contact Emerge and find out who was collecting the account. That I was not paying anyone until they could resolve the issue, it has never been resolved.
They have even went so far as to try to settle the account for less than what I owe, which is now up to $1000.00. All I want is to pay the amount due Providian of $260 and get these low life's off my credit. Until then I am not paying anyone anything as they do not know who I am suppose to pay, what the amount is and to who I owe the money.
Is there not some justice out there that these low lifes can be stopped from doing this type of business as clearly they are a rip off. From what I have seen on your web they are also selling accounts to other companies. But what I found out, if you go to BBB in Ga is that Emerge and Providian are the same company! I would bet to, that the others that they are supposedly selling accounts to are the same company. I heard that this is how they avoid being sued as they were sued in California. Also the collection agencies and so called attorneys they have hired are the same ones I have seen on your website that your other consumers have reported. They do not obey the Fair Credit Act, they call after 8 pm before 8am and call even if you request them not too. They also try to wheel and deal for a lesser amount, threaten you verbally and try any means to get you pay. I feel this is an entrapment. They clearly need to have a class action suit brought against them or some type of legal action to stop them from doing credit cards in the United States.
Any help in resolving my problem and others would be most appreciated. I would like to get rid of this company once and for all.
M
Wenatchee, Washington
U.S.A.
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