I am a 22 year old young woman who fell for the Aspire Visa scam back in November.
Since I had little/no credit I could not get approved for a REAL credit card. After being turned down by some credit card providers I started getting things in the mail about credit cards for people with little/no/poor credit. I first signed up for one of these cards in I later got another one in summer of 2004.in November Aspire Visa sent me a letter saying I was approved for their Gold Visa Card. I signed up via phone and paid the $20 activation fee with my checking account. The card was supposed to be activated two days later with a credit limit of $300, but over $230 of Fees were added to the card (acceptance fee, annual fee, etc.), so only $70 was available on it. Two days later I tried using it at the grocery store to ensure that it had indeed been activated... It was declined. Two days later I tried using it again... Still declined. I called the customer service # on the back of the card, and when I put in my account information to the automated service, it said my card was scheduled to be activated November 12th... This was of course the 14th. I waited until the 17th to try it again, and once again I was declined! I tried calling customer service and getting through to a real live person, but that was impossible! I then sent an email via their web site and asked what the heck was going on. The day after sending the email I tried the card again (this was around the 21st) and finally it had been activated. A week later someone replied to my email and said my card had been activated, they had no idea what I was talking about!
I should have known right then and there that this card was a scam. I paid off the $40 I used at the grocery store on my first bill, plus $10 to cover the finance charges. I have NEVER made any big purchases on the card since having it. I am a poor college student and thought as long as I just sent in the minimum payment every month I could up my credit score. I would maybe use the card once a month at the gas station for like $5.00-$10.00 in gas if I wanted to just pay at the pump instead of going inside, and that has been all that I have bought with the card. I figured once I got a really good paying job that I could pay the card off, all those fees they added to it once I signed up for it.
In May of this year I was forced to leave my $7.50 an hour job because my car stopped running, and it was located 40 minutes away from my home, I had no way of making it there, not even possible by bus. I had to let all 3 of my credit card payments go that month. Of course they all added late fee charges which was expected BUT I never expected Aspire to do what they have done to me this month! All 3 of my credit card payments are behind from around the middle of May, I finally got hired at a job that pays me over $10 an hour, so I can now finally send in some payments. On on card my balance is $250, with the late fees and over limit fees added, it is now $320, another card's limit is $300, and they only added $40 to that, so it is $340. TODAY I got the bill from Aspire, remember how my credit limit was $300? Today the bill was for $744.12! How could it possibly be $744??? At the bottom of the page where it is supposed to list the month's transactions and fees the only fees are one charge of $35 for a late payment fee and a $35 for over limit fee! It has been 2 months, how could it go from $300 to $744?!?!? That's a total of $444 added to the card in two months time?!?!? There is no way I am going to pay that amount, no way in hell I am ever sending them a single payment, they are liars and cheats who take advantage of people with no or poor credit. Someone mentioned to me that they may try to sue me for this or garnish my paycheck at work, has anyone ever had Aspire come after them in this manner???
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