I have been working with Philadelphia Federal Credit Unionfor many years, and a few years ago they sold their credit services to FIACredit Services (actually B of A). The rationale was that PFCU gave me noticeand they expected me to have the knowledge about what it is I was getting into. I have contacted them repeatedly about my annoyance at being tied to afinancial shark. I had a bad patch last year with a series of events that makeme have difficulty paying my bills, and at one point I could not afford to eatand still paid FIA their blood money. It was my way to show that I was being serious and gave asmuch money as I could to show my good faith. The way the system is set up isthey want customers to fail and when they do they heap so many fees on them itmakes it nearly impossible to catch up.
So I managed to land the equivalent oftwo extra jobs and was able to catch up on the payments. At one time thepayment (in just fees for three months) was over $700! Now the fun part begins. During this time I received a late payment warning from FIA that a Penalty APRof 28.75% would be charged. My original APR was 11.75% (up until June) and with my financial difficulty my APR changed to 28.75% (starting July). This credit card company demonstrated callousness when it did not accept mygood faith payments as proof of my intention to honor my obligations when Icould not afford to buy food. The new law states: If the cardholder triggersthe default rate because of a 60-day delinquency, the bank must restore thelower rate once the cardholder makes 6 consecutive on-time payments. I made mypayments and was conscientious - during this time THANKFULLY I did not use thecard because unbeknownst to me they lowered my credit to less than half, refused to lower the amount in violation of the new law, and when I paid allmoney in full summery dropped my account.
This was their response after manyletters were sent and their refusal to even consider taking me back to where Istarted. They cannot be contacted online. When I called they said we will nothelp me and their advice was that I ask a friend or family member for the moneysince they will not help me. When I was behind in payments they called me everyhour on the hour even on Sunday. I gave up answering the telephone and took itoff line. Just this week the final amount has been paid and I am sure they willsqueeze more interest from me if they can. Where does someone begin to reportsomething like this? I am a teacher with a teacher's salary and was trapped bythem, and I know that many teachers' in unions are also attached to thisnoxious anti-American business entity. (Why cant teachers be paid well?) Theremust be a way to combat such a nasty fraudulent company when so many peopledepend upon them for some stability? I have been with the credit union for manyyears, in excess of 15, and was treated like garage to be tossed away.
0 comments