- Report: #541741
Complaint Review: Helzberg Diamonds - Tyler Texas
Reported By:
J.A. -
Tyler, , United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Helzberg Diamonds
Tyler, 75703 Texas, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
www.Helzberg.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Helzberg Diamonds Credit Card Fees Ripoff Tyler, Texas
My boyfriend & I purchased a diamond ring (for me) in Feb 09 from the Helzberg store in the local mall. We paid aprox $1500 down & got a Helzberg credit card for the balance of $1500. We were making extra payments because my boyfriend was being deployed in the summer 09. We noticed the balance was not being reduced as quickly as we wanted so in July we decided to payoff the balance before he was deployed & sent in an internet payment of aprox $1350.
The next day I checked online to make sure the account was paid in full & noticed a $10.00 fee. I paid this $10.00 that day.
About six weeks later I got an email on an overdue balance for this accout it was $30.00. I checked online & had $20.00 fees & a late charge... I called & was told that we were being charged a $10/month credit life insurance charge & a $10/month identity protection charge on a zero balance account. When I told them we had paid off the balance 6 weeks ago they said that I had to cancel the life insurance & the identity protection or else they would keep billing us. So I cancelled the life insurance & the identity protection that day & paid the $30.00 late bill.
A few months later I again received a late notice for about $40.00 - The same as above... I called & was told that I had to cancel the credit card or else I would keep getting the $20./monthly charges + interest (& now, late fees) I cancelled the credit card & paid the $40.00.
I made copies of everything & took them to the mall store. They apologized & said that they don't have anything to do with the credit card company. They did make some calls & finally I got a refund for about $30.00
We had to make several calls & had a lot of trouble from all this - needless to say we will not be using this store or their credit services ever again. This whole thing took several months to straighten out & I found out that when I cancelled the credit card I couldn't access the online account - so I didn't know what was happening to the balance. This card had a high interest rate & lots of fees - this was the first time we ever used financing & learned a hard lesson. Besides this credit trouble, we learned that the quality of the ring is poor & I've already had to have it re-plated.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
J.A.
Tyler,United States of America
Clarification to Credit Card Fees
#2Author of original report
Sat, December 19, 2009
I have tried to be as complete & clear about what happened to us as I could. I'm sure we signed up for the credit life & identity protection - not knowing they were excessive (due to our inexperience with these things) however, once the credit card was 100% paid off we should not have been charged for these fees over and over again. The fees should have stopped when the balance was zero, but this was not the case. It seemed that everytime we paid off the credit card to zero - that very same day - another charge would be added. $10 or $20 or $ late fee. We paid a total of $80+ of fees & late charges on a zero balance on our credit card. Thankfully with some persistance & some help from my mom (who has collection experience) we were able to resolve this problem. My future husband is now fighting overseas for our country and we can hardly wait for his return so we can marry.
Cory
San Antonio,Texas,
U.S.A.
What Probably Happened
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, December 18, 2009
When you filled out the credit app for their credit card, the salesperson probably, maybe not, asked you IF you wanted ; insurance on your new purchase, if you wanted credit life insurance, if you wanted "job" insurance and the newest BS item, identity theft protection. IF you were asked, you probably said NO, whereas, the salesman probably checked the YES box on the credit app and faxed it in. He may or may not have checked all the YES boxes. THAT'S why you got charged for those extra items. Just like the car dealers adding on extras to a contract. Back in the old days, working at zales, we got hassled if we didn't get so many people to "buy" the insurance, credit life and whatever else. I never paid any attention to those memos.
