- Report: #96101
Complaint Review: BANK ONE - Wilmington Delaware
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
BANK ONE
www.cardmemberservices.com Wilmington, 19899-8650 Delaware, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-436-7939
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
BANK ONE rip-off! Dishonest fraudulent increase in interest rates! Scam pamplet mailings! Wilmington Delaware
Early in March I received a folded pamphlet (almost thought it was junk mail) notice from BANK ONE stating that my interest rate would be changing from my current rate of 5.4% APR to the new rate of 13.99% due to changing providers (FIRST USA BANK ?)on this account. It also stated that:
IF you wish to reject these terms, and close your account, you must notify us in writing by March 27 2004, that you wish to reject them. IF you give us notice in writing that you wish to reject these terms, you may not make any more charges to your account. You will, however, be entitled to pay off any existing outstanding balance on your account under your current terms.
It also explained that by not accepting the new rate I then choose to cancel my charging card privileges. It also stated that by using the card it would result in me accepting the new rate on the card after April 1 2004.
I have always paid my bill on time, never late, have always paid at least the minimum payment and have never gone over my credit limit. Therefore, I should not have been have been punished for any of these situations which might result in an interest rate increase.
I wrote a letter, mailed in time (allowed 10 business days, and requested to close account) - Then when I got my bill it showed an increase to 19.99 % from 5.4%. They indicated it took 17 days to receive my response from them. *17 days first class mail from Michigan to Delaware...that seems a little excessive.
I called 4 times to hve this corrected with no luck at all. I have paid the last two months balance at the 19.9% waiting a correction to this matter. I have filed a complaint with my Attorney General Mike Cox (MI), The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group, MasterCard International Incorporated, along with Bank One CEO Jamie Diamond. Do you have any other suggestions for me?
Can they increase your rate without cause?
Suzanne
Ada, Michigan
U.S.A.
IF you wish to reject these terms, and close your account, you must notify us in writing by March 27 2004, that you wish to reject them. IF you give us notice in writing that you wish to reject these terms, you may not make any more charges to your account. You will, however, be entitled to pay off any existing outstanding balance on your account under your current terms.
It also explained that by not accepting the new rate I then choose to cancel my charging card privileges. It also stated that by using the card it would result in me accepting the new rate on the card after April 1 2004.
I have always paid my bill on time, never late, have always paid at least the minimum payment and have never gone over my credit limit. Therefore, I should not have been have been punished for any of these situations which might result in an interest rate increase.
I wrote a letter, mailed in time (allowed 10 business days, and requested to close account) - Then when I got my bill it showed an increase to 19.99 % from 5.4%. They indicated it took 17 days to receive my response from them. *17 days first class mail from Michigan to Delaware...that seems a little excessive.
I called 4 times to hve this corrected with no luck at all. I have paid the last two months balance at the 19.9% waiting a correction to this matter. I have filed a complaint with my Attorney General Mike Cox (MI), The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group, MasterCard International Incorporated, along with Bank One CEO Jamie Diamond. Do you have any other suggestions for me?
Can they increase your rate without cause?
Suzanne
Ada, Michigan
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Suzanne
Ada,Michigan,
U.S.A.
A Reply from Bank One
#2Author of original report
Thu, July 01, 2004
For whoever is interested...after mailing all my letters to the organizations mentioned above and mailing the CEO of Bank One a certified letter receipt requested I got a response. The BBB called and told me they were handling this claim, and Bank One called yesterday and told us they received the notice from BBB and was going to handle this problem. Today...my email from Bank One indicated they were pleased to inform me my interest rate would be returning back to the 5.4%. Yeah! Now I will have to wait until my next statement to verify that this was actually done. Thanks for everyone's suggestions...
Rosemarie
Mesa,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Keep in touch
#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Fri, June 25, 2004
Remember to keep in touch when and if you hear anything. I also have had problems with this Bank. Funny thing they left my husband alone. He has 2 accounts with them also a checking account and some kind of insurance on both charges. I am thinking this is his savyer. I on the other hand have Great credit never missed a payment never went over on my limit, my only draw back is exceeding in credit. You go Suzanne, and please give us the feed back need to see what I can do, PS your lucky..I started out as 13.24% and they jacked me up to 24.99% and I never saw it coming...I am now in the process of refinancing my home and paying the bloodsuckers off 15,000.00 (after 9 months of calls, crying, and hives...) keep in tough
Robin
Waldron,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
Bad business practices abound in CreditCardLand! YOU have to pay the piper for them. Use certified mail for cancellation requests.
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, June 23, 2004
You have just learned one of the most bitter lessons out there about credit cards and interest rates...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "FIXED RATE"! And there is certainly no reward for being a good customer. Good customers get these rate increase notifications. They can "adjust" your rate any time they choose! After years of issuing credit cards to cats, dogs, twelve-year-olds, deceased people, and space aliens, the piper must now be paid. Record numbers of people are filing bankruptcy on these credit card companies because cards were issued to people who should not have had them in the first place. Coupled with the bad economy and lack of job security these days, many people have lost their jobs. It has hit credit card companies hard in their pocketbooks. These companies are not going to let their profit margins fall, so the onus of keeping the profits up falls increasingly on the shoulders of the good customers. Those good customers are now the "profit drones" for all credit card companies. Do they appreciate you as a good customer...NO! You are now the workhorse for them and their greed. You will be asked to pay the bill for their excess. I think you have contacted a reasonable number of agencies and government officials to get your cancellation request approved. Have you received any feedback from any of those you contacted? If not, you might try the FTC as well. I look for this to become more and more common; "Gee, we did not receive your cancellation request in time". I would suggest that everyone mail these Certified mail with Return Receipt Requested. It seems as though consumers are being forced to cover themselves more and more these days. Pay off your balance ASAP and dump these "credit traps" and let them go belly-up. Good luck.
