[kostas]

i apologize ahead of time if this seems a little out of order but i need to vent off something that happenned regarding a credit card company:

Around June, I was sent a pre-approved credit card from Aspire Visa which required activation by sending in a check for $20.00US along with a perforated slip sent by them. It also required activation through a phone call. I didn't do either because I don't use credit cards and in August 2nd, 2004 I received a statement of $185.50 which includes charges for Account Maintenance, Account Opening Finance Charges and Annual Fee. I called 1-866-816-6993 to try and resolve this issue and after going through endless automatic answering services, I was able to talk to a representative. She started a verification process in which she asked me for a maiden name. I never filled out any applications to where I gave my maiden name and I never do so I refused to give a maiden name and tried to ask her to explain those charges on the statement. She refused to do that and continued to ask for my maiden name. I asked her to speak to her boss and she refused that for the same reason. I asked for the name of her boss or another phone number and shhe still refused. I asked for her name and she told me it was Shannon Willans. Then I hung up and tried calling back to speak to someone and verify if there's a Shannon Willans there but I couldn't get through. I researched online to find alternative ways of contacting them and there's nothing but a P.O. Box address which leaves me with little hopee of getting ahold of them. This might ruin my credit and I can't seem to be able to get it resolved.

arrggh......

[Iron_Cross]

What was the company name? Maybe some of us may know something extra.

[Vormund]

Nah, just...hmm, well you can file a complaint with the police for fraud...it's a good base for your "defense", and if they should try to do anything (IE: put something on your credit record), you can easily take "them" to court, and they have no chance...'cause first of all, you never signed anything, nor made the "activation call"...so legally, they are screwed. ****, I'd say sue 'em while your at it. If they are a true credit agency, they should have the $$ for you :-) 'Dem evil fools...

[nak-1]

Write a nasty letter to the CEO. CEO's definately do not like to recieve customer complaints. You also want to ask how this will affect your risk scoring in terms of future credit. If you don't pay and they say there's arrears this can effect whether you get credit in the future. As you don't use it this is ot important now, but what if you need credit in the future?

As an aside, here in the UK you won't get any details over the phone unless you complete security checks. This is to preserve peoples privacy and is enshrined in law. It's likely to be very similar in the states. Having worked in call centres for years it's not always right to blame the person on the other end of the phone. They won't give you any account details until you prove who you are, you wouldn't want anyopne to be able to phone up and mess with your accounts would you?

Don't call their customer services number, find out where they are based and ring their company switchboard. Ask for their HR function or something similar and ask for the contact details of the CEO, or any other head honcho for that matter.

Bombard them with letters about what is going on, this will probably sort things out for you.

[hygor]

It seems that you are not alone:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff101679.htm
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/credit_cards/aspire.html


Aspire card is part of CompuCredit

The bigwigs there are as follows:
David G. Hanna - CEO and Chairman
Richard W. Gilbert - Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer
Richard R. House, Jr. - President
K.K. Srinivasan - Cheif Credit officer
J.Paul Whitehead, III - Chief Financial Officer

try ringing their headquaters switchboard and asking to speak to one of them! Telephone: 1-888-522-CCRT or 770-206-6200 and ask for them by name... they love that!

[kostas]

thanks everybody for your advice. i shall take action.

hygor i looked everywhere. where did you find that info?

[hygor]

i found from the aspire visa site who the parent company was...
i then went to their site and looked at their corporate bio and found the detail!

[Lone Wolf]

Good find Hygor.

Kostas, assuming that you live in the US, you should contact the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) immediately and tell them of the fraud. That company should be put out of business immediately - **** scum bags that they are.

According to the FTCwebsite:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/cards.htm


"The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad."

[kostas]

i reported them to the BBB and i'm about to email the FTC. but assuming that all these people ( http://ripoffreport.com/results.asp?...=&searchtype=0 ) also reported them and they're still around, there must be something dirty going on.

sniff, sniff.....do i smell a lawsuit????