Dishonesty and Money shouldn't mix
Written: Dec 01 '01
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Pros: Accepts College Students. Pay Bills Online.
Cons: High %, Dishonest/Incompetent personnel
The Bottom Line: Web-site is down often. Customer service is poor. The people are dishonest and with bad manners! Avoid unless its a GREAT deal in WRITTING.
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| toughcritique's Full Review: Student Visa/Mastercard (The Associates) |
I've been a Associates Visa cardholder for over two years. The interest rate is high, but when i got the card I wasn't even in college: so I had no choice. They have an online payment center (www.studentcreditcard.com), where you can pay your statement online (using your bank account). Very convenient, but there site is down 40% of the time . Now that is a pain in the neck, especially if you have one day left to pay. Because of my procrastination and they're site being down, I couldn't make the payment on time (I tried the web, it didn't work, day before the due date; snail mail takes up to a week). I called them and told them about their site: they said its not their problem and the use of the web service is not the customer's right but a privilege and that I should have been more prudent. Then she hung up. Not a professionally perky person.
This incident, however, is not my reason for this e-pinion. What prompted me to write it is the latest developments in my account.
My APR has been around 19%. With the Fed lowering the rates, the costs of borrowing became MUCH cheaper for banks, credit institutions, businesses and, in turn us, the consumers. With the advice of CNBC anchorman and a credit specialist, I called the credit department and asked to lower my interest rate. I knew that if I simply shop around (my credit history is now spotless, and I have a job:) I can get a much lower one, but I decided to call my credit card company that I have for a while, and maybe they will lower it to be competitive.
I spoke with someone in the credit department and she said that she will lower my rate to 11.9% (I spent over 2 hours on the phone with two reps and one manager).Still not excellent, but decent. So, I haven't shopped around and kept it, based on trust.
Month later, I receive a bill with a surprise. My APR is 18.9%. I call, speak with a manager, who calls me a liar and hangs up on me! What a way to treat customers! He said that there is no such promotion, that I mixed their card with some other card, called me a liar and hung up. What wonderful service. I am promptly signing up to a different credit card and transferring my balances there and closing this account.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
toughcritique
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Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 4 members
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