Am I in HELL? No, I am at Cross Country Bank.
Written: May 20 '01
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Pros: None!!!!!
Cons: Everything about Cross Country Bank!
The Bottom Line: The next time you hear Cross Country Bank, think of ACS and remember "ALWAYS CHEATING SOMEONE"!
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| papito's Full Review: Cross Country Bank |
I have browsed through several epinions regarding Cross Country Bank and finally decided to write my own. I hesitated being that I have never owned one of their credit cards. However, even though I am a professional with a good job, about three years ago I was in need of a second job. My husband told me about Applied Card Systems (ACS) and the opportunities they had available.
ACS is the company that owns Cross Country Bank and handles what we will loosely refer to as "Customer Service" or should I say the lack thereof. I got hired and began my position with ACS by attending three weeks of training and then one week of transition bay. While in transition bay, I loved my second job. I was considering quitting my day job and working full time for ACS. I decided to hold off on making any major changes until I got myself established with the company. This is the wisest choice I have ever made in my LIFE.
After three months of working for ACS I ended up in tears after a card holder questioned me and my morals for working there. That call was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. After I broke into tears, I confronted my Supervisor and informed him that I was quitting. He asked that I give him a minute and meet with him and his Manager. I agreed and we headed for his Manager's office. While meeting with them, they ask why I was quitting. I laid it on them. Here are just a few of the reasons that had built up to this night:
1) In order to work for a company, I must have respect for that company. There is not one reason as to why anyone would have respect for ACS. That company does not even know what respect is. They do not respect their employees, much less their card holders.
2) I believe in good customer service. I believe the old adage that the customer always comes first. To this day, I have not been able to figure out ACS's misconstrued and demented version of customer service.
3) The company reels in new card holders by saying that they are going to help you rebuild your credit. In all actuality, they are out to take someone with bad credit, give them a credit card and then charge them for every and any fee that they can think of.
4) The $25 over-the-limit fee (and by the way this is one of my favorite ways of them stealing their card holder's hard earned money) is applied if your account goes over your available credit limit. This is understandable as all credit cards have the same policy. However, the twist at ACS is that you get charged during your current billing period when your card goes over-the-limit. Now, when your current billing period ends at midnight and your new billing period opens at 12:01 a.m., if your account is still over the limit you are charged a second over-the-limit fee. In essence, you are being charged $50 for going over-the-limit and not being able to get your balance back under the limit in one minute. And it does not matter what caused your account to go over-the-limit you are going to be charged that fee. It could have been your late fee, your interest, your phone inquiry fee or any other fee that ACS felt necessary to apply to your account.
5) The $25 late fee is applied to your account if your payment is not received by your due date. This is also a policy that other banks follow. But at ACS, you may have mailed your payment in time, they may have received it in time but being that it takes them ten days to process your payment, you will not get credit for it in time.
6) There is no toll free number for you to call when needing to speak with Customer Service. You usually end up paying long distance rates to be put on eternal hold. When you finally get through, you are usually given the run around or simply disconnected. I inquired one day as to why there is no toll free number for the card holders to call. The answer that I got was that this is a credit card for individuals with bad credit history that ACS was giving a chance to reestablish themselves so they were not providing a toll free number. I also was told that if we did provide a toll free number that the card holders would abuse it and call for any little thing. I thing they really meant that they would go broke with a toll free number due to all of the calls that we already received regarding all of the charges that they add without your knowledge.
7) There is one toll free number that you do have access to. This is the phone inquiry number. You can call and check the balance on your account, your payment due date and many other options as with other credit cards. However, the ACS twist on this is that for every OPTION that you choose, you are charged $.50. Notice that is for every option. So if you want to know your account balance you are charged $.50 and to find out your payment due date that is another $.50. Believe me, after a few inquiries into your account throughout the month this really does begin to add up.
8) When you applied for your credit card, you thought you were getting a credit limit up to $2,500. However, when your receive the card, your credit limit is $350 and your available credit is only $155. That is because your card has already been charged a $100 application fee and a $95 annual fee. And they charged your credit card up front for your convenience. Wasn't that just so nice of them.
9) As long as your account is in good standing, you may contact customer service after 3 months and request a credit line increase. You may get up to a $250 increase with of course a small fee attached. You only have to agree to have $100 charged to your account for an application fee. Let me tell you, the entire application fee is the customer service representative checking two or three things on your account and then approving the increase. This takes all of one minute but costs you $100. Now I am beginning to understand how this bank makes all of its money.
10) Even if you get your account balance paid off and you owe nothing, there is still a minimum balance due of $.50. That may not seem like much at the time. But, if like most card holders you will throw out the statement without reviewing it as you know that there is no balance due. By doing so, you will miss the $.50 balance and will be charged $25 when your payment is not received on time. Yes, you read correctly. You will be charged $25 for being late on a $.50 balance. If you continue with not opening the statement, which I recall one customer did for six months, you will continue to be billed the $25 late fee You will continue to accumulate interest on the new balance due. And if all of these fees working together put you over-the-limit, you will be charged the over-the-limit fee as described earlier. Now isn't that a kick in the butt that you went from what you thought was a zero balance to being over-the-limit without even charging on the credit card. All I can say is "AMAZING"!
I can go on and on about the horrible customer service that the reps are allowed to give. And the many other fees that they invent to add to your account. But, I would be here for ever.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
papito
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Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 3 members
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