My daughter recently received a secured Mastercard from Direct Merchant's Bank. She deposited $99, and the gave her a $500 credit limit and a fancy-looking titanium card that really looks like she's got something. Yesterday, she tried to make a purchase with it, and her card was declined. As soon as she got home, she called customer service, and they told her the account had been closed. She had never used her card before and had a zero balance. They had no explanation as to why the account was closed, so they told her it must have been a mistake on their part. They also told her that a reimbursement for her $99 deposit had already been mailed. Despite all this, they said they would get it corrected and would notify her in 48 hours. I'm curious as to whether or not they will make good on this promise. I'm not sure how they operate, but I've told my daughter to be very wary of them. Are such mistakes common with them? We are in the process of repairing and rebuilding her damaged credit, and we're afraid of taking any chances.
Doris, I was "approved" for one of their cards and sent the $99. Then I received a request for copies of tax returns, drivers lic., and phone bill. I decided the heck with this and asked for my money back. Surprisingly, I got it in 3 weeks.
This is a great board--I'm so glad I found it. It is full of people who have a lot of knowledge and experience that we can share! Thanks for all of the good advice! I recently received a card from DMB and so far am very pleased. The only thing I don't like is that they put a 15-20 day hold on all payments! This is true whether you pay by check, money order or even over the phone! I feel this is excessive and have never heard of such stringent rules. A 5-10 day hold would be understandable and much more acceptable. So each time I've had to have my bank fax over a letter stating that my check had cleared. I'm told that they are looking into changing this policy and that currently they only do it until you've had your car for 1 year--then they relax those restrictions if you've had a good payment history and haven't bounced any checks.
