Got a check in the mail today from Direct Merchants as part of the OCC action. I'm $90 richer. OCC said cash the check right away as it has an expiration date. Here is the URL for the case: http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/eas/ea2001-24.pdf
Yeah, What is the details on this settlement. Generally I think that DMB is ok. I've only had one problem with them, they cashed a check for $1000 more than it written for. I had to talk to there collection department because of course the check bounced. They treated me as I did something wrong. This was on the second billing cycle of me having the card!!! Well I like puling it out because it's not easily idetifyablr as Subprime.
DMB was my first positive line after my credit fiasco. They opened up a secured card for me with a $100 deposit and a $250 limit. It went up after my first payment to $500. Apparently they double billed me twice for the rush service fee when I got it. When I called to remove it, they ended up giving it back to me twice over. 13 months later, they upgraded me to gold, gave my deposit back, and raised my limit to $1000. The annual fee sucks though. Something else is interesting though. Just last week, they reimbursed me $49 for something: I don't know what. It might be the processing fee they originally charged when I opened. I do have one complaint with DMB: they really suck at reporting. It took them more than 6 months to first report my account after I opened it. They don't report to TU (they even admit this in a letter they sent me). They only update every 2 or 3 months. When they changed me to gold, they changed my account number which generated a new listing that has only shown up on my EQ. And it just shows my balance from July and last updated 7/01 even though is has just shown up this month. They are 10 times better than other subprime lenders like Household, Premier, and Cross Country (Is it true that Cross Country doesn't even have a 800 number). I 'm going to keep them for another year are two because it is my oldest account and most of my credit is new.
I never took any action against DMB and never met with a lawyer or government official. Regardless, the bank said it had identified me as a person entitled to a money settlement. My theory why I was entitled to a settlement is that they traded me down to an inferior product after they offered me a preapproval for a better product. This was more than two years ago. I canceled my account with them because they jacked up my interest rate to 25.99 percent without warning and had a bunch of rude people in customer service. At one time, their CRSs were the most ill-trained and combative that I'd ever encountered. In any event, read the link to the settlement above. This was "found money" for me -- the best kind. Maurice
