Hello all! This is a letter that I sent to CCB via Planetfeedback. Lets see if I get a response. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Mr. Abessinio, I hope you are able to help me with a problem I've encountered with Cross Country Bank. The problem concerns the price and value at your bank. The bank is located at 800 Delaware Avenue Wilmington, Delaware 19801.. On April 24, 2001, your firm received my pre-approved application. It was processed and approved on April 27, 2001. As of May 9, 2001, I still have not received the credit card that I applied for in the mail. I call customer service, a long distance call, to find out what is happening with the card. I spoke with a fairly new representative, who did not completely give me the answer I was looking for. The preapproval said that the maximum credit line I would qualify for was $2500. and the minimum would be $350. Thus implying that if I did not qualify for the $2500 credit line, I would receive the $350 credit line. Upon checking my application status on your website, I saw that I was only approved for $250. So, at this point, the rep. transferred me to a supervisor named Rosemarie, who then told me that I would not receive the card in the mail unless I sent in a $35.00 payment. I have not received a statement for this mandatory $35.00 payment, and I told Rosemarie that I did not want the card because there is no mention of the required 35 dollar payment in any of the preapproval materials I received. She got kind of rude with me and told me that she would note my file with comments that I did not want the card. I then told her that there is a VISA account number with my name attached to it and that I did not want this showing up on my credit report as an existing tradeline. She assured me that it would not appear. If this tradeline does appear, I will sue for violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This is one of the only times I've used your bank, and as a result I am disappointed by this matter. In the future I plan to take my business to other banks, and I'll urge others to avoid banking with you. Here's the resolution I propose: I would like Cross Country Bank to stop exploiting consumers with poor credit histories. This happens all too frequently with your firm. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. I look forward to your prompt reply. Sincerely,
Erica, I'm sorry you're having to deal with CrossCountry. What a horrible bank! I wish you had discovered this board prior to responding to their offer. But don't feel alone. I too am an x-Crosscountry customer. Fortunately, my account is now cancelled...has been for nearly a year now...and my credit reports didn't take too many hits. But that place is awful! The customer service reps, in addition to being impolite, are not very knowledgeable. That was a good letter you wrote. I hope it elicits a satisfactory response. Good luck and keep us posted. Donna
I told the rep that I did not want the card, and I wasn't mailing any money to them. I was also told that there aren't any bills sent out for the 35 dollars, so if I didn't call, I would STILL not have the card. I also told her that if a bill did come, I was not paying it and they better not mark me 30 days late on an account that I did not want. Who in their right mind signs up for a credit card that charges an up front fee just to get the card? I signed up for a secured card, and I sent in the $200 for the credit line, but this card was to be unsecured! Why should I send in fees when they pulled the classic bait-and-switch? Anyways, I'm glad that I found this out now and don't have the card. I don't want to do business with a company that exploits its customers.
You definitely did the right thing by canceling the card. Crosscountry is one of the last places in the world I would want to do business with. They charge outrageous fees for lousy service and rip customers off at every turn. To be honest, I'm very skeptical about the account not showing up on your credit report. And, if it does appear, I pray that there are no late fees attached. Customer service at CCB is a joke! It's nearly impossible to get anything changed on customer accounts. Yes, one of the reps may promise a change but good luck on the follow through. It practically takes an act of God to get anything done. Good luck and let us know what happens. Donna
I just got off of the phone with a rep from CCB and asked for a statement in writing that the account was never opened, I never received the card and am not paying the fee to receive the card. I found out that the rep from yesterday had closed the account and left a balance of that $35.00 fee. The rep I just spoke to adjusted the account to show a zero balance and is sending me a letter to the effect. I told her that I did not want it on my credit report and if it showed up on it, I could call her back and she will remove it. Hope Michelle sticks to her word. Thanks for the reminder to pull teeth with them. If I don't receive that letter in 2 weeks, I'm gonna call and raise hell!
Good work, Erica. I hope the rep you spoke with sends the account cancellation letter in a timely manner. If not, follow up immediately. Maybe CCB has improved since I had my account with them but I doubt it. The customer service reps have a reputation for unkept promises so make sure you don't let the ball drop on this one. Donna
Cross Country is still a card you want to stay far, far away from. The only way they could possibly improve is to close down operations and have the executives of this loanshark "bank" surrender to the authorities. Having the employees tear down Cross Country facilities, brick by dishonest brick, and then sowing the ground with salt would also be appropriate. Len - Free of Cross Country for 2 years, 4 months, 21 days.
Great letter, I hope everything works out for you. I also had an account with Cross Country in the past. I could tell they were disorganized when speaking to several reps. Fortunately, my experience was quite different. I never had a major problem with my account. No payments posting late, money stolen from my bank account, etc. What I hated was all of the fees. Fees for a limit increase, fees to check your balance, fees to call customer service. It was too much. I had my account for three years and my payment history was reported positively the entire time. Don't get me wrong, I am not recommending Crooks Country by any means. Working in a customer service environment myself, I know that the company is more responsible for customer's heartaches than the reps. Crooks Country reps are given no authority (or very little) to assist the customer with credits to their account when appropriate. The company is responsible for the proper training of their staff, monitoring of the calls and supervision. They receive an "F" in all categories. I actually feel sorry for SOME of the reps because they must have no support. I had actually spoken to some very nice reps who were so frustrated that they could not assist customers with many issues. The only thing they could do was tell customers to write a letter to corporate. I did this once when I had a small inconsistency on my bill. It was taken care of quickly, but I shouldn't have to write a letter to corporate. Customer service should be able to take care of those issues. It's sad for customers who get stuck with a company who obviously does not care enough to empower the main group of employees who have to deal with the account errors and the angry customers who have been robbed. Glad you got out early! ;-D
LAKE OF FIRE They probably have enlarged their LAKE OF FIRE to lose more payments. Nice seeing you Len. Dogman
Re: LAKE OF FIRE Oh My Gosh!!!! I received a pre-appoved offer from them just today. I read it over very carefully and decided to send it in. Thank goodness I saw this before it hit tomorrows mail. I am tearing it to shreds as soon as I log off THANK YOU!!!!
Re: LAKE OF FIRE Ah, yes, Dogman, the old CCB Lake of Fire! It's good to read a couple of more poor souls have been saved here from Cross Country Hell. Keep up the Good Fight, Dogman!
My suggestion is to write a letter to CCB, send a copy to the FDIC and the State of Delaware Banking Commission. It works everytime, when they know they don't have a leg to stand on. They tried to charge my husband an "Applied Advantage Fee" which the application he filled out said was free for 30 days and could be cancelled within 60 days in writing. I wrote to cancel it, CCB cancelled it, but refused to refund my money. So I wrote a letter to CCB Boca, Delaware, the FDIC and the State of Delaware Banking Commission. Within 1 month I got a full refund of the charge. They have since changed the "Applied Advantage" and it is now non-refundable. But my husband had signed up for the card before this policy went into effect. Good luck, and don't forget the letter. It works!
CCB Update!!! Hey, I just wanted to update you all on my PFB letter to CCB. I received a letter today from the Executive Relations Manager at CCB which says: As information, the preliminary information that we obtain from the credit reporting agencies, for the purposes of pre-approved applications, provides general demographic data and consumer profiles. A complete credit bureau inquiry may be made after the applicant submits his or her application and authorizes CCB to verify the information presented. By signing the CCB MasterCard application, you authorized an inquiry into your credit bureau profile. The credit bureau inquiry is valid and will remain. As your application was not approved for our standard $350 credit line, you were forwarded a counter offer for a Visa Gold account with a credit line of $250, on May 1, 2001. This correspondence stated that you would need to submit a $35 payment prior to the issuance of your credit card. In addition, your May 2001 billing statement reiterated this information. We have provided a sample copy of the CUSTOMER SERVICE correspondence and a copy of your May 2001 statement, for your reference. Since you have not utilized the account, we have reversed all fees associated with the opening of your account as of May 10, 2001, pursuant to your request. In addition, please be assured that no derogatory information has been reported to the credit bureaus with regard to this matter. We trust that we have addressed your concerns. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service. What a load of crap! First of all, I never received their counter offer that he refers to, second of all, I called on May 10, and they said that I should not receive a bill for the $35. On May 15, I GOT A FREAKIN BILL!!!! I tried to call this manager just now to tell him that I didn't get a copy of their counter offer, and unless he can provide me with a personalized copy of the letter that they sent to me, I want all CCB info (including inquiries) off my CRA file. I can't believe that they would not even address my concerns! I hate CCB!!!
Re: CCB Update!!! During my two-year sentence in Cross Country Hell, I never once, not one time, had Cross Country "customer service" address a concern of mine. They focused only on trying to sell me on paying by phone. The rest of their energy was spent posting my payments a month after I mailed them, posting those payments late, losing payments, and charging late fees. Of course, a lot of energy was expended by Cross Country in burying me in lies, so the employees were doing their best with limited resources. The kind of fraud Cross Country commits can be quite enervating, I imagine.
