Sorry! Providian SUCKS!!!

Roni,

I'm with you! I'm definitely not a fan of Providian! I dislike them intensely! My reason isn't as legit as yours but we can hate them together!

It will be three years in June...I just looked it up...since I was 90 days late on my old Providian account. This was during a time of major financial distress and I just couldn't pay anything. And, by the way, this was the first and only time I had ever been late with Providian.

At the time, my credit limit was a meager $500 and I was about $75 from maxing out my card. Of course, when my account became delinquent, the late fees, and interest, started adding up, causing my card to go over the limit. Of course, that created an over-the-limit charge and I understood that. The fees were my fault the account was delinquent. At this point, my balance had risen to nearly $900!

When July came, my financial outlook improved dramatically and I called Providian to advise them that I would be able to resume payments. They said it would take $400 to bring my account current and I was asked to express my payment via Western Union, which I did.

From that point forth, my payments to Providian were, once again, on time and always more than the minimum. Within seven months, my balance was down to zero.

During my three-month delinquency, Providian closed the account and it was never reopened. A year later, I called to ask if it could be reinstated and the response was negative. The only option made availble to me was a secured account and I wasn't interested in that. What I wanted was to have my account rehabilitated so it would look better on my credit reports.

A couple months back, since my credit has continued to improve, I asked Providian if they would reconsider and the response was still no.

As a last resort, I contacted Providian's executive offices through Planet Feedback, explained my situation and politely asked for a credit review and special reconsideration.

Two weeks later, a reply from the executive office came in the mail and the news wasn't good. The tone of the letter was very snotty and the writer, in essence, said he didn't care if I was left with a negative opinion of Providian. I could either, establish a secured account or walk away with nothing.

In my letter, I asked that my account be reopened with just a small limit, so that I could have a second opportunity to prove myself. As I see it, Providian would have had very little to lose in the bargain. Had I been intent on ripping them off, I wouldn't have paid my old debt in the first place.

In conclusion, I have nothing positive to say about Providian. They really don't seem to care about keeping customers. Thank goodness! There are a lot better companies out there.

Donna

 

Roni, Judy and Donna

Well, it looks like we can form a quartet because I hate Providian too! It used to tick me off no end when I would see people unanimously agree that Providian was great with the increases, and posting about their great retention stories (I mean, I was glad for those people, but mad at Providian.)

What I especially dislike is the lame way the reps say that they cant for the life of them figure out why the "computer wont let them " give me an increase or a grace period, or an apr reduction. I had that card for a year, complained to Planet feedback (as I posted to someone else above) and all I got was a snotty letter telling me that the way to good credit is to pay on time, etc...I had a stellar payment history with that company last year. It was really insulting. One rep told me flat out that my account was contracted for at a specific rate and I had to like it or lump it. I dont know if its market research, or experimentation or what, but I think they place cardholders in categories, and what you get at the start is all you ever get. What is really maddening is that apparently my credit was good enough for them to give me a $3000.00 card unsecured, and yet I probably would have had a better chance if I had a $200 limit secured. I transferred the balance to my Bank of America card, and when that ages a bit, Providian will be closed, that bunch of liars!

 

Re: Roni maybe your bad luck has to do

Roni,

I have had problems getting Providian to budge as well.

In fairness to the retention reps, I truly believe that they ARE at the mercy of the computer. I've spoken with quite a few retention reps who were honest enough to tell me that they wished they could grant me certain benefits, but literally could not. More than one rep said this.

Now, as for the computer, how it "assigns" benefits to various accounts seems totally arbitrary and makes no sense to me. I too have gotten the "not available for your type of account".

Miles and I have hit the same brick wall. When I spoke with the Providian exec offices last week, even that rep could not grant me a grace period. But she did refund my previous month's finance charges.

So, for folks trying to get a grace period, if that fails, ask the Exec Offices to at least refund your previous month's finance charges (for me, that was a decent chunk of change...).

 

Re: Roni maybe your bad luck has to do

I was also told that once locked into a certain type of Providian account, nothing further can be done. I started last year with an Aria Persona Visa with a $500 credit limit, 23.99% APR and an annual fee of $89. I was one of the lucky one who kept getting increases and now my limit is over $5000. I wrote to them via planetfeedback and got an e-mail from the executive director, Mikal Lee and he told me that once in a certain type of card, one cannot budge unless Providian sends an offer. (With my limit at that amount, I should be eligible for platinum, or at least no annual fee and a lower APR!) He said he could do none of those things, but because I had been such a good customer, he would reverse my annual fee charge from last year, which he did. (It showed up on my online account info this morning)...I wonder if this means I won't have to pay it again...or if I keep having to write them everytime July rolls around. Just letting all know my experiences.