CROSS COUNTRY BANK HIDDEN CHARGES RIP-OFF UNFAIR UNLAWFUL PRACTICES!!!

Hi, Heres how I see it. Whenever you get a credit card you have a contract that you read. Granted it might be in really fine print. But (ALL) the Fee's are enclosed. It is not our responcibility to make sure you read your contract before we send you the card. I am a CCB Collector. So for them messages on your VoiceMail/Desk at work. Thats probaby me! My job is to call you until you pay us the money that you owe to cross country bank. CCB is a 2nd chance credit card. It's for ppl who have filed Bankrupcy, No credit, Low Credit.

We are doing you a favor just by giving you the credit card. But then like before yuo didn't pay your bill. If you barrowed money from a load shark and didn't pay it back, then they would come and probably break both your legs and maybe even worse. The point I'm trying to make is that you have an obligation to pay this bill once you recieve your Card.

We have people that have $3000 credit limits. That means that they pay their bills. Yes we userstand that things may come up and you might miss a month for so. But that's no excuse for not paying your bill for 6 months and then expect us not to call and want our money. I'm sure if I barrowed $300 from you. YOU WOULD WANT IT BACK.

On the other hand. I am just an employee trying to make a living at this company. Do you not think that we know all the excuses to why you haven't paid your bill. NO single person has EVER talked to you twice I would guarentee you that. Or a single person has called and left messages everyday on your machine. We have 5 sites in 4 states with over 1000+ associates at each site. Therefor you should be all rude to us when we call when we are just trying to make a living like you.

If you have a complaint on the company. Thats fine. COMPLAIN to corrporate. But not the ppl that call you because we just work for them. I'm sure there are MANY collection repts out there with CCB card that know how it is where they work with Irrate ppl. And theres nothing there you can do about it. Same goes for us. My advise to all you "COMPLAINERS" quit writing on these websites. Because it's not going to get you anywhere. Pay your bill and we'll quit contacting you. Most of us trying to help you out with different programs we have. And your so far gone that you don't even want to hear it. When it was your mistake in the first place. Stand up and take responcibility!!!

I have good credit and they keep contacting me to get a card from them. They got my boyfriend last year and he finally got all their crappy fees paid off, and cancelled the card. They wanted him to pay them $150.00 to get his credit limited extended by $100.00. What a scam. If anyone ever applies for this card they will soon realize that this company will not help your credit, they will do just the opposite. Some months they didn't even bother to send him a bill and then charged him to pay his bill on-line. Take my word for it Cross Country will get your money one way or another. I mean Come On! My boyfriend went over the credit limit with his first purchase of $50.00. Don't do buisness with this crack pot of a company.

Isn't it amazing that it's easy for a collector or an employee to feel targeted by consumers concerns printed here?! The collector is a little too touchy it seems by his/her response(s) and attacking the people who respond to this site by calling them complainers.

Some consumers may just have a legitimate concern but for someone as "professional" as this collector to say that people like "us" shouldn't or aren't allowed to respond or put their concerns out there is ridiculous.

I'm sure if he/she is on the end of the collector he also would be making sure they aren't getting stiffed. There was just information put out on the new here that Visa/Mastercard had to settle because fees and other information was not disclosed (very, very very fine print or not) showing intentional deceitful practices.

I don't believe this site is to target this particular collector but he/she feels so and he/she is entitled but again, there are protocols and laws that should be followed regarding messages being left as many times in one day.

I used to collect and I was informed that there are certain times (varying by state) that calls can be made/received and how many times they are allowed to leave messages whether answering machine/srvc or paper msg.

Consumers are allowed in every right to respond to sites of concern to them. Too bad that this collector felt that anyone responding was actually speaking directly to them when the credit card company is where the problem lies.

I have been reading all the complaints and rebuttals posted so far against Cross Country and I just had to say something to defend these poor customers that are being robbed by Cross Country. Let me start off by saying I have been in collections for over 7 years.

For the last 5 years I have worked collections on delinquent Cross Country Bank Visa/Mastercard accounts. I work for a major East Coast collection firm and make a good living out of it. We are professional at doing our job and take pride in it (I noticed early some mention of Tate & Kirlin Collections, in the other complaints- I do NOT work for them and I know their tactics are as shady as Cross Country's).

I talk to an average of 150 consumers a day and although I know there are a percentage of them who are really just scamming the system and trying to get out of paying their bills, I also know that when it comes to Cross Country consumers there is a higher percentage of them who were scammed on by Cross Country.

I know for a fact that if I am given a "new" Cross Country account to call and the balance is under $500 that when I call that person they will tell me that they never used the card, that when they received the card and saw the fees involved they attempted to cancel the card and Cross Country refused to allow it and it ended up in Collections. Now believe me, I consider myself a pretty tough collector (I collect more than 60K a month for my agency), and I don't fall for hard luck stories, but when you hear the same story over and over again, it makes you kind of have to believe that ALL these people cannot be lying.

We are given the authority by Cross Country to reduce the debts that come to us by 60%... yes, we will accept 40% of the balance and call it even with these consumers. Of course, by the time it gets to us, it has been thru the mill and people are willing to pay just to make it go away. That is my pitch with a lot of those people "hey, I know Cross Country ripped you off... how about paying $200 and I'll give you a letter and it will go away."... pretty sad, I think. The owner of my company even tells us that if it is Cross Country and they say they got the card and never used it and the balance is less than $500, just believe them and we'll send it back to Cross Country as uncollectable. This is something that is unheard of in the collection industry, but necessary when dealing with Cross Country bank. People are always asking me to refer them to a good place to rebuild their credit when they find out I am in collections and I ALWAYS make it a point to steer them away from Cross Country.

Also- as far as the rebuttals I read here from the employees of CCB... are you people BRAINWASHED?? It is ridiculous how you stand up for them... it makes me HAVE to believe you are getting bonuses or something for it... either that or it is the only thing they give you to do. As an educated consumer you cannot think that what they are doing is morally right. I realize that CCB is a "second-chance" credit card and not everyone possessing one has the greatest track-record, but how can making it impossible for someone to pay by making charges outrageous or gauging your customers with horrendous interest and fees help their credit?? It can't. So, while some might think I am "biting the hand that feeds me" since I make a good living collecting for Cross Country and I am stating these opinions- I will know that I know when to call a spade and spade and I will continue to collect for Cross Country while weeding thru the ones that truly are the debtors and the ones that got the shaft.

I hope the FDIC cracks down and makes Cross Country show its customers some respect.

A Concerned Collector

Even though I am not usually one to side with the bill collectors, I thought Lori's points were even handed and certainly lend credibility to the original poster's story.

I agree that some companies do take risks helping people with poor credit re-establish credit, but this company sounds over the top and predatory.

The first collector posting indicates that the terms are all in the fine print, but it sounds like this consumer originally applied online. If the company stands behind their statement that everything is disclosed, why won't they provide a copy of this persons application, as requested? Because they are engaging in deceptive tactics, thats why. Why are so many of the stories the same? Are they all making it up?

It is really unfortunate that these companies prey upon those with credit problems, because it is easy to hide and say the consumer screwed up again, gee, we were only trying to help. They make huge profits from the segment of the population that can least afford it, when they could make a decent profit and still be fair to these consumers. You want to charge 20% interest--fine, just be very clear about all the hooks, hidden charges, pitfalls, etc. so the consumer is entering the deal with all the information and their eyes wide open. With full disclosure it is their choice whether or not they want to continue with the deal. It doesn't even sound legal to charge fees for accounts that were never used or activated. I'm sure they will get hit with massive lawsuits sooner or later.

So here's what happened with me, i'll keep it short. Got the cross country credit card, got screwed, just as i was getting a handle on my money matters. Closed the account. Anyhow what i have to say now... Cross Crounty sent me so many f**king letters and called me so many times they probabaly just broke even with my start up fees and all that sh*t.(or not but i'd like to think so)Have a great day all.

P.s. Did you relize how how it was to find a customer service number, and one where you could actually speak to a human instead of listening to a stupid machine.