Aspire Visa - CB&T Faulty Charges High Fees Predatory Lending Atlanta Georgia

After all the faxes, emails, etc. I finally got my refund of $211 from Aspire last week (Jan 15th). Of course, it was not as simple as just asking for it or receiving it, I had to send a special written request to a PO Box in Atlanta asking that the "credited amount on my card" be sent to me as a check... otherwise I am sure you can guess what would have happened - that $211 would have been eaten up in "fees" until it was depleted. They had said they were closing my account back in November, but did not. When I sent my letter in for my refund, the account was still open so I also sent a formal request (again) to close my account and finally did receive a letter back stating that my account was closed last week. So, good riddance and thank god, I got my money back. It just takes perseverance but you can beat these people at their own game. Don't give up, that is what they want you to do. This is called "breakage" and its pure profit for them. Don't let them get away with taking YOUR money.

Here is an update since my last report.... a few days after I filed that report, the Aspire Collections Dept. called me to collect $83.00 on a Sunday morning. I could not believe what I was hearing, they wanted $83.00 from me on a card I've been asking to close for 2 months? I asked the man if he was calling from the Aspire offices in Atlanta and he said no, he was calling from India. So, great, here we go.... he was not even someone who could help me resolve my dispute. I eventually agreed to a "settlement" amount of $54.50 to get them out of my hair and he PROMISED to close my account. This phone call was the last straw, however. Aspire now had taken around $211 from me in ridiculous fees for a card that I never even had used and had been trying to close. So that same morning after talking to Kerpal in India, I prepared and filed a formal complaint with the Maryland Attorney General and also wrote letters to the editor of all the major newspapers and TV stations in Atlanta. I also wrote a letter to Gwen Clark of Aspire/ Compucredit / CB&T/Emerge and faxed her that letter along with all the coorespondence between me and Aspire since Sept. I also called the Compucredit main line and left a VM with the president of the company explaining the problem.

Well, a few days later, I got a letter in the mail from Gwen Clark stating that my account was being closed (thank god) and that I was being refunded the $211 that I "overpaid". This was Monday 11-17-03 and of course I have not received the check yet. We shall see if I actually get the check.

For those of you wondering, you can reach Gwen Clark via fax at 678-258-5053 or 770-206-6181 or phone 888-522-2278 or via mail at 2405 Commerce Ave, Suite 300 Duluth, GA 30096. You can also find out her contact info as well as the president and officers of Compucredit by searching the BBB web site under CompuCredit. YES COMPUCREDIT, ASPIRE AND EMERGE ARE ALL THE SAME COMPANY. The President of CompuCredit-Aspire is Richard House. Rick Gilbert is the COO/EVP. Call 888-522-2278 and use the phone tree to get to them and tell them what you think of Compucredit and Aspire!