Orchard Bank They take advantage of young subscribers by buying personal information from Yahoo Mt. Prospect Illinois

Wesley,
I was so glad to read you went to the AG's office about them. I too want to see them pay back to the customers everything they have ripped off.
I agree with you in that their emails are rehearsed garbage that most of the time do not relate to the issue and calling them is like trying to talk to a wall! And they told you they charge the service fees so they can keep up their wonderful customer service? What a joke!
I called them once for a credit line increase and they gave it to me okay-the next month I saw where they charged me 25.00 for the 100.00 increase they gave me-thus only giving me 75.00 in reality. A service charge for a credit line increase????
Now they tell me they can't give me a credit limit increase and are raising my interest rate because of info they received from my credit report. Why the h_ _ _ do they think I took their crappy card anyway? Sure I had credit problems in the past and actually my credit report is better now then when I got their card. If I had solid gold credit I would have never even looked at their card.
My sympathy goes out to anyone like myself who was downsized from their job (I lost 2 jobs) and find the need to accept a credit card from these crooks!
All of us who have been wronged by them need to take action on it-not just complain about it.
There is more power in numbers.

Thanks for taking up for me you all.

I don't see how I am not taking responsibility by exhausting all resources on my end to ensure they receive payment. As far as I am concerned I've went far and beyond in taking responsibility, it's them who won't take any responsibility.

Update:

I canceled my card. I tried speaking to someone who spoke English and a supervisor, countless times. I'd say 10 times. Each time, I'd be given the run around saying nobody else could talk to me or they do speak English. It's just ridiculous.

I would email my complaints direct to the company requesting a supervisor & or someone who didn't live in India who dishes out attitude over the phone who in most cases cannot be ones to talk considering they likely don't even own a credit card.

They didn't like that email, instead I kept getting replies that were canned responses that repeated the same exact thing. Most of the time it didn't remotely relate to the situation at hand, & they'd request for me to call them by phone.
Of course I'd do this only to receive the same folks who would refuse me a supervisor or someone in the States.

It's an impossible loop.

Please keep in mind I had only had ONE late payment in the past year & this was ONLY because I couldn't pay it on the site as it wouldn't work & it was too late to mail payment & they wanted to charge you by phone, even though it's their fault your payment is late.

I wrote them several times asking them to lower back my interest rate which had jumped to 30% and asked for them to remove the $39 annual fee as I don't pay annual fee's with my other cards and have ten times the amount of credit. Which goes to show they just give you a tiny amount of credit and charge an annual fee that takes up a third of it and then interest rates that take up the rest of it, so you really don't have credit, instead you have monthly charges out the ying yang.

They are a joke, a big joke. A HUGE consumer scam. & I cannot wait until they get shut down & have to pay back consumers. I'm just counting down the day's unil this happens.

Oh btw, here's what happens to your account when you request managers or those who speak English and ask for your interest rate to be lowered. As you'll see, they cancel your account on you without you even asking. Although I likely would have it was still principal.

My request for a lower interest rate and to remove the annual membership fee as below. Keep in mind they have an add on yahoo right now advertising a guaranteed 8.9% interest rate. (yeah right) yet they say they don't offer lower interest rates.

Dear,

We understand your concern regarding the status of your account ending
in
XXXX.

All accounts are reviewed regularly for credit limit increases. When your account qualifies, the increase will appear on your billing statement the following month.

If you would like to request a credit limit increase, please refer to the phone number on the back of your card to contact our Customer Service Department. Representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We received your request for a reduced Annual Percentage Rate; however, a lower rate is currently not available.

Unfortunately, we are unable to comply with your request to remove the annual membership fee from your account. According to your Cardmember
Agreement and Disclosure Statement, an annual fee will be billed to your account on the open
date and on the anniversary date each year the account is open. This fee allows us to continue to provide quality service to our customers.

Please be informed, our records do not indicate any annual fee assessed to your account.

If you wish to close your account, please respond directly to this email with your request or call 503-293-4037 to reach our Customer Care
Department.

As a friendly reminder, your payment is due on 06/26/07. If you have already made a payment for at least the Current Payment Due, please disregard this message.

Our Check by Phone service has been added as a convenient option for our cardmembers. Although there is a charge of $15.00 for this service, it frequently helps our customers avoid late charges. We guarantee payment will be applied the fastest way possible at a cost that is less than a late penalty. All cardmembers are advised of the fee and must agree before the
transaction can be processed. If you wish to use our Check by Phone service, please contact us at the number on the back of your card.

You are important to us and we appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

Benny
Orchard Bank Customer Care

I wrote back again asking them to escalate my requests & this is what happens:

Dear,

We regret to hear that we will be losing your business.

However, we respect your decision and will proceed with the closure of your account. Please accept this response as confirmation that your account has been closed.

If you have not already done so, please destroy any credit cards or convenience checks you may have for this account. Please be sure to cancel
any recurring charges such as insurance policies, subscriptions or other membership fees, which are automatically billed to this account.

Closing your account does not automatically stop these charges. If you have any outstanding transactions or an unpaid balance, you will be responsible for payment of these items and will continue to receive monthly statements until
the balance is paid in full.

According to your Cardmember Agreement and Disclosure Statement, accounts that are closed with a balance will be assessed a monthly maintenance fee of $3.50 until you have paid your balance in full.

Thank you for using our online services.

Sincerely,

Prakash
Orchard Bank Customer Care

Steve,
First of all, I'd like to know how you got a 500.00 limit will 34 charge offs and I only received 300.00 with a 3rd of your problems. Oh well..........
As far as your interest rate, just wait-they have stated that they are raising the rate on everyone and may just have not gotten to you yet.
You also stated to send a check for your payment-if they can't post internet transactions in a timely manner, just imagine the nightmare a check could be. If they say they never received it, it's your word against theirs.
You may have not had problems with their website yet (and you are fortunate) when you do, remember, we told you so.

You said, "I got a $500 limit to start even with my 34 charge offs."

You then went on to lecture this young man on taking responsibility...

This is akin to Charles Mansion giving John Wayne Gacy a lecture on how to treat people with dignity and respect. Before you lecture ANYONE on taking personal responsibility, try embracing the concept yourself.

Then, try actually paying even ONE of your 34 accounts off before you decide to rack up another unpaid debt.

Are you writing down these suggestions? I'm handing out gems here...

I also had problems with their website in the past which resulted in my payment being late and their fees showed up very quickly.
I was able to get all the way to the end and then the website would not process the payment.
I immediately emailed them to let them know there was a problem with their website and that I would not be responsible for late fees because of it. Of course, they never responded and when I called, they more or less called me a liar. And of course the foreign person on the other end of the phone was impossible to understand.
They want our American business and money, but hire foreign customer service reps that only read from a rehearsed script and can't speak English very well at all.

Wesley,

I recently became an Orchard Bank customer. And, I read the disclosures fully BEFORE applying for the card, and understood exactly what i was getting into. I got a $500 limit to start even with my 34 charge offs. I pay a $59 annual fee and my interest rate is nowhere near 29.9%.

I paid my $59 fee ONLINE with no problems BEFORE I even got my first bill. The site works fine. I have been on it numerous times without 1 problem. The customer service line is a bit of a problem though, as you will often get a busy signal.

As far as making payments goes, MAIL A CHECK!! If you cant mail a check for at least the minimum payment on your account in time to get there by the due date, you have absolutely no business with a credit card or a limit higher than $300!

Take responsibility!