Direct Merchants Bank: UNETHICAL METHODS, EXPLOITS THOSE WHO ARE UNAWARE OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS RIPOFF TULSA Oklahoma

After reading many of these so called "ripped off reports" I can't help but to ask myself: "Are you serious?!". Yes, I am an ex employee and most of you might think that I have loyalty to the company, well thats untrue, I could care less. I do however want to make one thing clear and that is that when you (the consumer) accept a credit card you enter into a legal contract with the issuer. You are by law provided with a copy of your Cardholder Agreement in which explains to how the card works, sure its fine print but YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO READ IT. Just because you don't agree with the policies of a bank doesn't mean you are getting ripped off- that just simply means that you are an ignorant consumer.

Direct Merchant's Bank is a credit card bank, they offer no savings, checking, CDs or any other financial service apart from credit cards; they lend money to consumers and collect on the debt much like any other bank does. Direct Merchant's Bank targets the "near prime" market, meaning that you have "fair" credit, of course this is subject to interpretation but overall DMB targets consumers who don't have the best rating, the reason why they do so is because these people need credit and someone has to give it to them. Their risk management is very conservative but it is not illegal nor a secret, again they told you in their agreement that if you are late you would be charged a fee, likewise if you exceed your credit limit or if you bounce a check- they even told you the amount.

Most people here have complained but I can almost bet none have bother to read their agreement, the fact is that you are responsible adults and entered into a legal contract with a bank, you borrowed money and now you are upset over the policies in which the bank operates. If you had read them you wouldn't be in this predicament now would you?

I have read complaints about how "unfair" their late fees are and how "unfair" it was for them to remove me from our debt management and raise our interest, the fact of the matter is that if you had paid your bill on time you wouldn't have a late fee. When you consolidate your debt and you open a new account, whether you buy a car, home or get another credit card you violated the conditions, in which you agreed not to seek any further debt so long as you want to remain in the debt program- so again, what is the problem? Most of you want things your way and want to get away with as much as you can, this is probably the reason why your credit score is "fair" and why you end up with credit cards from such lenders as Capitol One and DMB. As someone previously mentioned, ignorance is not stupidity but it sure isn't an excuse. Many of you threat to seek legal action because you feel the laws were violated, that is simply feable minded talk. If you couldn't comprehend a simple cardholder agreement, what makes you think you are qualified much less knowledgable about cosumer law?

The reality is that DMB (Metris) was the 6th largest issuer of credit cards in the USA; this is why they were bought out by HSBC. HSBC is the second largest bank in the world and they wouldn't buy a company that is "unethical, unfair or illegal". Business is business and "buyer beware" is as true today as it was 50 years ago when Dinner's Club introduced the firt "credit card". Many of you have no idea about how credit works and then just complain, do yourself and everyone else a favor and educate yourself, check your credit report and score and honestly look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: "Am I a good customer?, have I been late before?, do I pay my bills on time? and most important did I read my agreement?" If you are unsure then well I think my point was made, if you lied to yourself and said "yes" well point made and if you honestly answered "no" well point made again!

First of all, what is USPO mail??????

Second, there is no such thing as a "Cease and Desist Order". AND, the original creditor can legally contact you even after you tell them not to.

Under the FDCPA [Federal Law], you have the right to notify a THIRD PARTY/Debt Collector to "CEASE COMMUNICATIONS".

Then if they violate this request, you can file an FTC complaint, AND you can sue them in federal court for up to $1000 per occurence, plus costs.

Any letters you send must be sent certified mail, return reciept requested.

Collectors who are employed by your original creditor are not bound by this request. Only an outside debt collector or debt buyer are bound by this provision of the FDCPA known as the CEASE COMMUNICATION request.

Heres one for the books, I put a cease and desit order against DMB 3 yrs ago they have not only contacted me after the order, which they can not do, only to let you know what they will do, now is sending out letters in the USPO as to them changing their location as to collections in NEVEDA
Mark

If you recieved a letter advising you were removed from a CCP [credit counseling program] get a credit report. Did you buy a car? Did you apply for a college loan of some type? that plays a role. It's not just "hey did you apply for a credit card" no not just that simple. I am a former employee and honestly this isn't about loyalties and such. I honestly can care less what happens there. But lets be fair. Everyone wants to be the victim but do they really stop and ask and learn what is really going on ? Do yourself a favour and do a credit report. But this advise is coming a wee bit late now that I see the original post date. Still for anyone that reads this or any other rebuttals I have written thus far, always remember, being ignorant is not being stupid, however it's not an excuse. Educate yourselves on every credit card company you do business with. Each one has their own rules albeit somewhat similar.
Also I know we're not supposed to have rebuttals that just continues a thread but I have to. Previous post by an 'ex employee' is somewhat misleading. Let me clarify.
Metris does not 'hide' its holdings. Metris IS the parent name or rather was it has since been purchased by HSBC. DMCCB was the card issuing arm of Metris. Metris did engage in other forms of business as most card companies do to diversify where their profits come from. Don't want to just make money selling lemonade, what if the world stopped drinking it? As for selling of the enhancement products to the LLC in the UK, yes that was done for the company to survive so that myself and the other ex employee who previously replied would have jobs. Metris' biggest card related cash cow was not the enhancement service the other employee mentioned as Inside Access [hardly any of our clients bought into the sales pitch] The cash cow WAS/IS the debt waiver services. They sold the other ones to the other company because they were not profiting from them anyway. I do agree though that collections was quite important. However 2 sides to that. Why was it so important? Well the bottom line of course. A good portion of our clients owed us money. It's simple really. For us as a business to survive we had to collect moneys owed and enahnce the collection tactics especially when in collections statuses such as delinquent accounts and overlimit accounts. It isn't unethical, it is business. Businesse s are there to make money and keep their employees employed so that you don't have call center of 200 agents closing down because we had to forego the money that was owed. Now I left the company and at times, yes I too felt I having to follow the policy of the bank, felt uneasy about things. However nothing was unethical nor illegal nor immoral.

DMB is the only credit card company that I'm aware of that "hides" information about their corporate holdings and finanical information by giving that part of the company a different name, which is Metris Companies in MN. DMB can hardly be regarded as a subsidiary...that is Metis's primary, if not sole business.In the late 90s they were growing like gang busters, having only started around 97 (from crazy interest rates and their products like Inside Access that were sometimes sold illeagally to customers), then they tanked around 2001.

At the beginnging of 2003 there was a major shakeup of the exec team and even the CEO was ousted. A guy who was planning on retiring took his place. In the 3rd quarter of 2003 DMB bank in Scottsdale, AZ sold off all their CDs which I believe is a result of an investigation by the SEC. However, their wasn't enough information to press any charges (as I understand it). At this time they also sold off all of their services (such as Inside Access, etc. to another company based in the UK). This was the biggest profit maker in their business, so Metris now only has the credit card business and a service called Debt Waiver (which is managed at their bank in Scottsdale).

They had horrible losses for years, the biggest being that 3rd qtr 2003, and now are trying to be profitable once again and they are doing this by raising their already insane interst rates and collecting fees on everything. When I was there I got to listen to customer serivce speak with customers (the centers are in FL and MD). Most of the time it seemed that they had to deal with these same issues that you speak of. The biggest part of the business, as you might guess, is collections.

Thankfully I no longer work there. I always felt horrible knowing I was supporting such an unethical business, and I had to deal with some unethical people. Even though there was always a stack of DMB credit card applications for employees. Of all the people I knew that worked there, only 1 person actually had a DMB card and I thought that person was crazy. Look at their finanical history and their sudden rise to profitability. It makes me wonder if they are just trying to do a quick turnaround to profitablity, so they sell off the accounts to another business in a few years.