First Premier Bank First Rip-off! Sioux Falls, South Dakota

I've been with First Premier for a little over 2 years now. When they initially sent my card(S), I didn't really care for the (roughly) $200 in charges already applied to each account. So, I personally called and spoke with a representative. Wow! That guy was extremely nice.

I told him I couldn't afford all 3 cards. He asked me if I could afford all 3 with $100 taken off of each. I very hesitantly replied, "Maybe for just a little while."
If I knew then what I know now, all 3 cards would have been cancelled right then.

That was the first phone call I had ever made to them and apparently it was the LAST NICE phone call I would ever have with them. I appreciated someone finally giving me a chance by providing me the opportunity to build some kind of credit in light of my prior credit history (mainly hospital bills).

Now, I (a starving college student) decided it might be in my best interest to keep all 3 cards and possibly establish myself as being more responsible in hopes of building better a better credit record. I did very well for about a year. I couldn't afford $60 a month in minimum payments, and I knew that but, still I tried. The first whammy was at the end of the first year.

My cards were all 3 (still) nearly at the $250 limit. When the annual fees popped up in January it cost me a fortune in fees. Having forgot about the annual fees, I called them to ask what had happened. As if I didn't already feel stupid enough for forgetting about the annual fees, they talked to me like I was some sort of degenerate, bum, or trash. Having realized that indeed it was my fault and it was clearly stated on the contracts etc. I paid and paid and paid and got back within my credit limit. I wasn't mad at First Premier because it was truly my fault; however, they didn't have to talk to me like I was some sort of Dead-Beat-Dad.

Ok so, that's over and I'm ready to move on and get the cards paid down a little. A couple of months after that, more mysterious charges appeared on one card. Again, I called them only to be talked to like an unworthy bum. Apparently, when I was entering the numbers for my checking account, to make a payment, SOMEHOW the last number was omitted from my routing number (DUH! It's the same 9 digit number I entered on the other 2 accounts....why would they even accept an 8 digit routing number and give me confirmation?)

Needless to say, I closed one of the 3 accounts that day out of aggravation. Just think about this people, I was paying $21 a month just to make my payments ($7x3) and they wouldn't even lift a finger to help me out or fix this "glitch." Was I griping about that? NO... I wasn't. I realize that all those extra services (online and phone pay) cost them money (In reality it should have cost them less money than processing a check sent in the mail but... I'm still not griping).

Ok, now I'm griping. I was trying to get in a groove to where I could just send my payments in and save $252 a year in "PAYMENT" charges but there was just one problem. My bills stopped coming in the mail. Here we go again, 3 cards heavily taxed with late charges and over the limit fees. I figured, "Ok, so they've made a mistake (it happens)."

I called them to get it straightened out. For some reason, they felt the need to CONVINCE me that I had called and changed my address to an address that I haven't lived at for more than 2 years! I hadn't even heard of First Premier when I lived there....I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A CREDIT CARD WHEN I LIVED THERE! So, seeing it was clearly a mistake on their behalf, I asked them to do something about it. They did something alright. They waved the charges to one of the cards and still billed me for the other two! That was the best I could get them to do for me. I immediately (same phone call) closed the high interest account that they removed the charges from and eventually paid it off with no problems.

Ok, now I sit here with God only knows how much in charges and fees because I've been out of town for going on 3 months. I had everything taken care of, I had someone caring for my plants and someone retrieving my mail and paying my bills. I got home the other day and my answering machine was full. 98% of the calls were from First Premier with an "URGENT" message.

Well, it seems that this one and only bill was the only one that hadn't been paid in 3 months. I nearly lost a friend with my frustration of figuring out just why in the world she hadn't been paying this bill. Well.....It's really hard to pay a bill when it isn't there. How in the world was my friend suppose to know to pay a bill that never came in? I, on the other hand, would have known something was wrong because I KNOW THAT BILL IS SUPPOSE TO BE HERE AND IS DUE BY THE 2ND OF THE MONTH.
Looking back, I guess I should have just let the plants die and I should have hired someone to babysit my creditor as to insure they weren't making any "CONVENIENT" mistakes that will cost me for the rest of the year.

I'm so angry, mad, and fed up that I could spit bloody nails. OH and how I so look forward to calling them only to be treated like a liar and a bum again and for what? Absolutely nothing, because I already know there is nothing they are going to do about it except treat me rudely, call me a liar, and charge me regardless.
I know there has got to be something I can do about this. So, instead of paying them (for another one of their mistakes), I'm going to pay a lawyer and do whatever it takes to expose these "tactics" that seem to keep appearing. I know that in all fairness, I shouldn't call these "mistakes" tactics but what else should I believe? Should I believe what they want me to believe? Should I believe I am a piece of trash and a dead-beat that doesn't pay his bills? Oh and don't forget about how they'll call me a liar and try to say that I changed my address AGAIN!

All I can say is... It's a good thing that card is maxed out and over the limit because who knows who they have been sending my account information to? If you ask me....this type of crap is a major security risk....But oh well, It isn't their problem right? Well, not yet anyway. I'm telling everyone I know about this. I have several friends that have already closed their accounts just since I got back into town... you should hear some of their stories. Apparently it's not just me.

A word of advice:
Don't think that by doing business with these people that you are "rebuilding" your credit, because it's not going to happen. It seems that they will go out of their way to make it worse than it already is.

I wouldn't have posted anything if I hadn't heard and read stories similar to mine.

Kirk
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
U.S.A.

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