JCPenney Credit Card/GE Credit/Synchrony Financial Never received bills or card - contacted first by collection agency Nationwide

You pretty much hit the nail on the head in every regard to the original situation.  Unfortunately, I believe the time has passed since I could make a court claim on this incident, but I do appreciate the comment - and hopefully someone else will benefit from the wisdom contained.

And yes, it has been some time but I do remember having to have account numbers to log in online - a number which you did not get until you received a bill - which made it impossible to register online.

I have since learned to be much more careful with these predatory discount offers that HSBC and their ilk are known for with their store credit cards.  It looks great on paper... but this incident was definitely an effective teacher.

 I dealt with both the bank and their store and have long since cut up their card. The person who stated you can access your account info without the credit card is very misinformed. For one, you need the credit card number to access your account for the first time. If you don't have it, you can't pass the verification screen.

Also, if someone else got your card, and already registered the account using their information, then obviously you can't gain access. Check your local county small claims court website. This was how I dealt with them when they tried ripping me off. I went online to my small claims court in California, filled out the small claims SC100 forms, then printed and saved the forms on their server.

I then sent a copy to the bank telling them to either fix the issue, or we'll have a judge address the issue, which they immediately fixed the problem. You see, my state and many others do not allow attorneys at small claims. My state also forbids a company from canceling a small claims to pull an arbitration stunt, where they use their own paid people to force judgements on you.

The moment they see the small claims court papers, most of the time they fold and fix the problem, because they can't use their attorneys at small claims, at least in CA this is the case. Check your courts policy's. With no attorneys allowed, they are crippled and know full well they can end up paying a lot more if they lose, so that comment of you have to pay what they ask, don't.

My court on several occasions where I did have to file, resulted in the entire debt canceled plus fees awarded to me. It wasn't much, but better than being bullied into paying what you don't owe. What JCPENNEY and their bank pulled with me, was I paid off the card In six days, three months later, they never reset the available credit.

On top of that, I paid off the card days from purchase of about $200, and even that wasn't reset. The bank pulled the stunt of saying this is because it's a new account, so payment is held two weeks. Funny, it wasn't two weeks. It was a total of four months for first pay off, and one month, and there comment went from there is nothing they can do, to fixing it immediately once they got the copy of the small claims subpoena.

I since cut their card up as to be honest, I have my own bank cards and to use theirs offers no benefits what do ever than just upgrading your silver card to a gold shiney one with same high interest ratings. The 35% off was the only benefit, and one time only. Good luck

To sign up for online processing requires an account number which was never received.

I will look into the other options given, but as you said, it is likely they will simply brush me off and let their lawyers rake me over the coals.

I do appreciate the other suggestions but with regards to your "larger issues" comment, there were plenty of large issues to attend to at the time, but your phrasing could use some improvement.

First, I am a consumer and do not work for GE or JC Penny.  But buying clothes and not paying for them because you didn't get a bill isn't an option available to you or any of us.  If you read your terms and conditions on the card you will see reference to the fact that there is no requirement to actually bill you.

You do have access to your bill on the website and you can pay there or go into the store and pay. It is probably too late for you to do that now because it has been so long that it has moved to collections.

You might be able to pay JC Penny directly by getting in touch with their Executive Office and pleading your case. Pay it in full and get a goodwill type adjustment to your account where the negative information is deleted. That sometimes happens but not often and it is best approached as gingerly as possible with full payment in hand. Look up Goodwill Letters or Pay for Delete in the legitimate credit and debt websites to get further information.

You obviously have larger issues to handle with your wife since she said she paid it and yet the bill is not showing up as paid. If she did actually pay the bill, she should be able to provide proof of payment and you can provide that to GE/JC Penny so you can get your credit straightened out.