SM in Colorado says: “In September 2006 my $500 limit credit card with HSBC was charged a $69 annual fee, three months before it should have been charged. I called to dispute the charge because it put me over my credit limit (I was not expecting the charge until December.) I called to have them remove the charge and told that when I sent in my payment they would credit the charge. I sent my payment, but because it did not cover the over-limit amount in its entirety, the next month my bill showed another over-limit fee, and no credit for the pre-charged annual fee. I called to dispute the charge again and was told that they would not credit back the pre-charged annual fee, but that it wouldn’t be charged in December – and they could not reverse the over-limit fees.
Then come December they charged the annual fee again. I called to dispute it and was told it was a standard annual fee and that the September charge was not an annual fee, but some other fabricated fee that was not represented anywhere in any of my contracts with the lender. They said it was because they have the right to change the terms at any time and they added a membership fee that summer. So on to of a $69 annual fee, they added a $69 membership fee. As shown by my credit reports with Experian and Equifax I never missed a payment until December, when I refused to pay more than my minimum payment and called weekly to have them remove unwarranted fees (membership and over-limit.)
I tried to close the account and pay it in full (minus the unfair charges) and was told that I could not close the account unless it was paid in full (which is not true I’ve come to learn.) So I stopped paying completely. They stopped sending statements after May 2007. In August 2007 I received a letter from FFPM CARMEL HOLDINGS LLC stating that they are a collection agency on behalf of HSBC NV. They said the collection amount of $869.57was due. I contacted the agency and paid the account in the amount of $525, the amount due minus the $69 unfairly charged fee and late/over-limit fees accruing after December 2006. I was clear about having them report the payment in full to Experian & Equifax, and was guaranteed that it would be done within 4 weeks. (It wasn’t.) The amount of $525 was still $400 more than I had charged to the card in total and accrued in interest that was outstanding since opening the card in December 2003. Meaning I paid all my bills every month for 3 years, paid the interest, which peeked at 29.99%, paid 3 annual fees, and in the end got a derogatory report on all 3 of my credit reports stating the account was a charge-off for HSBC NV.
Then, on December 21, 2007, a collection agent for SIMMS Associates called and said I had 24 hours to settle the same HSBC account. The next day I received a letter from them in the mail saying that I owed $354.93 and they were a collection agent for FFPM CARMEL HOLDINGS. So the collection agent and HSBC got all the money I owed plus some, then sent a frivolous amount supposedly unpaid to another collection agency for the amount I was overcharged in the first place by HSBC. The agent even had the exact date that I paid the $525 to FFPM CARMEL. It’s a fraudulent circle of predatory lenders that needs to be investigated, held legally & financially accountable for robbing consumers and hiding behind each other. Please put these entities out of business.”
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