Direct Merchants Bank

I have been with DMB for over ten years. My limit was $5700, which I never surpassed, but due to being laid off and making ends meet, I was hammered with overlimit fees each month and late fees each month until my balance reached over $7000. In the past eight to ten years, I have paid over $15,000 in payments and my balance is still $4100.

A good example is last month. I paid a $128 payment and only $32 went to the principal of the account. I asked customer service if they had a program to reduce some of the excess charges and here's where catch 22 come in. If your account is currently not past due or over the limit, there is no assistance. The way they work the system, when I can finally get this account paid off, I will probably end up paying this account more for a credit than for a house. They will hound you for a payment and make sure they get their late charges but still want to see how much money they can suck out of you regardless of the situation.

During the past seven years, I have survived retirement due to health, beating cancer and losing both parents but I still never missed a payment in fear of having them start stacking charges on me again. They closed the account but continued charging me late charges.

I received more than 30 calls from a collection agency stating a balance more than $2000. I requested copy of statements because I know what I had purchased through Direct Merchants. Unable to send me statements, they continued to harass me, calling early morning, late at night, even on Sundays. I tried to explain that I was willing to pay what I owed them for less than $600. No one would help. Two days ago ago, I received a letter from a law group stating if payment is not received within 30 days, charges would be filed. After searching on internet, I finally found a phone number in one of the complainants' story. Three phone numbers later, I was told that my account had been sold to an acquisition company and only they could get copies of my billing statements. I called acquisition company and was told that was not true. So as of this moment, I just want to be heard. There seems to be a lot of people that feel the same.

I am a long time customer. I admit there was an outstanding balance every month, but i was still making the required payment issued each month. As soon as I finished paying my card in full (which I overpaid by mistake), I was sent a new statement that read zero balance owed, but my account had been closed. I called the # on the statement, and had to talk to someone foreigner I hardly could understand. This person said I would have to go online, and reapply for a card. I am asking why. My credit was good with my payments. My card was paid in full, so why was it suddenly and without any notice, closed? This is very bad business to a very long time member. I just want my card reissued (as before), and I would be fine with that.

I have had a credit card for eight years with this company and have done thousands of dollars with them. Recently, I have had difficulty paying my account and in October, came out of retirement to help make ends meet. In October, a representative of Direct Merchants called to make arrangements for payment. They stated that if I made three payments of $134 biweekly, that my account would be caught up and I would not receive the daily calls anymore. The payments were made as they were deducted from my bank account.

In December, I was called and told that I needed to pay $499 and my account would not be in arrears any longer. I told them that I had just paid what they asked and was told that was last month. I was told that if I did not pay what they asked, that the phone calls would continue. I agreed to pay $250 on December 16th and again on January 16th. When I looked at my bank account online, they had debited my account on the December 16th and again on December 30th.

I called customer service and spoke with someone named Asaab who, when asked, said he was in India. He informed me that this should not have happened, but if I wanted to have the charges reversed, I would need to go to my bank and fill out forms to have my money back. He continued that this would take up to five to six days after the forms were delivered. I told him that it was not acceptable, that I would need to take off work to do this and went on to tell him that if they can push a button on their computer to withdraw funds from my account, that they should be able to push another button to put it back.

I then spoke with his supervisor who told me that if I insisted, they could reverse the charges, but it would take up to 30 days. Unreal! The next day, I received my statement that had the December 16th payment and stated I owed a minimum payment of $110 due by January 17th. So, why was I being harassed to make these payments in the first place? I am very upset that this company who makes millions each year would stoop so low as to take money without prior authorization from a person's bank account.

You have, this month, charged me $70.81 in fees and another past due amount shows $137. I get paid the fourth Wednesday of each month, and I pay you the same day. I started the month with $3,900.87, and ended with $4,059.59. If this keeps up, I will owe you more than I ever did. What is happening? I have never paid late, except on your billing system. I have paid you each month, and my payments keep increasing. I am frustrated.

I received a phone call from a woman in India, trying to get me to apply for a lesser percentage on my Direct Merchants MasterCard. She wanted to transfer me over to an account, financier? When I told her I wasn't really sure who she represented, she could not relate correctly, being offshore. I said, no I wasn't interested and hung up. She called me back! It took me forever to get off the phone. I told her not to call again.

I have been calling since March to get a $15.76 refund for some payment protection plan. I was told each time by someone in India that they would handle it. It is now August and I still don't see a credit number one, because I did not receive the bill for August.

I called today to talk again to someone in the US and was told they can't guarantee that. Why not? It's funny, all these years I have received this bill and now, all of a sudden, I did not. I waited for 20 minutes for John **. What is that all about? No one ever came to the phone. This company is sickening. Elizabeth **

On 5/2/11 I called to pay off total balance and close the account. I gave ACH routing number and checking account and received confirmation #28108219 and closed my account. I paid in full. I have been monitoring my checking account waiting for the payment to clear. Today 5/12/11 I called to investigate why the payment had not cleared.

I was told by customer service rep Randy #8NV that they were unable to clarify the checking account number. I have used this checking account to pay all HSBC/Direct Merchants Bank bill for over a year and half. At no time did any customer service rep attempt to call me to rectify this situation or to clarify the account number. No action was taken on their part to fulfill my directive to pay off this debt.

Instead, today they charged me an additional $30 as the bill was late. They wanted to charge me the additional $15 for check by phone, but after asking, they agreed to waive the $15 check by phone fee.

I should never have been charged that last fee of $30. I called the customer service number 1-800-379-7999 and the recording states that this account was paid in full on 5/2/11 and that the account is closed. I want my $30 late fee back as I was not late, they offer poor customer service and there is no one there to talk to. Where is the CEO or Pres. of Customer service when they are needed?

I realized my card was being charged for Account Protection which I had not requested. I called to have the charges removed. I had actually paid this for three months. They said that they could only remove two months of the charges unless I wanted it to be "investigated" and if they then found I had not requested it, they would refund the total fee.

Well, I knew I had not requested it, so agreed to let them investigate. I feel this is a scam as most people would say "ok refund two months" and they can keep the rest. This week will be the 90 day mark. I am sure, I will not receive anything prior to that and will probably have to make a call to get it then. I do not see how this is any less fraudulent than any charge put on a credit card that you have not authorized and is simply a way for them to either hope you don't notice, or if you do notice, that you let them keep part of it to get the refund faster. If they are doing this to me, trust me they are doing it to many people.

I had applied for their credit card back in 1992 or 1993, I think, not sure. I was in the middle of my mother passing away, pregnant with 2nd child and in a middle of a divorce. I was only working part time and used the credit card to feed my kids, etc. From what I can remember, I only charged about $2500. After my ordeal, I lost my job and wasn't working, couldn't pay my credit cards. So I notified them of my dilemma. After a year or so, I started a new job and was able to make payments. I was not able to come to to a reasonable agreement.

Then my dad passed away. I was found with cervical cancer and was in a financial hardship, trying to feed my daughters and find a way to pay my rent. I tried my best to contact all the creditors and Direct Merchants was not sympathetic to my situation so I had no choice but to fulfill my priorities and feed my kids. After a few years, I was able to regain financially and started to pay them on a monthly basis.

Just last year, the place I was living had a water flood and I lost all my documents, etc. I was not able to contact them with my new situation. They recently contacted me stating I owed them over $21,000. This is ridiculous and unreasonable. I tried explaining my situation, willing to come to a settlement for the original amount owed and they where not in agreement. This kind of company should be shut down. They give you credit and then exploit the consumer. I'm a single mother solely supporting my two girls. I worked to pay my rent and put food on the table. I don't take vacations. I can't remember the last time I went to the movies or ate at a restaurant. So I live paycheck to paycheck. And they want me to pay them $900 a month which I can't afford even if I wanted to.

I have never had a credit card with Direct Merchant but they claim I have not paid in almost a year.

In April 2006, I filed Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. I had a credit card with Direct Merchants Bank which I included with the bankruptcy. DMB did not respond to the notification of the bankruptcy, instead they charged off my account not until October 2010. This is not fair at all. I have paid my bankruptcy off and it has been discharged as of October 6, 2010. I am watching my credit report and watched the score go down considerably because of the charge-off status on my credit report. I have called them and asked them to remove it but they refused and only to tell me that it's their practice to charge off. This is not a way to protect the debtor who files a bankruptcy and have this treatment and outcome from a credit card company.

In 1999 my boyfriend applied for a credit card with Direct Merchants and I was an additional user. His social security number was used and his signature. Some how, many years later, (now), I have a judgement in my name on my credit report from this credit card being unpaid. We both used the card and he was the primary and financially responsible for the account. I have no way of contacting them.

I have never ever had a Direct Merchants credit card! I have been receiving bills for something I have never had and this is also showing up on my credit and I never had this card. I have only had three credit cards in my life and none of them were over $500.00. So a card for $4000.00? I just do not understand! I want this taken off my credit immediately! This has damaged my credit for some time. What are you going to do to help fix that, I wonder?

I recently had a stroke, which caused me to shut down my business of 24 years and now I am disabled. I have been doing business with Direct Merchants Mastercard for years. They had my payment scheduled for the first day of every month, no problem until I was declared disabled and received one check a month on the third of each month. I called them to have my payment date changed to the third of each month, two days later, and they refused me. I cut up my card and am telling everyone how they did me.

The remittance envelope they send you to mail your check is a security hazard. Not only is there no plastic film enclosing the address, there is no inside imprinting so that all your account information can be seen quite easily behind a bright light. It would seem that a company who wants your business should care enough to spend the money to protect your account information as much as possible. This is the only credit card that does not have adequate protection against identity theft. Boo.

I've bee a loyal customer to direct merchants bank since 2001. I actually paid them off once in 2004 or 2005, unfortunately I ran the card back up. I missed one payment in 2009 and the interest rate went to 27.99% which is extremely high. I called them to see if the interest rate could be reduced at least 3x, and until this day they refused to reduce it. They informed me that I am a good customer but unfortunately they can't reduce the rate at this time. Some of the customer service representatives are very rude. I explained to them that I'm not trying to get away without paying, I just want to pay without it being a strain. I'm still making my payments on time but the finance charges are killing me. I just want or hope to get a reasonable rate that would make it possible to keep my credit in good standard.

I even sent them a letter. with the check number and date of my payments to them . they do acknowlege that they are in the wrong but all i get is words and no money please help me! I m 60 years old I need help please!!

I paid my balance online and they acknowledge posting the payment on June 25. Their policy states, they can put a hold on my payment to post for up to 14 days to verify funds. I believe this is unreasonable given the availability of information among banks to verify, it should not take this long. They said July 8 is when they can post the payment. I believe check verification laws were passed decades ago to minimize the hold time banks put on verifying checks. This is ridiculous. I cannot use my card for further purchases and lose out on advertising I could have purchased to increase business. In addition, big inconvenience and embarrassment when I present my card with payment posted early and balance fewer than 10% of credit limit.

After 22 years as a loyal customer with an impeccable payment record and a credit limit of $20,000+. I received a notice that my limit was being reduced to $5000. When I questioned it, I was told I should consider myself lucky because most people were taken down to $300. He said it was a business decision and not my concern. I have chosen to close this account and have copied the credit agencies. This bank is only interested in raising rates and charging penalties than taking care of long term customers. My credit rating is impacted negatively by the reduction in the available credit amount. No explanation is given by the bank that shows it was their business decision and does not reflect on my credit worthiness.

I received a notice from Home Depot credit cards service stating that my account was closed and not to use my card. Home Depot received the report from Equifax with an adverse report against me for nonpayment of a credit card issued to my son, with me as a courtesy cardholder. Direct Merchants Bank originally issued the card to him with me as a courtesy. He is the primary cardholder and the bills are issued in his name only. My son changed his address quite some time ago and does not reside at my address. He relocated temporarily for his health and the credit card company was notified of this change until further notice. The billing has not been received at my address in almost 2 or more years.

Why am I being damaged for an account that I never knew was delinquent and one that I am not the primary cardholder? I called Home Depot and they were most courteous. My credit card was immediately reinstated because I have an excellent payment history with all my accounts. Thank you Home Depot, which is one of Direct Merchants/HSBC's retail giants that they sponsor on one of their cover letters.

payment of $4750 in advance. Even though they had a credit balance of $3482.50 sitting there, they refused the charge because my allowance on charging was $3000. This is outrageous. They never paid me interest on my credit balance and refused my charges. They need to be sanctioned.

I have been asking for interest rate reduction for past year. I pay 28% on balance over $10,000. They acknowledged I have very good payment history and have this card approximately 10 years. I am self employed and my income has been inconsistent in past year. I asked to settle account but their payoff number is very high. I also suggested I make large payment $3000 to $4000 on balance and trade for a very low interest rate on balance and keep account open with this arrangement. They refused any and all interest rate reduction.The customer service people are not willing to any allowances and some of them have been rude and made remarks to me about my integrity and insults.

On May 4, 2009; I contacted Merchants Bank. I had intended on purchasing/charging new tires and wanted to know what interest rate the Company would be charging. With all that has happend with the economy, I wanted to know what I would be getting into. The first Call Center agent-Godfrey, told me that my credit card was closed. Closed?! Why? Due to lack of use since May 2008. By the way-it is May 4, 2009.

I asked why i was not notified. He said he was sorry, but due to lack of use, the card was closed. I repeated my question and he repeated his answer. Now I am angry. He offered to transfer me to another representative. I said, wait a minute. I have had this card since 1987 and have ALWAYS paid on time. Not only that, the expiration on my card shows January 2011. This is 2009! He repeated the same story and said that I would need to re open a new account. What?! Did he not hear what I just said.

I asked him, now. Why would i want to reapply? What incentive can this Company give me to retain me? He repeated the same story about my account was closed due to lack of use and i said, maybe you are not aware here. But the economy has been in the toilet. Yes, he said, i am aware. So why would i make charges on my card when I may not be able to pay? Isn't your Company required to NOTIFY people? He again said he could transfer me. i swear he read it off a sheet of paper!

He transfers me. I cannot understand the second person either, so I ask to speak to a Manager. She too, must have read off the same sheet of paper, because I went through my whole story, having great credit, closed for WHAT reason and she said i could apply again. She put me on hold and another person came to the phone, this time she spoke more fluent English. She said that i could re apply and POSSIBLY get a low interest rate. I had to take each letter and talk slowly so she knew the difference between the letter "S" as in Sam and "D" as in dog and then she still got my home address incorrect! She did what she referred to as a "soft credit check". ?? It would go to some Bank that I never heard of, use my checking account routing number as a security type thing, I had to pay 200 dollars AND there would be a 35 dollar a year fee! I hung up!

I had that credit card since 1987. Never missed a payment-late, but 98 percent of the time i was ON TIME. That is a long time to have ONE credit card! They closed my account, NO notification-does it matter if it is a Platinum card?! NO. HOW can they close me with NO notification? I will NEVER get a card with them or ANY company that deals with Call Center agents in India. They are wealthy because America sent all those jobs over there! After all these years with one Company, I have nothing to show for it. Nowadays the Companies want MORE than a 750 credit score. OK FINE. Then play with ME too! Without ME-it doesn't matter what my score is-nobody will charge a damn thing!

Direct Merchants Bankr Reduced my credit limit from 7000 to 3000 dollars without notice. When I called to find out why they did this all the customer service guy could tell me is because this would save them money and reduce their risk to bad debt. I explained to the guy that I paid my card on time every mnth and always paid the balance down in full and that there was no risk associated (FICO score over 790). The guy is a total idiot and refused to do anything therefore the account has been closed and they can hold on to all their customers that are willing to put up with this.

On June of 2008, I put this account with CareOne Debt Mgt, of course Direct Merchant insisted that they did not know, but went and accepted payments of $60.00 per month, after being in the program for 6 months, my account was not going anywhere, so I dropped out of the program. In July of 2008 I contact them personally and spoke with a customer svc rep. who stated that I could go into their debt mgmt program as long as I kept paying the $60.00 a month. As of today's date I have made every month payments.

On Monday April 6, 2009 I received a statement and the account balance has grown over $400.00. When I spoke to customer svc they insisted that the payments have not come to them. I pay this bill on my billpay from my bank and have documentation of this. The women stated that I needed to sent it to her, i refused. This account has been a disaster from the get go, I have made every attempt to clear this but to no avail. How do you pay something every month for 6 months or longer and the account grows. By the rate of them I will be 70 years old before this will even be below the account balance. I need desperate help with this because I am getting no where from this agency. Thank you.

I recently contacted Direct Merchants to arrange a paydown plan, as CNN and MSNBC advise. Be in contact with your lender. Well I was told that any payment plan would be available to me, and if I paid under what the full amount due, I would be acessed late fee's, and possibly after 60 days, my account would be closed. When you go online to make a payment, due tomorrow,the 6th, full amount due, they have the date set up so the payment is actually being received on the 7th, and subject to late fees..

In 1996-1997 I opened an account with Direct Merchants for a secured credit card with a deposit of $500. The following year I increased it to $1000 with another deposit of $500. I ran into some financial trouble and had a balance of $800+/- on my credit card. I wasn't concerned because I knew I had the $1000 to secure my debt. I refinanced my house in 2002 and it didn't come up as a creditor.

I got laid off a month later. It appears they sold my debt to another company and kept my $1000. I tried to fight it but in 2003 when I sold my house, I had to pay the debt, now over $1100 with lawyer fees and such. So I paid my debt and am still out my $1000 plus all the interest for the past 10+ years. I have not been able to find a way to get in touch with them. I would like my money back and have no way to get it.

I filed a refund request for any overpayment to my account. I was told on several occasions o call back within 15 days. Now its nearly 2 months plus and I've still not received my refund.

General aggravation after being told on several occassions to expect a check in the mail.

I have been a customer for years. Since my credit isn't that great and can't get another card I just keep this for emergencies. They do not allow you to make a payment on the current date. On 3/13/09 at 1:09 am EST I submitted a payment which was only the annual fee (Not sure that I should have been charged that at this time either) of $29.00. The earliest date you can imput to pay is 3/14. I don't understand that. That would put me late probably as my due date is 3/17. The 13th is a Friday so they really won't process the payment til 16th. I'm digusted that companies are allowed to do whatever they want.

I can see from my experience and other's on here with DMB and other credit card issuers I've come to a conclusion the real reason why DMB is doing a lowering of all their card holder's credit limits is lower risk to a small degree, but what is really at work here is,first off your credit score takes a hit, and when you look around the U.S. all credit card issuer's are doing this so this may not be the only lowering of credit many of us will endure, so everytime another credit card issuer does what DMB has done your credit score takes a another hit. This I believe is collusion on all card issuer's to get everybodies credit score so low none of us will qualify for loans or credit of any kind from all the bailout money the Gov't is handing out to them.

However, we can come on here and gripe and b.tch, but we have no one to blame but ourselves as we keep sending do nothing congressmen to congress.

I can see from my experience and other's on here with DMB and other credit card issuers I've come to a conclusion the real reason why DMB is doing a lowering of all their card holder's credit limits is lower risk to a small degree, but what is really at work here is,first off your credit score takes a hit, and when you look around the U.S. all credit card issuer's are doing this so this may not be the only lowering of credit many of us will endure, so everytime another credit card issuer does what DMB has done your credit score takes a another hit.

This I believe is collusion on all card issuer's to get everybodies credit score so low none of us will qualify for loans or credit of any kind from all the bailout money the Gov't is handing out to them. Furthermore, if Gov't officals ask why the credit insitutions are not loaning out the bailout money they have a ready excuse ...nobodies credit score warrants any credit, so now they can take all that money and invest it where they want to and give their top Exec's pay raises and big bonuses. Great scheme and brilliant way for the bailout money to stay in the hands of crefit insitutions therefore the bailout money given these jerks doesn't make it into the economy to jump start it. However, we can come on here and gripe, but we have no one to blame but ourselves as we keep sending do nothing congressmen to congress.

Got a letter in the mail today telling me that my credit line had been reduced from $4500 to $320??? So I decided to give them a call. On my third try, and 50 minutes on hold, I got to talk to a human. All I wanted to know is why and if they could do anything for good customers like me. Well here it is. The why is that the economy is bad, and they don't want to do anything for good customers because there is a very small chance they might have financial trouble in the future. Unlike a few of you I was able to talk with a supervisor and this is what he told me. It sounds like a lot more people will be having troubles with them since they made this decision across the entire card line and axed everybody's credit limit to cover their bottom line.

Hopefully this does not hurt me much since I am in the middle of a refinance and looking to buy a car in the next six months. I will be getting a credit report before the week is out. I am done with them but my credit can't afford for me to cancel the card, but they won't make any more money off of me.

Direct Merchants Bank(R)Account issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N. A. My card limit was $2300.00 with a balance of 194.97. Without any notice my limit was reduced to $660.00. I discovered this while checking my account on line, even though my last statement still indicated the $2300.00 limit. My statements were always paid on time and more than minimum always paid.

I emailed HSBC and received and finally received a written notice this week that it resulted from We recently completed a loss mitigation review on our Direct Merchants Bank (R) Mastercard(R)accounts. Whatever that means. I don't see how they can do this, but I guess they have the right to do anything without proper notice. Guess this was some fine print in the agreement??? I have always paid on time and more than minimum and my total of all my credit cards owing is less than 1200.00.

I applied for a credit card from directmerchants bank in june of 2005 and was approved with a credit line of $4,400.00 and within 2 years was increased to $5,600.00,I was always in great standings with never being late and always paid more than the minium,I used the credit card in january 2009 and when I received the statement I noticed my credit limit was reduced from $5,600.00 to $840.00 and for no reason and never was notified from the bank I think this is a disgrace and I wrote to the bank and as of today 3/8/2009 have not heard from them explaining way.

as of now no damage has been done but am worried how this will affect my credit rating with the credit bureau's

On February 28, 2009 when trying to use credit card it was declined for a hundred dollars worth of medicene. I knew I had an avaialble balance of at least $2500.00, and this wasn't even close. When I got home, pulled up account and to my surprise, credit limit had been changed and now I showed an overage that I need to pay immediately. Wow, no notification of any kind - customer service didn't respond back as to what happened and I was left in shock. Finally did get an answer in mail weeks later that my account limit had changed. Said I had been categorized - I've also placed them in a category.

Their business practices have me emotionally upset & very stressed, especially now during tough economic times. Here's what they do that I had no choice to play along with. I've had the card for many years and discovered several things. At first, sometime in late 90's or early 2000's, you could make a payment on-line and get instant credit. At some point, they figured out they could make more money by delaying the posting to your account by 2-3 days. So now, even if all other places where you pay bills on-line give you immediate credit for your payment, DMB does not.

They have it come due on a weekend, and then when it doesn't post to your account till Monday, oops -late fee. Even though your bank pulls that amount out of your available cash immediately when DMB shows it, and you are no longer getting interest or credit for that amount. But does Direct Merchants Bank? If they have a hold on it, or it's sitting in their account for 2-3 days waiting to get posted, are they able to collect interest on money with whoever they bank with. I'm sure they get interset on their bank accounts from someone, and using my money, along with hundreds, possible thousands more of people each month is a scheme, and they continue to get richer.

They not only late fee you when they've got a hold on your money, they're probably getting interest on your money in the mean time. This waiting to post is not practiced by any others that I'm aware of. They're ripping us off each month by putting that money in limbo (bet it's their limbo)waiting to post to your account. Now for an extra $15, they can do an immediate payment. So they could give you instant credit - you pay it, the money's got a hold on it or already gone, and they sit on it for 2-3 days. Who's collecting fees and why do we not get credit for any? Massive scheme/scam going on at Direct Merchants Bank.

On 2/21/09 accessed my acct in response to an email I sent asking why I had not been notified of a $7.000 decrease in my credit and increase in intewrest rate. While on my online acct site I scheduled a payment due the 28th. On 03/04/09 I recieve another email and that I'm past due. I think somebody at DMB read my strongly worded email an decided deleted my payment and record thereof. Just so happens that along with the decrease in credit limit and a past due which then added a late chg which in turn put me over my credit limit thus another fee. What a bunch of greedy predators. I can't believe when CA people read what they do to all the people on here complaining for various reasons that Consumer Affairs Class Action Attorney's haven't brought lawsuits against DMB.

What DMB does can't be legal, so why so timid CA Attorney's. Who the hell is going to put a stop to their underhanded shenanigans, who's going to protect us and care what happens to us we have no leverage with DMB which is sad all the way around.Credit Card issuer's are now the most arrogant, predatory greedy along with Wall Street. I've now paid them $100.00 and returned $150.00 worth items the 03/4&5/09 credited to my card and I'll bet my balance has gone up. It just ain't right!

I have found that many others before me were suddenly snubbed by this company. People who were paying their bill on time, dropped from thousands in available credit to hundreds. My question is:Why would a company drop so many people who paid their bills on time for years? Something doesn't smell right here.

This afternoon I received a letter in the mail from DMB stating that they recently conducted a loss mitigation review on their accounts. As a result from this mitigation review my previous credit limit of $6800.00 was reduced to $600. I called DMB and they had no good explanation other than their insurance company conducted an audit, and the results of this audit are impacting 1000's of DMB customers. This practice is absolutely ridiculous, and I am truly offended and appalled, as I have NEVER been late, Never over my credit limit, and have been faithful for the past 6 years to this institution.

As a result of this I have paid the balance in full and informed DMB that I want my account closed as soon as the transaction clears. I am just extremely thankful that my balance was below my new credit line of $600. I truly would be less tolerant if this were not the case. Now I am faced with the inconvenience of having to order yet ANOTHER credit report to see what negative impact this has on my credit rating.

Despite never missing a payment or being late, this company has repeatedly raise my interest rate. I haven't used the card for years because of this,but have continued to pay more each month than the minimum payment. Today I received a letter that my credit limit has been lowered from $12,500 to $7,700. While this is still more than the balance I owe, it could have a negative impact on my credit score.

This could potentially have a negative impact on my crdit score since one of the ways that scores are determined is the ratio of money owed to available credit.

I see after looking at past history on this website that Direct Merchants Bank is trying to accomplish the same thing with my account. I have had my account for several years & have been paying my payment every month. I received a letter in the mail today that stated they recently completed a loss mitigation review on their accounts and as a result of the class of accounts into which mine fell they have reduced my credit limit.

What is strange to me is that they reduced it to barely over what my balance is. It's almost as if they are trying to get it as close as they can so that if something should happen & I were to use it they could slap me with an over the limit fee. I have paid more than the minimum balance most months and have only been late with payment maybe 2 or 3 times over the past 4 years so I would have considered my history with them to be a good one. I really don't understand why they did this. I have had different credit cards in my lifetime and have never had one do this. Is this legal?

On Monday 3/2/09 my Master Card issued through Direct Merchants Bank had a business charge declined. After frantic investigation and a phone call I was informed that my credit limit of $6,500.00 was reduced to $960.00 and without any notification. This is after over 5 years of faithfully using the card for business purposes and PAYING THE BALANCE IN FULL EACH MONTH! I have never been late, never carried a balance and paid well ahead of the due date.

At the time of this decline my balance was only $950.00 This decline of my card charge caused damage to my business and I am one of the loyal businesses in this country that keep the country going. I am fed up and am now to the point of closing and getting rid of employees. If the government is going to allow this type of activity to continue in the credit card scam I want no part of it. I can only imagine what effect this is going to have upon millions of other cardholders and the deepening recession.

You need to look out for those of us that pay for your salary and healthy benefits, and are an asset to this countrys financial well-being. I hope for a response to this e-mail or letter, however you received it. Thanks for your time Dennis McMillan PS- I paid the outstanding balance of approx $950.00, cancelled the card and told the credit card company to shove it as far up their arse as possible.

I've had this credit card, with a credit limit of $5,000, for years and had it paid off for a long time. Then in December 2008 they sent me a piece of mail offering a special deal if I called the 800 number. The special was that I could have 6 mos. purchases with no interest. At the end of February 2009 we had less than $500 charged on the account. Then I receive an email alerting me that my account had reached its limit-I'm thinking no way, somebody else must have got ahold of my card. Pulled my account up on the computer and it showed my credit limit was $590 and that I was $28 over drawn on my account. And this was the only official notification I received.

Thought this must be a clerical error, I called and was told that this was a system wide decision. I asked why had I not been notified my mail and they said they would be mailing out those notices withing the next 2-3 weeks. After the fact. So within 7 days my credit limit was dropped 88.2% causing me now to be over the limit on my account. I asked what I would need to do to get that limit increased to $1,000 and they said I had to reapply. I told them I would like to reapply then because I know I would quality since I was already qualified for a $5,000 credit limit. They said I couldn't do that. I asked why and all they could say is you just can't.

This was the only credit card with a high limit and we rarely used it. Mainly we saved it for unexpected emergencies (like replacement of appliance or major car work). This was our only fall back card. Now I have no card to fall back on and I have lost the secure feeling I had beforehand because I know if we have an emergency happen, we have no where to turn, except bankruptcy.

We have had a DMB CC for over 10 years and we had a $9600.00 credit limit on it and the card has been paid off for several months. I went to put some merchandise on it and I called first to make sure that the credit limit was still $9600.00. THe statement I got in January 2009 said I had a 0 balance and a $9600.00 credit limit. When I dialed on the home page I found that my $9600.00 was dropped to $300.00 with no explaination. I called the customer service dept and all they could do was say I don't know. We have nevey been late and usually paid the card off each month. Dealing with these people is like dealing with a bunch of idiots who has no clue of what is going on. I don't know what happened and why it happened and obviously DMB doesn't know either. Probably my dealing with this bank is over with.

There is no consequences from this except I had to use another CC for my daughters wedding - the inconvenience is all that occurred.

Firstly I had a problem with them taking the money out of my account. I gave them the correct info over the phone, and they charged me almost $100 in fees for this payment not going through. Also they said they were taking $30 out of my account. Come to find out they took $40 and put me into overdraft. So the next month the same thing happens. They finally tell me why the payment isn't working. Still refuse to reverse the fees after they called me telling me I was such a great customer and they would not charge me any late fees.

During that same phone call, they tried selling the account protection to me. I told them no, THREE times. The lady then says ok I have enrolled you and hangs up. I promptly called back making sure she had not enrolled me, and they said she had not.

So I get my next months statements with the charge for the account protection. When I called to get all of this sorted out, they refused to reverse any fees after admitting it was their fault and told me to make a separate call about the account protection. They basically did not care when I told them I would take them to court if they do this again and are going to lose customers. Do not ever get a DMB card! They will financially destroy you!

I have lost so much money. I am a student who can no longer afford to keep paying these people. They have tacked on well over $100 in fees, and also caused me to overdraw my bank account, causing more financial loss.

I had a MC with a credit line of $8,000 from Direct Merchants Bank that I hadn't used in 2 yrs with no balance on it. Then this past Xmas I used it then on my Feb online billing i saw where my credit line had dropped to $1500 without notification and whats their justification? Who knows, but as I surf the complaint web sites I see Credit Card Companies doing this to many many Americans lowering their credit line and upping their interest rate without good justification, except GREED at it's best. Things is this action causes a hit on your credit report and then other card companies use that as an excuse to do the same thing and you take another hit on your credit report, then you can't qualify for a home loan, car loan, new TV etc. What a way to treat the hard working American taxpayer who's money is bailing [them] out. I'm for all big bank exec to be put in jail for greedy fraud and underhanded practices.

I wrote 4 emails tonight about Direct Merchants Bank. Sen Chris Dodd even tho he's not my Sen. he's over the Banking Committee write him. WE need a National movemant to knock the props out from under these greedy Credit Card people. GET BUSY each and every one of us.

Hit on my credit and credit report

I have been a M/C cardholder with this company for more than 5 yrs. I am never late and always pay a good deal more than the minimum payment req. Three days ago I had a credit limit of $9900.00 and available credit of more than $9300.00. Today my credit limit was reduced to $630.00 without any warning and after contacting the company without explanation. I am baffled.

A charge has been attached to my credit card which was never authorized by me. I've contacted Direct Merchant's Bank, as well as AIG Insurance on more about this. I'm still being charged $25.90 every month, and now charged a late fee for subtracting the $25.90 last month after being told I'd not see the charge no more.

This act of financial terrorizm has left me totally affraid to do business with anyone attached to the credit system. This has cause stress on my personal, as well as business life, and has sent my comsumer confidence to a low from which I hope to be able to recover from.

In about 1999 My husband applied and recieved a direct merchants mastercard with a $500 limit. Shortly afterwards we separated and went through alot of hard times. Now, its 2009 and we are back at our original home and have started receiving mail from a collection agency for Direct Merchants for 18,790.42. How can a max limit 0f 500 turn into this?

Six years ago,I had some financial problems,and family medical problems. I always made my cc payments on time, I was late a time or two,and Direct Merdhants raised my interest to 29.9 and hit me with hellashes late fees, they threw me into default, plus my other cc.for the last 6yrs I have had no contact with them, 2days ago a sheriffs deputy met me in my drive way and handed me a supeona.

The planiff on the supeona is no one I know, they had a mention of DM in the supeona. I am 71yrs old, Social Security only income I have. Court date is 3/4/09. The planiff on the Supeona is World Wide Purchasingllc, I've never heard of these ppl. so I went to the internet and found 6 pages of complaints, plus information that they have sold their company to another on 1/3/5 co, called West asset management.

I don't understand how they can sue me for a debt, that is past the SOL ,niether company is in business, and both involved in a class action law suit against them. I couldn't afford an attorney for bankruptcy, and can't afford counsel for this law suit. Plus a $3,000.00 has now turned into $7,300.00 debt, I would never be able to pay this, even if I owed it, which I don't!

I called to cancel my card after I had had my credit card number stolen. I was told that a new card would be issued to me and it would be in my hands in 3 business days. I called to follow up for three weeks. After three and a half weeks a new card arrived at my house via USPS after I was specifically told my numerous representatives that the card would be sent via DHL. I spent over 12 hours speaking with representatives and holding over three weeks. Not only was the card sent three and a half weeks later, they failed to provide me with any information on the status of my closed account and new account.

In February of the following year I called to get the total finance charges I had paid for the year. Customer Service told me to add it up myself. I explained because of the fraudulent activity and online payments I had no access on their website for the previous 11 months due to the account number change. I was then told they could issue me paper bills $7 for EACH month! This company has no interest in its customers whatsoever!

Not only was I with out a credit card for three and a half weeks. I was unable to access my previous statements and finance charges online and unable to declare the finance charges I paid on my taxes.

Please be good enough to advise. This credit card raised my int rate 4.75%. I have never been later and have maintained my account perfectly. Can they raise my rate just whenever they want. I have not purchased anything on this account for several months. I did not sign on with them at this rate.

This guy called stating that he was investigator calling to discuss my Direct Merchant Bank Account. He said there was a red flag on the account and that I needed to pay at least $100 to remove the flag. I told them that I wouldn't have my disability until February.

He insisted that I get the money and send it via Moneygram. I told him to give me an address in which to send it via money order. He said that they needed it to be sent moneygram to prove that I would pay it. When I said I don't feel comfortable doing it like that, he threatened to send someone over to serve me a subpoena for court. I owed $2500. I actually owe less than that. I called the Better Business Bureau and they said it was a scam. I checked the number on my caller ID. One number was from Jamaica and the other one was a cell phone number. I know this because the prefix was 971. My cell phone and the cell phones of four of my friends have 971 as the prefix.

I contacted Direct Merchant Bank today because I received another call today, and told DMB about the call. They have no record of my account or my bill from 2001. I do not dispute that I owe money, I just think that they would send me a bill in writing.

The Jamaican number has called at other times saying that they were Publisher's Clearing House and was sending my mother a car and also saying that she has won other items. We refuse to believe them or give them money.

This is ridiculus! I have been a reliable payer on this account for years. They are charging me 29.99%! Never a late payment; I will never get my balance paid off. This is terrible!! the WILL NOT negotiate or lower ones rate. This is robbery. Maybe I should just stop paying, no wonder they are in the position they are in! who bails us out! This country is for the top income earners while us worker bees support their large bonuses and ridiculus lifestyles. Nobody will help...

can't afford it, stress and sleepless nights from being robbed.

I closed this card due to them raising their interest rate if you are late. It was already high enough. I have made my payments on time and over what I usually owe. Now I am over my limit due to their APR. I think that is unfair to the public and to people who barely get by paying bills.

I will forever be paying these people. I will be retiring soon due to a disability. So if they do not act right now I am going to turn them over to a credit card debt collection.

The first by garnishment, the second time by settlement and the third time by garnishment.

My husband received a credit card from Direct Merchant. However during his mid-life crisis he became very ill. I called trying to set up arrangements for the bill because the bill was constantly changing. Between late fees and other fees I couldn't keep up with the payments. Customer service was horrible. Shirley was supposedly a supervisor who kept telling me to just shut up and do what she tells me to do. They refused to make any payment arrangements. I kept sending in what I could. Eventually the payments started coming back unopened.

After a while I started getting calls/letters from different collection agencies. They refused to accept payment arrangements as well. But did inform me to sell my home, borrow from friends/relatives or file a chapter 7/13. Three years later I am still having the same problem. I am not trying to get out of paying. I just need a monthly payment arrangement that won't have us living on the streets. Anyone who has dealt with this company & finally gotten rid of them for good, could you please advise me on how to do the same.

I am extremely stressed out about this situation. The phone calls all day & night has caused me to have a lot of sleepless nights and migraines.

I've had a Direct Merchants Bank card since 2005. Never missed a payment, never been late. In July, I paid my bill, as usual, online. I paid three days before the due date. HSBC didn't draw the payment until 4 days later - and then charged me a late fee. And raised my APR from 13.99% to 20.74%. When I contacted them, I was told - yup, you guessed it - it was my fault for not making the payment earlier, and though even though their web site says the payment will be credited in 1 - 2 business days, that was just an estimate and that if I wanted to be sure my payment was credited before the due date, I was advised to make the payment at least 10 days in advance.

I was told there was nothing that could be done about either reversing the late fee, or returning the interest rate to where it was before. In spite of my (previously) 738 FICO score and impeccable payment history with them and all my other creditors. As a result, my credit rating has taken a hit. And it doesn't stop there... When I went to make my payment today, I noticed that I was being charged for a 33 day cycle. I checked my previous statements, and they were in line with the 30 or 31 days in the calendar month. But here I'm suddenly looking at a 33 day cycle, with no explanation.

The HSBC rep was kind enough to point out to me that my interest is calculated on the days of the month in the cycle. Moreover, she was at pains to point out, not all months in the year have 30 days; some have 31 days. When I observed that August has 31 days (matched with billing cycle shown on statement) and September has 30 (matched), October has 31, and yet my October statement shows a 33 day cycle. Where, I inquired, did the extra 2 days come from? In response, I received a variation of not all months have the same number of days with a little some of the days are holidays and they're calculated differently.

As a final insult, I noticed that I can no longer make a payment that will begin processing on the same day, regardless of what time EST I put it in. So now, HSBC has effectively built in an additional 3 days of forced interest on your balance. And now, as a taxpayer, I'm supposed to pony up $700 billion to bail out these rip-off thugs? I plan on taking a second job, just so I can pay this card off faster. And then I look forward to cancelling the card, cutting it up into tiny pieces.

I did not realize this card had an annual fee, by the time I realized it I had 2 months of late fees on top of the $59.00 annual fee. I called to find out about the fees and I spoke iwth Sheila. She explained to me if I paid the annual fee she would reverse my late fees. I checked my account 3 weeks later and all the late fees are still on there. I called the customer service to find out what is going on.

I was eventually transferred to Chaz who is a supervisor and he explained to me the only way I would have had the fees reversed is if I paid using the check by phone method when I was on the phone with Sheila. Fine, however, Sheila NEVER explained this to me. She told me the check by phone had a fee of $15 dollars and I explained that I have made every other payment online so I would just do it that way. I thanked her and then I hung up. She NEVER explained to me the only way to reverse the fees was to use check by phone. Chaz was no help to me and kept transferring me to the collections or any other department except for his supervisor.

When I finally got his supervisor on the phone Cindy, she just kept telling me she understood, but she could not do anything for me. I am so frustrated right now, I cannot understand in this economy why a credit card company would take the word of their employee over the word of a customer. The whole situation just does not make any sense to me. Why would I not use the check by phone when it could have saved me $80.00????? I WILL NEVER use this credit card again. I closed the account and I will tell EVERYONE about the lack of customer service and care this company takes with its customers.

I received a gold credit card in the mail, actually I think I did receive an application for it. Since my credit was bad from a recent divorce, I thought this would be a good way to rebuild my credit. The credit limit was $300. I made my payments on time for about 6 months, then everything that could go wrong financially, did. I was not able to make the payments. I am on disability.

That was last year. I have been receiving statements from them even though I was unable to pay. The last statement I received was about 3 months ago, with a balance of about $657.00. Last week I received a letter from Jefferson Capital(?) saying I could start making payments to them monthly for 18 months and then restart my credit and keeep paying for 18 more which would be paying back a lot more. That is a lot to pay back a little over $600. Not only that when I called the company and ask why the $2000. was added and what it was for, the man would not only not answer my question, he hung up on me!! Do not waste any time calling these people! They have no business dealing with the public at all!!

I have been carrying this burden (24/7) for the past (6) six years. The first I had ever heard of Direct Merchants was a telephone call I received at work. I was told that I owed $ 12,918.68. I asked for the account number in order to check my records at home. I called Schreiber the next day to tell him I had no record of that account number. They would not believe me and continued to call me at work even when my supervisor told me the calls had to stop.

In order to get Direct Merchants telephone number and address I had to go to the town library. I also called our EAP (Employee Assistance Plan) at work for an attorney. The attorney that I was referred to reviewed my notes and said "What do you want me to do?" I was then told by my supervisor that I was being terminated after more than (12) twelve years as Controller - Chief Financial Officer. Since I did not have a negative evaluation.

Also in September a number of the board of directors told me I had done a great job on the FY 2003 Budget and in October the Executive Director told me I did a wonderful job keeping the computer network operational. I would feel that my termination was not a job performance issue. My assigned job search counselor recommended an attorney that would get this problem behind me in order to help with my job search or start my own business. I signed an agreement, paid $ 1,000.00 and was told I would receive an accounting each month of all the time he will spend. After a year or so he told us that we would have to wait until I was sued and then we would file a law suit against them.

I then started hearing from Daniels Law Office who was representing Portfolio Acquisitions. When my attorney was presented with statements that had been mailed to a Chicago address and clearly not mine as I have never even been to Chicago. In court with my attorney and an attorney from Daniels Law Office, the magistrate told us that I did not have any chance of winning a law suit as there are 100 individuals that are guilty for everyone of me.

Also, even though I never received an accounting of my attorneys time, he expected me to make a decision based on him saying that it would double the time he had already spent on my case. What ever that was. In summary, over the past six years I have spoken with three attorneys, a police detective in the Foxborough Police Department (who did not respond to my requesst for a written report). I have spoken to a representative of Attorney General Riley, who told me that they would keep a file on all correspondence I would send to them and respond if there were other complaints that were similar. I have written to Attorney General Coakley with questions, but have not received a response from her or her office.

I have written to the three credit reporting agencies, who have made some corrections to my report, but would not believe me when I told them I was not responsible for this debt. Even with a court order that was issued on November 7, 2007, I still have not received a confirmation from anyone that the order was processed. I have even written to Neil Chayet, WBZ in response to one of his reports that seemed similar to my situation, but did not receive a response. I just came across this web site a couple of days ago when I was looking for another site.

On 9-14-2008 I contacted Sunshine at Direct Merchants Bank to order some back Credit card statements to confirm some charges I made for a past purchase. I tried to go online to do so but found my account non accessible. Finding this old is when I called. After several minutes of trying to understand this person she informed me this card has been sold off I asked why this had happened and she tole me I had a 600.+ dollar past due balance!

I asked her what the charge was. She did not have that information, I asked her why I had not received a statement or letter explaining why this action was happening, she informed me the CC company had sent several and had had no response! I asked her what address she had and she proceeded to tell me it was in Ill, 61115 zip code! I have never been to Ill, and told her so. I had also had LIFELOCK make the call and we had a three way conference call. After a lot of back and forth Sunshine said she would have the fraud department contact me and at that point we ended the conference call.

Today, 9-30-2008 I received a call from The law office they hired to collect the bad debt! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! I contacted Lifelock and updated them. I also informed the collection agency of the previous conversations and found out they got my phone number from Direct Merchants! I am beyond mad I am ready to pursue Legal action against them!

I suspect this event has incurred a couple different increased credit rate fee's as I had no idea there was a problem, Home Depot home loan/Cabelas reduced my credit card limit with no explanation! I have incurred the expense of hiring Lifelock as a result of this and plan on keeping them from now on. And I am sure it has reduced my overall credit score with the 3 major credit reporting services and this is 100% Unacceptable!

I have Two credit cards with this company. One is Direct Rewards and the other is Direct Merchants Bank. I have never been late, Never over the limit and have always complied with our agreements as I do with all my credit accounts. I am a business owner and credit is something I must rely on. Well I often send two separate payments in one envelope for both accounts. I did so about three month ago and it has caused a nightmare for me.

The checks were clearly made out to Direct Merchants $200.00 and Direct Rewards $75.00 both well over the minimum payment. This company aplied them to the wrong accounts and cause my minimum payment to not be made on one of the cards. Therefore charging me late fees, increase in interest rates and treated me as if I had made the mistake. I

have spent hours on the phone with them they have even sent me a letter admitting to it being there era, yet still refuse to COMPLETELY fix my account. If you use a lot of credit than you know that DEFAULTING on one card can make all your other accounts with other creditors DEFAULT. This is completely unfair and illegal. I am not sure if it has effected my credit yet I am waiting for a report. Can someone PLEASE help me to do something about this company and the neglectfulness!

Hours of time lost, forced to pay for there mistakes. False reporting to Credit Bureaus (Lower credit score)

I paid the DMB card off in full and held it for security for two months. Only to receive a letter in the mail notifying me they closed the account and to cut the card. Frustrating considering it was there for security and it had a purpose. When I called the customer service number and asked to speak to a manager they could tell me nothing more than "we pay for you to have a credit limit and if you arent using it we cant justify keeping it open"! At least lie to me and say you value my loyalty but....

After years of jacking up interest rates and taking in thousands in fees/interest you close my account because of two months worth of no profit! Horrible customer service. Now i have to apply for another card for security..uhg

Just another rip off!

I had lost my job because of the company went bankrupcty so had trouble paying the bill. Finally collections took over and I did finally settled a payment with this collection. Now I have lost my receipt and still have this on my credit report as a judgement against me. I paid them. Put direct merchants on cretified check in 2002 was the lastest transaction!

I've got a judgement on me since 2002 had the card in 1999-2000. Want this off my record PLEASE BECAUSE I PAID THIS BILL! Thank you

has credit few yrs back made settlement agreement on card thought that was the end. few weeks ago husband ck had 600 a week taken out for 3 weeks before we could find out what it was from .

they garnished his wages and said i owed 5000 now on a 800 bill i paid for already . what a mess . they messed us all up.

If this is not resolved soon, I am going to turn this over to my attorney and have all of their business pracices investigaed!!

Not making any progress on the amount that they are saying that I or my wife owe them. Several months ago I had to have my account closed and open a new one so they would qqqqqit charging my account for unauthorized charges to my account

I have been with Direct merchants bank for 9 years and had always thought I had a great reputation with them, I can't tell you how much money i have borrowed and paid back ! It is unbelievable how a credit card co. can take advantage of it's loyal customers. I had a variable rate of 10.9 (a little high but not bad)for years, never late and many times paid way more then the minimum due. Since the economy has jacked up food and gas prices so have the credit card Co.s on their finace charges! I was sent a letter from DMB several months ago about the change in their interest rates skyrocketing to 22.9! I missed the letter!

I always pay my bills online and rarely open my paper mail. If I had known the change I would have cancelled the card and made the convienent payments until the card was paid off at 10.9. WHY CAN'T these credit card companys tell you the change of terms on your online billing? What in the world is the difference? THEY ARE SNAKES and they will find every way to get you.. especially when they raise your finance charge,

be careful of these snakes they will change your due dates to cause you to default and pay even more at 32.0.We as consumers need serious help from the Feds with these credit card co.s they are robbing us blind. And less they do forget, they were the ones looking for me and many others to sign up with them to take on their loan offer!

I'm seeking credit consultation!

i had a dm card and decided to consolidate some of my cards all of the 12 cards went along with this except dm. nothing the consolidation company could do or i could do was enought. they have the rudeist people working with and for them that i have ever delt with. now this company has sold this to someother company and think that they are shining members of the business world. to me they are the most cutthroat companies i have ever seen and i would make sure that anyone that i know will never have anything to do with this company

Over 1 year ago I received a call from the company stating that someone was attempting to use my card and attempted to charge $300.00 with my card so they suggested closing the account and issuing me a new card. This was fine but never received a new card so the account should have been closed. I have sent many request and called to have this corrected and request a current card but no success. They have continued to charge me @ 90.oo each mth in finances yet the account was closed and has not been used for over a year. They also try and charge late charges each month and I try and pay on time each mth. Do not have a card at this time and double payments have caused problems financially. I wanted to pay it off but finance charge is too high. Should I report to the BBB ow what? Thank you for your assist,

My wife had a Direct Merchant Bank card in 2006. She decided to put my name on it just in case of imergencies. Unfortunatly my wife had to file bankrupcy and because my name was on file I am stuck with the bill. This was her card befor we even met. I dont know what to do this totally screwed my credit up and left me with a $4000.00 bill

Years ago, i had a Direct Merchant's Master card. When i got overextended, is sought the help/guidance of Ammend Consumer Credit Counseling and got on their program. This particular Master Card was closed and accepted. I never owed more than $1200 on the account and that was back in 2001-02. In any event, they were being paid monthly for the last four years, through the debt counselors.

They sold to HSBC banks and are now saying I owe them $9200 which is ludicrous and deceitful. They are constanly harrasing me and they are very dishonest. All the information online has numerous complaints and the same story. Please help.

They are constantly harrassing me, and they have charged me over $8,000 for NOTHING! Again, this account was closed in 2002.

I ordered my Equifax report to see who i owe. My wife and i want to finally get all people paid off to have a clean credit report and to start again with jist one small credit card. When i got my report there was one item from hOusehold Card Service that used to be Direct Merchant. It says we opened a credit card with them for $7,500 in 2002 and with interest is now $17,000! My wife and i have not had a credit card for 10 years now. I did all the proper investagating, and did what i was told. I called the police and they came to my home to do a police report. I received paperwork in the mail from Greater California Financial, and filled out what i was suppose to I had the paperwork noterized,and mailed in a copy of my drivers licence.

A few days ago i received a letter from them saying that the item will be removed from the credit report and that in 60 days to get another report to make sure it was removed. I don't know how, or who tried to get over on me but because of this my wife and i have been denied a simple $500.00 capitol one card for a long time. I fell relieved it will be removed but i feel we were going to be ripped off if i didne;t take the right action!

Applied and received this card with what I thought was a low interest rate several years ago. [something like 12.99%] Used the card awhile and then began to notice my interest rates had gone to what I believe was 14.99% [No reason I can see why this was raised.] Earlier this year I noticed a change of terms for my HSBC card.[Did not know I had one!]In very small print they said my, APR, and several changes were being made to my card, which they would NOT even identify on notice or mailing envelope. I was not suppose to know what card it was evidently.

After finding out online that Direct Merchants is now owned by HSBC and noticing once again my interest rates jumped to, 19.99%. I decided I had enough of this deceptive, outrageous, abuse in finance charges etc. I wrote out a check to pay down a $3400.00 balance to within $300 with a $3200.00 check that was not posted until nearly two weeks later. [This address PO Box is no more than 3-4 day trip at most!] I called to complain about new finance charges, and given the run around!

I then proceeded to, pay the balance off that was quoted to me by the representative on the phone. In broken English I am told that they can do nothing about the charges and then put through their idiot auto system. Glad its finally over, I am shocked to find out on next billing, that I am being charged $14 finance charge on what is suppose to be a 0 balance! Their representative gave me the balance and I paid it. A phone call took me to Bernie [from India?] who could or would not waive the charge on a balance I did NOT have! A short discussion with his supervisor [Mr. Rowland] resulted in more nonsense and a comment that what they are doing is legal. When I disagreed, I was rudely hung up on.

I am sure there are some good banks out there, but I will forever be skeptical! Loss of time, sleep,and trust. [much stress] A financial hardship since I am retired and on fixed income!

I did not order a master card. I did not received a master card. My wallet was stolen and reported around 2005. Since then. my identity has been use by someone unknown to me. When I checked my credit report, your company was listed. Since then I have tried to talk to someone who can correct this problem. I am prepared to have my signature examined and can testify under oath that I did not order this card nor charge on it. I was told by your representative that this was done over the phone and no signature was needed.

I looked over the judgement against me in State Court and on that document their is no signature. Presently my account is frozen by your attorney. I want this corrected immediately or I will proceed with legal representation at your expense. Please prove to me how your company can give a card to a person over the telephone (as I was told) without proper ID and subsequent Signature. Note: In our retail business, we do accept charge cards (walk ins & phone orders)and the burden of proof that the client is who they say they are lies on us as retailers. If laws have change please inform me.

With a hold on my bank account, this has place a hardship on my family and diffulty in caring for my ill mother in law.

I used a credit card frim these people to security a dish network account several years ago for my daughter and I was paying the account it was a gift. We were told that account number will never be used, it's just for security. We had the Dish Network disconnected and the guy that did that left the receivers there and told my daughter that someone would pick them up...well weeks went by and she was about ready to toss them...then I go an alert deal I had sighed for that if anything over $100 was charged to my account I would be notified...and I was...but I still went on to see what it was and was going to make a credit card payment on the direct merchant card which we had not used since my daughter finished school about 8 months to a year ago (I let her use that card for gas and food because she went back to school) anyway when I went in online to pay on it there was a charge for 549 dollars unauthorized I immmediately called them, held for an ungodly amount of time and then got someone not callie that could not speak english finally I just asked could he connect me to someone that I could understand and after about 20 minutes Callie came on the line and she is the one that told me dish charged this to me and they could not do anything about it. So here I go again

I call dish network and they said we had not returned their receivers...I'm like welll no you didn't pick them up..I hung up mad as crap at all of them and called my daughter the next day....she had the return boxes delivered to her that day.. the charge to my card was about 5 days before...I don't read email every day. She has mailed them back but the charges were still there yesterday. Now I disputed the charges with the direct merchant people who have raised my apr% and I make my payments on time, anyway they told me to check back today well now for over 1 hr or more I have been trying to get on their stupid website and it won't let me in to look at my account. I think this is a trick so they can continue to charge f/c. can they do that.

I have tried to be good at paying alll these credit cards on line but sometimes you can't get on their website at the last or next to last day before due date and that way the charge a late fee this happens with BP and CHASE. The only card I have on trouble with is my Choice Vise and I've had it forever...thanks for letting me vent and if you have an answer as to if I can retrieve any late fees, f/c or any monies from this direct merchant companies please let me know. I'm 61 years old have worked all my live and have evidently helped too many people or I wouldn't owe so much on these cards and they only keep raising the apr....I guess bankruptcy will be my next step if I can't get the apr down so I can tell I'm paying something. I need a break from all these fees and maybe I can see daylight again...I don't want to bankrupt..never have and I don't want to loose my house and belongings but I just can't keep paying high interest credit cards.

I've spend hours sitting at this computer trying to get through to them and I've called on the phone to get a machine. My bill is getting f/c it should not be getting and I feel them should not raise the apr rate on items already purchased. I can't sleep thinking about this and I have a back problem so sitting here this long is doing it no good and I will hurt all day tomorrow at my job while all this could have been avoided if we had gotten those boxes soon or known the situation meaning it's different with each client of dish..I disconnected mine and the guy said that's your dish (same as he told me son about his) but I told him to take them I didn't want them don't know what happened to my sons. any I also have a large headache worrying with this again night because I could not get on to see if the charges have been removed along with any f/c...

In answer to the attorney question no not at this time I just want them to do the right thing..I somehow got off on a page of complaints about direct merchants bank and that is why I'm writing. Seems like there's a lot of complaints against them.

I settled my Direct Merchant Bank Credit Card with a debt collection agency in Dec 07 and paid in full. Direct Merchant Bank still charges me late fees and asking me to pay off my credit card balance of $5000. I faxed the DMB collection dept. and they still charge me late fees. I have called them 6 times and faxed them all the necessary documents for verification with no avail.

My credit report is getting dinged since Jan 08 with negative report on my DMB credit card even though this account has been closed.

We filed a chargeback with Direct Merchants bank as we only took 11 days of a 14 day Oceania Cruise and were charged for all 14 days. They acknowledged the chargeback but never answered us. After 90 days and several letters I cut up the card, sent it back and paid the balance minus our chargeback. That's the law.

They are still sending us bills!

I owed $15,000 in credit card debt. The credit limit was 8,000 and with late fees and over limit fees that kept on adding on even when the account was closed. Well, back in 2005 I was sending the law office $100 a week and paid the the $8000. Now 6 months later they are suing for the rest (over limit fees and late fees ). They don't understand with everything going up but the pay check, it's getting harder to pay a large amount. Do I have to pay this amount and if so can I make payment arrangements? Thank you.

Well they are suing me for the amount on the account. And this is not fair because I have read that Direct Merchants Bank sells the accounts to collection agency for hardly nothing. Now I have to go to court next month because of this. I do not have a job or nothing. This is not fair. I hope something could be done to Direct Merchants Bank.

I got a credit card from Direct Merchant Bank which I have NEVER requested. I returned it immediately after I called Customer Service and was told to return it; but, I still have it showing as an open account in my credit report. PLEASE, I WANT THEM TO CLOSE THIS ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY.

In 2006 I called Direct Merchants Bank to cancel my account so I can pay down my existing balance. I spoke with several representatives to achieve this task, but to my dismay I discovered in August 2006 that my account was never closed. Once gain, when I paid my account over the phone I asked the representative to make sure that the account was closed. The representative said she would close the account, but when I received my statement in September I noticed that the account was not canceled. Upset and angry with the incompetence of the representatives, I asked to speak with a supervisor; but when my call was transferred it was disconnected. After calling back trying to get voice-to-voice with a supervisor, I found this minor task impossible; therefore, I stopped calling. Every time I spoke with a representative from Direct Merchants Bank I stated that my account was closed, and no other charges should appear on my statement except the balance owed. But when I stopped making payments on the account due to a company lay-off and the collections department started calling, I was told by the collections department that my account was never closed! The account continued to incur interest fees, late charges and finance charges. I stated to the collections representative that I personally called to close the account.

September 2007, I received a notice from John P. Frye, Attorney in Virginia demanding payment on my account. I explained to the customer service representative that my balance was not $9,552.96. The representative replied: "I can see you have a lot of finance charges, late fees and other fees that were applied to your account". Now, March 1, 2008, I received a Summons from Atlantic Credit & Finance, Inc, as assignee of Metric Bank, which must be Direct Merchants Bank. The assigned attorney is Robert K. Bowen, Esq. Bar #531901.

Economically, I cannot pay the settlement fee that the first attorney was requesting, which as $1,592.15 for six months. My net income is $1,200.00 twice a month. I do not have the income to settle this balance with Metric Bank, aka, Direct Merchant Bank, aks, HSBC Card Services. I do not understand why, when I requested the closure of the account, all these inflated fees were still being added to the account. I have statements dated from 12/21/06 to 4/20/07 that clearly indicate that the majority of the fees incurred were finance charges, late fees, over the limit fees, etc. According to the Summons I received, I have 20 days to respond before a court date is scheduled. I am disputing the Judgment against me in the amount of $9,552.96 since over $3,000.00 of the charges are finance, over the limit fees, etc. These are bank fees added to my account after I requested the closure of the account!

These blood suckers threatened to take me to court after I declared bankruptcy. A family member embezzled from my company of 17 years. I had no other choice than bankruptcy. Direct Merchants Bank summoned their attorney, and I was threatened with court action to pay this debt. I had no other choice than to pay the debt because I was broke. The payment started at $10.00 per month. I paid the debt in full, and I hope this policy comes back to haunt them.

My family suffered as I had no job or money.

I had a credit card with them. I think I opened the account in 2001 or 2002. I did use the card and made payments, but they said I paid late all the time when I know I didn't. So they would add late fees; then came the over the limits fees. After a couple of years my husband became sick, and I couldn't keep up with the payments. The phone calls started 2 to 3 times a day. One night I received a phone call from a lawyer's office saying they were calling on behalf of DM bank. He told me my balance was $3200 (credit limit was $1700). He told me if we could work out a settlement that they would accept it; and that would close my account, and I would be free of them. We did. I agreed to pay them but told him I would call the next day and make the payment. The next day I called and asked for him and was told he was no longer there. I told the lady what we had agreed on, and she said he wasn't authorized to make that deal. She then said she would have to talk with her boss and call me back. About an hour later she did call back and said that her boss would accept it but had to have it within 24 hours. I couldnt' get to the post office so I told her I would western union it. She told me once they received it they would send me a letter stating I paid it off in a settlement. I never received the letter.

I called them back and was told they sent it but would resend. Around this time my husband became very ill and passed away, so I forgot all about this--until about 3 months ago. I received a letter from Wolpoff and Abramson saying that their client Palisades, acquisition assignee of Direct Merchants, is bringing a lawsuit against me unless we come to some kind of understanding. The letter said the total was $4589.50. I called them and told them I paid it off in a settlement. They said I had to prove it. (Here's where that letter comes in: the one they were going to resend.) They told me to call whoever I paid. So I called DM; they told me they sold my account and gave me another Number to call. This happened 4 times with 4 different numbers. I called Wolpoff back and told them what happened, and they told me if I can't prove it that's my problem.

Well they now have a judgment against me for $5058.25, and my bank account is frozen as of 2/09/08 . I know it is my fault because I didn't keep up with getting the letter, but with my husband being so sick and passing away I wasn't thinking too swiftly. My credit was great before my husband became so ill, and I did pay most of our bills off as I could. But DM was paid. It's alot of stress because I cant afford to pay this.

I pay my credit card account online. Today is 1/27/08. The bill is due 1/28/08. I went on line today (1/27) to put in my payment. They will not allow me to make the payment until 1/29, the day after it is due, therefore incurring late fees. The payment is NOT LATE! I called to get help and all I got was an automated service which informed me they will allow me to pay today (the day before the bill is actually due) only if I pay an additional $15.00 phone payment fee. Then I was disconnected. Called a second time, got a foreigner who speaks broken English, who once again connected me back to the automated service. So basically, they are forcing me to pay late fees (with interest) on a payment that is NOT LATE!

I tried to use the CreditCard last night and it was declined. I called them today and talked to a Michelle to find out the account had been closed due to inactivity (not used since Last July). She said there was a zero balance and they had no way of re-opening a closed account. She asked if I wanted an application to open a new one. Of course I said no thanks and would be glad to use my other cards instead. I got this card at the main Deposit Guaranty Bank in Meridian Mississippi in 1980. It has since changed its name and moved its legal address to one of the states that allows the maximum interest to be charged. I too have suffered from improper late charges. Now I will contact the three major credit bureaus to make sure that the account closing shows up as due to inactivity.

I paid my bill in December. I paid a little more than the minimum payment. I logged on to see if my payment had posted and it stated I was over the credit limit. When I asked them how I was over the limit they said because I didn't pay my full balance when the payment was due and then they charged me $76.08 finance charge instead of the $69.17 finance charge that was stated on my account.. My bill was paid on the 29th of December, but they charged the different finance charge in January and took it out of my December payment.. Please pay close attention to your bills.

They caused me to go over my credit limit.. It will cause bad reporting on my Credit Report. It will end up costing me more money in the long run than this card is worth.

I was surprised by seeing my credit applications refused in many stores. After running a quick check to my credit report, I found out that Direct Merchant had issued me a credit card of $300,00 that I've never received, and have to pay $193,00 late fees. I have tried to call them but have been told that they do not have access to my account. I insisted I talk to their manager, but he was not able to help me and ended up by hanging the phone on me. I tried again and again. I think that I was and still am, a victim of some kind of theft--especially since I have never applied for a credit card from their bank and never had been informed of it, To the best of my knowledge, a social security number is the main key for a credit card.

Such matter has harmed me because it is ruining my credit record that I was working hard to build up. I have been refused from having credit cards without knowing the reasons and missed opportunities for buying things that I need badly. I need to know how and to whom and when the credit card has been issued--why every time I called I had to get bounced from one agent to another with no answer.

Every month I pay my bills on time. My bank records reflect this. I have received three late fees in the amount of $39.00 each. One in September, one in October and one in December. Only one has been waived. I tried to resolve this issue over the phone with a Customer Service Supervisor. She informed me that their policy is set up to where even if payment is received on the due date, it is still considered late. I have never had this experience with any other company I have done business with. As a matter of fact, Direct Merchants has recently changed their policy to apply a late fee, even if the payment is received on the due date. I have always paid on the due date or a couple of days before in the past and have not received any late fees up until recently with this company.

I looked up Direct Merchants Bank in a search engine and was shocked to see that there are numerous other complaints about them posted on the Consumer Affairs site. It is in my opinion that Direct Merchants Bank (while continuing to practice misappropriation of funds) should not remain in business. Please see that this complaint does not go unnoticed. Thank you. I now have a lower credit score, higher interest rate and a loss of $78.00.

In about July or August of 2006 the phone rings one evening; it was one of those biiler room credit card salesman--broken English, very hard to understand. He's selling a credit card from Direct Merchants Bank, Platinum MasterCard. I really didn't need a credit card and tried to tell him that. To get him off my phone I answered his questions--the ones that I could understand. To soothe my aggravation I thought maybe in case of emergency, I should get the card. Well, in September I get this call from my daughter, and her car is broken down in Montana. I used the card to the tune of $1500. The card was paid off by Feb. 2007 and stayed in my billfold ready for the next emergency.

Guess what? Another one arrived this week, so I pulled out my DMB card, and now it was closed, even though the card says right on it that it is good until 08/08. Well I called them up to find out what happened, and in a nice patronizing voice the rep said that it was closed due to inactivity, and this guy spoke very good English. He told me I could reapply and would only take a couple of minutes. There was an application fee and monthly fee for the new card. Word to the wise: if you have one of these cards in your wallet for an emergency, it probably isn't worth the space it's taking up in your wallet. And yes, I have resolved my new emergency, but no thanks to DMB. I also had the feeling of being two inches tall with a declined card.

When I opened my account with DMB, I opted for the Payment Protection Plan that they offered. When I was laid off after 9/11/01, I tried to activate the so-called Payment Protection Plan that I had been paying for. The insurance company denied the claim, citing lack of cooperation by DMB, who of course denied any involvement. DMB told me that I purchased the Payment Protection Plan as a service separately from my credit card (even though DMB was selling the plan, and charging me for it). When I did not have money to pay the bill, DMB collection agents started calling. I told them that I was officially disputing the debt due to non-delivery of service that they charged me for (the Payment Protection Plan). They told me that my dispute was invalid, and repeated the line that the dispute was between me and the insurance carrier. Very shortly after this, DMB turned my account over to Arrow Financial Services of Niles, IL. To this day, Arrow Financial refuses to accept that the debt is disputed. Though transferred to Arrow Financial, the bad debt is still being reported by Arrow.

Financial Damage: The bad mark on my credit prevents me from financing a house. I am a disabled veteran with multiple injuries/conditions (back/neck/spinal, asthma, hiatal hernia/esophogitis) , all of which are aggravated by stress. The continuing harassment by Arrow, followed by stress of not being able to stop them from ruining my credit has GREATLY aggravated my conditions.

This game is unplayable and locks up when you try to play it. It has had these bugs since August but EA has done nothing to correct them. They were able to come out with a spanish version instead of fixing the problem. How can they keep this game on the shelves this Christmas?

This company refused for three weeks to post a payment to my account even though the money was immediately deducted from my checking account.

This resulted in a late fee ($39) and an overlimit fee ($39). After multiple attempts to rectify (both email and telephone) these charges they stopped responding to my requests.

I printed out my bank statement along with copies of my checks. I found an item that was fraudulent. Nowhere on this fake check was my name or even a signature, but it was a poor attempt made to look like a check of mine. After several phone calls, I found that it was Direct Merchants Bank who had taken an unauthorized payment of $237.00 out of my checking account and paid on my daughter's Discover card bill. She lives in Tennessee and I live in Nebraska. She knew NOTHING of this and neither did I. Back in May (half a year ago) I made a one-time payment by phone for her on this account, so they kept my information and USED it without my authorization. NO ONE's name is on my checking account but mine!

I am still trying to get this resolved but in the meantime, I am out $237.00! Roland, a Direct Merchant Bank supervisor, was very patronizing and said he couldn't give me any information because it wasn't my credit card. But, they can take it upon themselves to take money from my checking account! I am still furious and my bank is researching this. I don't know what else to do at this point. This is fraud and theft!

They would not work with us at all, period and turned us over to a Group of Attorneys and they are doing the same thing to us as DM did. Charging us outragous interest and court costs, yes we set up a payment plan but our balance has not gone down it has only gone up, so now they have threatned to put a lien on our house. We really have no choice but to keep throwing our money out the window to keep our house. We have been payiny since Dec, 06 and our balance started out as $5,736.48 and as of 01/23/07 it is $5,914.03 and rising.

I have had a credit card with Direct Merchants Bank for at least 10 years. I have always been in good standing, and I pay my entire balance every month. In the last six months they have arbitrarily closed the account twice just out of the blue with no letter, no warning, no reason. We go to a restaurant use the card and waiter comes back telling us it was declined. We go home call customer service and they say it was some sort of error on their part and they are sending us a new card. This needless to say is beyond unacceptable.This time the account is being closed.

Direct Merchants Bank charged off my credit card without notifying me, and this action is on my credit report. It's preventing me from getting a job. I need to get this taken care of. Can I set up payment arrangements?

Mental damage and impossible for me to get a job.

I pay my Direct Merchants Bank credit card bill on time each month. They don't post it until after the due date, and then I am charged a $39 late fee. My bank has to send Direct Merchants Bank a FAX telling them that it was indeed paid on time. This is going to ruin my 800+ credit rating.

i have had a dm credit card since 1999 and the card was unused for about 1 year. this is a card i paid off and would hold for emergencies. i requested convenience checks the first week of october 2007 and in fact received them on october 22 with a printed letter dated october 13,2007. the same day i received also another letter in a separate envelope dated october 15,2007 telling me that they had closed the account for non activity. i called and spoke to sharmaine, a cs supervisor who told me there was no one else to discuss it with and when i asked for the corporate office address, she refused to give it to me. i requested a letter to confirm that in fact this account was closed by DMB and not by me, she refused and told me not to worry about it that they report to the 3 credit bureaus that the account was closed by the client. this is an outright lie and i threatened with the nevada banking commissioner and the connecticut attorney general as well as the connecticut banking commissioner as well and she bluntly told me to do as i wish and hung up on me.

I have had a credit card account with Direct Merchants Bank since the year 2000, and have had immaculate credit standing with them. (getting them to increase my credit limit nearly took an act of congress, but that is a mute point now.) I received a letter in the mail the other day that they took it upon themselves to close my account due to inactivity. I called to ask if it ever occurred to them that people DO hang on to credit cards for emergency purposes...his answer was yes. But THEY decided that since i hadn't used the card recently, they closed my account without warning. No letter asking if i wanted it closed or anything. Just closed.

I had contacted an internet site which was having some difficulties. They billed my credit card for $13.46I contacted them the said have my credit card co. contact them This would be a credit to my account with Direct Merchants Bank. I called Direct Merchants Bank They said send them a letter I did.explaining what had happend They gave me a number to call for customer service. Icalled they said no problem at 1st.

Then there was not a credit to my account I wrote an other letter. Then got mad cancelled my account and I sent 5 letters and called manny times to fix this account. The $13.46 Was all that was owed on a $10000.00 account. I don't know what to do now?

After watching a consumer alert suggestion on WABC-TV on lowering high interest rates, I phoned & asked for the Retention Office. I requested a lower interest rate--mine is now 23+%, & also complained that I get a monthly charge of $25 for using their balance transfer one time. I was told this was impossible at this time. I feel absolutely duped. Is there any recourse?

I'm paying 23% more for anything spent on this card. I'm interested in paying it all off & hesitate---I owe $3500 & will have to pay back 23% more than that..

They keep going up in interest rates even though I have not used the card in 3 months. I keep getting overlimet fees because the intrest keeps going up. You try to talk to them and they say they can not talk to you, you have to put it in writing. Its very annoying.

My husband is on long term disability from his job right now after back surgery. It is taking a real hard toll on us. Trying to pay the card off is an almost impossibility with the way the interest rate keeps going up even though we have not used the card.

I wanted to pay off my Direct Merchants Bank credit card. I contacted them & asked for the amount that was left so that I could make one last payment online & not get another notice with a finance charge. The csr gave me an amount which was the same as what was listed online & the same as what the automated line stated. I went online while I was talking to the csr & paid the remaining amount.

Yesterday, I received a notice from them & expected a $0 balance. It was a bill for another finance charge. I contacted customer care to see why I was charged the finance charge when I had paid off the balance. I also explained that I paid it off with the intent of canceling the card because of the constantly fluctuating interest rate that they will never lower. The representative told me that they could waive the finance charge but could not do that & cancel the card the same day.

I told her I wanted it closed so she closed it and now the fee could not be removed. I was shocked! I have never had such lousy service from a credit card company!

This bank has been charging me for credit card insurance that I did not sign up for. When I called about it they told me that I had signed up in 1997, that can't be true because this was an inactive card handled by Genius Credit Management from 1995-2000. I had noticed just recently when the balance jumped from $1200 to almost $2000 even though I had been making payments to them. I took over the payments from Genius when the balance wasn't going down.

This was the only card that the balance was actually rising so I thought maybe Genius was not making the payments like they promised. So I started paying them. But if I was late by a day they were constantly calling over and over again. When I questioned them about the balance and the monthly payments keep going up, they told me that they couldn't cancel the insurance or correct the balance. I tried getting the insurance company to verify my signature and to fix the problem, but they wouldn't. I then got a loan and paid them $1500 and sent a paid in full letter stating again that I did not order that insurance. I also put in the letter that if the check was cashed they were accepting payment in full. They cashed it.

That was couple of months ago. And now I am being hounded by their collection people HSBC again. Yesterday I received two phone calls in one day over it. They are calling my work. They were calling my parent's house until I told them to stop calling. My mom had a stroke and getting to the telephone all hours that they were calling was not good.

Direct Merchants bought my credit card from another company. The company that had held my card gave me an interest rate of 12.99%. When Direct Merchants bought it, they immediately jacked my interest rate up to 19.9%.I couldn't understand why; I had never been late on a payment before.When I called to ask why, their exact response was, Well, yes you have good credit, but you don't have credit with us. After 6 months, if you make your payments on time, your rate will be reduced to 14.9%. Needless to say, I was furious! With the rate hike, my payment almost doubled. It was getting difficult to keep up. At that point, I called to cancel my card - I thought this would be the smart thing to do. WRONG! My rate then wnt up to 21.9%. The reason? I was no longer a 'preferred customer'!

With the rate increase, I had problems making the payments. Also, it wasn't just a deadline based on date, but also based on time. I had to have my payments in before a certain time. Even if it was the right day, it could still be posted as late if it went past that time. BOTTOE LINE: I couldn't keep up with the increasing payments. My bill went from $1600 to $4800 in a little more than a year - all interest. late fees, over the credit limit fees ( becasue of late fees!). My final interest rate was 31.9%! I ended up having my credit completely trashed. I settled for a payoff. I now have NO credit.

I have been behind on my payments but have recently started making regular on-time payments to Direct Merchants Bank. I pay the bill now as soon as I get it in the mail.

Still they are harrassing me at work and calling my house 5 or 6 times a day. Why are they allowed to keep doing this to me? I am a single mother who had health problems over the past couple of years and am just now getting to where I can pay all of my bills on time. What can I do to stop them from harrassing me?

They have made me afraid to answer my phone at home and my boss is getting tired of them calling me at work. Unfortunately, there's not much Kelly can do. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to collection agencies but not to the business to whom the debt is owed.

I have made every effort to pay Direct Merchants on a timely basis and deal with them fairly, but unfortunately, they have not shown me the same respect. I cannot wait until I graduate this semester and start working full-time. The first thing on my to do list is pay Direct Merchants Bank off in full and never do business with them again. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

As alaways I mailed my credit card payment of January 2003 on time before JAN 27th, but on Feb 4th I got my torn check back and a small slip says, "It was damaged during handling."

It was Direct Merchants Bank's fault for careless mail handling, they are charging me $38.41 late fee for not paying my bill on time. What they are doing is punishing me for their mistake. I talk to their representative but I was told late charge has been added to my account. It seems that they don't care about what they did.

I am a recent divored mom w/4 small chilern on state help. I had nothing but trouble with this business. They had pressured me by numerous phone calls because of one late payment. I am trying to work them about the fact that my life is not great for me now. This company takes advantage of people like me without any options. They pressured me to do a bank direct payment and still the amount minimum was so high. I am stressed out so much that I don't sleep, eat or leave my house. The fact they can play God hurts.

One day an offer came in for an unsecured card with a $2000 credit limit. I was about to throw it away as I had all of the previous offers. Then I got to thinking it would be a good thing to have for an emergency. I accepted the card at prevailing interest rates (at that time around 20 percent) and used it a few times on very small items and paid it off expediently every time until the "emergency" happened. I used the card to fly out to my father's deathbed and back, of course running my credit card up to a total of $1400+.

I would have paid my whole life at any interest rate they wished, I was so grateful that I had the credit card in my time of need, until I started recieving rude, untimely, ignorant phone calls about my occasionally slightly late payments. I would make double payments on my debt, sometimes a little late but never missing a payment altogether.

But the calls kept on coming, getting ruder and ruder as time went by. Finaly I had enough and told them to just stop calling me on the phone and contact me through the mail. They told me they didn't have to as they were not a third party collector. To date I estimate I have paid them around $3000 on the original $1400 debt. Needless to say I cut every card I owned & every card my family owned and closed out all accounts everywhere. I will do no more credit EVER!

My monthly payment was returned for uncollected funds because my bank put a 2-day hold on my payroll check. I called customer service and they told me they would send it back to the bank. They did not send it back through but neglected to notify me of this. My next statement had $99.00 in charges on it. I sent off that payment and my next statement had an additional $78.00 in late fees, all due to the fact that they lied to me about my check being sent back through the bank. take it from me -- do not get a credit card from this company.

Direct Merchants Bank quite obviously manipulates its billing so that their client's payments are "late" in an illegitimate attempt at creating more profits. In my particular circumstance, Direct Merchant's Bank regularly sends their monthly statements so that they arrive on or about the 9th day of the month; the payment being due on the 12th. Therefore, each monthly payment is automatically "late."

I have repeatedly attempted to call their "customer service desk" and can only contact an answering machine; which is highly offensive. Therefore, I have resorted to writing letters to the only address available -- the billing address. At these, various clerks have "forgiven" the monthly late fee; however, an infinitely worse situation has developed.

Last October, I discovered that Direct Merchant's Bank had arbitrarily raised my interest rate to an obscene 30%! Earlier this month, I sent a strongly worded objection to the billing address, along with a $311.00 payment. To date, there has been no response. Additionally, a week after making the last payment, I received a statement demanding a $400.00+ payment but, I noticed they had added some $300.00 to the balance. If ever I were to receive an "answer" Direct Merchant's Bank will undoubtedly resort to claiming the extra $300.00 are "fees, penalties" or other mendacious charges. The entire situation is absolutely unacceptable.

At this time, I cannot fully calculate the profound losses imposed upon me by Direct Merchant's Bank. Over the last year and six months, I have been making payments of at least $150.00 to over $300.00 each month. No new charges have been made as the account was closed many months ago. Yet, the total due on the principal has not significantly or, correctly decreased. This is to say, that well over $1,000.00 has been paid to Direct Merchant's Bank but, the total due has not decreased! This is a flagrantly obscene manipulation of the account for the sole purpose of gaining illicit profits; and, is totally unacceptable.

We sent in a check to close our account and they held it 7 days, until one day after the due date. This caused a late fee to be applied. Actually, the amount we paid off was $39 more than the statement said it was and they charged that $39 to our account with a $88.24 which left a $88.24 fee due, they said we were over the limit. When we talked to customer service they said they would charge $80 a day for any unpaid amount until the account was a zero balance.

On Nov. 20, 2000, David of Santa Rosa, CA, write: I called the customer service and got a young women. I proceeded to inform her that I had an extra charge on my bill indicating that my payment was late. Prior to two months ago I have never been late. Last month I was credited the late fee and we chalked it up to a late mail situation. Anyway I then tell her, you're going to tell me I'm late again and she said yes.

She told me the date my check was received which was over 14 days from when I mailed it. I told her that isn't my fault, the check was mailed in a timely fashion, she said, "Tough s***." I then asked for the supervisor. I waited several minutes, then the gal came back on and said it was an error on their part due to a envelope error sending my payment to another location. She said she was going to credit me per her supervisor.

On July 19, 2000,

After phoning Direct Merchants Bank today to arrange a $400 payment to them in order to try and decrease my payment I looked at my most recent bill and discovered my credit limit had increased without my knowledge. I have had this card for a couple of years now and have not made purchases in over a year and can not seem to get my balance below the maximum limit, even with this increase.

I have been charged late fees every month, over the limit fees every month and mysteriously a higher interest rate of 28.99%. I have phoned on many occasions to try and make arrangements to close the account and eliminate the over the limit fees and late fees that are appearing for reasons I don't understand, but get no where. They have no payment arrangements available. My phone rings constantly and I want to get rid of this bill and credit card, but I don't know how.

I pay them over $100 a month which doesn't cover the fees and finance charges they add so each month I get a new bill and my balance is $100 or more higher than what it was before. I haven't kept good records of this, but I would venture to say that my payments are being delayed in order for them to add more fee's to my account. If my payments are even being posted. I will continue monitoring my account, but my fear is how do I stop this behavior. They are rude and unhelpful people. I have never ran across an agency so unwilling to help their consumer or even explain the charges or how I received this increase. I did not ask for a credit increase. How can they do this? I can't keep up with the FEE's.

On Sept. 24,

I have been dealing with Direct Merchants Bank for a few years now, and I have had nothing but trouble. I suspected that my payments were being deliberately credited to my account after the due date because no matter how early I send them, I am frequently charged late fees. Now that I read the complaints on your web site, I realize there might be more to this. When I call to complain, they tell me the late charge will be removed. Of course, it isn't.

They also raised my interest rate to 24.99% when a payment was late shortly after a freak snowstorm dumped 20 inches of snow on Durham, NC. I writes a letter explaining the situation and asking that my interest rate be returned to the original rate. I received no response and the interest rate remained at 24.99%. Instead, my card was upgraded to Gold. That's the last thing I want.

Additionally, on several occasions my card has been turned off on a Friday evening because a payment is late. The customer service department is not available after 7 pm EST on weekdays, and I have been unable to speak with a representative on the weekends. I do not understand why they wait until Friday to put a hold on the account. I intend to pay this card off in the next month or so and NEVER deal with this bank again.

On July 20, 2000,

I was called on 13 Nov 00 that my account was overdue $450.00 and could I make a payment. On 15 Nov 00 I sent a $490.00 payment to bring my account under its limit. I called today and was told I still owed $318.00 on my account. When I asked how this could be, they explained that these were over-limit and late fees. When I asked why my bill did not reflect this she replied that the money I sent was to catch up the payments!

All she could say was you have to make the payment before 8 Dec 00. I was called for days once and twice and three times a day for weeks about the account. They never stop harrassing you. It got so bad we were afraid to answer the phone.

They added "credit shield" to my account without my authority. This put me over the limit and I was charged. Took me two months to straighten that out. I mailed my last payment on 9/11/00 and they "say" they didn't receive it until 9/19/00 so I was charged a $29 late fee as well as a $29 over the limit fee (they said my balance was $502.50). They now tell me I must make a payment of $115 to be brought under my limit. The information on the statements is never current. If I pay what they say on the statement, there has already been other fees charged not showing on the statement. Is there anything at all I can do about this?

I am a single mother with two teenagers and a gradson I am raising. My son is in college and my daughter and gradson live with me. If I pay them the $115 payment, I will be shorted for groceries and other necessitites. My daughter and I can eat "light" but a baby has to be fed and other bills have to be paid. I live on a very tight budget and cannot afford all these charges. Also, they call me every night and are quite rude. This is very upsetting to me and my family.

On Oct. 23, 2000,

I recieved a letter in the mail saying that i was preapproved for a Mastercard with a $500.00 credit limit. Everything was going fine for the first few months, then all of a sudden my payments were late, I wasn't getting my statements, they were charging me for a protection plan that I didn't want. I also had a secound card put in my boyfriend's name. When i called to have his name taken off the account they said that they would mail me papers for me to sign saying that i wanted his name removed from the accout. So far i have sent the papers six times and his name is still not off, also the employees are very rude andnasty when you call them with a problem.

I got a DMB Mastercard about Feburary 2000. I have nine other credit cards and do not have trouble understanding the billing methods. But Direct Merchants Bank has given me nothing but trouble since I got it. I was on time with my payment then one day I got a phone call from Direct Merchants telling me I was late and that my account was overlimit. So I paid it by electronic check and they told me that the amount I paid eould bring me current. OK, the next month it was the same situation so I started to keep a closer eye on the account. That was in July 2000.

August it was the same problem. So I called them again because I kept getting different answers as to why my account was late. At that time I wanted to close my account but they wouldn't let me so the only charge I had going on this card was my Compuserve. I canceled this and put my Compuserve on another credit card.

The funny part about all this is I would get a statement of my late charge and overlimit status one day after my current month's bill had been mailed. So now it is October 4, 2000 and I received a statement today about my overlimit status. I called them and they told me my bill was mailed out on the 28th of september. But I did not receive it as of yet but I did receive the overdrawn status paper dated for the 29th.

On Oct. 12, 2000,

The Direct Merchants Bank has been billing my father (74yrs old) for a Master Card he never accepted. He has not requested any service from this bank. The bank keeps revolving outrageous charges to an account my father never asked for. I personally have spoken to Direct Merchants bank Customer Service Department several times. The say they have credited the account and closed it. Next monthe we get another bill with intrest. We are considering legal action. My father is 74 years old and cannot always interpet how to use confusing menu systems. He is stressing out about Direct Merchants Bank Messing up his credit.

I received a call concerning my "overdue" acct with Direct Merchants Bank. I to no avail tried to convince the rude and inappropriate collections agent that I had sent a check over a week ago to their bank to have my account curent. He not only did not accept my explanation he threaten my credit. This is not the first time the company called with the same complaint.

I have the distinct impression that they may be holding the checks in order to extort customers in this way. I checked my check ledger to make sure and I have sent a check to this company over a week ago but they seem to have "lost" it. I was infuriated at being disturbed on a Sunday afternoon and at the utterly unprofessional behavior of the customer service agent and would like to warn others of this nefarious practice. I have had no problems like this with my other debt servers and have recently qualified for a mortgage and hope that this "company" dosen't interfer with this process.

I was trying to buy an airline ticket from an online company named "Anyway.com" using my Direct Merchants but the sale never materialized due to lack of availibity for the travel dates I had selected, and I ended up buying the ticket from another vendor. But to my surprise my credit card was charged for the amount of $868.12, which I thought was an error.

I contacted my credit card company to inform them of the problem, and they asked me to provide them with proof of my purchase cancellation. I told them I could not provide any document because the transaction never happened and I did not have any tangible proof (I never received any travel ticket nor any sale's receipt). Their answer to me was: No refund will be applied to my account until they get such document.

I tried to contact the online company, but to no avail, because they are located in Paris (France). I sent them a letter last month but I still have not received any response from them. Right now my best option is the credit card company which should investigate the matter and refund my account. But this particular credit card company seems to have a history of bad customer service.

I am going through what other consumers are going through with them. Constant over-limit fees and late payment fees and when I was off work for 2 weeks I got no help from them on the so called insurance program I pay for on the card. Also they call me constantly at work and at home several times a day. They have even had a representative from the company get really beligerent with my 14 year old son.

I fell behind on one payment. While out of town four days, they called and harrassed my wife, pregnant with twins, too many timnes to count over that period. After she told them I was out of town and would contact them when I returned, she began receiving "mysterious" calls in which the caller would not respond and then hangup over a two day period.

Direct Merchant did not place a single identified call during this time. My wife received four such calls before 9:00 AM the day I returned. She attempted to trace the calls, but was told they were scrambled. How many anonymous/prank callers have that capability? The odds of us receiving prank calls, in conjunction with Direct Merchants pestering seem preposterous to me.

I had a back injury at work in January. I have been having problems collecting workman's comp and the company I work for will not let me come back to work until after I've had surgery. I am not getting paid and I have a small child. Things are EXTREMELY hard for me right now.

I have explained this to Direct Merchants Bank on numerous occasions and they STILL call me everyday. I have told them all of this information and I have asked, "If I cut up my credit card and send it back, will you at least stop charging me 21% interest every month?" They refused. What am I supposed to do?! I have absolutely NO options here. I cannot pay them. period.

I have had to take my son out of daycare because I couldn't afford it anymore. I've had my water shut off twice. My cable has been disconnected, my long-distance service has been cut off and I am waiting for them to reposses my truck. I haven't been able to pay my mortgage and I'm tired

I have just started receiving food stamps so I can at least keep food on the table. I'm glad I finally know of all these complaints against the company. It's a wonder they're allowed to stay in business.

Approximately June of 1999, I had a $84.40 balance with DMB. I sent a check for that amount to pay off the account. They posted it late causing the check to bounce. I called to see if the check would be redeposited (most companies do) and they said they would. So I made sure there were sufficient funds to cover the check and honestly never followed up to see if it did go through since I was going through other issues like going back to work after having my first child, putting him in daycare, etc.

I also didn't follow up because I NEVER heard from them again. So imagine my surprise when in December I received a collection notice on behalf of DMB for $500! All of these late fees and over the limit fees kicked in, but I NEVER received any statements saying so. I argued with DMB and the first collection agency with no luck. I sent in a $50 payment and was going to send $34.40, but since the account was already charged off and I had other things to take care of at the time, I figured WHY PAY IT NOW?

Now here it is July 2000, the account was reassigned to another collection agency, I am expecting my second child. We are in the process of moving to a new home and of course I have to take care of any outstanding debts, ESPECIALLY charge offs, so I pretty much did not have a choice but to swallow my pride and pay this damn bill off! Well that's my story and my stupidity for not following up, but I see so many complaints against DMB on the Internet, that I will share my story to anyone who will listen!

This credit card has been a nightmare. Our payments would be late and if we tried to pay a large amount then they would sit on the check. I would send payments of $300 at a time for the full amount. Lately, we have closed out account but they keep posting some of the charges that are coming through. They don't do all of them because we have had people call us and say that our card was cancelled. How can they keep posting to a closed account? They were not helpful at all. I am glad we have stopped using them.

On Sept. 12, 2000,

I mailed a payment of $300.00 for a bill that was $175.00 due to the fact of my knowlege of more charges after the payment date. I mailed in the payment 4 days before it was due and recieved on my next bill a $29.00 late fee and was told that I wouldn't get credit for my payment for at least 15 days. I asked how I could my account up to date faster and they said with Western Union only. They specificly stated that that was the only way I could make it on time, without any late charges!

After reading all of the complaints, I realize this is a pattern. My husband and I both have DMB cards. When I first got mine there was no annual fee, after a year that changed...mind you I had no late pymts and the card was no where near maxed. I also had the trouble many others described about the credit card protection plan. They (or a telemarketer) called asking if I wanted it, after telling them No 2x, I hung up. It took me several phone calls and several letters to get the fees reversed!

Now, two yrs later, for the first time my card is maxed, and my husband's as well. Now all of a sudden every payment seems to arrive late resulting in more late fees? I actually just got off the phone with someone telling me that my husbands payment was late. I writes the check but it has mysteriously disappeared! HMMM...Cant wait to pay these off and be through with this company!

On Nov. 1, 2000,

I realized that I had not mailed my monthly payment to Direct Merchants Bank (for a Fingerhut Master Card), and that it was due the next day.

I contacted the customer service number and was told they could take the payment over the phone if I provided them with a check number, which I did. I authorized a payment of $100 plus the $4 service charge. I went to an ATM machine to withdraw money a few days later and got an "insufficient funds" notice. Knowing something was wrong I did an inventory through my bank's phone service and found out that the check which was supposed to be for $104 was actually processed as $1,004.

Of course, this has caused numerous checks to bounce in my account.

I have a mastercard which I received from Fingerhut through Direct Merchants Bank. Last September (1998), a charge of $3350 appeared on my statement and I started enquiries with them to get the matter resolved. They informed me that a "convenience" check, drawn on my account, had been used for that amount. I disputed the charge and they agreed to get a copy of the check and mail it to me so I could verify the signature. Despite the fact that they have my signature on file and also on the checks which I have been paying my account every month, I agreed to wait until I received the check.

When I received it 3 months later, I immediately made copies of various identification cards I own to show proof that the signature on the check in no way resembled my signature; the credit card, my library card, job ID. This was in December. The charges have appeared again on my January statement, including finance charges.

A week ago I received a call from the bank wanting to remind' me that I had not made a payment on that statement. I told the teller that I will not pay any more money on that account until it has been adjusted to reflect my actual charges. She informed me that she cannot do anything for me. A few days later I received another call and had almost the same conversation. I requested that my account be noted that I am waiting for an adjustment and that I do not want anyone calling my home again. I was told that unless I make a payment someone will call me every few days. I do not understand why I should have to put up with this harassment.

I accepted the unsolicited offer to use a Direct Merchants Bank credit Card in November 1996. Autovantage charges were added automatically to the card but I opted not to use the service, a chocie that was clearly allowed when I accepted the offer to use the card. I phoned customer service and requested to have the amount removed from my account. The charge continued to be on my account and late fees were added, despite the fact that I was told several times that the charges would be removed. This continued through March, April and May 1997.

In a final phone conversation I was told that the charge had been removed and that the balance on my account was $ 0.00. I closed the account. I did not hear from Direct Merchants Bank again and never received another statement.

In April 1999, I was notified by Coldata, Inc. that Direct Merchants Bannk had put the original $ 49 Autovantage charge plus $154.31 into collection and that I was to pay immediately.

Since then, I have spoken to several customer service representatives who could not do anything about it. I was referred to supervisor M.K. who seemed helpful and immediately admitted that Direct Merchants Bank had made a mistake and that he would take care of it. But so far, he did not resolve the problem, has never returned calls that he said he would and told me finally, that he could not do anything

I also wrote two letters to the President of the Bank, Doug McCoy, but have not received a response.

My credit history has been fraudulently smeared by Direct Merchants Bank's mistake. I have spent hours on the telephone and suffered much personal anguish. At the moment, I am liable for $ 203.31 which I will not pay. Direct Merchants Bank should pay this and punitive damages to be determined.

I received a Direct Merchants Credit Card in April 1999. I have received only 2 statements, and have sent my payment in plenty of time. Yet, I keep getting these late fees added to my account. When I try to call and talk to someone I get the recorded message, "If you want to know account balance and infor press 1.....", then it says if you want to speak to a representative press 9 I think. Well if you do that, you then get a recording that the Metris number you have dialed is not in service, UGH!! I have never spoken to a real person there, are there any? I am getting burnt, and I know it. When I read these other stories, it really scares me. I am trying to repare credit, not make it worse.

I'm worried. My stomach hurts from this. I'm so afraid my credit is just going to be made worse. This is not my fault, what will I do?

Direct Merchants bought credit card accounts from PNC Bank and then unilaterally raised the annual interest rate on them from about 14.9% to 20.8%.

In the past when debt accounts of mine have been sold to a new "holder in due course," the terms and conditions of the old account always carried over to the new one.

On what legal basis is Direct Merchant able unilaterally to impose this new higher rate? I certainly haven't done anything that I would deem to be an "agreement" to their new rate. Applicable state law for Direct Merchants is evidently that of Arizona (possibly Oklahoma). Do either of these states have laws that permit this sort of unilateral "bump-up" of interest rates? What is the applicable Federal law on this aspect of interstate commerce. How am I, a resident of another state, subject to Arizona law? Can Direct Merchants be compelled to honor the interest rate I agreed to with PNC bank?

I will have to pay hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of dollars in additional interest on terms to which I never agreed. I also had to endure conversations with ignorant and arrogant functionaries of Direct Merchants bank. They don't respond to correspondence. I am demeaned, insulted, and trifled with.

In March of 1999 I was solicited for a credit card with a limit of $500 if I sent $99 as a security deposit. This solicitation came from Direct Merchants Bank stating that the Fingerhut National Bank recommended me to them.

In April of 1999 I sent the $99 fee and they deposited my check. I haven't heard from them since (as of 7/26). No credit card, no refund...nothing. I still have the check but no way to contact Direct Merchants Bank. I have no address for them, no phone number nor a name.

I couldn't really afford the $99.00 that I sent to them, but I believed that this would be a good way for me to re-establish credit.

In early March 1999, I was solicited by Direct Merchants Bank to apply for a secured Mastercard ($500 limit/$99 security deposit). I sent a postal money order accepting the offer on 3/22/99.

The second week of April I rec'd a letter from Direct Merchants confirming my enrollment in an "Account Protection Program". The letter was addressed to me with the wrong address and the postal person wrote my correct address on the envelope.

I immediately telephoned Direct Merchants and advised them that I had rec'd their correspondence regarding this program, but not a credit card. I then completed a telephone report regarding non-reciept of the credit card and was advised that card with a new account number would be re-issued in about 7 days.

I also informed the representative that I did not want to participate in the "Account Protection Program".

On June 23, 1999, I telephoned Direct Merchants Bank and advised them that I had not yet rec'd my credit card or return of my deposit. I was transferred to 5 different departments and finally advised that a credit card would be sent to me in 7 to 10 working days. After reading all of the complaints from Consumer Affairs.Com, I have decided that I do not want to have a relationship with this institution.

As of today's date, July 17, 1999 I have not received any correspondance regarding the status of my deposit or credit card. I telephoned Direct Merchants on July 17, 1999 and advised them to return my deposit. I was advised that the account was closed and that my funds would be returned to me in three weeks.

Although, $99 is not a lot of money, Direct Merchants has held my money for approximately 4 months. This institution seems to be extremely unorganized and based on the numerous complaints should be the subject of investigation by a federal regulatory agency. Thank you Consumer Affairs.Com for making me aware of the problems with Direct Merchants Bank. I will be keeping an eye on my credit report to make sure that this institution does not report erroneous information.

I have had such unbelievable trouble with Direct Merchants Bank. They are either unable or unwilling to work with their customers in regards to paying off their credit cards.

I was given a card with a limit higher than others that I already hold. I was concerned by the higher interest rate being charged, but assumed that it wouldn't be a problem. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Once I reached close to my limit, suddenly my payments were "mysteriously" late. Consistently. One of my payments took almost two and a half weeks to appear on my account. This of course incurred late fees which of course pushed me over my limit causing additional fees. This has spiralled out of control.

Once they began calling to get me caught up, I was enrolled in a plan that would have brought my account current, but still over the limit. I met the criteria and stipulations of the program, and after three months of consecutively making payments before they were due, suddenly I was being told that I was never part of the program.

Each time I had contact with Direct Merchants Bank, I had the program explained differently. Each time, the plan sounded less and less like something that would help me. I have not charged on the card in almost two years and in that time have been charged more than $1,000 in finance charges, late fees and over the limit fees.

Besides the fact that no one seems to know where my account is (customer service or collections), no one can give me a straight answer as to whom I can speak with to help me get back on track. They have become extremely persistent in contacting me and have been known to call the house daily (sometimes multiple times in one day if the answering machine picks up - they don't leave a message, they just hang up and redial).

I enlisted the aid of a financial consultant to help me, and they still continue to contact me even though they have been told verbally and in writing that all contact should go through him. He sent through a proposal, which of course was denied, and never had the courtesy to contact either one of us with notification of denial. I have found almost all of the persons that I have spoken with to be rude, condescending and totally without remorse. I was actually told once that no one there would help me because a company of that size didn't need to make any kind of concession for any one customer. I guess they are just too big to care.

I have begun fearing that my phone would ring because I knew it would be them. They call almost everyday, and even up until 9pm on Sundays. I have been treated rudely and with thinly veiled contempt. I have made efforts to make larger payments than what they were asking for, but still nothing has helped my balance. It is ever increasing.

About 4 years ago I got a credit card from Fingerhut (Merchants Bank issued it). I charged about $495 and they charged me a bogus $29 late fee which took my account over the $500 credit limit.

For 5 years this bank has been charging me a $29 over the limit, plus 18% interest and $29 late fee. I have been making payments to this bank for 5 years and I now owe them over $700. How can you charge over the limit charges every month for your own charges.

I'm totally stressed out, I can't miss a payment because they will report me to the credit bureau and I'm looking to purchase a home within the next couple of years and if this continues I will owe them a fortune for nothing.

I made a $6,000 payment and decided to keep a $387 balance. Because I didn't pay the balance in full they are charging $72.00 on the $6,387.00. How can they charge interest on $6,000 I paid.

My husband passed away January 1, 1999 and I wanted to pay this bill from his estate. I am 68 years old and think I am being taken advantage of. Why do I have to pay interest on money I paid.

L.P. of Camp Springs MD writes:

I had requested in writing several times to close my account with Direct Merchants. I have not used the card in over a year. I made my payments on time every month of $63.

In October 1998, I received a bill that was increased about $15 for no reason and no notification. I made my next payment of $63 as usual. Then I get a notice in the mail telling me that I am delinquent because I didn't pay the late fee. I told them that I had requested that the account be closed, plus I hadn't used the card in over a year and had made the payments on time every month.

They told me that the increase was approved by the federal government and also the increase was to cover the finance charges. I told them that I didn't know anything about that law and I refused to pay the late charge. In January I made the usual payment. They did close the account, but now I am being called on my job and at home every day.

Today (February 17, 1999), I made a payment of $112.00 to Direct Merchants. This is not fair. They are cheating the consumer. I believe its because I was not using the card and requested that the account be closed. I want to write a letter to the president (Ron Zeibeck), but what good would it do?

I am going to pay the credit card off, but in the meantime do I have to pay the increase that they made up? I also told them that I could not afford their increase on one of the many harrassment calls. They have called me on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. My account is not 30 days delinquent. The payments are made every month. What is their problem? Please help me. I know other people are going through similar situations with Direct Merchant.

The emotional damage is the stress and embarrassment, especially on my job. On Sunday (Feb. 14) I had just come home from church and I get a call telling me that my account is delinquent and I owe $112.00. I just made a payment in January of $63.00. How can I owe $112.00 when I'm making payments every month?

I have been paying on a Direct Merchants account for the past 4 years. My high balance was $850. After a year I lost my job and had some financial troubles which caused me to get behind on all bills but I got another job and immediately caught up and have paid my bills promptly since then.

Yesterday I received my Direct Merchant's bill and noticed my interest rates were 26.7%. I had not been notified of this rate increase and I don't understand why after 3 years of good payment history I would suddenly be zapped with a higher interest rate and without notice. Please note that I have been sending in double payments to pay this account off. Did Direct Merchant's act legally?

S.M., Oviedo, FL:

I had a PNC Bank Maatercard with an 12.5% interest rate. I had never missed or been late on a payment. After Metris Companies, Inc. acquired PNC Bank's credit card portfolio, I was involuntarily issued a Direct Merchants Bank credit card (approx March, 1999). Without any warning the rate was increased to 20%! This despite ZERO late payments with PNC bank or any other creditor. My telephone call confirmed that this rate increase was not a mistake.

Since the rate increase, I have subsequently paid off the balance. When telephoning to close the account, I was told by a representative that I now could get a special rate of "12.5%". (My original rate with PNC Bank). I told the representative that I would never do business with their unscrupulous, greedy corporation.