Complain about a product or service

First USA - Mysterious Charges

First USA Bank • Rapidly rising interest rates • Late & overlimit fees • Unauthorized charges • Charges on phantom cards • Misapplied payments ___ • First USA Pays $1.3 Million in Deceptive Practices Case

Maria of Brunswick, GA, writes:
I never received a credit card from this company but received a bill. I called and talked with the customer support and they were no help at all. I did find out that the card had never been activated or used for any purpose.

The charges were from annual fees and late payment on the annual fees. I was told to write but have not heard anything yet and I wrote the letter on April 3,2000, but I have a bad credit reporting on my credit history from this company.

My daughter is graduating this year and I always promised her that when she made it I would get her a new car and the time came for me to get the car and I could not sign for her car because this was on my credit history. A card I have never seen or even used -- ever.

Randall of Beattyville KY (4/26/01):
I kept receiving calls and mail on behalf of your First USA visa card, but I did not have the card. When I called to complain about it I was told that I had the card, and had had it since September 2000. When I told the person that I wanted the account removed, she was very rude to me, and then hung up on me. I wouldn't want that card if it had the worlds best rates, if that is how they treat people who call with a problem.

Robert, FPO, AE (7/11/01):
We never received this card. We never applied for it. We did however receive a bill for $171. We contacted them to tell them we had never received or used this card. It had never been activated. They said they would investigate it. After investigating it they said that CD's were charged over the internet and that it was shipped to another state from ours. They told us several times that they would take care of it. This started about a year and a half ago. We still get bills (with late charges) and now the letters are more threatening, telling us that this will ruin our credit and why don't we go ahead and pay it since it's such a small amount. Well, we will not pay for something we never ordered on a card that we never had or activated. They continually say they will take care of it but never have.

We have exceptional credit and are never late on our bills. We fear that this will have an impact on our overall credit. We are currently living in Bahrain for another year and a half and it's very difficult and very stressful to take care of this from so far away. We told them we can't contact them because it costs too much to call and they haven't even offered another option of contacting them. We've written several letters and we don't know what to do next.

Robert should contact the legal affairs officer for his unit. Every military unit has one but sometimes you have to ask around to find him or her. What is needed here is a stiff, certified letter on legal letterhead.

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