This seems to be a bank that has a hard time getting things right and an even harder time responding to its customers' needs. It has no trouble jacking its interest rates and fees skyhigh though.
Reading all of this might make you wonder just what kind of bank DMB is anyway. Well, it's one of a handful of "credit card banks" -- so-called banks whose primary business is issuing credit cards. A recent class action suit casts a little light on this odd breed.
Here are a few of the more recent complaints:
Dolores of Nevada, IA December 10, 2008
Dolores of Nevada IA (12/10/08) 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.
Adrienne of Jonesboro, GA November 21, 2008
Adrienne of Jonesboro GA (11/21/08) 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.
Collette of Salt Lake City, UT November 6, 2008
Collette of Salt Lake City UT (11/06/08) 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.
Abbie of Tempe, AZ November 2, 2008
Abbie of Tempe AZ (11/02/08) 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.
Susan of Rockingham, NC October 29, 2008
Susan of Rockingham NC (10/29/08) 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!!
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