Care Credit - GE Money Bank What else can be done to expose these vultures? Longwood Florida
My wife and i moved to a new state in October 2006. My wife needed emergency dental surgury shortly after our move and with no dental insurance the oral surgeon told us about a 1 year interest free credit card offered by Care Credit.
I was unable to accompany her due to my job situation so i didnt get all the details and without really checking into it and also putting my trust in the fact the the oral surgeon would have my best interest in mind, i agreed to borrow 8,400.00 through Care Credit to pay for the work that needed to be done.
For 11 months after my wife paid Care Credit more than the minimum payment due and i didnt really look at the statement but just let her handle it.
Then one day one of my fellow workers was talking about Care Credit and what a scam it was and about the deffered interest starting from the date of purchase.
I immediatly checked into it and saw that they did put a notice about the deffered interest on the statement and a warning that the promotional expiration date was expired on Nov 27.
To my horror it was Nov 27 so i called the customer service and talked to a young man named Jared who informed me that even if i paid the balance over the phone while we were talking that it would still be to late and i would owe another 1,730 in finance charges = 22.98% deffered interest, even though we had already paid close to 2,500.
I realize that this is gross negligence on my part and i feel really stupid for not looking at the statement untill it was too late but i also feel like ive been ripped off and taken advantage of.
I remember a day when you could pay your medical and dental bills in installments and i guess i thought that the medical profession still had compassion enough to not let their patients be swindled by a company like Care Credit .
I have excellent credit and i could have easily borrowed the money from my bank at 10% or less to pay for the surgury but i had this, i guess unrealistic fantasy that the medical profession would help those who couldnt pay a large sum like this up front.
How wrong i was
So I borrowed the money to pay the balance but before i gave them almost 7600 i thought i would give them a call one more time to see if there was any way around the now almost 2000 in interest.
I talked to Jared again and getting nowhere i asked to speak to his manager
I was connected to a woman named Dawn and from the get go she was prepared for any argument that i might have. What was really disturbing however was just how snide and rude she was telling me "its not my fault that you didnt read your statement" and " deffered interest loans were nothing new" and to " not waste my time calling the attorny general because we have all the details in writing on your statement" and "if you have no other questions pertaining to your account im going to disconnect you from my line"
I replied " I do have one more question, How do you sleep at night and why would you work for a company that is ripping people off"
That apparently wasn't the question she was expecting and we somehow got disconected.
I have lost almost 2000 dollars but i feel better somehow at least giving them my oppinion of their company and business practices.
I dont know where to go from here but i wish there was someway to expose GE moneybank for what they really are
Rod
Clarkston, Washington
U.S.A.
7 Updates & Rebuttals
Billcoll01
MESA,Arizona,
U.S.A.
ROD, I KNOW YOU DIDNT
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, December 24, 2007
1ST OF ALL ROD..I DONT WORK FOR THE COMPANY, TRY & PAY ATTENTION! THAT EXPLAINS WHY YOU CANT FIGURE OUT A SIMPLE FINANCING OFFER. THE POINT IS, THAT THE INFORMATION WAS THERE. HARD TO BELIEVE IT ELUDED YOU THE 1ST TIME. MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU SHOULD ASK SOMEONE TO HOLD YOUR HAND & READ THE PAMPLET TO YOU! IN A NUTSHELL,ONLY A MORON NEEDS AN ATTORNEY TO EXPLAIN;
Under the promotion, no finance charges will be assessed on the promotional purchase as long as (1) pay the promo purchase amount in full within(the promo period)and (2) pay, when due, the minimum monthly payment on the promo purchase, If you fail to satisfy either of the above conditions or account balance exceeds credit limit, all special promo terms 'MAY' be terminated and finance charges ' MAY' be assessed on promo purchase amount from date of purchase
ON TOP OF THAT, YOU GOT A MONTHLY REMINDER OF THE DATE THE BALANCE HAD TO BE PAID TO AVOID FINANCE CHARGES. YOU DONT READ ANYTHING DO YOU? I GUESS SOME PEOPLE DONT HAVE ENOUGH COMMON SENSE TO BE GOOD CONSUMERS.
SO...all special promo terms 'MAY' be terminated
and finance charges ' MAY' be assessed on promo purchase amount from date of purchase GAVE YOU NO PROMPT AT ALL TO SEE WHAT YOU MIGHT BE ASSESSED, HUH....LMFAO. HOPE YOU NEVER GET A SPEEDING TICKET!
"YOUR HONOR, THIS IS A RIPOFF, THE SIGN FAILED TO SPELL OUT HOW MUCH THE TICKET WOULD BE IF I WAS GOING 15 MPH OVER THE LIMIT, THATS SLEAZY!"
Rod
Clarkston,Washington,
U.S.A.
getting sleazier by the minute Mr billcollector
#8Author of original report
Mon, December 24, 2007
Here is what the back of the Care Credit pamphlet states so that anyone who may read this will plainy see how decieving it is.
In a nutshell
Under the promotion, no finance charges will be assessed on the promotional purchase as long as (1) pay the promo purchase amount in full within(the promo period)and (2) pay, when due, the minimum monthly payment on the promo purchase, If you fail to satisfy either of the above conditions or account balance exceeds credit limit, all special promo terms "MAY" be terminated and finance charges " MAY" be assessed on promo purchase amount from date of purchase
Then
there is another paragraph about the 24 36 48 and 60 month extended payment plan at 11.9%
Then
an additional disclosure about non promo purchases and existing accounts being subject to 22.98% and delinquency apr of 28.99%
Billy
If your company is going to charge 22.98% interest from the date of purchase if the account is not paid in full in 12 months , then they need to state that instead of spacing out tricky terms on the back of the pamphlet that need a thesaurus and a lawyer to explain them
Furthermore if you are going to charge the interest use the word WILL instead of "MAY" so that the consumer will be sure that there is going to be interest instead of thinking maybe there will be interest.
Another suggestion would be to put The finance charge beside the amount of the treatment fee if balance is not payed within the promotional period
they put minimum monthly payment beside the treatment fee to bait people so why not in honesty put the finance charge
As ive said
your company is a sleazy and immoral company that preys on vulnerable people who need help
Billcoll01
MESA,Arizona,
U.S.A.
WRONG AGAIN
#8Consumer Comment
Thu, December 20, 2007
WHEN MY WIFE HAD DENTAL SURGERY, I READ THE SAME PAMPLET. IT WAS ON THE BACK D THE SAME PAMPLET. IT WAS ON THE BACK ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER TERMS & CONDITIONS. ALSO, WHY IS IT SLEAZY NOW BUT NOT WHEN YOU BORROWED THE MONEY? IF ITS SLEAZY NOW IT WAS THEN TOO. STILL NOT A RIPOFF!
Billcoll01
MESA,Arizona,
U.S.A.
WRONG AGAIN ROD!
#8Consumer Comment
Tue, December 18, 2007
WHEN MY WIFE HAD DENTAL SURGERY, I READ THE SAME PAMPLET. IT WAS ON THE BACK D THE SAME PAMPLET. IT WAS ON THE BACK ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER TERMS & CONDITIONS. ALSO, WHY IS IT SLEAZY NOW BUT NOT WHEN YOU BORROWED THE MONEY? IF ITS SLEAZY NOW IT WAS THEN TOO. STILL NOT A RIPOFF!
Rod
Clarkston,Washington,
U.S.A.
Deffered % on loans for medical bills is immoral and sleazy Care Credit
#8Author of original report
Tue, December 18, 2007
Ok
I didnt read my statement untill it was too late nor did my wife. lesson learned and a good one at that.
However I dont believe a sleazy company like Care Credit should even be offered for medical bills.
Reading the rebutals it was stated that my loan was no different than a loan that you get at Home Depot for a dryer or a Big Screen tv at Best Buy with deffered interest.
In my oppinion there is a huge difference.
For one ,a big screen tv and a dryer are luxury items, Dental bills are not!!
An acrued interest loan should never be offered as some disquise of helping people its just to easy to get burned by it.
Furthermore, there was NO HINT of a 23% accrued interest penalty in the pamphlet in the dentist office nor was that explained to my wife when she signed. I know that for a fact.
All i ask is that if you are going to charge 23% accrued interest from the time of purchase than it should be eplained to you for the get go.
But of course Care Credit knows that if they did state that on the pamphlet that now one in their right mind would sign up for it and then they would'nt have a way to rape millions of dollars out of vulnerable people needing dental care
Debbie
Cincinnati,Ohio,
U.S.A.
I agree - not their fault you didn't read the agreement!
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 14, 2007
While you may not like what Dawn or Jared were telling you, fact is you didn't read the agreement (by your own admission) and therefore you can't really complain about what type of loan you got into. I'm sure your wife is perfectly capable of reading such things before signing on the dotted line, why couldn't she have done it?
Care Credit is no different from any other deferred interest credit card or "same as cash" offer you'd get. If you go to Best Buy and purchase a big screen TV on 90 days same as cash, you can bet that interest accrues from day one and if you don't pay it off by day 89, you'll be responsible for all of it. It sucks, but that's just the way it is.
As for your dentist not accepting payments and instead offering you the Care Credit plan, that's simply what the world has come to. I also had to have quite a bit of dental work done, and my dentist told me about the Care Credit plan. Dentists don't want to wait around for people to pay them in teeny increments on a bill that could take years to pay off. Even if you paid your dentist directly, say, $100 a month on the debt, it would be YEARS before it would be paid off. He wants to have his money in his pocket like anyone else.
Consider this a lesson learned. READ what you sign before signing it (and tell your wife to do the same). You have no one to blame here but yourself.
Billcoll01
MESA,Arizona,
U.S.A.
NOT A RIP OFF
#8Consumer Comment
Fri, December 14, 2007
YOU TOOK OUT A LOAN WITH 0% INT IF PAID OFF IN 1YR. YOU WAITED TIL THE EXPIRATION DATE TO PAY IT OFF. I HAVE A 0% DEAL LIKE THAT ON MY HOME DEPOT CARD . I GOT A NEW DRYER IN FEB & I HAVE TIL JAN TO PAY IT OFF WITH NO INT. IF YOU NEEDED MORE THAN A YR CARE OFFERS A 2YR PLAN AT 10% 1YR MEANS 1YR NOT 1YR AND A DAY. YOU KNEW YOU HAD A YEAR TO PAY IT OFF, YOU SAID SO IN YOUR POST JUST LIKE I KNEW IN FEB THAT I HAD TIL JAN TO PAY FOR MY DRYER. PLUS, THE FACT THAT YOU DIDNT READ THE STATE MENT FOR A YEAR...LIKE I SAY, NO RIP OFF!