Complaint Review: First American Leisure

These people are predators of people with bad luck. My husband and I, like so many other Americans, have had our share of bad luck in the past. We have slowly been rebuilding our credit, and have been seeing the results of our hard work.

Along comes First American Leisure offering us a credit card with a $2000 credit limit, with no annual fee, and monthly payments of $10 no matter what your balance is. The catch? We had to pay a fee of $199.90. Sounds like a small amount of money for $2000 credit. We were very naive. When these people got ahold of our money (in July of 2002), we heard nothing else from them. My husband was told he would receive the card within 10 business days of receipt of the money. Here it is Aug 28th, and we haven't seen a damned thing.

I called this company's 800 number and was told due to the popularity of their promotion, they were behind, and they had no welcome packages left, but were expecting more. I was told that the package contained a credit card application, and that the $199.90 was basically an application fee. This WAS NOT mentioned during the sales pitch. They said it would take 4-6 weeks to receive this package, and then up to another 8 weeks to receive the credit card. This would put us receiving the card in November. I have my doubts as to whether we will see the card.

In the meantime, I went to the Better Business Bureau's website and did a company search (please do this before agreeing to do business; it will save you money in the long run!) This company has several complaints, just like the one I've found here. A Florida vacation is offered with your credit card promise. You have the option to buy or not. We chose not. Several other unfortunates agreed to buy this trip. When they realize they have been had and try to get their money back, this company tells them that the $199.90 was for their Florida trip, and that there are no trips left to be had. Therefore, they have forfeited their money! What crap!

People be warned, if this company calls you, hang up! Don't give them the time of day. And for the rest of us who were duped into their scam, wish us luck on getting our money back.

Carolyn
Midwest City, Oklahoma