Complaint Review: Peoples Credit First

I was stupid enough to not have read EVERYTHING entirely and I got had. I paid $49.00 for what I believed to be an unsecured 'Platinum' Mastercard with a limit of $5,000 and 0% interest for the first year.

As it turns out this is a catalog card that offers a bunch of crap that is over priced. I called them adn they stated after processing my check they would refund my money. I waited....and waited.

I called back and they gave some other lame excuse. I demanded the refund and they said there would be instructions on how to get the refund sent to me in 'the package'that came with my 'membership'.

When this package arrived there was squat about any refund. There was a link to website for 'members only' (How Special) and it prompts you to enter the membership number to access the site. needless to say I could never access anything and they never called me back.

I don't claim to be the worlds smartest guy and yes, I have had some credit problems years ago but it's better now. I blame them for decptive and misleading packaging of the material initailly sent to me with the offer. When most people see 'Platinum Credit Card' they naturally assume Visa or Mastercard. DON'T!

I blame myself for not reading everything and being in a hurry to jump on a GREAT deal. I knew that when something sounds to good to be true it usually is but I fell for it anyway. Oh well $49 didn't break me. Yes it bruised my pride a bit but it probably saved me from falling for other tricks later on. I now READ EVERYTHING! And if there is any doubt or any question I always ask and make certain it is in writing and very clear as to what it means.

For you people that have had credit problems I offer this suggestion. Learn how to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to your advantage and dispute ANY inaccurate information in your credit file.

Stay on them and keep good records. ANY information in your file that is wrong is subject to being disputed and if it can't be truly verified it has to be removed. Learn everything you can and don't be afrain to challenge them.

If you have documentation of any kind to support your claim it helps tremendously. It's been my experience that when I send in a dispute with several pages of supporting documents it gets fixed really fast. Why?

The guy doing the paperwork has about 400 other disputes in front of him also and if yours looks squared away he figures it probably is. There is a large human element in this. It is not supposed to work that way, but at times it does. Thank God for lazy employees of the credit bureaus!

I have learned that constantly being a pain in the Credit Bureaus a$$ has helped. I am polite, but I don't go away. It may seem impossible and some things you can't have removed no matter what. In that case I suggest you do this:

Pay your bills! Don't live beyond your means and communicate with your creditors! If you are short of cash or whatever, PICK UP THE PHONE! If they accept your payment terms they can't report you as late. They may not extend you more credit, but it won't be a black mark on you. Also, don't keep applying for credit cards. Inquiries DO count against you in deciding on granting credit. Only apply for what you really need.

One last thing. 'Lawyers' that claim to be able to do ANYTHING to erase credit are scamming you as well. There is nothing they can do that you can't do yourself. NOTHING! Take the time, write the letters and pay your bills on time and your credit score will get better.

Don
Killeen, Texas

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