Complaint Review: CBCS -Applied Card Bank FKA Cross Country Bank - Columbus Ohio

I even paid the supossed debt as advised by my attorney just to make them go away. -------------------- This is the worst thing you could have done.....By making a payment on this debt you validated it as legitimate regardless of whether or not it was yours. Anytime a collection agency tries to collect on a debt, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to request written validation of this debt. You should have done this from square one instead of paying them. If this is still on your credit report and you have written verification of payment, you need to send dispute resolutions to each of the 3 credit bureaus and NOT this sleazy collection agency. Defaulted debt is supposed to come off credit reports in 7 years anyway....There is something wrong here....starting with the attorney who gave you really bad advise.

Thank you Isis for the heartfelt response/rebuttal. The advise you posted is sound, however the issue at hand was not relative to cardholders unable or having a difficult time making payments. The issue being discussed had to do with individuals who never signed up for the debt in the first place, and later fought to clear the issue to no avail. In my case, I paid the debt anyway even though I had written notice of satisfaction. To date, it is to be discovered what the heck the debt was for in the first place. To be honest, I could give a RIP whether or not this company is continuing to show up on my credit report. I have placed this issue and many others like it on PERMANENT IGNORE. The best advise I have for readers is pay close attention to your creditors, and if at all possible, PAY CASH. Gladys

I do not represent the company. I am just an employee with advise to the cardholders. I work in the collections department of Applied Bank. Like many of my colleges we spend 8 hours a day on the phone trying to get card holders to make payments on their accounts. We do not solicit for new customers, we are simply trying to collect on the debts that are owed to us. Our job is to educate the customers on how to improve their credit by making payments with us. We have many programs available to help card holders that are in financial trouble out. We do try to get these card holders on the phone and educate them. The problem comes when they evade our calls and ignore our warnings about their accounts. If I were to tell a card holder who is in a financial strain because of this credit card anything, I would tell them to give us a call and speak to one of the representatives and see if there is anything we can do to help them out. We are people just like you. We know the economy isn't in the greatest shape, and people are being laid off left and right. Everyday we talk about different ways to help out the card holder. Believe it or not, but we really don't want to see anyone go delinquent on their accounts. We really do want to help. It breaks my heart when I see a card holder struggling to pay their bills. But remember, if you opened the account, and charged on the account, you are responsible for your debts.

Aaron was kind enough to share comments as an ex employee of this deplorable company: CBCS-Applied Card Band FKA Cross Bank and how their unscupulous tactics have duped many innocents into paying debts they never initiated. Thanks for sharing Aaron! It sure seems like this would be a hands down win for a class action suit. I have a file cabinet full of dormant documentation about this fradulant company. I can't help but wonder how many others have the same type of documentation and experiences. I ask myself often how do these type of companies continue to operate. TRULEY UNBELIEVABLE. What is more disconcerting is how many of us have complained to the "authorities" and what has been done to stop the madness?

I worked as a collection agent for this company in 1999. It was the most deploring job I every held. First, we asked to make calls during hours that everyone by now know is against the law. Secondly, We would make calls to the same numbers/customers three to four times a day! We always threaten to seek legal action. I don't think I ever seen an account that was asked to be closed CLOSED!! I would leave working crying some days! I honestly had a heart. The location I worked at received bomb threat frequently!! We where always been investigated. I lasted about three months UNTIL this situation happened. My group happened to be the best group of collectors in the company. We were all giving a dollar raise and told we where now going to handle only extreme cases. Noncollectable accounts! With a spiff of $5 per collection and armed with your banking information we where ready to go. Until the accounts started coming and we realized that most of these accounts had never been activated, paid off, or the customer refused and never received th card. We where calling people and where told horror stories. One lady said she never used the card, nor activated the card and wanted to know how she owes $2000 on a card that had a limit of $250. All documented she was right but I was told to collect any way. Those souls that we did collect on didn't realize that we where reactivating accounts that had never been activated. The math used on the customers once the fell no more than one payment behind scared me. I would go home and tell my neighbors to warn family and friends about this company. Credit restoration services would tell there customers that they could help with any account accept CCB/Applied Card and to seek legal action. Anyone not believing this go to Boca Raton or Delray Beach Florida and ask people. It would be hard to find someone who hasn't worked and/or left this company because of its practices!!!