Complaint Review: Orchard Bank (Bank Card Services) - Baltimore Maryland

To those of you having a hard time... I am posting this comment after much consideration, because I know these are heated subjects. Please understand I am not judging anyone or criticising, just posting some thoughts that are intended to help. My apologies in advance if something I said is misunderstood. The companies listed above are (usually) there to help provide those with credit that is usually less that perfect a way to re-establish themselves in a world where your credit (whether accurate or not) dictates to people who you are. If you happen to have good credit, I suggest that you don't look to these companies, but instead go to a more reputable one with lower finance charges and fees. I happen to be a customer of the both companies listed in the title. I was once a broke single mom with a lot of medical bills that I couldn't meet, after a divorce that left me in debt for charges that weren't neccessarily "mine." I began to rebuild my credit with a company called "Stutsman County Bank" that started out my unsecured credit limit at $100 by charging me that same limit as my first charge. Based on my payment history I had the ability over time to increase it my credit limit. My limit increased 300% in 2 years based on my good payments made on time. A couple of years ago that bank sold my account to Orchard Bank. I've now been with Orchard for at least 2 years. Since then my credit limit has increased 275%. I have no problem making any payments with Orchard Bank. There IS a 1 (800) line on the back of my card. I also know I can go to www.OrchardBank.com and make my payments there. I've never had a problem with my payments posting on time, whether through snail mail or making an online payment. I know that either way I pay, it will take some time for the payment to post. All their rules ARE outlined in the disclosure they sent me. I had a couple of discrepancies in the past. I picked up the phone and called them.. they fixed the problems posthaste. I always make my payments on time.. and I almost never pay JUST the minimum amount due. If you pay only that, by the time your finances charges are added on, you end up only paying the finance charges (if that) and never your principle balance that is due. The idea is to pay MORE than what your monthly finance charges are, so that your principle is being reduced. Then your finance charges will go down too. There have been times I have paid off my entire balance at once. It is often at those times that they have increased my limit. To understand payments due: If your monthly charge is due at 19 %... and you charge $30.00, you now owe $35.70 on your first month's bill for what started out as just $30.00. They Will tell you that you only need to pay perhaps $5.00 minimum a month. Of course, as you can see that won't even cover your finance charges. But you pay the $5.00 but now you owe $30.70. Again, the next month you only pay the required min. of $5.00. Again, your balance is going up instead of down. If perhaps you send them $10.00 instead of the required $5.00, you're paying off not just the finance charges, but also some ($4.30) of the principle money owed, so the next month, your finances charges will be less AND your bill is now going down. Of course I would advise ALWAYS paying off as much as you could as soon as you could, because the longer you owe them money, the more they make off of you. Pay as much as possible as often as possible. Another HUGE tip.. don't EVER run up your charge to even close what your spending limit is. If you don't run it up, you can never go past your spending limit in finances charges. Also, you can inform any of your credit-issuing companies that You don't WANT a credit increase. If you show owing out too much debt, even with good credit, that can hurt you also. Lower your limit to something that you feel you can handle more responsibly. The idea behind credit cards is to use them in emergencies.. not to use them just for spending on things you can not normally afford. If you can't afford to purchase an extravagance with cash, then you can't afford to pay for it on credit. Even that credit requires CASH to pay for it.. PLUS the additional charge of allowing someone else to loan you the money. That is what a credit card is. A temporary loan. People have the right to charge as much as they want (if you agree to it) for loaning you money. But credit isn't so you can go out and live a life you wouldn't have without the card. It is to help you live your life more fully and responsibly. Start small. Buy your shoes (or whatever) that you would write a check/pay cash for AT THAT moment, then pay it off.. IN FULL.. at the end of the month. Even if you have to write the check out at the same time that you're offering the store your card so you consider the money already spent and don't accidently spend it on something else. DO that a few times. Then buy something larger.. and pay it off (send MORE than just the alloted Minimum required due) in a couple of months. IN that way you are proving to the company that you are paying off what you owe them, therefore they deem you worthy of trusting you with a larger loan. After re-establishing your credit, you can then get rid of the card and move into another company with smaller finance charges and lower fees. Same goes for Americredit. Because of aformentioned credit issues, I had a hard time getting approved for a car loan. But needing a safer car to drive my kids around in, I ended up at Americredit. I made my monthly payments on time. I never had an issue that wasn't resolved by either a phone call, email or snail-mailing a letter (with whatever documentation I could provide) to their office. I've since paid off my (cough cough) 21.9% loan, and having re-established my credit, I was just offered a car deal for a new car at 0% interest with a respectably, reputable Prime Company who has also since offered me their credit card (so I can continue building a good reputation). Credit re-building companies are only as good as the people using their services. If you don't want to go over your limit.. don't charge as much. Don't want to pay late fees, mail your payment early.. or even overnight it (I've had to do that too, a couple of times, JUST to be sure it was there ontime.. then you also have proof you sent it on time). If you have a dispute over a charge, make sure you make backup copies for yourself and MAIL them the proof certified return-receipt requested (which is also proof of who signed for it). If you've been a victim of fraud.. whether on one of your credit reports OR because of someone illegially using your card, contact the 3 reporting agencies and let them know and your credit card company. Sign an official complaint... send them your proof, and you can have a fraud alert put on your report. It informs would-be-credit issuers to verify that people are who they say they are. Also contact the Federal Trade Commission. They are there to protect consumers from fraud. (All of these companies ARE here on the web, so if you can read this, you can locate the required information). Contrary to a lot of what has been mentioned here, I've had errors on my card, and Orchard has never had a problem fixing it. There ARE times I have sat on hold for a while, even a couple of times when I requested a supervisor (since not everyone actually belongs in the customer service industry and sometimes those people manage to get past management/HR for a while) and I've had to eihter wait a long time or wait for a call-back. But so far every time I got to speak to a supervisor and each time my issues were resolved. There HAVE been changes to my disclosure (increase in annual dues or whatnot) but each time they mailed (and emailed) me a notice informing me of the changes. Americredit is the same way. When changes occur, they mailed me information. I know there are people out there who might not understand the languages used in financial situations, then seek help from family and friends who might be able to help you. If you are unsure of something, research it on the web. (I had one heck of time figuring out the percentage differences between the increases I received... so I researched percentages on the web.. and hence, my letter is complete). Ask for help from outside parties that you trust. But where credit and our finances are concerned..it is OUR responsibility and obligation to understand what we are getting into. These companies are not obligated to reduce fees for our errors or misunderstandings or mistakes. They are not required to inform US when they don't receive our payments. They are doing us a service by offering us a chance to fix our lives. Of course there are fees associated with these chances.. but if you signed on the dotted line, you agreed to their rules. If you feel you are still being ripped off, check with your local government. There are laws, organizations and companies who can legitimately help you. But before you slam a company (which, I, myself have done on this site), make sure you follow all the rules, protocals and laws yourself. It is usually our own lack of knowledge/complete information that cause such miscommunications. I say all this with true respect for everyone here and a wish for peace of mind (and quick resolve) for everyone involved. Namaste,

I don't want to sound cauky, because I have experienced these problems with another credit card companies, which I just found out recently is related to Orchard Bank. But wanted to comment that I don't think the person from the first rebuttle deserved a 'what's your point, so your a lucky one'...I too evidentaly have been one of the 'lucky ones' so far anyway...but in comment to the no toll free numbers and nobody contacting them on a missed payments.... I just happen to received a call last night at which time I was informed that they were calling becuase they noticed that I am rarely to never late on a payment and since this account is to re-establish credit they wanted to to make sure I was aware of the late payment. They also gave me a toll free number to call today to either make a payment or confirm that I mailed the payment. I checked my bills and found they were right...I had placed the bill in my pocket book and forgot to mail it...the toll free number they gave me if anyone needs it is 1-800-434-4954. I agree that you have to be VERY carefull with these companies...remember, they are issueing credit to people that have poor credit..they consider you a high risk and a dead beat from day one....these accounts are to prove to the outside world that you had a bad spell but are over it. I definately don't want to offend anyone, I am just saying that for me, there is a reason I have an Orchard Bank card and not one from a major reputable company.

Orchard Bank and Household Bank are registered trademarks of Household International. Search the web for "Orchard Bank" Household. After you do that, research Household Finance and HRS Retail Services at this site alone, then on the web. You will probably find more complaint sites in the search engines than Orchard Bank/Household sites. My guess is because if a consumer could find them, then they would be able to pay their acounts and Orchard Bank/Household/Household Retail Services would be unable to assess late charges against all their account holders