Jessica
Long Beach,#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, August 21, 2005
I am a former legal compliance auditor for a major credit card company that is very well known for their customer service. I am extremely familiar with the FCRA ( Fair Credit Reporting Act) and that act only pertains to how credit card companies report your account to the credit bureaus. It has nothing to do with wether or not they offer you a payment program. They are under no obligation to offer you such a program. Now speaking in terms of good customer service, they would offer you a payment plan. The company I worked for would never allow you to skip two payments but they would set up on a payment plan that would drastically lower your minimum payment for a few cycles. They probably would adjust the payment for the first month if the circumstances were dire. This is a good practice for the banks because bottom line is they want to get paid. It works better for everyone when they work with you. It doesn't sound like Providian was willing to do that. I used to have a card with them and closed it because their fees were ridiculous. If you dispute the reporting with the three credit agencies the only thing that happens is those agencies contact the bank to verify what you are saying. They will verify the late payments and the report will stay as it is. Under the FCRA, banks are required to report accurately which means if you were behind two payments, they are required to report that. None of the credit reporting agencies can force them to change it. Unfortunately, it comes down to your word against theirs. To be quite honest with you, none of this will probably get removed. Legally, you don't really have a leg to stand on. Technically, Providian could update their files and remove the delinquency if they wanted to. Trust me, the bank I worked for did do such things so I know they are capable of doing it. I would ask to speak to the highest person you can. If you pursue things, and take them to a high level, you might be able to get this resolved. I'm not trying to argue with anything you've said, I just thought you might want a little inside info in your battle to get this fixed. Good luck!
Chris
33702,#3Consumer Comment
Fri, March 18, 2005
You really need to check your credit report. I went through a bankruptcy a little over a year ago. Providian was one of the companies that were covered by the Chapter 7 petition. I recently applied for a credit card and was turned down due to too many charged off accounts. I pulled my credit report only to find that Providian was notifying all three bureaus that they had charged the account off. I disputed the status with the bureaus advising that the accounts were discharged via the bankruptcy. Providian again notified all three bureaus that the account was a charge off and not a bankruptcy. My attorney has had to take legal action against them to make the properly report the status of the account. Certainly if they will violate a federal court order, I wouldn't take their word that they have updated your credit report.
John
Atlanta,#4Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 04, 2004
I would suggest that you get a copy of your credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus and dispute the information with them. Most complaint such as this are completed with in 30 days make take a few cycles to be removed from your credit report but will be removed from your credit report. It will cost companies money to substatiate their claims and they usually do not challenge it because it cost them money they are not willing to spend.