Question
My wife has a Southwest VISA card with First USA Bank. Today she received a new platinum card with a letter thanking her for upgrading and informing her of the additional $49 charge.
The only problem was that she never requested the upgrade to the platinum card. When she called First USA, they told her there was a flyer in a previous bill saying that they would upgrade her UNLESS she called and said she didn't want it. She obviously didn't read all the fine print and didn't call to turn it down.
While this may technically be legal, I think it is highly unethical. She has cancelled both the platinum and the original Southwest card she had. I think Southwest should be informed of the unethical actions of this bank, which has a long reputation of many other unethical practices. Too bad United's Mileage Plus card is now with First USA.
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hmm.. this doesn't sound too kosher.. it's a basic principle of contract law that silence is NOT a valid showing of acceptance of terms or an agreement.. i think a call to customer service would have more than likely taken care of this problem once the error was pointed out to them..
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I'm not sure about this particular case, but "passive acceptance" clauses are not uncommon in contracts.
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First USA "Bank" is operates one of the most difficult credit card operations that I've ever had the "honor" to deal with.
When I used to fly SW a lot, it seemed like a good deal, four or six credits for applying,$29 for the card. At renewal, cancel, and wait for another solicitation from First USA/SW. They would do it every time. Three for me, three for my wife.
The difficulty came with the last ones we cancelled.
Request the exact payoff amount, send check, card cancelled. Easy enough. No way.
$.20 charge for finance, $29.00 late payment fee. Phone call we'll waive these fees and get them straightened out. OK
Next month $29 credit, $.23 finance, $29 late charge.
Month after month. Finally resolved.
A few weeks later, another solicitation for a SWA/First USA Visa.
In this age of computers, one would think they could manage their database.
Stay away from this bankcard offer.
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Imagine my unhappy surprise when First USA took over my Marriott VISA! The ironic part was that I had cancelled my previous VISA (a First USA product) and changed over because I was tired of the predictable $29/month "late charges" which incurred even if I mailed my payment the same day I received the bill.
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Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot I just got my Marriott card and I will want to monitor them. I have had horrrrrible experiences with them in the past also.
Originally posted by Bluebonnet:
Imagine my unhappy surprise when First USA took over my Marriott VISA! The ironic part was that I had cancelled my previous VISA (a First USA product) and changed over because I was tired of the predictable $29/month "late charges" which incurred even if I mailed my payment the same day I received the bill.
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As long as you don't have to use the customer service, the SW Visa card is okay. If you do, may god have mercy on your soul.
My hell story: I requested a balance transfer from another credit card to my SW Visa. It never went through. Luckily, I called the other card to confirm and found out in time. So I requested another transfer. Still no go. A third failed as well. At no time could they determine why the transfers would not go through.
In the end, the other credit card hit me with massive late fees (later pleaded down to zero) but SW Visa told me in as many words, "Tough ****".
I think they also offer electronic debiting from a checking account, but I'm scared to death of letting them near it. I can see it now: "We're sorry we accidentally put an extra zero on the wire transfer. Please send us a letter to start the investigative process..."
As for the unannounced card, AT&T once opened up a line of credit for me (which still shows up on credit reports) and sent off an unrequested Universal card to me for "being such a good customer." I promptly cancelled all of my AT&T accounts for a few years.
[This message has been edited by Tino (edited 04-18-2000).]
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One more vent, if you'll allow me -
I recently attempted to buy a laptop online (<$3000), which was well under the credit limit. The charge was denied. I ignored it and used another card. Later in the day I was trying to buy a cell phone (<$200) and that was rejected too.
The reason: my purchase was "unusual" (this is for a road warrior like yourselves where a $4000 week is common) and they froze my account. In the future, I was told, I should call them and ask permission before I make a large purchase. They refused to allow me to take this "consumer protection" off of my account.
All praise Diners Club!
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Not having the benefit and forewarning of all of these experiences, I recently applied for a UA Mileage Plus card with No Annual Fee. When I received a card, I activated it and put it aside.
Yesterday, I received another UA MP card. So I checked and found they were both issued by First USA. However, the first card was a Platinum Card with a $60 fee. The second card was a no fee card.
Now I suppose I will have a problem cancelling the first card in this "bait and switch" scam. Fortunately, I never used it.
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First USA's operations are the worst. Long waits on the phone, incorrect information, "it's in the mail" when it isn't. I finally just cut the card in half and sent it to them. Just too much aggravation.
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Thanks for the warnings.
So far, I've been relatively happy with my 1st USA SW VISA card. By looking up current charges on the website, I spotted a 25.00 fee for using one of their balance transfer checks (mentioned nowhere in the fine print). I wrote to get the charge reversed in February, and after one "we're looking into it" letter in March, the reversal appeared on this month's invoice.
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My definition of some Banking practices:
Late fee - legal way to steal money.
Overlimit fee - Loanshark has bitten your account.
Passive acceptance clauses - Bully con artist has you cornered in the back alley.
Free - 1)With strings attached of course.
2)Half is free, the other half is double the normal price.
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[This message has been edited by FQTV (edited 10-07-2000).]
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FWIW (for what it's worth), MBNA seems to run a very good credit card operation. The NEA/MBNA card program is excellent and our other afilliation accounts at MBNA have been terrific.
Evan
(former banker)
(thank God) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
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I agree. First USA is really treading on deceptive practices and tough to get anything corrected.
MBNA has been great to me. I misplaced my card. They helped me check for any unauthorized charges (there were none) and promptly issued me a new card. And gave me good advise such as advising vendors that I have automatically charged to my MBNA card that I have a new number. I do have the NEA (National Education Assoc.) card which is even better for awards than any of the the others - in my opinion. But the other MBNA cards are handled in by the same organization.
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That passive acceptance of the platinum status sounds illegal. -As others have pointed out, at a minimum it is unethical. Generally speaking, my experiences with the Visa have been very good. There has never been an error in my account for the past three years, and SWA credits post automatically.
I will say that I called to request a photocopy of a prior statement one time.....And what an experience that was. I hung up on the first person right when it answered, and the second person was only slightly better. Basically, stuff your mouth full of food, and then mumble the star spangled banner and you will get an idea of how their phone rep (s) sounded. To their credit, this was my only negative experience (s).
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Ouch! I recently got my UA Mileage Plus Platinum Visa. After reading these horror stories regarding First USA, I wil be watching my statement very, very carefully.
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[This message has been edited by FQTV (edited 10-07-2000).]
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The fools did it again last week. This time, I found out from VolumeBuy.com that my Southwest Visa card was rejected.
Not only did FirstUSA again reject a transaction over $1000, but sent me one of those "emergency, call us, unauthorized activity in your account" letters. The "suspected" activity, as I expected, was merely having a transaction over $1000. My account was again frozen until I called to yell at them.
And of course, they had to tell me that rejecting my own charges while I'm out on the road was "in my own best interests." Does anybody have a higher-up contact to complain to? This is unbelievable.
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Agree-MBNA is heads above FirstUSA. Don't blame the workers too much though--heard management has a lot to do with their sock-it-to-you mentality.
Best advice I'll echo, ***stay away***. Be careful about their partners too. I think BA is somehow associated with them, but maybe my memory is fuzzy. May have read it in the fineprint somewhere.
Funny how some fine institutions I care about would end up in an affiliated card setup with FirstUSA. Too bad.
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[This message has been edited by FQTV (edited 10-07-2000).]
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I'd also had the "denied/account frozen" routine from my NW WP Visa. The unusual charges ($2000+ in "a matter of just minutes") were largely due (so it was explained to me) to the fact that these were "internet" purchases and thus "suspicious"! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
Go figure! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
And BTW- First USA, who took over the Marriott VISA operation, has [b]surprisingly[\b] been doing an excellent job by me so far! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
They actually offerred me and also promptly credited me, (over my strenuous objections! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ) with a $20 credit, since a merchant I'd been dealing with was so slow to respond to us and issue a credit to me! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Incidentally, I had not asked them to waive my annual fee, so this helped to defer the charge for the card! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Well, I never thought I'd ever be saying it but...
"Way to go First USA!" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
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A word on contract law...
According to the UCC's payment systems provisions, what credit card companies do is perfectly legal. See you're not passively accepting changes--you are actually accepting them. The way the UCC works, you are accepting them by using the card after you've been made aware of the changes in your contract with the credit card company.
<<This is not legal advice. Reading this does not create a lawyer-client relationship.>>
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[This message has been edited by FQTV (edited 10-07-2000).]