SUBSCRIBE| <<prev 2008-12-15 next>> In light of the recent financial crisis, one of my creditors namely Advanta Bank has chosen to employ some thinly veiled loan shark tactics. I've had a business credit card with them for over a year and have maintained a healthy 7.9% APR. Last month however I was awoken rather abruptly by a call at 7:30AM from their collections department. The woman said I was $20 overdue, I was half asleep but still cognizant that I had the card set up to auto pay every month so it was rather odd that there was any amount overdue. As I quickly discovered, my interest rate was now 32% and had been that way for over a month. They claimed they had sent notice (as required by law) expressing these changes to my account but I never received such notice. I then asked them what prompted the interest hike and they said vaguely that they periodically reevaluate people's credit reports to determine the appropriate interest rate. I told them I would not pay the amount until I spoke with my lawyer. I ordered a copy of my credit report for myself in the meantime and saw that there were no demarkations on it, essentially Advanta was lying to me. Better yet, the collections department started calling me every hour demanding I immediately pay the amount in a rather unprofessional manner. I paid off the card in full to get them to stop harassing me and spoke to a business lawyer. The lawyer seemed reluctant to take the case however. I also filed a complaint with the BBB which remains to be resolved. I later received the 'copy' of the notice sent about the interest hike. The notice was several pages of small font legal text with a very brief mention of the new interest rate in the fine print. It appears as if Advanta Bank is secretly hiking people's interest rates hoping they won't notice so that they can make a quick buck. Pathetic In short, don't do business with Advanta Bank
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