Methuss Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 Those of you with providian cards, this is a heads-up.Apparently Providian is attempting to insert mandatory arbitration clauses into their cardholder agreements that do not already have one.A small bi-fold piece of paper came with my most recent statement and a new copy of the privacy policy. Upon reading it I found that you must notify Providian in writing with 45 days that you do not accept the arbitration clause or else it will be considered "accepted."Obviously you don't want such a clause as it prevents you from using the courts to sue them if they break the law. Send out those letters people.EDIT: More fine print discovered...Providian is also dropping the grace period on purchases. Finance charges begin to accrue from the very day you make the charge if your previous month carried a balance in any amount. (time to drop this card!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrine Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 EDIT: More fine print discovered...Providian is also dropping the grace period on purchases. Finance charges begin to accrue from the very day you make the charge if your previous month carried a balance in any amount. (time to drop this card!)I guess I won't be applying for any Providian cards when I get my credit fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 How many other issuers are now going to follow suit....Great find, Methuss.... very few people ever read those things (I was guilty of it myself).I made this an "Announcement" for now to make sure people see this info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted April 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Geez Just gets better and better...After sifting through the legaleze some more this morning, I need to clarify the thing about the grace period. The way it reads is that the grace period is "provisional." If you do not pay off the full balance on the card at the end of each month, they retro the finance charge to the day of the charge (including on fees and penalties!). If you do pay the balance in full, then you do not accrue any finance charges.Also, I found some more stuff...If you have different APRs for different categories of purchases (such as a promo-period or balance transfer) your payments are applied to interest first, then to the principal on the category with the lowest APR first. If two categories have the same APR then the principal is paid first to the category with the lowest balance. This scheme maximized the finance charges they can levy."default" rate has also increased to prime+24.57% or 29.99% whichever is greater. And they can apply default rate if you get a derog on any other tradeline on your credit report.As usual if you don't agree to the new terms (except the arbitration provision) you have to notify them within 15 days to close your account at the current terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blel0906 Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Thanks...unfortunately this is the only credit card I can use right now so I can't just dump them...I only have a small limit and do pay the account off every 2- 3 weeks..Its more a convience thing for me...I've really learned to live without creating more debt...of course trying to get out of debt has also created its share of problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Average Joe Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Well, that's about the norm for Providian! I'm sure it won't take long for Cap1 to follow suit! Way to be on the look out Methuss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luna Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Thanks for the heads up. I'm certain it won't be long before Capital One follows suit. I'll really have to pay attention. Hopefully more people will recognize them for the scum they are and dump em. I'm sure alot of people won't have a clue whats going on til its too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecleanupwoman Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 The only one I received was when I first got the card, which was in February. I wasn't aware of that and of course I might be screwed because I didn't send in a letter then. Anything else I can do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champion80 Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 They like to be tricky huh...I had worked for Providian back in 2000, I use to sell customers on transferring all there current card balances and they would get an APR .25% below the average APR for their current debt. I was with them for 6 months. About 6-8 months later I hear they are in some serious trouble with the SEC. I guess they like to test the limits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aints68 Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 I wonder about these arbitration clauses that these creditors are using. I'll bet a good lawyer would be able to bring suit anyway. I find it hard to believe that they can legally have something in a contract that basically states "agree to our terms that you cannot sue us or you will have to close your account." If that's not "strong-arming" someone I don't know what is. I'm not convinced that you can lose your rights that easily. I know that doctors and other businesses try to put things in their paperwork all the time saying that you can't sue for this or that, but people have still successfully brought suit anyway. Just my opinion, though. Let me know your thoughts on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 There have already been numerous lawsuits on these arbitration clauses. Several courts have found them to be 'uconscionable and unenforceable', but they do it anyway. People just don't understand what they can do with these damn clauses and how far they go to take away your legal rights. They count on people NOT reading those terms, and the language they use is hardly at the 6th grade level that newspapers must be published in. Those terms are nearly unfathomable and they do it on purpose. If people TRULY understood, no one would ever 'agree' - which you do if you don't DISAGREE in writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojorison_2000 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I carried a 23 cent credit on my account with providian for nearly two years, and each month they sent me a statement with my 23 cents they owed me. I got a thrill out of this but last week they sent me a check for 23 cents. Am I gonna cash it? You doggone right I am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsr Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 I hate these people almost as much as Crap One!! :'> I pulled my Trans Union report and found an entire page of nothing but Providian inquiries on it. I can't just sit back and do nothing, but I wanted to get some input on this letter before I mail it. I owe them $900 down from $1400. I don't have anything they can sue me for: June 27, 2005MeBroke-not-Stupid Lane #1My California TownProvidian FinancialPO Box 9007Pleasanton, CA 94566-0490RE: Account #XXXXI recently received copies of my credit reports from Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. I was shocked to see that there are 17 (!) inquiries on my Trans Union report from your company. As my current Original Creditor it is your legal right to conduct periodic account reviews per the FCRA as Permissible Pulls. It is NOT your legal right to have them listed as “hard pulls” or anything other than account reviews. Also, since there is an inquiry listed for every 2-3 months for the last 2 years on the Trans Union report , I can only conclude that every other payment I make on this account results in an inquiry on my reports. What exactly is my incentive to keep paying you? To protect my good credit? And since the account is closed (you were going to raise my interest rate to something even more ungodly than 24.99% unless I did, remember?) I’m not exactly going shopping with it either. According to legal counsel this is a clear abuse of Permissible Purpose and borders on harassment. It also shows a clear intent on your part to defame my character on my records. I think immediate removal of these inquiries is in order here, with definite measures taken to make sure they don’t re-pollute. I look forward to continuing my monthly on-time payments as I have done since this account was opened and to receiving your documentation that this despicable practice has ceased.Best Regards,MeI appreciate you all so much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted June 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 If you closed the account at current terms then they have no permissable purpose to pull your report for "account review." There is nothing to review as they can't increase or decrease your credit line on a closed account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsr Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Methus, you never cease to amaze me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted July 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Exxon/Mobil has jumped on this bandwagon now. I just got a change in terms notice with my monthly statement yesterday.....Binding arbitration provision that you can reject without closing the account as long as you do within 30 days...New provisions about payments (you guys will love this)....Any of the following will cause a 5 day delay in positing your payment......Not mailing to the lockbox address......Including correspondence with the payment......not including the "payment coupon"......not using the included payment envelope..Modification to the terms which says you will not use any sort of restricted endorsement payment and that you agree they will not give up any rights if they cash such a payment.Wow...these card companies are getting to be something else. I can't use my bank's bill pay service without incurring a 5 day posting delay which they then will use to attach late fees. Using a bill pay service now means submitting hte payment 15 days before it is due to ensure it posts before 5pm on the date due. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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