Rip-Offs

    Does it seem like everybody is out to rip you off? It does to me, at least sometimes. I find that it helps to air my gripes, and this page is one way to do it. So, here are the folks that have ripped me off lately:

How Chase and Experian Rip-Off Consumers and Get Away With It

    Chase has pulled this dirty trick on me three times.  They raise the rate on my credit account, alleging that Experian has reported a recent delinquency or other problem.  Experian provides me with a credit report with no delinquencies or other problems on it.  I send a copy of that credit report to Chase and ask that they roll back the rate increase.  They give me the run around for months until they finally roll back the rate increase.  When I ask them to identity the creditors with whom I was said to have a delinquency, they refuse to do so, advising that they do not actually receive from Experian a copy of my credit report but rather just a month report regarding whether or not there are problems they can use to raise interest rates and gouge consumers.

What Can One Do About It?

    If you carry a  balance, the best thing you can do is close all of your accounts with Chase and take your business to a bank that operates in an ethical fashion.  If you never carry a balance, you can make reduce Chase's ill-gotten profits by using one of their no-fee cash-back credit cards, like the one which gives 3% back on all purchases at gasoline stations.  Every time you use it for such a purchase, Chase loses money.

    You could file a complaint with the FTC, but all they will do is send you a form letter that says you have the right to sue if the bank has broken the law.  If you are dealing with a national bank, like Chase, better to file a complaint with the comptroller of the currency -- http://www.occ.treas.gov/customer.htm .  Also see http://badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff125443.htm.  I filed such a complaint with the comptroller of the currency soon thereafter received a letter from them advising that they had opened a case.  Shortly after that I got a letter from Chase advising me that they would not respond to any further communications from me.  That just makes me want to head on to the gas station and charge some more on my Chase card.

Experian, 2005:  When I find incorrect information on my credit report and provide them with documentation to the effect that their information is not correct, they decline to change the information.  They send to my creditors reports that allege I have delinquencies on credit accounts and then send me credit reports that say that I have no such delinquencies.  When I ask them to explain what is going on, they just send me another copy of my credit report with no explanation.

• On my credit report there are listed four accounts which have long been closed but which are not reported as being closed.  I have provided Experian with letters from the creditors verifying that these accounts have been closed.  Experian still does not report them as closed.
• On my credit report there appears an account that was closed in 1987.  Experian says that they keep closed accounts with no delinquencies on the report for 10 years.  Apparently Experian does not understand that 18 is more than 10.  When I brought this to their attention, they told me "the creditor did not report your account as closed."  Nevertheless, on my credit report this account is listed as closed.  My complaint was that it should not be listed at all.  Clearly Experian pays no attention to what you tell them when you dispute information on your credit report.
•  For accounts that are correctly listed as having been closed, Experian lists monthly account balances and credit limits for periods of time well after the accounts were closed.  This creates the false impression that these accounts are active.  Complaining about this does no good.
• Experian lists, and provides for creditors to view, certain inquiries.  They include in the "Comments" section of this listing incorrect information.  For example, on my credit report they report that a creditor acquired my credit report for "collection purposes," which is incorrect.  Advising them that this is incorrect produced no change in the information listed on my credit report.
• These errors on my credit report have resulted in creditors changing the terms of my credit accounts -- for example, they tell me that I have too many credit accounts, when, in fact, I have only three credit accounts.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff128913.htm -- make the credit agency include a 100 word statement you provide.  I tried this, Experian refused to include the statement.

Chase Manhattan Bank and/or Experian, 2004-2005: Here we go again, Chase raising my interest rate and citing a fraudulent credit report.

• In October of 2004 Chase once again advised me that were raising the interest rate on my credit card due to having found unfavorable information in a credit report from Experian.   As in 2003, I contested this action, asking for the specific reasons and getting a copy of my credit report from Experian.
• Experian promptly provided me with a copy of my credit report.  The only negative thing on that credit report was a note claiming that Chase had requested a copy of my credit report for "collection purposes" in July of 2003 (while I was contesting with them a previous attempt to raise my interest based on a fraudulent credit report).  This comment is seen by anybody who obtains a report on my creditworthiness, and it suggests that Chase was having to collect a debt from me, which is absolutely not true.  Nobody has ever had to collect a debt from me.  I wrote Chase asking them about this.  They said they would investigate it.
• Finally, a month later, in November, Chase got back to me and told me that my interest rate had been raised because my Experian credit report showed a recent delinquency and outstanding credit loan(s) on recently delinquent installment/revolving account(s) that are too high.  The credit report I got from Experian showed no such problems.  As in 2003, it showed that I have never even had a late payment on any account from any creditor.
• I sent a copy of my credit report back to Chase, asked them rescind the change of terms that had been made on the basis of a fictional or fraudulent credit report, and asked for their assistance in determining how this same problem has arisen twice in two years.
• In December Chase sent me half a dozen form letters saying that they were investigating the problem.  Then, just after Christmas, I got a letter from them saying that my request to have the change in terms rescinded was disallowed because I had not made it prior to the deadline (25. Nov. 04) mentioned in the change of terms memo.  Recall that I initiated my challenge of the change of terms in October.
• Incredulous, I called Chase customer support.  They essentially told me that they could not do anything about it, that I should send a letter and a copy of my credit report to their "correspondence department."  I asked for the address of their "correspondence department."  It was exactly the same address to which I had earlier sent a copy of my credit report.
• I also wrote to Experian, explaining that Chase claimed that they got from Experian a bad credit report on me, but that the credit report sent to me by Experian had none of the derogatory items that Chase had claimed were on my credit report.  Experian's response was to mail me another copy of my credit report.  Gee, thanks a lot.
• Suspecting that I am not the only one being ripped-off like this by Chase, I did a Google search for +Chase +Experian +Rip-off.  I got 455 hits.  Guess what, they are doing exactly the same thing to other customers.  See my3cents.com .
• I March of 2005 I sent a certified letter to the CEO of J. P. Morgan Chase and Company.  I summarized the problem and asked again that the rate increase be rescinded, that I be provided with the account number and name of creditor for which they claimed I had a recent delinquency, that they also provide me with such information for the outstanding loan which they claimed was recently delinquent and had a too-high balance, and that they identify the loan which my credit report says they had to collect.  Within days they rescinded the change in terms on my account, but declined to provide me with the information I requested regarding which creditor Experian claims is reporting a delinquency in my name.  Chase told me that it is their right to change the terms of my account on the basis of a monthly "summary of our customer's credit standing."  They went to note that they do not receive a full copy of their customers' credit reports.  This may mean that they just trust whatever lies Experian sends them without having any details about the allegations of credit unworthiness.  I wrote Chase back reiterating my request for identifying information on the account alleged to have been delinquent.  They decline to respond.  What a bunch of jerks.

Chase Manhattan Bank and/or Experian, 2003: In 2003 Chase sent me a notice advising that they were raising the interest rate on my credit card due to having found unfavorable information in a credit report from Experian. I demanded a written statement of the reasons from Chase and a free copy of my credit report from Experian. Chase's written statement to me advised "The consumer credit report we received shows a recent delinquency," and "The consumer credit report we received shows too many revolving accounts with insufficient available credit." On the other hand, the credit report that Experian sent to me showed that I have never had any late payments on any account and that I have open only two credit accounts, accounts for which, in the aggregate, the mean monthly balance for the past year has been $2,146 with $24,400 total credit available. So, how do they get from that to "too many revolving accounts with insufficient available credit?" I suspect that this is how they do it: First, they treat accounts that have been closed (and which stay on your credit report for 10 years or more) as if they were open, even when the credit report says that they were closed. Second, they treat the credit limit as if it were the high balance on the account -- some creditors report the credit limit, others report the high balance, and credit agencies do not distinguish between the two. So why do they do this? That is simple -- because they can get away with it and it allows them to charge you higher interest rates and fees. After I sent them a copy of my Experian credit report and asked them to explain their action in light of the information on that report, they rescinded the change in terms on my account but provided no explanation regarding how they had received or imagined bad information in the first place.

Other Creditors

Sears and Discover Card: Even after I closed accounts with these firms, they continued to report them to credit agencies as being open. Sears converted my credit card with them to a MasterCard, which I never used and which I sent back to them with a request that the account be closed. Nevertheless, years later they continue to report to credit agencies that the account has not been closed. I had a Discover Card account back in 1986 and I closed it after one year when they tried to charge me an annual fee. Despite that, they continued to report the account as not closed. This account is scheduled to remain on my credit record until 2010, 23 years after I closed the account.

American General Finance: Experian reports a long-closed account with this creditor as not closed.  Repeated letters to this creditor, asking that the account be reported as closed and that a letter be sent to me to that effect, produce no response of any kind.

Medical Rip-Offs

     It seems like every medical bill I get has errors in my disfavor.  Some are summarized at Medical Rip-Offs.

Phone Companies

Sprint: A bogus charge from AT&T appeared on my local bill. AT&T told me they would credit me for the charge and Sprint told me I did not have to pay it, so I deducted the bogus amount from the payment I made. Sprint then declared that my account was past due and assessed me a financial penalty for that. When I called to complain Sprint told me that that was standard practice and that they were sorry that I don't like the way they do business. I also don't like the fact that they have on several occasions dug up my yard and then failed to restore it to a level condition.

IDT: IDT has pretty good long distance rates, but they sock you a hefty Federal Universal Service Charge and a National Carrier Charge. Their Long Distance Service Manual says (in April of 2003) that the Federal Universal Service Charge is "9.1% of the Customer's total billed state-to-state and international charges and service fees (excluding taxes)," but they actually compute this charge on an amount that includes taxes. If you complain, they refund the charge, but they continue to miscompute the charge in subsequent billing periods.

RipOffReport.Com:  It is alleged that the owner of this site engages in unethical actions, using complaints on the site to extort money from businesses.  A correspondent mailed me this link http://www.bad-business-rip-off.com/ .

Binding Mandatory Arbitration:  Think you can sue that bank or company when they unfairly shaft you?  Think again.  There is a good chance that there is a BMA provision in the terms of your service, and that by accepting such you have given up your rights to sue.  See
Small Print, Big Trouble
Give Me Back My Rights

Contact Information for the Webmaster,
Dr. Karl L. Wuensch

This page most recently revised on 27. May 2007.