topic Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!! in Credit Cards

Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

irodriguez7885 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:11:34 GMT

First of all I cant believe I still have this card, but I dont want to disturb my utilization for a while so im hanging on for a little longer. I got this card knowing all the horrible fees hoping to rebuild my credit after bankruptcy. Well I sucked it in, paid the fees and voila my credit jumped from a 490 to 608 in a year. Now I have Cap 1 with a 2,500 CL. I always pay all my bills on time and try to use low utilization, so get this? Yesterday I get mail from Continental Finance saying you have an excellent history with us and we want you to upgrade your card to a VIP Gold. I look at it with the upmost skceptisism and after reading the letter and the verry small print at the bottom of the letter this is what you get. MORE FEES TO UPGRADE and a STICKER THAT SAYS VIP on it to affix to your old CC. Thats it!!! no CL increase or new terms or anything!!! HAHAHA Can you believe this company??? What do you guys think I should do? This sticker loan shark company charges me $ 18.00 a month in fees. I dont use it and definatly dont need it anymore but that darn utilization and closed account status is what keeps me in still.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

GregB — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:57:46 GMT

If you close it, AAoA will stay the same. It will continue to age until it drops off years from now. If the util is low on the CapOne, it might not hurt you to close it.

Is the CL on the VIP card enough to matter, anyway?

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:59:15 GMT

Welcome to the forums!

How many open TL's do you have? Can you afford to deposit funds for a secured card?

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

ECHOBOI4U — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:55:10 GMT

Applied Bank also tries this with customers. Affix the pretty (ugly) sticker to your card, spin around, pay more fees, sing a happy song and that's it. Since when did stickers start making adults feel better. I remember feeling special in 3rd grade when I got a gold star for spelling...LOL. These companies are crazy.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:45:54 GMT

Good fico score is about saving money... $18 per month is not saving money.

If you are not using the card, i would get rid of it. You have a cap1 card with $2500 limit, then there must be something special in you to get that.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

irodriguez7885 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:02:19 GMT

I think my luck is that although I have a bankruptcy I also have history on my credit file? 11+ years of credit history? I applied with Cap 1 and they gave me a $300 card. utilized the card and paid them in full about 2x a month, Then 45 days later I applied again and this time they gave me a $1,000 dollar card. The $300 dollar card increased to $750 then to $1,000 with their Credit steps increases and the $1,000 dollar card increased to 1,500 with their credit steps. I then had them combine the two to the lower interest card and voila I now have a $2,500 CL platinum card. You are right though I could think of better things to spend my $18 bucks a month on just wondering what the hit of closing the account will do?

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

irodriguez7885 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:07:10 GMT

the thing that really bothers me is all those poor inoccent people that get prayed on, with delusions of credit restoration and then have their already bad credit get worse and then have the collection agencies zero them in on their sites. I got this card knowing and didnt even use it just started paying from day one, in a twisted fact I had to pay to raise my score.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

irodriguez7885 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:09:57 GMT

Thats just it, there is no CL increase Lol. You get an expensive sticker after their fees, you dont even get a different APR or anything, just the sticker? Now that I really think about it, its just sad!! Shame on you Continental Finance!!!

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:39:42 GMT

I just got that same offer in the mail today. I was a little skeptical too. I called their customer service line and my worst fears were confirmed. First off, the woman said that the $49 fee a year would be added the week after I responded. I advised her that I was getting ready to pay my yearly fee on my card as it is next month and she told me that I didn't get any fees (which is crap...I get a fee every year and it disgusts me but when you are trying to build your credit, what are you to do?). So in effect, I would be paying $49/year TWICE a year...both within the same month! In addition, no credit line increase, no extra benifits except for those "super cool" ones listed in the offer. I work for a bank and if you ask me, it's CF's way of locking in crazy terms and conditions before changes being made with the UDAP bill. I'm totally disappointed.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:01:06 GMT

Welcome to the forums!

Are you talking about the Credit CARD Act of 2009?

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:08:44 GMT

Yep. By February 2010, all new rules will be enforced making it hard for Banks to change the terms and conditions of their card and charge outrageous fees.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

GregB — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:14:12 GMT

You didn't expect that the new laws would actually help, did you?

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help"

I really don't think so.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:16:10 GMT

I absolutely don't think it will "help". It's just the government's way to control everything. I think some of the new "rules" that are being put into place with that are going to help with credit card companies like Continental Finance and their ridiculous fees but in the long run, it's going to cause more issues.

But I'm not politically savvy so I'll stop right there.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:31:29 GMT

choose carefully! you cannot want redemption from the CCC and not pay the price for poor credit. Credit is still an option. YOu messed up so Play the game , pay the price, learn your lesson and move on from this CCC. you are up the ladder now make partner with another enemy.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

irodriguez7885 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:26:45 GMT

Hey welcome to the sticker club, apperantly we are very very special. Not just everyone gets a $49 sticker you know. Lol!!!!

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:11:59 GMT

No one is stating that we didn't mess up or wanting "redemption" for having poor credit. I'm pretty sure most of us have stated that we pretty much made our bed and we are lying in it. However, to get stupid offers in the mail that play the game of sounding great and really are a rip-off is poor business and I think it's normal for someone to be agitated by that. Had someone who had "perfect" credit gotten the same kind of offer, they would be miffed too. I think it's unfair for one to say "choose another enemy" if they haven't been in a situation like ours where we have to BUILD our credit from a previous mishap. Here's hoping it never happens to you....and if it does, then maybe you won't be so judgmental.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:00:50 GMT

One of the absolute best things about these forums is the peer-to-peer information sharing, from a BTDT perspective. Without a doubt, a $49 dollar sticker is a rip-off. Believe me, though, when I say that plenty of people, at varying stages of credit awareness, would buy into such a marketing-only scheme. And that goes for prime and sub-prime credit from any lender.

Whether you need the lender at this time, or you've grown beyond them is a non-issue. What's important is that we keep on sharing this information, as the OP has, so that the next guy who comes along has something to think about before buying an overpriced sticker.

Message Edited by LilMirth on 09-22-2009 04:00 PM

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:22:45 GMT

Thanks so much for making this thread. I too fixed my credit bought a home and got a Cont Finance CC

to re-build my credit.

First of all I paid off the card once, I make 20 buck a month payments to them with nothing charged

on the card and my CL is still 375 dollars.

I got the GOLD VIP letter in the mail and was going to sign the paper and send it in but something told me to check

I googled cont fin VIP and found this forum!

Thank-you I will NOT be sending in the card.

I have no other lines of credit so I am stuck with Con Fin. Will I pay 20 bucks a month (when I do not use the card) forever?

If I put 20 30 buck charges on it and pay it off does this do anything on my credit report or score?

I am stuck. How do I technically close this account after they bleed me of my money?

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:25:01 GMT

I meant I will NOT be mailing in my signature and date card to GET the VIP sticker.

I was suspicious when the letter did not say they were raising my CL on the card.

Re: Continental Finance VIP - What a ripp off!!

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:22:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yep. By February 2010, all new rules will be enforced making it hard for Banks to change the terms and conditions of their card and charge outrageous fees.

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 mainly addresses penalty fees and this is not a penalty fee. The only section of the legislation that even vaguely applies is:

SEC. 105. STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO INITIAL ISSUANCE OF SUBPRIME OR ‘FEE HARVESTER’ CARDS.
Section 127 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘(n) Standards Applicable to Initial Issuance of Subprime or ‘Fee Harvester’ Cards-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- If the terms of a credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan require the payment of any fees (other than any late fee, over-the-limit fee, or fee for a payment returned for insufficient funds) by the consumer in the first year during which the account is opened in an aggregate amount in excess of 25 percent of the total amount of credit authorized under the account when the account is opened, no payment of any fees (other than any late fee, over-the-limit fee, or fee for a payment returned for insufficient funds) may be made from the credit made available under the terms of the account.
‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- No provision of this subsection may be construed as authorizing any imposition or payment of advance fees otherwise prohibited by any provision of law.’.

You can read the entire text of the act here:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-627