ORCHARD BANK 14% - 29.9% for NO reason!

[Anonymous]

I almost forgot another reason why Orchard Bank is horrible.

They raised by apr from 14% to 29.9 after about the ninth month I had the card.

I understand lots of cards use UD, but here's the rub:  My credit only improved since the time I opened my Orchard Crap card.  I mean it.  Balances on other CCs came down, I was never late on the Orchard Crap card, never over limit, etc.  All three of my CA scores improved in that time.  No CLI's on any other cards.

So I called Orchard Crap customer service (which by the way, is a long distance number, not toll-free) and explained the situation.  In the end, the representative admitted that my apr was raised "because our agreement says we can raise it at any time WITH OR WITHOUT cause".

This company is terrible.  DO NOT SIGN UP FOR AN ORCHARD BANK CARD.

[Tuscani]

I understand your frustration and you are certainly entitled to your opinion... but any CCC can rate jack for any reason. This includes prime cards like Amex and Citi. You are unfairly making Orchard look bad when in all honestly they are not when compared to the several other high fee crappy sub-prime cards out there.

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I almost forgot another reason why Orchard Bank is horrible.

They raised by apr from 14% to 29.9 after about the ninth month I had the card.

I understand lots of cards use UD, but here's the rub: My credit only improved since the time I opened my Orchard Crap card. I mean it. Balances on other CCs came down, I was never late on the Orchard Crap card, never over limit, etc. All three of my CA scores improved in that time. No CLI's on any other cards.

So I called Orchard Crap customer service (which by the way, is a long distance number, not toll-free) and explained the situation. In the end, the representative admitted that my apr was raised "because our agreement says we can raise it at any time WITH OR WITHOUT cause".

This company is terrible. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR AN ORCHARD BANK CARD.

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Two pieces of advice for ya. One get a cell phone. Two PIF and let the sobs charge 100%. It won't matter.

[Anonymous]

Yep, I had a card with them for about 5 years and I got notification of the pending change to 29.99% 2 months before it took effect.I called them and told them to take their card and sit and spin. I am now paying it off and will have it down to $0 by December.

Orchard and Cap One can go screw for all I care. Oddly enough, my car is financed with HSBC Auto (HSBC parent of Orchard) and I have had a great experience with them. Nice low APR for my score (about 9%) and they have been very helpful. Weird.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I almost forgot another reason why Orchard Bank is horrible.

They raised by apr from 14% to 29.9 after about the ninth month I had the card.

I understand lots of cards use UD, but here's the rub: My credit only improved since the time I opened my Orchard Crap card. I mean it. Balances on other CCs came down, I was never late on the Orchard Crap card, never over limit, etc. All three of my CA scores improved in that time. No CLI's on any other cards.

So I called Orchard Crap customer service (which by the way, is a long distance number, not toll-free) and explained the situation. In the end, the representative admitted that my apr was raised "because our agreement says we can raise it at any time WITH OR WITHOUT cause".

This company is terrible. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR AN ORCHARD BANK CARD.

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Yet another in a long list of reasons that you should never charge a card to anywhere near its limit. I have an Orchard card, and I don't really care if they ratejack me because my balance on it is a whopping $29. Therefore, I don't expect them to ratejack me, because there's no incentive in it for them. All that would do is tick me off and ensure I never used the card to charge anything beyond a pack of chewing gum or maybe a Quarter Pounder.

If you want to get CLIs and maintain low rates with a CC company, keep your utilization under 10%. Preferably under 5%. Only thing is, don't sockdrawer the card. Carry a balance, just keep it LOW. May balance last month on my CapOne card was $4. I just got a CLI ($1000) with BofA, and my balance on that card is $34.

DON'T USE CREDIT CARDS FOR CREDIT!! Use them for credit score IMPROVEMENT.

[MercyMe]

This is good advise, NewWorldMan.  I'm working on that.

[Anonymous]

If you read your credit card agreement (which of course no one ever does),  they ALL say that they can change the terms of the agreement at any time, for any reason, and for no reason.  All they have to do is notify you and give you 14 days to refuse the new terms (and close your account).

[Anonymous]

Nothing you can do, so why cry about it. Keep it as a positive tradeline and buy gas once in awhile. PIF every month or carry a small balance. Render the % rate insignificant. Or...get rid of it.

[Anonymous]

I assumed that paying on time, every time and carrying low, low balance would lead to CLI and graduation.  I shouldn't have been frustrated when this didn't happen.

[Anonymous]

You said:

So I called Orchard Crap customer service (which by the way, is a long distance number, not toll-free) and explained the situation.  In the end, the representative admitted that my apr was raised "because our agreement says we can raise it at any time WITH OR WITHOUT cause".

My response:

Where did you get your Orchard Bank card? Out of a cereal box?  Mine has an 800 number to call. Sure, the call goes to India, but that does not constitute a long distance call (as  least as far as the cost of the call goes).

Anyone else had these sorts of issues with Orchard and the roller coastering APR?  I have three cards with HSBC, so I will be watching them very closely.