     Anonymous1 (Anonymous1) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 06:45 am 
I got a solicitation from them on an unsecured card. It seems cool (except for the high 25% interest rate). Anybody know anything or had any experiences with these people? |
| Don (Don) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 07:35 am
Way too many horror stories about them. |
| Patricia Holly (Househunting) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 10:52 am
Do a keyword search above for Cross Country to see what Don's talking about. There are better high risk credit companies out there. Some with their own horror stories but even Capital One is better than Cross Country b/c they have a toll free customer service number, a grace period, lower interest rate, lower annual fee and they don't make you pay for credit increases, you can use the money to secure the credit increases. I mean you pay $150 a pop for each additional $350 in credit every six months. It's a disgrace.
The other companies besides Capital One you'll see that are competitors to Cross Country are Providian, First Premier, First Consumers, Sterling, Orchard Bank, etc. Run a check for all them too in the search engine. In my opinion, Cross Country is bottom of the bucket of slime. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 12:09 pm
Did you read the fine print?
Cross Country Bank has a reputation for not honoring verbal requests to close accounts and for charging EXCESSIVE fees.
If you end up being late they'll pursue you at any number they can get, without any regards for collection laws. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 12:12 pm
Just saw Patricia's posting, I totally agree. |
| Shawn (Slong) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 08:16 pm
I have an account with Cross Country, and I called them to close my account. I have excellent payment history with them, but feel that their fees are a little high. I have just a few hundred dollars on the card, and was just charged the annual fee. I understood that if you close a credit card account within 30 days of receiving the annual charge on your account, that the annual fee will be removed. They told me that I would still be responsible for the annual fee, and if I closed the account, I would have to pay the entire balance at once. I told them that I understood that I was responsible for the balance on the card, and that my payment history with them is more than evident of my concern for timely payments. They told me that was company policy... if you close an account, be prepared to pay the entire balance immediately. (no more monthly payments allowed).
This is crazy. I have closed other credit card accounts in the past, and continued to pay until the account balance was zero. I was not charged an annual fee on these closed accounts.
I am new to this forum, and have not had a chance to search for alot of info on Cross Country Bank, but I would assume that the Federal Trade Commission has had alot of complaints about this bank. I did not close the account, but shredded the cards. I will continue to pay as much as I can until they are paid in full... lesson learned. I will research a little more before opening another credit card account. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 09:11 pm
Don't know the legal aspects, but I recommend you FAX your request to close the account, preferably through a 3rd party internet fax service that provides you with proof of receipt.
Or mail certified, but of course that costs a lot more and takes a lot longer.
See what comes back in writing from Cross Country Bank. |
| John Shimmer (Jshimmer) | Tuesday, January 16, 2001 - 05:08 am
I was with CCB for 2.5 years total, 2 different cards, back about 5 years ago. Never a problem, but I paid on time and was never late. Got them to waive the annual fee several times, but one was due to my threat to close one of the cards (which I did anyways, about 1.5 months after the fee was waived).
But regarding the closure - they should credit you the annual fee, but that's based soley on company policy and anything you've signed (and the customer agreement in place). But even if they do, they (usually) reserve the right to jack your interest rate if you close the account WITH A BALANCE on the card. You'll have to check your agreement on that one as well, but most banks work that way. |
| Teri Trantanella (Terit1) | Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 06:13 am
I have a MasterCard and a Visa with Cross Country Bank. I recently opened a 2nd Pizza Restaurant and made a substantial purchase from a vendor using my CCB Visa and their bank, Huntington National Bank, double-charged my card for the same purchase. This of course, threw my balance way over the limit. Cross Country revoked BOTH credit cards, even after being faxed by my vendor concerning the the double billing. In the meantime, I had written a check using my CCB MasterCard convenience checks and deposited it into my personal account, not knowing my MasterCard had been revoked as well. I called them immediately upon finding out (an additional restaurant purchase on my MC was declined), and was told I had to pay a $50.00 reinstatement fee along with a $7.00 service charge PER CARD!! I had no choice but to pay it as I did not want the check to come back to my bank not paid. My vendor will reimburse me the $114.00 and the $27.00 overlimit fee AFTER I get my statement. I was also on the phone long-distance with them for over 20 minutes. Even after my vendor spoke with them about the double billing, Cross Country still refused to waive the reinstatement fee. Is there ANYTHING I can do about all this. It will remain on my credit file at Cross Country indefinitely. Please advise! I'm so damn mad over this I can't see straight!! |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 03:52 pm
It sounds like Huntington National Bank is liable for all the grief they've caused you. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 05:42 pm
Teri, I highly recommend you close those accounts AFTER you got a several new cards. Do NOT believe anything they say, use fax with independent 3rd party verification or certified mail. They are notorious for failing to close accounts and charging additional fees.
CCB is one of the worst banks in the country. They just don't appreciate your business.
All you can do is learn your lesson, and warn your friends. And of course, post in public places as you did here. |
| Jeff Michel (Dispatcher) | Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 11:52 am
Does anyone know how to get Cross Country from calling you at work. I work in a very busy place and don't have the time to take calls from them. My boss literally blew up at them the other day, telling them not to call at work. The seem to keep calling me at least 5 times a day at home and once a day at work. I have talked to them about my account and explained my situation and how I am gonna remedy the problem, but they still continue to call. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 05:32 pm
FAX them a notice not to call you at work, through faxaway.com, so you have independent 3rd party verification of receipt.
"Do NOT call me at my work phone # ........
name
address
account number
signature"
That's all it takes.
Or send via certified mail, but of course that takes longer and costs more.
Please let us know if that works! If it doesn't, we'll talk about some options. |
