Complaint: my recent statment form First Equity showed that they had raised my interest rate to 30% THIRTY PERCENT!!!!! Since I have never missed a payment and either pay over the minimum or pay off the balance, I called to see why this happened. "Well Robert, it is our new policy". I request a supervisor, was connected to one, and got the same story except that she said they would be willing to drop the rate to 23%. I closed the account then and there. Though I had no problems prior to this, this is all I could tolerate.....I would not recommend this card to anyone. Too many other great companies offering businesses credit lines at great rates.

Complaint: I understand fully if I charge anything on the FE CC it is my obligation to pay it back as its the the money of FE CC that I am using. I pay off the balance every month. My complaint is that FE CC is NOT consistant in their statements on the phone from one day to the next. This JOHN YARDLEY " clown " who wrote this web site to have certain posts taken off ( he works for FE CC ) is not professional enough to call a customer when the customer wants a consistant application of its own rules. In short, after reading the entire CC agreement FE CC just plain LIES. Yardly is! such an unprofessional person that he is afraid to call me and address the problem like a real professional. My next communication is to the Federal Trade Commission.

Complaint: I can vouch for the complaints already mentioned on this page. They are likely all valid. First Equity Card is to be avoided. 1) First Equity Card Corp slowly ratchets up rates to usurious levels. 2) If you make payments on your balance by bank transfer, be sure to place your transfer order more than 7 days before the payment due date--it may take that long for the funds to be credited to your account. 3) If your payment is not received by the due date, expect rude and harassing calls to begin immediately. 4) If you withhold payment pending verification of charges, expect late fees. 5) If you like receiving SPAM, this is the card for you--I received 20 unsolicited emails from this company within 12 hours. (I carried a $0 balance at the time.) A final note: I am 37 years old. I have never taken the time to write a letter of complaint. I have never posted comments about a company in a public forum. My former First Equity Card has inspired me.

Complaint: DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD FROM THIS BUNCH OF THIEVES. I fell for the sales pitch to get a c/card for my business from these robbers. Nice looking card arrived with a rate of 15% After a few months I put a couple of big ticket items on the card, as I needed to wait for money coming in. The quickley lowered my limit from $9000 to $6000, without telling me, and then UPPED the rate to 29%. Despite several emails and calls, they absolutley refuse to drop the rate and inform me they can do all this as it is in the small print. My payment went through the roof. Now let me add that I have never missed a payment and am completley up to date with them, and I have no bad credit reports from other companies. I told them I would be paying the balance off and not dealing with them in future, their response was " you are free to do whatever you want " Save yourself aggro, DON'T get a credit card from these financial jerkoffs !

Complaint: I'm glad someone at First Equity reads these complaints. I had a problem the last few years, namely a spouse that spent money like water. I got rid of her and have spent most of this year paying off cards. Three cards to zero and another this month will be gone. Problem is, after no late payments or problems of any sort whatsoever, First Equity has raised my interest rate from 19% a few months back to 24% then .... drumroll.... 27.9% and 31.9% on purchases and cash advances on this month's statement. Guess what First Equity, in two months my $4K balance will be zero and you'll be done too. I will never forgive and forget your shady practice of interest rate jacking. I won't call to complain. I'll simply get my balance to zero and cancel my card, and, of course, write little warnings to others about your company. I reiterate - I have no credit issues whatsoever that could possibly warrant First Equity cranking up my interest rate. All I can say is HSBC did the same thing on one of my HSBC cards (18% to 29.9%) while another of my HSBC cards remained at the same favorable rate. I never complained, I simply paid them both off and then canceled both out of principle. Your next First Equity. My warning to all: Do not do business with First Equity because they will up your rate for no reason other than to extract as much as they can whenever you carry a balance.

Complaint: On or about June 1, 2008 I received an envelop with two credit cards in my name from First Equity, then the next day two PIN numbers from them. I had never heard of them, not did I put in any type of application. Immediately I called them and had the account cancelled. I requested a copy of the original application and they said, fine we will send it right out. In the meantime I shredded the cards and PIN numbers. Again I called asking for a copy of the original application and a letter comfirming my account has been closed. Today, July 18, 2008 I made my fifth(5) telephone call requesting this information and the story changes everytime. Still have not received anything. Today I asked the exact address of their office, I mentioned the sign going up on my lawn saying "First Equity SUCKS" and they tell me now that I need to fax a letter to them requesting this information. What should my next step be? Can I sue, or is there a class action lawsuit against these scum building? I want to be heard and I want to be heard very loudly! Pete "Pissed in Albany"

Complaint: To the janitor above.  I wish I had found this site long before I signed onto this card. I have never been so frustrated with a company ebfore in my lkife. Not only do they not tell the truth...they string you along for months before giving you an answer. This company offered me 3 convenience checks to consolidate other crdit cards. They offered $9000 with interest free until 2009. I paid off two credit cards for under this amount. They negated the second check, the day it was posted to the credit card company I was paying off...thus incurring fees with that credit card for bounced ch! eck, late payment and over payment fees. For two months I have been going back and forth with their correspondence depattment who pushes me off, denies they have received faxes, does not act on the documented info they requested of me. Finally, they tell me they can no longer honor the check because it is past the offer date, they can not fix the first problem because I am now "out of the bucket" of the original offer, and even though their supervisors could see no reason why the original pay off was denied, they just can't do anything about it now....I am so pissed off at this company, they feel like real scam artists to me. ON top of that they told me my original credit card that the coneveneience checks was issued to was nolonger in service, so I need to order a new credit card....and guess what??? The original offer for the one account I did transfer and they accepted was now at 24.9% interest....thes people should never be allowed to continue in business.

Complaint: What? The janitor from First equity card claims in above answer "First Equity does not use pre-screened or pre-approved offers" yet right on their home page the first thing you see is "The First Equity Card is available by invitation only. Our core product, the First Equity Platinum Small Business Visa and MasterCard, is offered only to the nation's most creditworthy small businesses. We periodically ask specific small business owners who value their reputations and credit standing to apply for the card through direct mail solicitation. That sure sounds like they not only use pre screened offers, but use them exclusively! They sound like such a nice and "SMALL" caring company from their response. I could go on and on about this company, but let me just warn you. If you do accept their offer beware! You can make your payments regularly and within the billing cycle, but if you fail as I did to watch what they are doing you will get at $39 Late payment charge for any month the payment was received in the later half of the cycle. In other words if the statement is printed on the first, your payment had better be in by the 15th and not the 25th. Don't use them for anything where you carry a balance! They will jerk your interest up to over 30% which I had never even heard of and didn't think was even legal. I know many of you that get this card's offer are busy trying to run a small business, but you MUST pay attention to every thing these people do. They don't go by the conventional practices that you're accustomed to. They are not your friend, They are not your partner, They do not have your interest at heart, they are unresponsive and have no public relations department that is going to LOWER YOUR RATE when you call to complain. When you get that offer, my advise is to throw it in the trash. If you can deal with someone who's always there waiting for you to let your guard down to get you, these people may be for you. Willian, Fort Walton Beach, FL

Complaint: Rip off, they lie about what they have to offer. I opened an account with them based on no annual fee, 9.99 APR. I get the card and within 3 months, my interest rate was 34%, I did not even know you could do that, I got charged annual fee, after I paid my balance in full, they called me to say I was owing 7 dollars finance charges. DO NOT GET THIS CARD. THEY ARE RIP OFFS

Complaint: STAY FAR AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE. THEY GAVE ME $10K LIMIT. 2 MONTHS LATER WITHOUT NOTICE DROPPED TO 5K. AFTER A DEADEND WAR WITH THEM I JUST PAID BALLANCE EVERY 10 DAYS. THEN THERE NEW DEAL WAS I COULD ONLY SPEND 5K REGUARDLESS OF BALLANCE. CLEARLY THEY ONLY WANT CUSTOMERS THAT CARRY BALLANCES. I HERE THE RATES ARE VERY HIGH. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INVOLVED WITH BEFORE YOU START. I TRIED EVERY NUNBER IN THE FREE WORLD, EITHER THEY DON'T RETURN CALLS OR THE DON'T EXSIST OR THE COULD CARE LESS. I HAVE A LOT MORE COMMENTS BUT IT WOULD INVOLVE MANY BAD WORDS. ONLY THING IS FOR SURE,

Complaint: I'm sure we are not unique in stating that many new companies have problems obtaining the needed financial and good credit standing with banks, suppliers, credit card companies, etc. We had our share when we opened the doors three years ago. Early on and despite the bad press, we contacted First Equity. They issued us a card with a reasonable limit, although a disproportionately high interest rate. We considered it part of the cost of doing business. All our normal recurring business expenses were applied to the card and have had no problems until this p! ast week. Our balance is 25% of the card's limit. All our monthly payments have been on time. Then last week, our suppliers notified us that their billing was declined by First Equity. We contacted First Equity Customer "Service" only to discover that our account had been suspended pending re-evaluation? We were unable to obtain any details or explanation of their action. We did request the card be returned to active status, which they did - but they dropped our limit to within a few dollars of our outstanding balance, rendering the card useless. We were notified an explanation was being sent via mail. We consider (and expect) all our vendors, our suppliers, our bank AND our credit card companies to be our business partners; each sharing in our overall success. As such, we expect excellence and strong business ethics in all our relationships. It is apparent that we can no longer include First Equity as a reputable business partner. We have spent considerable, valuable time attempting to contact John Yardley of First Equity. It seems he runs a mail drop that passes as the "corporate office" in PA. We've also been in contact with First Equity's backer - Columbus Bank & Trust. They are very apologetic but very vague and evasive about any relationship with First Equity. I've read Mr. Yardley's post on this site. He states, "Because we are a small company and our business is limited to offering credit cards to small businesses, we are disproportionately harmed by the negative material about our company presented on your website". So I will issue a challenge to Mr. Yardley and First Equity: Scrap your fine print, quit scheming with your "work-a-rounds". Let us know who and where you are. Treat your card holders with a professional level of respect. You have the ability to offer new business owners a very needed service at the time it's needed most - at startup. However, operating as you do will only bring failure; to First Equity and those in financial partnership with you. We all begin as small companies, Mr Yardley. The fact that you consider First Equity (still) a small business is probably the result of your work ethic. We all strive for growth and success. You and First Equity now hinder all our collective goals.

Complaint: Every complaint on this web site is absolutely valid. I have experienced the very same problems with First Equity and I finally had enough of trying to be reasonable with these scammers so I closed my account tonight. No amount of PR from Mr.Yardley will be able to overcome the absolutely unethical and illegal behaviors of First Equity. So, Mr. Yardley, my advice to you is to find yourself another job before you find yourself embroiled right along with your company in more lawsuits, FCC complaints, and a host of other unpleasant consequences than you can presently imagine. My wife, a third year law student at the top of her class, is committed to not only making First Equity accountable for its misdeeds and unethical business practices, but also to having them pay big bucks for their arrogance and for the harm they have done to others. If you think that the complaints on this page are trivial and will never amount to much, if anything, in the way of problems for First Equity, then you are naive as well as mentally challenged. You have not known wrath until you have encountered the legal wrath of my wife. My friend, I implore you to do yourself a favor and get out while you can. Life as you and First Equity have known it is about to change in the most unpleasant way imaginable. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Complaint: I wish I had found this site before I accepted this card! Like others, I thought to use this card as a financial hedge if things got rough with my business and sure enough they did. I was doing ok with the payments, but I missed a payment and paid dearly for it. I called and tried to negotiate, but my APR increased to 30%, I was charged the $39 late fee AND they lowered my credit limit! I have tried twice to get my APR lowered and have asked if they have a hardship program, but to no avail. Their website is poorly designed and they do not provide information in their account summaries like other companies and I have yet to understand this "APR spread" that they use to calculate your finance charges. I asked for another copy of my credit card agreement and the rep said she would "put in a request" to have it sent. She seemed surprised that I asked for it and I seriously doubt I will get it. WARNING:STAY AWAY!!!

Complaint: This company will rip you off. I paid my credit card always on time. I got to a certain limit and decided I needed to try and pay this card off. My interest rate was low, and I wanted to get it pay off. I stopped using the card and got a letter in the mail stating they had caneclled my card because I had not used it in a while. I thought, thats ok with me because I am going to pay them off anyway. But what I didn't expect was that they would cancel my card at a 9.99% interest rate and raise my interest rate to 32.10%. I have never been late and always paid on time. Now my monthly minimal payment! constantly is going up. You can't pay this card off unless you get a loan or transfer to another card. PLEASE DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY, THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF.

Complaint: I had a credit limit of $8,000.00 and hardly used the card. Then they lowered my credit limit to $1,000.00 and every time I tried using the card they would decline it. Today 9/11/08 I called up after being declined and they put my account on hold with no explanation. Zero balance and zero credit. This company seems to do whatever they feel like doing when they feel like it. I currently have a Platinum American Express, a Gold American Express, and other credit cards that treat me fair. This company is an example of one of the worst banks in this nation! and should not be allowed to continue doing business. They are very insensitive to peoples' needs and don't care about anything except themselves. I urge everyone that has problems with them to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and maybe with enough complaints the government will investigate their questionable credit card practices. Antonio Hernandez

Complaint: I received an offer for their card and thought how nice I can really use this right now. well after using the card for a couple of months I started to get declined and to mention I always made my payments on time and more than the min due. I called them and after playing the button push game I talked to someone live...she explained that they put a security hold on my account and there is no available balance. I asked why and she said she had no idea. she told me to call back in a few days and they should know something...I'm canceling this joke.

Complaint: this company is a joke...like all of these complaints i have 1 to i was blind sighted by this joke of a company . i used to use my card on a regular basis but with the outrageous interest rate u got nowhere so i paid it off and called to get my interest rate lowered and got nowhere with the babbling mumbling customer service so i just left it at that the about 3 months later went to make a large purchase and it was declined oh was i mad the card had no balance .. so i called them and they say u have to talk to corporate office which they wont give a person info to con! tact them . so i called the next day and they tell me we cancelled your card on you . hey first equity thanks for doing something i should have done a long time ago

Complaint: This "company" if you can even call them that are more like loan sharks than any reputable business I've ever dealt with. I received an offer for a business card from them through the mail promising low rates, high credit limits so I ended up sending in the form when I receive the welcome package the card actually came with 20%+ APR and a $1000 credit limit. So I think that's fine I won't carry a balance and it will be no problems. However this company only processes your payments to your available credit once a month even though it will correctly show your available credit on their website and phone system but if you try to leverage it prior to the next month you will be declined on your card. Very frustrating when trying to make business purchases and to be declined on a card that has a 0 balance because it was paid off to make a purchase. Next issue with this company, they never even reported my trade line to Experian or Dunn&Bradd. I emailed them a few times over this and they said they report periodically and could not tell me when they would, after having the card for 2/3 a year they still never reported it. During the 2/3 of a year I maintained this card they raised my rates atleast 3 separate times even though I never once had a late payment. Generally I just laughed when they did because I refused to carry a balance on the card to start with so they could raise my rates all they want it wouldn't cost me a dime, apparently they don't like customers that do this. Come this August 2008, I went to make a purchase and once again find my card declined for no reason. I try to find out why by contacting First Equity and all I can be told is there a hold on my account and no one can explain why and it will days before I can get an answer. Finally after 5 days I finally speak with some one that could say my account had been closed and I would receive a letter in the mail and couldn't explain anything further. Once again I laugh at them and said thanks for making it easier to close my account because that's why I called again. 2 weeks later I get said letter in the mail that said they closed my account due to articles on my credit report which is a blatant lie as my credit did not change since I opened the account, another blatant lie of that was that they did not even do a credit report check until AFTER I spoke with them on the phone the following day as I am enrolled in a credit report / identity theft monitoring service. My account must have had a hold on it for even longer than I knew about because it had been 2 weeks since I even used it until I received my card declined notice from a merchant. Personally I'm considering suing them for Fair Credit Reporting Act violations for wrongfully obtaining my credit report AFTER they placed a hold on my account in an attempt to cover up their removing a customer that would not play by their rules and carry a balance on their card. Stay away from this company they will attempt to shaft you at every turn, and if they can't shaft you they will then drop you for no reason and cite some magical reason AFTER the fact.

Complaint: I have had an account with FECC for about 18 months. About two months ago I made a payment over the phone from an account that has an ach block on it and realized soon thereafter what I had done. So I called and did another payment from a regular account and it went through fine. Both payments posted the same day and before the due date. The first payment rejected from my bank as I suspected would happen. I was charged a $39 payment reject fee which I realize was my fault and I am not complaining about. However they decided to freeze my account since a payment rejected even tho! ugh the other payment went through fine. When I inquired about this they said they would have to do a "credit review". I called several times over the next two months and they could never give me a straight answer but said they would re-submit the review. Based on what I am reading here this company has major issues. My problem seems insignificant compared to many. I guess I will just close the account as it worthless in this frozen state.

Complaint: THIS CARD IS THE WORST! This VISA card has been nothing but trouble ever since I started using it. To begin with, First Equity allowed a vendor to run through a large charge twice (in error), causing me to go almost $1,000 over my credit limit. I was charged two over-the-limit fees of $39 over the next two statements. In defense of First Equity, they did reverse these charges. Then, I went on vacation and went to use my card to pay my hotel bill and it was declined even though I had enough available credit. Supposedly, there was a 15 calendar day hold on my card for the au! thorizations that this hotel placed, and this caused my card to decline. It also used up almost all of my available credit for the next 2-3 weeks, making my card unusable. Finally, I went to pay for a small car repair with this card earlier this week and it too was declined despite having enough available credit. I called Customer Service and they informed me that a temporary hold had been placed on my account from the corporate office, but could not provide a corporate phone number. I was told to call back in two business days to see if the temporary suspension would be lifted. Two days later, I called Customer Service again and they informed me that the corporate office had CLOSED my account based on information it had received from Experian. I was amazed! I do have pretty good credit and had never been late on this account - I honestly felt that I was a very good customer! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND USING THIS CREDIT CARD COMPANY!

Complaint: Got this card at 7.99% back in 06. Never late or overlimit. They raised it to 15.99% in 07. Today they raised it for the last time to 35.99%. I say the last time because I paid the card off and will never ever use Advanta again. Stay away from this rip off company. Can you beleive 35.99%?????? Pawn shops give better rates than that. There should be a law against that kind of rate.

Complaint: STAY AWAY from this card. I received a mailer asking me to apply for a card for my new business which I did. I opened the account, and was given a $5,000 dollar limit. I did not use the account for several months, as my Business was just starting up. When my first busy month came, I began to use the checks that came with the account to pay some day workers, 3 check witch totaled 1350.00 and when 2 of them cleared, the account was immediately placed on "an administrative hold" with out notifying me in any way. I discovered the problem when I tried to use the ! card to pay for a $42.50 dinner I had with a colleague, the account was frozen, and I was told that no explanation could be given until I made a payment. A payment for which the due date was still 20 days away, and for which I had not yet received a statement. The third check which I written the same day as the other two, but mailed, was returned to the recipient marked insufficient funds. Again with no notification to me. The company refused any responsibility for the check, laving me with 60 dollars in bounced check fees and the embarrassment of having bounced a check to an employee. In the meantime, MY first bill for them is still not even due for 2 more weeks. I have canceled the card. Instead of helping my reputation and credit worthiness, this card's practices have COST me money and sullied my name with my workers.

Complaint: Well, after reading everyone else's post, no surprise here. I to have had a FE CC for several months and paid the balance in full monthly. Have not used the card since August 2008. Today, 9/23/2008, I try to use the card and it is declined. HMM...So, I call customer service and SHOCKER....I get the same line as everyone else. Corporate put a hold on it, no documentation as to why, you will have to call back in two days to determine result, no we do not have a number for anyone that you can call or an address to write our coporate office. No, I can not give you the CEO's name. Well, I ! told her I would do the research and this website just made it easier. Please if you have not done so already, YOU NEED to send a letter of complaint to the CEO and to the FTC.

Complaint: I received a "pre-approved" application for this VISA credit card several months ago. First of all, the interest rate I'm being charged is significantly higher than the rate listed on the application. Second of all, First Equity just arbitrarily lowered my credit limit by 60% apparently due to some negative listings on my credit report, HOWEVER, my credit report has actually IMPROVED since First Equity issued my card several months ago. I have NEVER missed, nor been late with a payment on this credit card. Today, everybody needs at least one credit card, but get it from a more reputable company than First Equity Card Corp.!!!

Complaint: I am writing this on September 20, 2008 because I want others to know that this site isn't just for very old complaints. Several years ago my company had some serious financial problems. Thankfully, we avoided bankruptcy, but we lost all of our credit. Two years ago we received an application for a business card from First Equity. At the time I thought it was a god send because most people wouldn't even talk to us at that time. First Equity gave us a credit limit of $1,000 in July, 2006. It was a big help in placing orders and keeping cash flow moving. In more than 2 years we never went over the credit limit. We were late once on a payment in December, 2007. Our envelope was dropped by the postman and fell behind a chair unbeknown to us. Nevertheless, it was late and we accepted the fee. A couple weeks ago, I took a client to breakfast and tried to pay the bill with the First Equity Card. Our bill was about $18.00. The card was declined. After getting over the embarrassment, I paid with another card. I telephoned First Equity and got an unbelievable runaround. After three people I was finally told that my account was on an Administrative Hold and that I should check back in three days. Before I had the chance to check back I received a letter in the mail stating that my account was closed due to serious delinquency. Believe me, except for the dropped envelope we were never late. At the time of the cancellation I owed $139.36 on this card. Can you believe what a joke this company is? And somehow, I was the one with the credit problem and they manage to stay in business. I hope enough people read these postings and stay far away from First Equity. More so, I hope some folks a lot more powerful than me file a class action law suit against them. Thankfully, things are better for my shop. We have reestablished a good bit of credit and now have credit card limits of more than $10,000 from other concerns. The First Equity card was thrown away with pleasure!

Complaint: I have been reading everyones experience and also feel that this company needs to be shut down! I applied for one of their cards and was approved for a $500 limit. I used it when we went to Aruba, just for this and that. I was able to actually use the card and charged around $415.00. When I got home, there was a letter in the mail, stating that they had lowered my credit limit to $400 and I exceeded my limit. Paid some of the bill and received another letter that my credit limit had been decreased again, to $200. Everytime I would get the bill I would pay on this, but did not get anywhere because they continued to charge an over the limit fee of $39.00, and late fee of $39.00 and the interest on top of all that. If I was late at all, they would hound me by calling all day. They even called my house and told my husband that I was ignoring their attempts to collect this debt. THAT IS ILLEGAL!!! I HAVE PRIVICY RIGHTS AND THAT IS A FEDERAL CRIME.!!! I finally sent them a payoff today and I will never use this company for anything. Consumers need to be aware of this "Bait and Switch" trick they use. I too have sent a copy of this to my States Attorney General.

Complaint: I HAVE BEEN A CUSTOMER OF FIRST EQUITY SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD SERVICE FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND HAVE ALWAYS COUNTED ON THERE SERVICES THEY PROVIDED FOR MY BUSINESS NEEDS. THE WEEK OF 10/20/08 I RECEIVED A NOTICE IN THE MAIL SAYING MY CARD ACCOUNT HAD BEEN CLOSED DUE TO MY CREDIT REPORT. I PULLED A COPY OF MY REPORT FROM ALL 3 CREDIT BUREAUS. MY CREDIT HISTORY IS EXCELLENT. THE REASONS GIVEN BY FIRST EQUITY GROUP FOR COUNCILATION ARE NOT ON ANY OF MY CREDIT HISTORY REPORTS. MY ADVICE TO ANYONE OR BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY LOCATED IN COLUM! BUS GA. VERY UNHAPPY WITH THE WAY I WAS TREATED BY CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS.EVEN THE SUPERVISOR WOULD NOT EVEN LET ME SEND PROOF THAT THEY WERE WRONG IN THERE FINDINGS, SOME EMPLOYEE MADE A MISTAKE IN THERE FINDINGS ON MY CREDIT REPORTS, AND I AM VERY UPSET AND WILL ALSO TAKE THIS TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF GA.

Complaint: Oct 22,2008 Our company also has a First Equity CC that we have had for a few years. Our credit line is $10,500, and as of today we have an outstanding balance of 2K. We pay about 2K a month. I'd like to add that we have never even once been late on any payments, as the payment is sent in 5 days before the due date. Today all of a sudden the card does not work. WTF is this? I called the Customer Service agent and was told that the acct was on a Corp Review and not to be used at this time. What that means is anyone's guess. I did speak to a Supervisor who said she has no explanation and that she will send in a request to have this review stopped. I asked for a contact at Corp but they don't have that information. Oh they have it, but you ain't getting it. She said to call back in two days to see if this has been corrected. Well, I have a great solution. I am going to have our accounting dept pay this acct in full and close it. We charged over 45,000.00 in 2007 and owe a stinking 2 grand and you did this to our company. So Mr. First Equity agent. Tell me why this happened in the first place and why a good customer such as our company has to endure this type of treatment? We don't! I just now activated a Corp card that we have had with Washington Mutual. Bet they won't treat us this way. Maybe as the other poster mentioned...You have the money problems, we DON'T!!

Complaint: Well, I have to way there is some sick comfort in the fact that I am not the only one that this pond scum of a company got the best of. After reading the 100+ complaints that sum up every experience I have had in the 6 weeks of being a First Equity Card Member I realize that this is just a company that needs to be exposed. I am sorry to say that a letter the the Attorney Generals office is not enough, news coverage on national news is what is needed here. With the rest of the scum out there getting their 15 minutes of fame, I say we all write to our local FOX affiliates to ! give these folks at First Equity the attention they so deserve. I too opened a card with that fantastic low rate offer, onky to get my first bill and see it doubled, then when I called to talk to the less than professional (probably Mr. John Yardley's girlfriend) representative, I was told...."It is what it is....watcha gonna think ya gonna do 'bout it"...in that Harvard educated dialect that the First Equity representatives have to have in order to get hired! Then when I complained I also received the letter that my account was shut down....or I should say lowered. I am going to write the check to pay this off tomorrow and then send a letter to every single tv affiliate I know (I am in the biz so this will be no problem) and get a copy of my letter to them in hopes of getting this exposed to the tv channels who are right now focsed on the poor folks on Main Street and the asses that our tax dollars are bailing out of Wall Street.....so they will love to get a hold of these 100+ complaints.....if any of you folks would like me to do the same, forward me your letter and complaint and I will get that distributed all over for you. My email is above, and I have nothing better to do with my time right now than to spend every minute of it helping allllllll of us out and getting to the rat at the bottom of this crap smelling First Equity pile.

Complaint: I got my letter in the mail, sent it in and got approved for a $3000 line of credit. Great. I used it for a couple of months, paid it off every time I used it. I never let any charges sit on there for more than a week or so. As soon as the charges were showing online, I'd pay off the balance. Now all of a sudden, they've cut my credit limit to $200. What can I possibly do with $200? What a joke!

Complaint: I got a little chuckle while reading Mr. Yardley's post. I received a letter from First Equity fraud department with no contact name and no contact phone number. I sent an email about the incompetency of First Equity's fraud department and how their mistake is now costing me thousands of dollars and have yet to receive a response. I'm sure all these people who write in have very valid complaints, after all they are dealing with a multimillion dollar company and we are just the common folk. When the financial institutions go belly up because of their business practices they are the first to ! cry foul and ask the government to bail them out.

Complaint: They are unable to calculate a payoff balance. I arranged to payoff the balance and then closed the account. However, there was an interest charge on the balance for the period between the statement date and the payment date. Since the account was closed the credit limit was zero, therefore the interest charge exceed the credit limit so a $39 overlimit fee was added. This led to a dispute, which resulted in a $39 late fee being added to the balance. They will not provide a payoff balance making it very difficult to close the account. This is just one of many unhappy experiences, hopefully the last, with this compan! y. Stay away from First Equity Card!

Complaint: On November 8th, 2004, a Richard E. Griswold committed identity theft and obtained two credit cards for his business, The Griswold Group, from First Equity using my social security number. At this time I was unaware of this crime. In June of 2005, a letter came to my address from First Equity with checks that apparently Richard E. Griswold ordered. The reason I made sure to open up the letter is because it was addressed to T. WrightGriswold which is not my name nor has it ever been. That was the first I heard anything about this card. I called the company and reported the account as fraud. The representative that I talked to took down the information and when I asked if I would be liable for the balance of $1330 I was told no. This representative never informed me of my rights or sent me an affidavit or dispute form. This is where the ball was dropped and by a company that should have known better. I put an alert on my credit report for the entire year. I then called and filed fraud charges with the police against Richard E. Griswold. I asked the police what was going to be done about this and they told me more than likely nothing because this happens every single day! Great then why go to the trouble to even file a report. For the next three years I never heard a word from First Equity. I looked into refinancing my home and was told I had very good credit and I also purchased a used car and received a 5% interest rate because my credit was good. There was nothing derogatory about my credit. On September 19, 2008, I came home to a phone message from LHR, Inc. informing me that they were a collection agency and that I had a debt that they were going to come after. I tried calling their office but they were closed. I was sure it was a mistake because I knew I had no outstanding debt. I had to wait until Monday, September 22 to call them back. I talked to a very nasty woman who told me I owed $8,600 to a First Equity. I told her I reported that card as identity theft fraud and that it was taken care of. Apparently not and now instead of $1330, it was over $8,000. Nice of First Equity to keep me informed. This representative of LHR told me that I was sent a letter sometime in September explaining all of this. No, I never received a letter because they never had my address until after I talked to them on 9/22/08 and since they were telling me that my name was T. WrightGriswold, it would have been the first piece of mail I would have opened had they sent it. I have never had to deal with a collection agency and so once again I was not aware of my rights or that I didn’t need to pay that amount especially until I had a chance to find out all the information and try to resolve it. This lady informed me that they would ruin my credit and that I had to pay. I was in tears by this time because she was relentless, threatening me and using undo pressure. I told her that I couldn’t pay that amount and that is when she informed me that I had two credit cards, which she named and told me that I had enough balance on them to cover it. I could not believe she knew that information. I honestly didn’t know I had a choice in this matter. She never once offered me any kind of payment options. She just wanted it put onto my credit card. On September 24th, I received my first correspondence, addressed to T. WrightGriswold, from LHR telling me that I was paid in full with LHR. On September 25th, I received a second letter from LHR telling me again I was paid in full, but at the top of the letter it said detach and return the top portion with payment and the balance said $1330. So now I was being charged more! I have spent every day on the phone since 9/22/08 with either a representative from LHR, First Equity, Chase, the Credit Bureaus or the police. Every time I call, I end up talking with a different person and most times I couldn’t even get through to a human voice. Every person has a different story to tell me. This has gone on for almost a month now and I am getting absolutely no where because no one in these companies seems to know what they are doing. I have asked repeatedly for an affidavit from First Equity to get this matter resolved and have yet to receive anything, and every time I’ve asked I’ve been told a different day that correspondence has been mailed out. I received copies of my credit report 6/05 and again 9/08 and First Equity was not listed as a charge card for me nor was there anything derogatory. One would think that if I was delinquent on a charge card to the tune of $8,000 it would be somewhere on the report. Every time I call First Equity I talk to a different person and every person can see that I did indeed call in June of 05 to report a fraudulent card, that that card was closed, it was identity theft and that no paperwork was ever sent to me. I called LHR four times and at the end of the fourth call I was told that all my phone conversations had been taped. Now I’m glad it was all recorded because now there is proof of what was told to me. LHR told me that they purchased this card and that they would get all the money and none of it was going to First Equity. At the end of this last call to LHR I was also told that if I tried to get the $7,353 taken back, they would hit me with a $10,000 charge against my credit report! First Equity never told me that the card was sold off and that they no longer have a vested interest, but I just received a letter from them saying they are investigating the matter. (Where were they three years ago)? Of course it was a form letter meant to appease me with no contact name or number. I filed complaints with the FTC on both First Equity and LHR for their business practices. Nobody from First Equity or LHR, Inc. ever went after Richard Griswold, even though it is his name and address all over the statements. I sent an email to John Yardley, and letters by certified mail to Clarke, CEO and Rosentover, VP. I feel their little multimillion dollar company should be the one to take care of all this since they started it all in the beginning.

Complaint: All of you are completely right. I wish I would have read these complaints before I received their offer in the mail. Their offer stated that I would get 0% APR on balance transfers and they scammed me! I have never received that APR and I have called them over and over and get no where. I have filed a complaint. All they says is "I can lower you rate to 19%"...WHAT! I have great credit and so does my business. I am scared to transfer to another card that offer 0% because I do not want to get scammed again. SO DO NOT USE THIS CREDIT CARD COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!

Complaint: A few months back, this credit card company sent me blank cash advance checks with a note encouraging me to use them, one of which I used the NEXT DAY. I later found out that the cash advance check bounced because First Equity reduced my credit limit ON THE SAME DAY THEY SENT THE BLANK CHECKS - but without comminicating that fact to me until days later (by mail). Aside from the mess the bounced check caused with my regular bank where I deposited the check, this credit card company has used this event to charge me a default rate of interest, which has steadily increased ! since that time. The rate is now 29.33%, which I can't believe is legal. They have also reduced my credit limit further on multiple occassions, which I believe were attempts to get me to go over the credit limit, to generate fees and further increases in interest rates. I should note that I have NEVER skipped a payment and NEVER made a late payment on this account, or any other account I have. When I called their customer service department to complain about this turn of events, I was shocked to basically here, "Too Bad!" I am in the process of closing this awful account, but this company should clearly NOT being doing business. They are scam artists, as far as I am concerned, including their employee with a post here. I had no idea there were so many other people with problems with this bank, until I found this site. I sure hope none of my tax dollars are used to bail these scum bags out. Clearly they should be among the banking casualties.

Complaint: I am an owner of small busines that is named after myself. I've never heard of this company until I recieved a letter from them stating that my acocunt (acount number xxxx) has ben closed due serveral reasons that hey listed, and was based on a credit report from Experian. Since I was not aware of any account with this business, I called the phone number listed on the letter (866-756-7870) and spoke with a customer service rep. I (stupidly) provided my name, address, phone number and ssn which she supposedly used to look up my account. She located an account whose information matched the information I provided except for the ssn, and she advised that I would need to fax a copy of my drivers license and social security card before she coupld provide any further information. Being leary, I asked to be gtransferred to the fraud department. I was transerred to a "Kelsey" in the fraud department and recieved the same treatment. Being very leary at this point I declined. I certainly had the feeling at this point that they were engaging in some type of identy theft. Doing an on-line search I found this site and read through the posts. I feel stupid for providing them with so much detailed information. Like others here, I have filed a complaint with the FTC.

Complaint: My story is the same as the preceding complaints: I had a credit score of 720, no late payments, low debt relative to my income, etc. First Equity sent me a solicitation touting a business credit line as high as $100,000 and a long-term APR as low as 0%. What I got was a $4,500 dollar credit line with 0%APR on purchases that were paid within 30 days.. and 12%APR there after. After a couple of months of having this card My Credit line was decreased to $3,000 and The interest and an interest rate and fees that would bankrupt a business owner [33% APR]. When I asked wha! t it would take to qualify for the terms advertised, I was given the runaround for months and months on end. In the meantime, these jerks started charging an inactivity fee because I hadn't used my account. I've never seen that before. I am now trying to keep my head above water with them making minimum payments to not go over limit with all there fees...I need to try and close my account. I am trying to work with a credit card consolidation they are aware of what First Equity does. This company should be shut down by the authorities! It's nothing but a scam to take advantage of suckers and desperate people

Complaint: TERRIBLE COMPANY! Scam artists from HELL. Do not even THINK of getting this card. I wanted a card for my small business and this looked sooo good I should have known it was a scam. My minimum payment went from $29 to $176 in ONE MONTH!!!!!!!! Pure insanity. I sent them $100 because that's all I could afford. Now I'm getting calls every day asking about my "missed" payment. I am sure they are going to tack on even more "late" fees and overlimit fees and god knows what else. I am going to report them to every consumer agency I can find, and post EVERYWHERE about the scam this company is. They should be shut down and jaile! d.

Complaint: I had my card from First Equity for several years and use it only for business reason. I pay my bills on line and last month paid my bill for FECS on line on the due date. Something was wrong with my bank server and the payment wasn't applied till the next day. I received my bill from First Eq this month and the interest rate was 33%. I called and they said because it was late they had the right to raise the interest rate. Well they may have the right but that doesn't mean they should!! It already was at 22%.What a bunch of crooks. STAY AWAY FROM THIS CARD!!!!!!! I don't know if I will ever send the! m another penny. *******STAY AWAY FROM THIS CARD*******

Complaint: Like many of the other people on this site, I thought it would be a good idea to get a line of credit for my business. BAD IDEA! I have had my first equity credit card for the past year and although I have never made one late payment they continue to increase my interest by 2% each and every month. When it reached 34.9% my husband contacted them and after about a half hour on the phone managed to get them to decrease the interest to a whopping 24%. This is still unacceptable. It will take me over 40 years to pay this card off. I'm in the process of finding another company that I c! an transfer the balance to. First Equity really knows how to treat their GOOD customers, by raising the interest rates so we can cover the cost of the BAD customers. Can the government bail ME out?? Didn't think so.

Complaint: STAY FAR AWAY from First "Equity" (definitely a joke name for what they actually are). ASPIRE is closing, so that eliminates one-half of this TERRIBLE PAIR! I closed both - they are the WORST financial companies (after DELL FINANCIAL) that I have EVER, EVER dealt with!

Complaint: DON'T GET THIS CARD! THEY ARE HORRIBLE! THEY RAISE RATES AND HAVE HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH! I HOPE THEY GO OUT OF BUSINESS! DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS CARD!

Complaint: This credit card company is the worst I have ever dealth with. Having a small non-profit, the offer that came to me a few years ago sounded too good to be true - and in the longrun it has been a nightmare. Several months ago, I went to make a small purchase and was told the credit card could not support the purchase even tho I knew I had plenty on the card. When I phoned they told me there was a hold on the card and within a month I received notice that they had lowered my credit line to just above what I already owed without explanation. Then, as each statement came! in I began to notice strange things - my cash advance interest jumping from 23.33 to 30.99 without notice. When I called to complain they said they have the right to do anything they want but would lower my rate back to 23.33. My latest bill not only shows 24.20 but they moved a very small portion of my balance to purchases at 20.20 (maybe to offset it back to 23.33 but now i have amounts in two categories when I have NEVER made a purchase). In addition the statement says they did not receive my payment and yet the activity at the bottom shows they got it in advance of the due date. To top it all off they charged me a late fee even tho they acknowledge the payment one line above. When I called to deal with the late fee they told me they would "wave" it this one time. How on earth can you "wave" something that should not have been posted in the first place? When I told them I had heard they were under investigation and wanted to speak to a supervisor they told me the! y were all busy and I could request a call-back or continue to hold. I said I would hold but after an hour of background music I hung up. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS AND REPORT THEM!

Complaint: NONE!! I use this card fro my business and have had no problems. The rate is not the best, but we are a new business and still building our business credit. If you have a score of 800 you can get a black American Express if that is the level of concierge service you need. I this is your last shot at a card or don't deserve a credit card, you prob shouldn't be complaining.

Complaint: This company is the worst, stay away from them like you would avoid walking into a fire. I have had the displeasure of having First Equity for the last 5 years. Everything was fine for the first 3 years then my interest rates started to climb. I went from 9.99% to 13.99% and up to 18.99% and I made all my payments on time. I complained and nothing was done about it. False promises were made about lowering the interest rate and nothing happened. I had to make 7 phone calls to finally get the rate back to 9.99% where it only stayed for 3 months and then started climbing again because of my accoun! t status. I guess you also get penalized for making payments on time. My last few checks I have sent in have been mysteriously lost. So, now my interest rate is at 30% and climbing and I've been hit with $39 late fees and overbalance charges. I had to call a few of my other credit card companies because of financial reasons and they all worked with me on payments except First Equity. I have AMEX, MC, and 2 other Visa cards and I have to admit that they helped me out except First Equity. They had been calling my work and harassing me until I told them that is against the law and they claimed they were within their right to harass me at work and would call whenever they pleased. Once I mentioned my lawyer and a lawsuit the phone calls to my work stopped but not to my home. They had been calling me 3-4 times a day at my home number. Bottom line, these complaints are real about this company! Because of First Equity now my credit is in bad shape and I can't even get another card to transfer the balance so I am stuck paying these thieves until I can get my credit back in decent shape. I have had no problems with my other credit cards and am back on track now paying them. First Equity is the only one whom I am having problems with. I would throw a party if this rip off company went out of business. My advice to all of you considering getting a card from this company, run the other way as if you were avoiding the plague. Their customer service has been very rude and non caring throughout this whole ordeal. Talking with supervisors has done no good either. For those of you who read this and don't go with First Equity consider yourselfs blessed that you were warned. I wish that I had done some research before going with this loser company.

Complaint: Not one complaint about this company. I stumbled across this site during a search and had to read to make sure one of my cards wasn't with the wrong company. After reading these complaints it is obvious that a lot of people just sign up for cards and do not read the fine print, and then get upset when something changes\happens. I have been a customer of this company in good standing for the last 24 months. In that time I have had 2 late fees applied to payments that did not clear from my bill payer service at BOA in enough time ( a BOA problem by the way). In both instances, I was able to get a hold of a rep in a matter of minutes and have both late fees reversed. As stated by others, if you don't have the ratings to get top level cards with AMEX, then this is a great option. The only advice I can provide is that people should pay a little more attention to what they are signing up for, and maybe monitor your accounts, instead of letting the business do it for you. What a concept!!

Complaint: My business was directly hit by Hurricane Ike in September. FEMA said by law your creditors have to agree to defer at least on month's payment including credit cards, mortgages, car payments etc...... So I called all my credit card companies. All of them agreed over the phone to defer a month's payment. Only First Equity refused to defer my payment unless I put my request in writing. So I sent my request by mail and asked for help in deferring payment during this crisis. I received a letter confirming cooperation from First Equity on November 11th. My last payment was on October 28 for $17.00. My November statement had a due date of Dec. 1 for the amount of $56.00. ) I did not pay this as I was told in the letter that I did not need to pay it at this time. I then received a letter Dated Dec. 15 from EXPERIAN stating I had been reported by First Equity as being delinquent on my account. I called Customer Service and spoke with Crystal at ext. 1052251. She said she would forward this to a supervisor and someone would contact me in 1 - 2 days. I was never contacted. I received another statement with a due date of Dec. 25th. This statement had a message in the Account Messages box stating “Your account is currently enrolled in our Disaster Relief Program. No payment is currently due. Your normal payment schedule will resume with your next statement. You can still make a payment at your option, but you will not be penalized if none is made. One line down from this message is the following: “Have we missed your payment? As of your statement date we have not received your last payment. Please make the payment shown on this statement immediately. These two statements directly contradict each other and make no sense. It indicates to me that someone is not handling my account properly and my requests for assistance and correction are being ignored. I also was charged a late fee of $39.00 after I was just told this would not happen. To make matters worse, now they reported me to Experian, I have had one of my major business credit cards closed by the credit card company due to this incorrect report from Experian and one of my company gas cards reduced my credit limit to $180 due to the Experian report. All of the business owners here in the affected area are having to use our credit cards while we wait for the disaster assistance loans and grants from FEMA and the Small Business Administration. I have also had a gas card (Chevron - See attachment D) lower my credit limit due to this error by First Equity. This is affecting my business in a major way. I do not want to have to bring suit against First Equity to get matters resolved, but I may have no choice if I do not get someone to assist me immediately with this matter. I was contacted by phone today from a bill collector asking for payment of $56.00 for your card. I went ahead and used my disaster unemployment debit card, of which I only receive $142 per week, to pay this amount and get the bill collectors off my back. I feel this is totally unfair to me, as I cannot afford to pay it, but am backed against a wall because of the error somewhere along the lines by First Equity. My credit is being ruined by this and each time I call customer service I’m told they cannot help me and they will forward it to a supervisor, or corporate headquarters and that someone will contact me. But this doesn’t happen. I wait for a call that never comes. Being in a devastating hurricane is stressful enough without having to try to spend hours on the phone, faxing documents etc.... I have, in good faith, done exactly what I was instructed to do as being enrolled in the Disaster Relief Program. Now my credit is being quickly ruined and it is snowballing into a greater disaster than the hurricane itself. Why don't we ALL get together on this and file a class action lawsuit????

Complaint: We have have had a First Equity Business Card for several years with no problems. We pay our bill off in full each month and on time. Our problem came when our bank SunTrust bill pay department sent in error two checks, same check number, same amount in Sept.'08. When we received our bank statement in October, 2008 and discovered the banks error we immediately contacted our bank. We then received our First Equity statement which had both checks credited on 9/16/08 and then an entry on 9/24/08, "posting error" and reversed one of the credits. Our bank called First Equity and they requeste! d copies of both checks which were faxed and mailed to First Equity Dispute Resolution Department. In Nov.'08 we received a check from First Equity for the double payment. End of story. NOT...Our next statement from First Equity had a debit for the overpayment with a notation "credit refund". Now we have an incorrect balance. We have called First Equity and faxed every piece of information they have requested and sent hard copies to Dispute Resolution. Our bank again called First Equity and was told that they sent us a check on 09/24/08! We NEVER received that check and our bank asked them to issue a stop payment and to research if the first check had been cashed and by whom. (Why they would have sent an additional refund check in late October if they had send one in Sept. is another issue). Then we started getting the late payment calls at work and home. We called customer service numerous times, recapping the events again from Sept. to no avail. Again we sent anoth! er certified letter to First Equity Dispute Resolution Department. The latest letter from Dispute Resolution is that they sent a credit on 09/24/08 through the Federal Reserve to our bank. Both our bank and I sent yet another certified letter on 12/30/08 asking First Equity to provide us with the "credit letter number" they sent through the Federal Reserve. They signed for our last letter on 01/06/09. We have not received a response. We continue to receive collection calls both at work and home. Our current statement from First Equity has an incorrect balance we do not owe,late fees and interest. When I read the posts on this site, I saw the letter from Mr. John Yardly from First Equity. I was encouraged that he left his phone number and I called him two times, I never got a call back. Although my situation is different than those posted there is one common thread. FIRST EQUITY FAILS TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT'S CUSTOMERS, THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDES NO SERVICE AND CALLING FIRST EQUITY IS LIKE CALLING "THE BLACK HOLE", DIFFERENT PEOPLE! , DIFFERENT STORY. We have now turned this matter over to our attorneys for them to handle. My advise, DO NOT GET A FIRST EQUITY CARD! One day you will be sorry, very sorry!!!!

Complaint: Sames as the above --got the card with a 1400 credit limit at a high rate-- around 22% ---paid the card maybe six times then paid in full --never late ---saw that they later raise my rate to 30.99%--and dropped my limit to $200 after I paid the card off. Spoke with a rep and asked why my rate was 30.99% --they claim it had to do with my other account which are all in good standing and most have no balance. Claimed it was also due to my history with them. Was never late on my account ever with them. After paying the card off and getting a refund for the credit balance left ov! er I received another letter stating they closed my account due to an equifax report. Mind you according to myfico.com I have a good credit score. This was like one of the most most bizarre things I have ever really seen for a credit card company. Nothing made sense. Anyway I would not recommend this company--just fyi

Complaint: hello folks let me let you in on a scam of first equity card. i recently had charges on my credit card that were not mine that totaled around $1200.00. i did a dispute on line, wrote a letter nothing happened. i finally called and talked to a customer service rep. they said they received the letter in the mail but didn't have time or didn't want to start the investigation. so the lady on the phone took the info took all the charges off and everything was fine. after 4 months. yes 4 months i get a phone call from a rep and they asked me if i filed a police report. if you ever lost a card you have to report the loss in your areas police station. we'll if you lose the card you would not know where the card was lost. so after 4 months a police station really can't do much if it's not lost in there jurisdiction. and after so long they can't do anything if a time frame has passed. so states can't even investigate out of state charges. so i explained to the rep what the officer told me and the! y said they need this and i said they can't do it because it would be a false report if the card was not lost in there area. so this company calls me everyday 2 to 3 times daily. they have called me a lier they have accused me that the sales drafts are my signature but have not sent me proof of the sales draft. by the way i have been told for fraud cases you are only responsible for a max fee of $50.00 of the total amount from the ftc. good luck to all that have this card. i hope you all cancel your cards. and i hope this stupid ass company goes under like the other big banks that fraud everyone.

Complaint: By NO MEANS is this a small company. They are a 4 BILLION dollars/year company. They are owned by Synovus Financial Corp (NYSE: SNV). They charge usurious interest rates and have a billing cycle system that is guaranteed to get them a $39/late fee more often than not. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY>

Complaint: THE VERY WORST COMPANY IN UNITED STATES. BEWARE!!! THANK YOU FOR POSTING THESE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THEM. I CAN ONLY SAY WHAT HAS BEEN REPEATED ABOVE BY SO MANY PEOPLE. I DO THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO INTERCEDE AND STOP THESE CRIMINALS. I THINK THESE COMPLAINTS SHOULD BE SENT TO CONGRESS, IN THE HOPES THIS COMPANY WILL PUBLICLY BE EXPOSED TO THE MEDIA. IS THERE ANYONE STARTING A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THEM? IF NOT, THERE NEEDS TO BE --- FRAUD USED TO BE ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTRY. COME ON...THEY NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN.

Complaint: I wish to dispute the letter at the beginning of this post from First Equity. I have been trying for 2 weeks to speak to a person to tell them that the 4 phones calls a day they are making to my house is a wrong number. I don't have a First Equity card nor have I ever had one. I don't own a small business, I simply have a phone number that is one digit off a card member's number. You cannot contact anyone at the Customer Care number because you have to put in your 16 digit card number to get past the recording. I don't have a number because I don't have a! card. After finding another site full of complaints about this company, I finally found a number where a live person answered. Supposedly, my number will be eliminated within 24 hours. No apologies or anything. I tried contacting Customer Care by email, twice explaining that I can't call the number they kept telling me to call because I don't have an account number and twice they have replied telling me to call that number. A company that does business like this is not reliable. They make a big mistake, harass me 4 times a day by recording and don't give a valid number so I can speak to someone and correct their mistake.

Complaint: Unless you are desperate and enjoy giving your hard earned money away to some schmuck slimey lending cockroach, you would have much more sense to do business with Vinnie Bambino or any other loan shark you may know ....their rates are much better!!!! As they say....."as ye sow, so shall ye reap," here's at you, Timothy Clarke,CEO Fist Equity Card ....beware of your conscience if you have one

Complaint: First Equity solicited my new business to open a credit card with them short after the business started. I opened the card knowing I may have ocassional use for a company credit card. I used it sparingly and paid it off short after each use. During the last six months I had little use for the line of credit as my business had slowed. Today I received a letter stating that the account has been closed due to inactivity. There was no prior communication or notice that the account would be closed or could be closed due to inactivity. During this time of lack of trust in finanical institutuions, they have just re-enforced this. They aren't willing to keep good customers that pay their debt. I would avoid this company at all costs for newly established businesses because they won't be there when you need them. DON'T USE THIS COMPANY

Complaint: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-I am SO relieved I'm not the only one out there with the same problems. These people are rude scammers!! I paid my credit card off every month before the due date and this month I forgot and paid it on the date it was due ONE TIME and the CANCELLED it without explanation or even telling me. When I talked to someone from "customer service" I was told it was their right to do whatever they wanted. I tried to get the corporate number and was told OVER and OVER again that they could give me a fax number or address but would not give out the corporate number. Has anyone contacted VISA about this company??

Complaint: ATTN: ***Re: $2,000+ FRAUDULENT Check PAYMENT to a First Equity Credit Card account. LOOKING for a First Equity Card Small Business owner who had $2,000+ posted to their account in December 2008 via a STOLEN "Balance Transfer Check" FROM ANOTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION. Supposedly that small business's First Equity credit card account to which the stolen check was posted has been put "on hold". If you read this post, please indicate by a post - we will check this site regularly to see if you reply. Someone is stealing a lot of money from HARD-WORKING CITIZENS via some complicated scheme involving this very "unusual" credit card company. The scheme needs to be stopped. We are all being hurt. Everyone, BE VERY CAREFUL and VIGILANT if you any ANY TYPE of have a relationship with First Equity Credit Card. There is something VERY bad going on here.

Complaint: Seriously! i just read one of the complaints that said, " read the fine print first.." Well no shit sherlock! if you are not satisfyed with what they have to offer or not offer- you dont have to acept the card. it's unfortunate that you people do not have enough comon sense to actualy read all of the terms and conditions BEFORE accepting the credit card and then run out and charge it up, not pay on time....only to then complian about late fees and other fees you should have read about first. i can not beleive you people have the adacity t! o turn around and complain. So take the morons advise and read the fine print first. i am very satisfyed with first equity and other credit cards i have. Ofcourse, i read the fine print and knew what to expect. how you people have managed to stay alive this long will never ceese to amaze me.

Complaint: UPDATE: I called First Equity to inquire WHY I was being charged 31.99% when I have never missed or been late on a payment. Here is how the conversation went. Me: Why is my rate 31.99 percent when I've never been late on a payment and have excellent credit? 1st Eq "It's a variable rate and can go up or down." Me: I understand what variable means, why is the rate so high when I've done nothing wrong? 1st Eq "You don't have to necessarily do anything wrong to have your rate changed. I can offer you a rate of 30.99 percent today." Me: Is this a joke? I need to speak with your manager. The manager couldn't (wouldn't) do anything. She recommended that I fax a letter requesting an official review of my account. This company is horrible. I beg you, please stay away.

Complaint: ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!!! We have a $10,000 credit line with them and have never missed a payment. They are charging us 31.99%!!!! The moron in customer service tells me they have no other offers at this time. DONT EVER GET A FIRST EQUITY CARD FOR YOUR BUSINESS. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO AVOID THIS COMPANY!! The mafia lends money at lower rates. Spread the word, this company deserves to be bankrupt.

Complaint: Improper investigation of fraudulent credit card transactions. This company does not fully investigate fraud. Instead, if they can get the merchant to say they were sure you made the charge they close out the investigation and re-post the charges to your account. Beware, this company offers you no protection against fraud. Instead, they support poor business transactions and turn against their customers. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BAD SEED IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU.

Complaint: I have a Platinum Business Card with First Equity and have had it for over four years. I pay more than the minimum amount monthly on the balance. In February, my payment was a few days late. When I next went to use the card it was declined. I had been given no prior notice of this action. In contacting First Equity customer service, the person I spoke with gave no definite explanation as to the reason the card was not being honored. I asked to speak with a supervisor and, after waiting over 10 minutes, spoke with an individual who offered to give me a fax number or email address in order to fil! e a complaint. She said there was no direct number that she could give me in order to complain or to obtain better information regarding First Equity's action. She advised me that I would get a letter in 7 to 10 days explaining the reasons for the hold on the card. (It never came) I began searching for information as to who to contact in this matter in order to straighten this out, and found this site. I saw the post of John Yardley of First Equity, so I decided to contact him. I called and left a message on his voice mail (215-631-1201, ext 102 - the phone number lists to Todd Rosentover, vice president of First Equity, and is listed to 1120 Welsh Road, Ste 200, North Wales, PA)) but he never responded to me. I found Yardley's email address and left another message for him(jy@firstequitycard.com), again there was no response. The only thing I am sure of is that a long time customer who has paid in excess of the minimum payment, who was late with a payment a few day! s in February, had his business card credit limit lowered to the amoun t owed (and the interest rate increased), without any explanation or response from First Equity. If Mr. Yardley is as concerned about the image of First Equity as he claims in his post on this site, he doesn't exhibit that concern in dealing with or responding to customers of his company. I have already been approved for a different business card, which will be the one I use from this point forward.

Complaint: Shred any offer! I had the offer, accepted, wrote one of their convenience checks for a nice low rate at first, and the letter said it would change to a "low interest rate" after the introductory rate. Well, 21.99% is not low. I paid it off with a balance transfer check from another company (Chase) that offered a 3.99% fixed rate. This was 6 months ago. Funny, a letter came today that they closed my account due to inactivity. RIP OFF, RUN FAST from First Equity.

Complaint: I WILL MAKE IT SHORT.EVERY THING CROOKED THEY CAN DO THEY WILL DO. STAY AWAY. BIG MISTAKE TO GET THIS CARD.

Complaint: Warning- company is a scam. I am contacting the AG in Georgia, the US DOJ, and my AG in Minnesota where I live. The actual payment dates notified are wrong, they will charge you a late fee if you don't pay 2 days ahead of time by 11:00 AM. They then raised my interest rate to 33.99% and then because of the fees I was over my reduced $5,000 limit. I accrued $228.00 in fees!! Not even interest. My payment on a balance of $5,228 was $900 a month! Paid them off in full and have gotten bills still for 6 months following for "interest".

Complaint: WHAT A SCAM! I started out with a 12.9 rate was late because of the cycle change and my rate went to 34%. I ask for my old rate and they said they could not do it. I told them to cancel my card.

Complaint: First of all they offered me 2 choices when I got their offer. Choice 1 a regular card with no annual fee but with a higher interest rate. Choice 2 a card with an annual fee but a low interest rate. I chose choice 2 for the low interest rate, paid the 39 dollar annual fee and a few months after I had the card they jacked up my interest anyway to a high rate over 20 percent. Then today I received a letter saying they closed my account for inactivity. I'VE NEVER BEEN LATE AND ALWAYS PAID THE BALANCE IN FULL DONT GET THIS CARD, THEY LIE TO GET YOU SIGNED UP, THEN WILL WRECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE BY CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU DONT USE THE CARD OFTEN!!!

Complaint: We would agree with all others about this company. They recently lowered our line of credit with no notification. We had auto payments set up on this card and those begin to be declined. We have an excellent pay history with this company and all others yet the won't even discuss the reasons why our limit was lowered. Once are balance is paid in full we will cancell our account. I would suggest Capitol One or Citi Bank both of those are willing to work with small businesses unlike First Equity...

Complaint: This company sent an "invitation" in my company name which my father, who shares my name, for a credit card. So "Dad" fills it out with his DBO and his social and gets the card. Now, he has nothing to do with my business. now he defaults and the LHR has bought the debt and is trying to hang it me which of course I am not responsible. Now, my business is a legal corp which means (1) they didn't verify that dear old dad was in the clear to this and (2) they can't actually report this against my business since it wasn't actually taken against my business. The "telephone" number will only put you into an automated system.! Since I don't even know what the account number is, I can't speak to them. So run and hide - they are crooks at worst and bad business people at best

Complaint: I PAID FIRST EQUITY OFF IN FEBRUARY $1620.00. AFTER I PAID THEM OFF, FIRST EQUITY TURNED AROUND AND CLOSED MY ACCOUNT. MY ACCOUNT WAS IN GOOD STANDING AND THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS WITH ME PAYING THE ACCOUNT EVERY MONTH. I OWN A TAX BUSINESS AND PAY A LOT OF MY BILLS OFF AT THAT TIME OF YEAR. CASE IN POINT I PAID OFF MY CAR AFTER ONLY 11 MONTHS FOR $28.000. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THEM RO DO THIS.

Complaint: I think this company clearly has one agenda, use every trick in the book to rip off their customers. (all shown in previous posts) They have clearly read maybe even wrote the book on preditory lending, manipulative business practice, elusive identity, apathetic non existent customer service designed to trip you up so they can charge more fees and hike rates, although they will do it anyway even if your payment record is perfect. Also it is clear to me that their screening process and record keeping is so lax they invite fraud. In our case they didn't even have the ss right before they issued the line of credit. How care! ful are they? In my opinion,they are blatant thieves charging loan shark rates seeking out and preying on the the dreams and eager ambitions of those who are gutsy enough to try to start their own businesses, thereby winding up and administering a stinging slap in the face to the American dream. With all of the bad reports I have one question...why is this unethical company with it's phantom leadership, still being allowed to do business...how can it be stopped?

Complaint: I own a small business that has been open for two years and have a credit card account with First Equity. Initially, I had a very good interest rate and and have always paid my bills on time. My credit is excellent. On last month's bill, they jacked my interest rate up to 23.70% for no apparent reason. This is just another example of the greed and "piling on" seen throughout the banking industry in recent months, and as a business owner, that interest rate is not beneficial to my business. I will be transferring the card balance elsewhere and closing this account immediately. If this is how a credit ca! rd company treats good customers, perhaps they should just go away, as they are helping nobody but themselves. If I raised the prices in my store like this, I would be out of business in no time.

Complaint: We have a VISA business card from First Equity. First Equity is the worst bank we ever dealt with. Do what I did. If you have an acount with them, close your account immediately. They wait till you carry a balance and increase your interest rate for no reason. Do not do any business with them. We have a successful business and we can pay the balance within 2-3 months. If everyone close his account, they will soon go out of business. I do not understand why the USA government is doing nothing to stop such unethical tactics from credit card companies.

Complaint: Offered my business a $30,000 credit line. Used it for two years. Had a $0 balance and went to make a draw and the check was returned "Account Closed." I called and was told that my balance was reduced to $7,500 because a First Equity supervisor "reviewed your account and felt the limit was excessive." After 2 years? Save yourself the headache and use a large, name brand credit company.

Complaint: They started calling about 3 weeks ago. They called every other day or so. As I noticed that they were calling more and more frequently, I decided to answer the call. They are asking for someone who is not at this phone number or at this address. They are now calling 3 - 4 times a day and getting VERY aggressive when I explain to them that I have no clue who they are asking about. I've left a message at the phone number that is on our caller id but haven't gotten a response from them. I will be reporting them to the Colorado Trade Commission.

Complaint: We have been trying to get our balance down on this card for two years. After paying over a $1,000 last year (2008) our balance went from $3,400 to $3,700. We quit paying because we were just maintaining a salary for someone at First Equity. So then we got the six to ten calls a day. Even after talking with these collectors, we would get another call or two or three in the same day. Most of the time there would be no one on the line. If there was, they would say 'Oh, my mistake'. They continually break federal law. So we went on some ki! nd of hardship plan that paid $34 a month at 9% interest. Well if your one day late they stab you with a $39 late fee so then your just paying more in fees than on your principal. We quit paying that the day they refused to waive a late fee because we were one day late. Now we have received an offer from First Equity called "Match Payment Program". Your supposed to believe that if you pay 50% of the amount, First Equity would match the amount you paid and thus payoff the balance of your account. Pretty good deal right? Wrong! We have attempted to get someone to send us a piece of paper that says they agree to their own program but no one will. They refuse to give a paper that they put their signature on so I think this is some kind of gimmick to get you to send in a large lump sum and then 30 days later, they will be back at your door asking for the balance and everyone at First Equity will be saying; 'What program"? Oh and if you ask to talk with a customer rep's boss, the! y just switch you to another customer service person. No one at First Equity has a last name or a phone number so that you can call them back. This is the most crooked outfit I have ever seen. And as far as Yardley's letter, don't believe a word of it. In my opinion, he is as big a lair as anyone I have talked to at First Equity.

Complaint This is the fleecing of America. Like Bill Maher has recently noted: it's really disgusting and sad how some of us have chosen to treat each other. I guess I should feel lucky i'm at "just" 26.7 / 30.7 apr. I noticed today that because of the way they apply my payments (ENTIRE payment to lower apr first; so that the amount at 30.7 actually increases every cycle), the overall amount of interest i'm charged actually increased between the last two cycles -- and this was not a minimum payment.

Complaint: Sorry outfit.....everything was good for two years or more....then six months ago I don't get a bill. Bill=payment invoice. No invoice, no check sent. Late by 10 days....end-of-the-month Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable review is the only way we found it. Sent in double payment. Never had more than 1/5 the credit line in use. They fined me a late fee but..........they upped my interest from 9 to 28 %. I didn't know this until I'd used it for a major purchase and was going to pay it off. Then my card was refused. I called to find out what the deal was. They claimed m! y credit info had been stolen from them and they issued a new card but did not issue a new account number. The letter and card showed up the next day. I did not get billed for 45 days.....I had been sending in 5X the minimum payment and when the audit found we had not been billed, I sent a 10X minimum payment return receipt requested. They made sure the payment was not processed until after they kicked in the double late fee, upped the interest rate, and froze my card and lowered my credit limit. My response was for them to stick the card where the sun will never shine .... sideways. I am now paying them off....the bank loaned me the money at a far better rate, I have paid off all but one other card....these yahoos will be busted soon. DO NOT GET SUCKERED BY FIRST EQUITY !!!!!

Complaint: Made a payment online in the amount of $8,000 in Feb. 2009 to these creeps and received only ONE payment confirmation code and ONE confirmation email. Found out a couple of days later (you can imagine how) that they withdrew double payments from my checking account! Called to have the second payment reversed and was told I would have to wait 7-10 days to receive a check in the mail. Wait 7-10 days for $8,000? Explained to them that this was putting my checking account in an overdraft situation and needed the funds returned immediately. Supervisor Blake told me their online payment system ! was not set up to accept more than one payment per day, per account, implying that I must have requested both payments online, like yeah, I would want to overpay them by $8,000 because I just happen to not need that money in the daily course of running my business. They were trying to hold $8,000 of my money when they knew that the double payment was processed in error and it was an error generated by their own online payment system! Filed a report with my bank that the double payment was in error and got the funds back in my account (and out of First Equity's) the same day. These creeps told me they were unable to process an ACH credit back to my checking account nor wire the funds to correct the error. They are a bank but they cannot return unauthorized funds collected in error the same way they received them? FOLLOWUP: Next, they charged a Returned Item Fee of $39 to my account in response to me taking control and having my bank refuse the second debit from my checking account. I called and asked First Equity to reverse this fee considering their system should have never accepted two identical payments back to back on the same day in the first place. The did agree to reverse the fee, but then informed me they had placed a permanent HOLD on my account. When I asked why, since I had always made my payments timely and the account now had a $0 balance, they could provide no explanation and told me that I would need to specifically request that the hold be released. By that point I was pretty indifferent to ever using this account again, so I decided to let it ride for a few weeks while I considered what I wanted to do. About two months later I called back and asked them to release the hold. They said someone from the credit review department would be calling me. Didn't hear fro! m them for several weeks, then received a letter in the mail June 2009 telling me they had closed my account "due to inactivity." Somebody please tell me how I was supposed to use the account when they had a permanent hold placed on it? The HOLD and subsequent account closure smells distinctly like retaliation for paying off the account balance, in full, and for getting my money back from them by going through my bank to extract it after First Equity refused to send the ill-gotten funds back to me in a timely manner. I have never had a credit card company close an account due to inactivity for only two months. In Feb. there was the double $8000 payment activity, in March there was that pesky returned item fee, in April the undeserved returned item fee was reversed, in May I requested the hold be released, and by June my account was closed due to inactivity?! Puhlease. All I can say is good riddance. Since my account with them was only open for about two years, I'm certain their action to close my account has negatively impacted my credit scores. I never missed a payment to them and was never late, paid my account in full, have excellent credit with my other creditors with FICO scores close to 800, and this is how they treat a solid customer? Judging from the other complaints posted all over the internet about this company, my experience is the tip of the iceberg. These guys smell all the way from Georgia to my home state of Colorado, even though the winds are usually blowing east. That is one pungent odor. First Equity Card's business practices have a distinctly MAFIOSO aroma. They are usurious, retaliatory, punitive, fraudulent, and downright irrational. Somebody needs to shut them down and somebody else needs to sue them for lots and lots of money. This is a white collar crime organization masquerading as a credit card company and a bank. If you don't have an account with this company, don't get one. Ever. If you do have an account with them, do whatever it takes to move the money out to another legitimate bank, or pay it off, and close your account (though once you pay them off, they'll probably take care of the account closure for you, as they did with me.) We are consumers and we decide which businesses succeed, and which ones fail. Make them fail folks. Tell all the small business people you know and don't let them use, deceive, extort, lie or otherwise profit from you or anyone you know. Stop begging them to do the right thing, because they won't, and it gives them the delusion that they have power over you that they don't really have. Take control and you'll feel better about yourself and your small business.

Complaint: I started my first business with perfect credit. I could have gone with any number of companies to get my business Visa, but unfortunately I chose First Equity Visa. Big Mistake! They gave me a $5000 credit which was barely enough to cover my monthly expenses, but I pay it off in full every month. One month the bill was paid "in-full" two days late. First, the card was frozen for 10 business days. Second, not only did I get a late fee (as expected), but they cut my credit down to $3000! Third, the customer service reps are just some call center that can't help at all and has no authority. They won't allow you to speak with management, nor give a number to contact anyone who is actually at First Equity. Two months later, I again paid the card, in-full, a couple days late because we were moving office locations and the bill was misplaced. Again, not just a late fee like other respected financial companies would charge, but account completely frozen for another 10 business days while corporate "Reviews" it. Meanwhile I am defaulting on automatic payments to other vendors from my credit card (which put my Career Builders account on hold, too). Result, credit now reduced to $2000 and I have to pay almost every week so that I always have enough room for business purchases. Well, I was told that if I paid through their website it would register in my account by the next day-- that's a lie. No matter how you pay (even instant online transfer) they hold your money for 7 business days until they apply it. Sounds illegal to me, but the real problem is that I've got a credit of $2000 and a balance of $966, but I only have access to $34 because my online payment of $1000, received 3 days ago, hasn't been applied yet! Crazy frustrating!! If you want to deal with this headache every week then by all means, sign up with First Equity. Otherwise, use any other credit card company you can find!!