Applied Bank was formerly Cross Country Bank.

Hey Meya, BOTH you and I messed up with Cross Country Bank...and it's still showing on my credit report!!!!!! I don't want to dispute it because I never paid the balance on it. Hitting that "dispute information" button might open up a can of worms. I'm hoping it stops riding my coattails, that's for darn sure!

xoxo ~~~

I wouldn't stop calling them until they refund the deposit. Did they say how long it will take to process the refund?

Hello again.

I have an update.

I once again tried contacting them, this time leaving another voice mail and email. I finally got a response.

The email said that my application was canceled on 10/23/08 and my refund should follow within the next few weeks.

Certainly this is better news than I was expecting, but given this company's record, part of me wonders if this is just a lie or a delaying tactic.

Honestly, how can it take them practically a month to process a refund, and why wouldn't they have contacted me earlier(before I started mentioning Better Business Bureau, the FTC, and FDIC arbitration) when I first asked for them to respond?

Sure, maybe they just have an extremely inefficient customer service system which deprioritizes refunds, but with this company's record, I think it might be naive of me to simply take them at their word.

Comments on this turn of events would be useful. When in doubt, I find that a second opinion or three helps.

Thanks

That's right, always be aggressive with creditors like Applied Bank!

I haven't received any bills as of yet. My status is still pending, and hopefully they will be unable to actually ever send me a card due to this authorization requirement. If that turns out not to be from them, and in fact a separate scam, I will deal with that when we come to it.

I don't see how they could possibly bill me for anything which I haven't activated or accepted and have made clear that I do not want.

I sent out a pair of certified letters today to both of the addresses that the company provides. Return receipt included of course.

I am thinking that If I don't receive a reply within a week or so of the letters being delivered, I will take the matter up with the better business bureau and their FDIC regulator.

That's just the current plan. I would of course welcome any additional advice.

MR85, if you are going to make payments to your account, I would pay them electronically as in using your bill pay feature with your online checking account.

Well, if it was a scam, it was a very well put together one, as when I called the number, I got an automated service which identified itself as applied bank and went through the whole call redirection thing.

It doesn't matter all that much though, as I have no intention of giving any account numbers to anyone whether they are in fact from applied bank, or just posing as being from them.

I don't discriminate with regard to people trying to rip me off.

Mr85,

As a security concern, that call and email you received sounded a bit suspect to me. I am thinking that could have been a vishing (phone version of phishing) call because you received an email afterwards asking for additional banking information. Forgive me I do not mean to tell you what to do but I cannot help but stress to everyone to never confirm or give out any information to ANYONE unless you initiated the call or email.
Even when I get emails from issuers, I do not click the links, I go directly to the site via a new page or if someone calls I have always told them I will call them back via the customer service number either on my billing statement or the back of my card. If the call is legit, any rep when you call back will assist you even if you do not get the original rep you spoke with. Again, we are all in this together and it would in our best interest to be cautious moving forward.

Good question. I will do a research on the answer and update here later.

The real question is though, what should I do if they do not respond to my request for documentation and/or refund my deposit?

MR85, I believe that you have the right idea. Send them a letter through certified mail clearly stating that you are withdrawing yourself from the application and not interested in the card. Just make sure that you receive a letter from them stating that your application has been cancelled and they are going to fully refund your deposit.

Anything without written proof is considered as no evidence nowadays.

Wow honeyb, I was not charged the processing fee you just mentioned and the annual fee is taken out on a monthly basis. I just hate that you have to pay online so I mailed my payments in. The annual fee for this card is less than a lot of primed cards and about the same as any average card. I don't blame you for not taking it, it sucks when they come to cli's, I just laugh at it and keep rolling.

Thanks everyone who responded.

The situation has changed somewhat for me.

Today I received a call from a private number (What kind of legitimate company does that with their customer service calls anyway?) which asked me to confirm some information in order to complete my application process.

I told the person on the line that I did not want the card and wanted to withdraw my application. She told me that my deposit would be refunded to me, then told me she was going to transfer me to customer service. She then promptly hung up on me.

I received an email today stating that I needed to submit some additional banking information in order for them to issue me a card.

I am planning to call them at the new number they provided me, and also follow up with a certified letter which clearly states that I have no desire to proceed with the application process, request my deposit refunded, and also request written documentation that my account has been closed and that my dealings with the company have been concluded entirely.

Any suggestions/comments?

Edit: As a side note, I don't particularly even want or need a credit card. I am in pretty good shape financially. I just wanted to start building my credit rating. There must be a safer way to do it though.

I know the topic is on Applied but the concerns resonated because Credit One Bank was one of the cards I applied for over a week ago, they approved me but I will not activate the card when it comes because I am waiting for my B of A and Citi cards (I applied for these after I applied for Credit One) and I don't need that card with all those fees. I am so grateful that I ran across this site so that I could get educated about having the right suite of cards in my portfolio.
For the Credit One card in particular, I look at it like this, if the CL is $300, AF is $69, one-time enrollment fee is $69, if I choose to pay online which I would have to make sure the payment is received is about $8; all I really have done is open an account to give away money to some bloodsuckers.

In the case of secured cards, after reading reviews on the other sites and FG about accounts like these, a secured card from a prime bank would be my goal. My advice is if you get the Applied card, do not activate it, call CS and request your deposit back. Or they may send you the card already activated (slick move) but my understanding is that you have 30 days in most cases to close an account without it having an adverse affect.

Just thought I'd share!

p.s. I just researched Applied and some people have been hit with a CLI fee of $100. It is not worth it!

Isn't Tribute being shut down because of their practices and what not?