I just want to email you to let you know how greed on the part of credit card companies and bank have affected our lives. First of all, in 2003 we had our home in Phx, AZ for sale. We moved to SD to be with ill parents while the AZ home was in escrow. The sale fell thru, and we ended up paying TWO house payments every month for an entire year. To be clear, we paid 850/month for our sd residence, and also paid 1120/month for an empty home in PHX. We tried to get Washington Mutual to work with us, but they would not, since we were 'not late'. We were trying to live on half the income we had while in phx, yet paying double the bills. Washington mutual would not accept a short sale of even one thousand dollars less than we owed. We incurred and extreme amount of debt for this year of hell. We somehow managed to keep our credit scores clear of any late remarks and finally dug our way to where we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now several years later, we have been taken advantage of again, for our willingness to pay pay pay. We work extremely hard like most americans. We do not have new cars, new appliances, new anything. We do not have cable tv or video games for our kids. we just want to get out of debt.

In Dec 97, we had our last payment due to Bank of America. This card at one time had a 13.5K balance on it. We paid 202/mo on autopay for years. Dec97 the last amt due was 28 dollars. The amt did not come out as usual so it was 7 days late by the time i caught it (my dad was dying at that time, but i still caught the bill in time to calli it in)...Well, somehow they ended up reported it as 30 days late. Right that very month and a few months after, all our credit card companies started sending us optouts, rate increases, changes in terms, etc. So I thought what is going on here, and checked our cr reports. Sure enough BofA reported us late and that is certainly why Advanta decided they had a right to default us to 36%!!! No way on earth would i ever pay this. ever. We are used to 0-9% rates. And we have never ever been late paying ANYONE, ever.

So I called them and they tried to weasel out of it saying that the credit report has nothing to do with it, etc. I told them the late mark is a mistake and i will prove it. They made us opt out and made our rate 24.99. I told them i would only pay that for a few months until i can show them the mistake and then we should get our 7.9back. They basically laughed at me. The laws are on their side and they know it. It has taken until September o8 to get two of the credit bureaus to fix this. I had to stay on top of BofA, equifax, TU, Exp, constantly. Now all three do not show the late in 12/07 for BofA. But mysteriously, equifax shows the same date and late mark for MBNA! I called the ph# on the report and it is indeed that same erroneous account report but since BofA was bought out by MBNA it is showing up on that, even after it was removed from the bofa...they just moved it over the the MBNA listed. Unbelievable. So now, even after all that, our TU score is 708, Exp is 701, neither showing any lates or derrogatory marks... and equifax is 698 with a 30 late error for 12/07. I called Advanta to tell them about the mistake being cleared on two bureaus and they have absolutely ZERO desire to deal with it. If it does not benefit us, consumers, taxpayers, americans, to pay our bills on time, why should i continue to care? I would rather flush this payment in particular down the TOILET (or actually better yet, use it to pay more ethical companies or pay for counseling for my trouble niece) each month than give it to an insensitive, greedy, crook!!!

What can I do? What can we do? I know for a fact that I have worked my entire life to maintain integrity and hard work ethics and character. I refuse to be taken advantage of any longer. If that means filing for bankruptcy at this point I just may have to do it. I cannot afford to pay these interest rate increases. Not even until 2010 when some laws will be changed and maybe not even help us as it will be too late. Period. No way. No how. Just cannot do it. I cannot keep spending valuable time trying to get them to be reasonable when it is not part of the deal that they have to try to be.

This company offered me this credit line at 7.99% APR in October of 2007, and decided that 'Due to a recent change in my credit history', they could no longer offer that rate to me.

They decided now that I'm only worthy of a 37.18% APR, yet when I asked them what had changed so significantly in my credit, I was told that they didn't have that information. I then went and got a copy of credit report and amazingly I had a great credit score with NOT ONE mark against me.

Advanta made the decision to jack my interest rate up without one late payment to them and a monthly payment exceeding the minimum due since I signed up for this credit. I'm outraged that they have the nerve to attack my credit standing and in turn are now charging me $475.00/month in interest!!!

With the economy the way it is right now and the cost of supplies within any business going up, this is the last thing that ANY business owner needs. This company is nothing but CRIMINAL!!! I hope that a stand is taken against them and that other business owners and consumers that have been taken ADVANTAge of by this company are compensated.

I just "opted out" and canceled my business credit card when the rate was raised from 7.99% to 27.18% despite a history of paying well over the minimum weeks before due dates and a personal history of 30 years-plus with no late payments and all lines of credit being eventually paid off. I have always qualified for the lowest rates on mortgages, credit cards and lines of credit so I am outraged at their conduct, unresponsiveness and lack of accountability. I have a four year old, seasonal start up business which I was just taking full time this spring. Since I used another line of credit and cash to pay off Advanta and was forced to cancel their line of credit to avoid a tripling of my interest costs, they have done me a great disservice and created a situation where my credit rating will be adversely affected (credit line/credit used ratio). This from a company who represents themselves as "small business" specialists who "appreciate" my business. Totally false and misleading representations!

I have just been raised from 7.99% to 20.99% to 27.18% all within a 30 day period. I have written a letter to the Attorney General of the state of Utah, advising of the fraudulent and deceptive practices of Advanta Bank Corp.

If we want to stop Advanta from continuing this practice then write the Attorney General of the state where your Advanta credit company resides.

If the Attorney General's get enough complaints maybe something will happen.

As an aside, I found an article wherein it is stated that Advanta's credit card business has caused the company to lose millions. Still not a good reason to raise the rates of good customers to make up for the loss from the bad ones.

Applied for a business card for contractors that offered: 'no annual fee', '0% fixed APR on balance transfers until September 1, 2008', '7.99 FIXED APR thereafter'. Transferred a balance to them, and on the September statement the rate had been changed to 21.9%. I called and they informed me that they have the right to change the rates at any time, so I looked at the very fine print on the back of the offer and they were right. I should have looked. Let this be a warning to others...