DO not do any business with Advanta! I have been a loyal credit card member for years and always paid my monthly balances in full each month. I never carried a balance! NO INTEREST OR FEES – Ever! In July 2007 I went to pay my bill on-line... THEIR WEB SITE WAS DOWN!!! The credit card was for my business and with a tight schedule I always paid via their web for the ease and convenience. The bill was due that day, I could not make the payment, and did not have the time to call them or try later that day or maybe the next day. I wanted to make the payment now and could not because someone at Advanta botched a web update.

The Advanta Story from their site: “At Advanta, our focus is on small businesses, and no one knows the needs of small business like we do. Started in 1951 with $30 in seed money in founder Jack Alter's spare bedroom, Advanta has grown into one of the nation's largest providers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) of business credit cards to small businesses, without forgetting what it is like to be a small or start-up business.” OK, Yeah right! Don’t bend over anytime soon because it’s 2007 and you will pay for that seed and growing out of your ass!

When I called (now after the due date) the customer service representative told me he was aware of the problem and told me I could make a payment today over the phone and I did in full as always. I asked him (more than once) if I would be charged for the phone payment and a late fee and he assured me that our conversation would be documented and that I should not have a problem. OK.

Well, I received my next statement and I had a charge for $12.00 for a phone payment service fee and a $39.00 late fee. I figured no problem, I would call Advanta and they would see the notes from my last call and credit me for their error. WEB SITE DOWN! I was told that they have credited me for a late fee in the past and they can not and will not waive the late fee but will remove the phone payment fee. Yippee, I wanted to jump for joy but thought the seed I mentioned earlier might fall out and it would smell like the BULL SHIT that Advanta has grown to be! Bogus Fees and Charges for their web outage and forget me the small business customer “as their founder focused on?”. Advanta would rather focus on charging you fees for their loss in interest and/or loose you as a customer. The Advanta Story – SCAM YOU OUT OF YOUR MONEY! Advanta Customer service? NO, IT DOES NOT EXIST! No such department.