• December 2006: In response to an ad for a free exam, I called Dr. Donald M Fox’s office (915 Court St, Clearwater, FL) to make an appointment for my daughter. Debbie Fox answered the phone and urged me to come in right away even though I told her I wanted to make the appointment for January after daughter’s 12th birthday.
• At the “free exam”, Dr. Fox examined daughter and presented a report. Debbie explained the report; she stated my daughter would need an expansion retainer then braces to correct her teeth and that it would take 18-24 months.
• Debbie asked about insurance. I explained that I am a low income customer and my children were covered under the State of Florida Healthy Kids/CompDent Plan and that I had checked to see that Dr. Fox was on the list of approved providers. Debbie said that treatment isn’t covered by CompDent, however, their office would give us a 25% discount. She said the “free exam” was now a “consultation” which is not free. She charged $198.75 which I paid in full by check. She referred me to Care Credit by GE Money Services to cover the treatment cost. I told her I’d like to get an estimate from more than one credit company.
• That afternoon, I applied for two credit accounts and was approved by both companies. Debbie was notified of the approval and called me right away to come in and sign paperwork for CareCredit. I told her I wanted to use Capitol One because it had a lower interest rate. She told me that she was not happy with that bank or their terms and encouraged me to go with CareCredit by GE Money Services because they are easier for her to work with. I was reluctant, but agreed to do what she wanted because she was so adamant.
• Debbie explained the total cost for treatment was $6,420, but Dr. Fox would honor a 25% discount since I was a low-income customer. That brought the fee to $4,815, but then she added on $433.00 (not sure for what – can’t read her handwriting) so the total was $5,248.00 which they charged my account in full right away January 11, 2007 even though I had not received services yet.
• In mid-February I received a phone call from the CareCredit GE Money Bank collections department, notifying me that my account was past due. I told the customer service representative that the account was brand new and couldn’t possibly be late. I had not used the account yet and I had not yet received a statement. She verified my address, etc. I continued to receive phone calls from CareCredit collections dept over the next few weeks. I told them I still hadn’t received a statement and asked if I could view the statement online. They said I was not allowed to create an online id to view my statement since the account was in default. I worried it wasn’t really them, but a phishing scam so I refused to pay via telephone.
• Eventually, I received my first statement. It was dated March 3, 2007. The account was delinquent and overlimit (with fees). Furthermore, my interest rate went up from 11.9% to 28.990%. I tried resolving the issue via letters and phone calls, but had to give in and pay what they demanded for fear of reporting to a credit agency.
• Meanwhile, daughter received an expansion retainer February 26. That is the only service we’ve received from Dr. Fox. A $5,248.00 upper expansion retainer.
• I have written letters, made phone calls and sent extra payments to Care Credit. They refuse to lower the interest rate or acknowledge the first statement was not received by me.
• Recently, I called to complain again and beg for a lower APR. I asked to speak to a supervisor, Kim, who asked me what does “being a single working low-income mother” have to do with my “delinquent account”. I explained to her that this account is unfairly expensive to those who can’t afford it most. Furthermore, it is common sense that a person in my situation has very limited time to deal with even this type of injustice. Dr. Fox’s office knew I was a low-income single mother with no support and it was reflected on my GE Care Credit application. The GE Money Bank account representative working with Donald and Debbie Fox was fully aware.
• My account is not in default, nor has it ever been in default according to my records and the credit agency records. I did not receive statements in a timely manner, I was not allowed to sign up for an online account right away. When I did, I signed up for the automatic payment…which conveniently never happens. Furthermore, I’ve sent way more than the minimum payments even though I cannot afford it, in an effort to reduce the amount of unfair finance charges.
• Most importantly, it was not clear to me, the low-income consumer applying for a loan to cover a necessity for my child, that a payment received 1 minute past the due date would result in a 28.99% APR that lasts the life of the account. I agreed to accept this loan on the basis of an 11.99% APR and a fixed payment of $138.00 per month for 4 years. My credit reports correctly show this account has never been 30 days late.