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I Tried to Play Fair and Then I Contacted the BBB
By -

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE -- Not unlike most, I am in a bit of a financial pickle. Recently graduating from college again, exhausting my unemployment, 401K, savings, and patience while desperately searching for a job. I am convinced they must not exist anymore. Jobs that is... Unfortunately for all of us Juniper is still there like the playground bully, the jerk in traffic, the fly on an otherwise lazy summer day. I contacted Juniper's Customer Service Specialists, yes they are right, they are very, very special. ** was from pretending not to be in India, but her lack of basic English kind of tipped me off. I tried to explain my situation to her, and did so several times, but she just couldn't seem to get it.

I explained that I was a recent college graduate and I was really struggling to find employment. But I wanted to make some payment to them, but was afraid I couldn't make the entire payment due at this time. Could you offer me some temporary options just for 6 months or until I get a job. I even told her that I hoped it wouldn't be 6 months and that as soon as I find something I would gladly contact them to get my payments back on regular schedule. She just kept telling me she could not offer me anything and that my minimum payment was $131.

Funny thing was my payment had been only $68 for a long time, how was offering my a payment almost double going to be of any help? ** told me did not understand why I have no money or income. She actually asked me, "Don't you have Medicare?" to which I calmly but firmly replied, "I am 36, not 90, and generally Medicare doesn't cover credit cards." So after a frustrating bit of time dealing with the "Specialist" I concluded that they would obviously rather receive no payment than work with me. Blocked their phone calls and set about drafting a letter to the big wigs at Barclays.

Oh, ** did give the address of the credit collection department where I could plead for lenience. Plead for anything from blood sucking credit card scum, not going to happen. Instead I filed the case with the BBB, because I just feel that this is unacceptable. I, in good faith was trying to work out a temporary solution, but they won't play nice. Schoolyard Bullies! I wouldn't think it so bad I guess it I had been met with the same resistance from other creditors, but most were actually helpful.

They are no saints, don't get me wrong, but truly understood that it was in their best interest to come up with some compromise and I will figure out a way to meet those payments because they worked with me in this difficult time. After filing with the BBB I received a response from the "Executive Office", oh goody! She basically stated they aren't interested in helping me. I owe them this money, and maybe I should go to Consumer Credit Counseling Service for help. I wonder if she's ever heard the phrase squeezing blood from a stone. Oh wait! I think the Executive Office has people to do that for them!

I used to work around an Executive Office, they have somebody to do everything for them. I am drafting a second letter to the Executive Office, my response to their deep concern for their monies owed. They have made it more than clear that they are most definitely part of the huge problem with the entire country right now. Running around, unchecked, and allowed to treat people so badly, and profiting so greedily. And they will settle for nothing less than everything. I guess I have no choice but to give them nothing. I'd say send my account to collection, but they already have, and go ahead and try to collect it.

As I told them I have nothing! No income, savings, 401K, rich dead relative, job, NOTHING! I think the best way to get some say in this is to contact the BBB, as screwed consumers I can't think of much else we can do but report their unfair practices and hope others look at that before they too are trapped in the same unfortunate situation a lot of us find ourselves in. I did end my stern letter to the Executive Office on a high note, wishing them a Christmas filled with poverty, unemployment, hunger, and all around misery. Where's Karma when you need it???

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Beware and Be Aware of This Company's Credit Card Deceptive Practices
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I have an MasterCard account with this company, who "lured" me in with a balance transfer scheme of a one year zero '0' interest rate. I paid an initial transfer fee of 3% and then expected to pay down the transferred balance in the 12 month time frame. I was not able to pay it down within the 12 months. However, upon the arrival of the 13th month, the interest rate spiked to over 17%! Okay, I was prepared for that. However, what is listed in the very, very fine print is "interest is charged on balance transfers on a daily basis. Interest is also accrued on the balance”.

I basically found myself making a payment and having it wiped out with the interest being accrued and added to my unpaid balance for the next month. With the recent Federal law change that requires companies to provide a "picture" of how long it would take to pay down a balance to zero, the picture I got on my recent statement was that it would take 3200 years (not making this up; I have to think it was a computer glitch) if I only made the minimum payment. As I didn't think I would live that long, I decided to pay this off. In fact, I made two payments (both in advance of the next month's due date) and got the balance to ZERO!!

I checked with their customer service dept and they told me that since my payments were made prior to my next month's due date I should expect no more amounts. Well, I got this month's statement and there are new interest charges, because interest is charged on a daily basis and interest was accrued between the my Nov due date and my actual payment date (5 days later). In fact, based on the explanation that the Customer Service person gave me, even after I pay the $15.41 of new interest charges, I could have interest accrued on the interest charge between the statement date (Dec05) and my actual payment date (Dec10).

So although my next payment date is Jan05, (in what should be the 30 day grace period) and I pay off the balance on Dec10, they are accruing interest between Dec05 and Dec10. In my opinion, this is Usury in its absolute worst form. What makes this even more hilarious is that during this 8 month time-frame, my credit card limit was raised! (to over $20,000) As if I would actually look to continue to do business with such a company.

I strongly urge anyone who is thinking of doing credit card business with this company be fully aware of their practice on accruing interest on a daily basis so that even when you make your payments on time, in advance of your actual due date, you will still find more interest added that will appear on your next month's statement. With such a scheme, I don't know if one's balance can ever really get to zero. I need to wait for two complete billing cycles.

I also want to say that I don't usually perform reviews (positive or negative), however, this company's practices are so blatantly abusive that I am glad for my3cents being available to provide a means to bring attention to companies who border on being unethical in the manner in which they conduct their business.

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Unfair, Dishonest and Conniving!
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P. P. BOX 13337 -- There apparently are no rules, or laws to protect innocent consumers against unscrupulous, dishonest, and conniving credit card companies! I have been a customer of Juniper Credit Card for approximately 2 years, and have had nothing but glowing thoughts about them. While I did not use the card much, nevertheless, the experience was pleasant enough! Starting in September, I learned that my September payment had been returned unpaid because of an "invalid account number." Bear in mind that I had authorized my payments to be made automatically from my checking account.

I set the information up on my computer so that this could happen every month, and all I had to do each month was submit the withdrawal date and the amount to be paid. Everything else was automatically done, as it is with other banks that I have the same set-up. When I called Juniper to find out what happened, the young lady that originally took the call had a very difficult time telling me about the "invalid account" as if she herself did not understand what it was all about. In fact, she did not fully understand what was going on.

At any rate, I thought that we had this straight, but the more I thought about it, the more it did not make sense. I did not alter my checking account number, nothing different had happened by me to that number, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Now, I'm sparing some of the details (believe it or not) about this incident, in the interest of time, but can supply all of this to anyone that is interested. This month, when I received my statement from Juniper, they informed me that my interest rate had been raised from 8% to 27% because of a late payment. (reference: "invalid account number")

I telephoned my bank to see if they knew what had happened, and they advised me that once I set this up on the computer, all they do is pay what is presented. They don't alter accounts in any way, they have nothing to do with that other than to honor the payment, So, I called Juniper back, and questioned them how my bank account was "invalid" because I did nothing to change it, the bank did nothing to change it, so how did this happen? In fact, according no one but Juniper Credit Card did anything to change my checking account number other than Juniper itself. There would have absolutely no reason for me to change it.

Furthermore, I authorized them at the time to go ahead and deduct the payment over the phone at the time I when I found out about the error. They did not ask for my checking account number, but accepted the information for the payment, and successfully deducted it from my checking account! This didn't click with me until I got this notice that my interest rate had been raised to this ungodly rate because of the "invalid account number.

I know that this is all too confusing, it confused me to no end until I figured out what they are trying to do to me, and probably many others! They have had and still do have access to my checking account, and in fact successfully deducted the November payment on November 3rd. One of the "snotty programmed counselors" finally offered to reduce my interest rate from the 27% figure to 24% and when I was still arguing with her about this whole incident, she reneged on the 24% rate because, I suppose, of my obstinance!

These people are dangerous, they are connivers, they are liars, and watch out! I am not done with this, because this is not right, and they know it. However, as long as they are able to get away with it, it is not going to stop! All I have to do is figure out how I'm going to handle it, such as suing them, and anyone else that wants to join me in any kind of action, I will be more than interested. WATCH OUT FOR JUNIPER CREDIT CARD! These are bad, bad people.

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Two Cents
By -

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE -- I am a former customer of Juniper Bank. Let me explain how I became a former customer. It started with a finance charge putting me two cents over the limit. Two cents resulted in a $39 overlimit fee. I understand terms and conditions. Your representatives were kind enough to explain due to my terms and conditions that I could be charged $39 for even one penny. Their lack of empathy or consideration for what amounts to an exorbitant fee amount (considering the infraction of two cents) resulted in my becoming a former customer of yours at that point.

I doubled my payment to do what I could to bring my account back below the limit and then I was assessed the penalty or default rate which caused my account to go two dollars over the limit when the finance charges were assessed. Two dollars resulted in a $39 overlimit fee. Once again, I understand terms and conditions. What I don't understand is how $2.02 should cost me $78 and that somehow my frustration over this wasn't even acknowledged or dignified. Please help me understand how a business, which should be in the business of customers would not make at least an effort to meet a customer half way, as a courtesy.

I am not a rich woman Mr. ** but I do pay my bills. In spite of the hardship the fees have created, I am, once again, attempting to bring my account back under the limit and get back on track. So I scheduled a payment on 7/18/2009 to be drafted from my account on 7/31/2009. The irony of the date of 7/31/2009 is not only is it my payday, but it happens to be the date my Juniper Bank payment is due. Good customer right? So help me understand this, Mr. **: Your company has called me now three times this week.

Please take note that today is Wednesday, so that means I have received a courtesy call on Monday night, Tuesday night and now tonight, to remind me that my payment is due on Friday July 31, 2009. I am not stupid. I am insulted by the collection attempts when I am not past due and I have a payment scheduled in your system! So last night I was reassured I would be removed from the list to be called. As you can tell this did not happen because I received yet another courtesy call tonight.

I even spoke to ** agent ** in collections tonight after having him tell me when my payment was due and asking if he saw the payment scheduled and even noted the account. He of course drew my attention to my account being over the limit. Once again, I am not stupid by any means and I am sorely aware of the status of my account. Considering the interactions I've had with your customer service agents, I would think there would be some notations on my account indicating prior conversations, which would include the hardship the outrageous fee amounts created for me and my family.

I am not asking for a handout and I am keenly aware of how my actions have put me in the position I am currently in. What I was asking for was some assistance. Some courtesy. And in the very least my dignity left intact.
I am a former customer because these things have not happened. Here's another thing to consider Mr. **.

In a time when credit card companies are under serious scrutiny for the practices that include charging outlandish fees for small offenses to the terms and conditions of an account ($2.02=$78??), this makes me one more consumer that will tell every single person that will hear me loud and clear about my experience with your company. I will be forwarding my letter and complaint on to the OCC and the FTC as well regarding the unfair excess charging of fees in relation to the offense.

In addition I will be documenting the courtesy calls that I am receiving prior to the bill being due with an on time payment scheduled in a system that your representatives can see quite easily. And in spite of my best efforts, I can guarantee my phone will ring tomorrow, politely reminding me of my upcoming payment due, regardless of the notes that have been placed on my account to prevent this from happening. I look forward to hearing from you quite soon. I will be issuing my complaints no later than the end of August.

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Juniper Bank / Barclay Credit Card Must Be Stopped!!
By -

Where do I start? From the beginning I suppose. I signed up for Juniper Banks' 0% APR introductory rate for 18 months on balance transfers and purchases. I had a good rate on my Chase card, 8.99%. But Juniper's many tempting junk mails finally got to me. Plus, the APR after the introductory APR would be the same as Chase's: 8.99%. Sounds like a win/win, right? Not so fast. I transferred over my balance and sucked up the balance transfer fee.

Well, between the time of signing up and my first due bill, I went ahead and signed up for automatic payments to make sure I didn't have any late payments. What also happened was my wallet was stolen and I had to cancel my debit card and be issued another one. This is where I do admit fault: I forgot to change that payment information online.

None of the paperless statements (emails) said anything was the matter. I got an email saying that they received my payment. However, I checked my account around the end of that month to see the next statement, only to see that the payment, in fact, did not go through, and now there was a late fee and a return fee.

I immediately called CS and talked to someone about what happened. When I do anything like this, I always write down everything that is discussed. So, by the end of the call, I read back what we had resolved. We resolved that he would be able to remove the late fee but not the return fee. He said it would show on my next statement. We resolved that the introductory APR rate of 0% would be restored, for this one time. We agreed that the payment would not have been late had the account number been correct. I believed all was right in the world again. I had it all written down and even got reference #.

For the next statements, there was no late fee removed but the APR was still at 0%. The last two statements still did not reflect a minus $39 late fee. But there was something different. The APR was up to 28.26% and there was one whopper of a finance charge!! I got my artillery all together before calling CS again. For 30 minutes, the CS agent, who sounded like a cross between an Eastern Indian and a Leprechaun, annoyed me to no end with the hard-to-understand canned responses, the lack of ability to help, and the mixing up what he was saying, thus confusing me further.

He said the return fee was noted as waived, but not the late fee. I told him it did not show any fee being waived, I was put on hold, he came back and said some other weird nonsensical stuff, and put me on hold again. Finally, he came back and apologized and said it would reflect on my next statement. But, he couldn't help me on the APR. I asked for his supervisor, and was put on hold. Within seconds of being transferred, I was magically disconnected. Hmmmm.

So, I took a deep breath and called again. This time I got some lady who wanted to hear the whole story over. She then said that there was no record of a call or conversation on 2/27/09, the date that I first called. She said this even though the last CSR I spoke with acknowledged the call. She did say her screen showed, that minutes before, the late fee was removed. She also said that the return fee would be removed (even though guy on 2/27/09 said that it could not). She also said that she could not do anything about the APR.

Actually, she ignored me and asked if I was asking for a lower APR. She was equally annoying as the first guy and a tinge more unhelpful. I asked to speak to her supervisor. Can you guess what happened next? Yep, disconnected after being transferred. SO, one hour of wasted time and many to go. This is apparently a famous tactic of credit card companies. They hope you are too busy and too annoyed to keep calling and complaining. I found a site that might be helpful to me and to others in this predicament.

If I can, I'll post an update if anything was resolved. I have no idea how much this will help, but it's better than feeling helpless. Don't let them get the best of you. Keep fighting and try and keep your cool with the CSR. They are more apt to help you if you're not insulting them or cussing. It's hard, trust me. I lost it on the first call with the leprechaun. Keep your cool and go to that site above. GOOD LUCK!!

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How to Deal With Juniper's Unfair, Unethical, and Immoral Business Practices
By -

ARKADELPHIA, ARKANSAS -- I too started out with an 8.99% interest rate and paid off my balance every month for two years. For no reason at all, it was first raised to 13.99%. I called, and they said it was for "everyone." I never received ANY notice about this. Not but a month later, I looked at my statement and they raised it to 27.99%! That was too much. I called and they would not change it for anything. Admittedly, I had been anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours late (yes, that late...unbelievable, right?) twice in the past year.

Of course, they have a clause in their fine print that allows them to charge that without any notification on their part. I closed my account, because another rate hike was coming in April, and I wanted no part of it because I'd have over 30% APR. HERE IS WHAT I DID TO GET MY APR REDUCED, and I strongly encourage everyone to follow suit or actually file a class-action lawsuit. I'll be signing on.

I filed a complaint with the BBB of Delaware, and in a calm and collective manner wrote out my complaint about doubling interest rates because payments are literally hours or minutes late. I also listed what I viewed as a fair resolution to my complaint, which was a return to the previous interest rate of 13.99 and a remission of the over-limit fee which was due to the rate increase (which of course is much higher than 8.99%, but half of 27.99 or more). Not but a week or two later, they capitulated and reduced my interest rate to what it had been and credited my account for the late fee.

Now, I have another issue. For the past two months, my minimum payment has been $67 but that is what it was with 27.99%. I sent an email stating that my return to 13.99 should be reflected in my minimum monthly payment, and I received no response. I finally called today because it's the second month they've done this. They're requiring a monthly payment that does not EVEN MEET THEIR OWN GUIDELINES of 1% the total balance PLUS the interest for the month. I think credit card companies do actually have to follow their own policy.

They kept repeating the same line, like usual, but I caught them in a lie or mistake. They told me that the "new" interest rate of 13.99 didn't start until 4/13, but I saw that they had REFUNDED the 27.99 interest rate for both March AND April. So, how can they charge a minimum payment based upon an interest rate that is no longer in effect? BS, says I. I did the math for them and with them over the phone, and they said a manager will have to call me back. I gave my number and expect a call or I will once again be filing with the BBB of Delaware.

Apparently, that is one button consumers have, and Juniper will actually change if enough people file complaints with them. Look people, I just saw the President of the United States come out and say that credit card companies have been abusing customers for far too long, and that it will end. Let's also band together when they're unfair, and pay these things off and never use them again! As a nation, we need to get out of debt one person at a time, and tell these people to get real jobs like everyone else. Hope this helps, it worked for me.

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Eliminated My Credit Limit!!
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Wow-- now I don't feel alone at all. I am another 'victim' of Juniper Bank's unilateral and arbitrary decisions regarding my credit limit. I was bopping happily along using only that card for many expenses and monthly bills, and in the past six months frequently spending over $2000 a month on the card. No worries, though--I had a $23,000 credit limit on the card, AND I paid it off in full every month. Never missed a payment, never late with a payment in about 3 years of use. Suddenly, a medical supply company called me to tell me that our scheduled charge with them had been declined on my Mastercard.

Weird, I thought. I pulled up my online statement, didn't notice any problems, and called customer service. Whoa... My credit limit had been reduced by 92%, to $2200. Keep in mind that three times in the last six months I have spent MORE than that in a month. And while I do not need $23,000 of credit, there have been times when I wanted to plunk down a card on a purchase of several thousand dollars (I get a nice rebate!) After numerous conversations and emails, they kept assuring me that they 'had reviewed my spending' and decided that this was perfectly adequate-- it was based on the average spending.

Well, that means I can never spend more than my average? The BANK is making my spending decisions for me?? Well, now that I've read all these reviews and see others have had exactly the same experience, I am more convinced than ever that they just want to be rid of us "deadbeats" who aren't paying them interest every month. And they want an opportunity to charge that over limit fee. If they can trick me into going over that paltry new limit, they will rub their little hands in glee and lick their cold, bloodless lips as they slurp up a $39 over-the-limit fee.

The last email from them confirmed that they will allow me to charge more than my limit, and even if I make a payment to bring the balance down before the billing cycle ends, I will still pay that fee for having slipped over the line a dollar or two. (Oh shucks-- let's give them kudos for that smidge of honesty, shall we? NO.) I use this card because I have a linked savings with Emigrant Direct which pays me a nice rebate right into my savings account.

Tomorrow I intend to call Emigrant and tell them that there's no need in my keeping a big savings account with them if I have to be constantly tiptoeing around this card. I want to be able to use a card whenever I want, without wondering what my balance is at any given moment. (And for the self-righteous guy who preached about 'pay your bill on time and Juniper will be no problem for you' at everybody, I hope he reads this. Please understand, there is NO black mark on my credit report, despite the fact that the Juniper representative tried to suggest that to me. Based on their statements, I immediately ordered the reports to check.

Also, the first two representative I spoke with said a letter "had been mailed." The third guy said my "requested" letter would go out 12/23. Uh... somebody was lying about that notification, trying to make it seem that I had been notified when in actuality, they were only sending out a letter after I raised a question. I have been doing my research and within the next day or two I'll find another card that offers a decent rebate of some sort, and maybe I'll cut Juniper's card into pretty little confetti pieces and mail it to them. I will be very interested to see if the Emigrant Direct people care if Juniper causes them to lose a fairly substantial deposit.

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Juniper Bank Should Be Given the Corporate Death Sentence - CLASS ACTION TIME!
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FREMONT, CALIFORNIA -- This bank is by far the WORST bank with the MOST disreputable business practices. They unfairly charge late fees, their customer service is practically non-existent, and they should be destroyed. It started with the first late fee on a payment that should have arrived on time. None of my payments ever take more than five days to get anywhere. To believe that the US postal system selects out their mail and delays it an extra two weeks is just not an idea I am willing to accept. It is NOT possible.

So we start with an absurd late fee of $39 charged inappropriately. Try calling. It is extremely difficult to find a way to navigate past their phone menu's to get to a live person. You also get a weird statement out of the blue stating that "Late fees are not reversible" or something like that on the recording. This makes you suspicious in the first place that they even have a recording talking about their late fee policy and not letting you get to a person to discuss any errors.

I've always had to navigate through by other means (I think it was the "report a stolen card" path that gets through to a person.) Once you get through, you get a rude operator in the Philippines who keeps insisting she can't do anything and won't. So the first time I called was on April 22, 2006. After wasting a ton of time, and repeatedly insisting on talking to a supervisor or someone empowered to fix things, I kept getting the runaround and delayed on hold.

I told them to close the account. They kept saying I was responsible for the last set of late fee and interest which was about $58. I decided to just pay that and not risk it showing up on my credit card. Well... I was infuriated, and I KNOW that I mailed it that very day swearing to never have anything to do with Juniper or the Barclay group and advocate to everyone I knew not to use them. It is impossible for the check to have arrived any later than April 27th, 2006. My mail is never later than 5 days to anywhere in the US, usually it is only 2 or 3.

I get ANOTHER statement with ANOTHER late fee of $38 plus $1 interest on that late fee claiming that it was due on May 5th, and they received my FINAL (and I do stress FINAL - I will not give these a single thin dime more - I already gave them almost $60 they didn't deserve) check on May 8th. April 27th to May 8th? An extra 11 days in the postal system or their receiving? No, that is not possible. My wife called again, and went through the whole runaround again. This time she did get a supervisor to remove that last charge (we think).

We'll see if this is the last we've heard of it. I'm in the mind set to file formal complaints with Visa and Mastercard. It is clear that they have unscrupulous, dishonest, business practices. If I were Mastercard or Visa, I would dump them. Visa and Mastercard build their reputation on service. These guys do not uphold that reputation. In fact they discredit Mastercard (and I believe Visa issues through them also but my card was a MasterCard.) These guys should be shut down. This is not the way to build a business. It's dishonest.

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Horrible Service and Beware of Interest Terms
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WILLMINGTON, DELAWARE -- Barclaycard charge compounded interest. They take a daily balance and calculate interest and add it to the balance. Next day balance includes the prior day's interest. Interest is again calculated from the balance and added to the balance. This is the kind of interest you want to receive on your investment accounts, but not what you want to pay to this credit card company.

Barclaycard penalizes you for three months, if the full balance is not paid. "If you do not pay your entire balance by the due date, you must pay the entire balance by the due date for two months in a row to again be able to avoid interest on purchases." Even if you are not late, and even if you pay off the monthly balances on the next two months statements, they stretch out the interest charges.

If a minimum payment is late, they charge a late fee and a penalty apr. (Increased interest rate.) The penalty apr may continue to apply to new transactions indefinitely, or if "the next six months are paid on time this rate will go down on certain existing transactions." Barclaycard processes your payments in different amounts of time based on whether it is considered conforming or non-conforming. Conforming are posted the date received if they get it by 5:oopm est. (Otherwise it is posted the following day.)

They delay processing "non-conforming" payments up to 5 days. Payments received, not in the envelope and with the coupon provided with the statement, are “non-conforming". Using Barclays definitions, online banking payments are non-conforming since they go out in the required envelope with the correct coupon. Barclaycard allows 23 days from the account closing date to receive and post a payment. However, mailing time of statement and payment takes 14 days, add 5 days if payment is considered non-conforming. This leaves only 4 days to get that payment out, from the day the statement is received by mail.

This leaves a lot of potential for late payments to be posted and for Barclays bank/juniper to impose late fees, and outrageous increased compounded interest penalties! In determining what rate they will charge (penalty apr) Barclays bank includes your credit performance with other creditors.

The barclaycard agreement states: "We may suspend or close your account without prior notice. We may do this at any time for any reason", including if your account becomes inactive. Why not just don't use the card, but keep it open for emergency or to help with fico score? (Higher ratio of available credit to debt raises the score.) But they might close it due to inactivity. So it seems Barclaycard/juniper bank want to keep us in their game, making it very easy for consumers to make late payments and not be able to pay off balances. $$ Late fees, compounded interest on all charges and increased interest rates 13% up.

$$ horrible customer service- outside the U. S., heavy accent, swearing their name was ** repeating the same how can I help you, sorry to hear that, sorry can't reverse the charge, or can't answer that question, no supervisor available, etc. (Had to threaten to report them to the bbb to get unfair late fee reversed.)

In contrast: Discovercard has the best customer service. Friendly, helpful, answer the phone quickly, located in U. S., speak english, and seem to really value the customer. Feels like the old fashioned service we used to enjoy in this country. No problem over the 15 years with the card.

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Raised My Interest Rate on a Cancelled Account
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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE -- I am highly agitated with this bank. I had been a customer with them since 2005, but I got fed up with them after they repeatedly raised my interest rate. So, on Dec. 2008 I closed my account, with a balance on it, BUT, let me stress, I have been making scheduled automatic payments through Juniper's site, on time. (My online access to my closed account on their site.) Well, I get an email from them stating that my bill is ready to view. As I was reviewing the email I noticed that my minimum payment went up. So, I contacted Juniper via phone.

I inquired if my APR went up and asked them why, since it is a closed account. Plus, I mentioned that I never received my 45 day notice that my interest rate was going up. The representative informed me that my APR did go up due to the economy. (Are you serious? Is that a valid reason? That is definitely not valid in my opinion, especially since my account is CLOSED and I have been paying my bill on time.) I informed him that I refuse to accept the current APR because my account is closed and I agreed to pay the APR that was on my account when I closed it.

The representative would not budge, so he just filed a complaint and submitted it to higher up and informed me that I will be receiving a phone call 24-48 hours regarding my issue. I am hoping they will call and I am going to fight hard to get my APR to what it was when I canceled my account. I am fuming with this company. If the issue does not get resolved, I will seek legal counsel and contact the national media outlets to let them know what is going on. I am not going to be pushed around anymore by this bank.

Update 1/15/2010: Still have not received a phone call from them. It has been over 24 hours and still no call. As for my account being closed, it is indeed closed, I cannot use the card, the automated phone system says it is closed, the Juniper representatives have verbally told me it was closed on numerous occasions, and it shows that on my credit report as being closed. I just carry a balance on it, which unfortunately, I am unable to make big payments to pay it down. (My fault since I was irresponsible with my spending). So, I will keep everyone posted. I have currently filed a complaint with the BBB.

Update 1/16/2010: I went ahead and called Juniper and spoke to a very insightful person at one of Juniper's call centers (Colorado Springs). Here is the deal with my account: I closed the account at a variable rate, which means that even though my account is CLOSED, which he confirmed was closed, they can change my APR as high as 37% (Yikes...37%!) So he recommended paying my card off in one lump sum or transfer the balance out to another credit card or loan with a lower rate.

He informed me that there is nothing they can do to lower the rate. But I wish this was explained to me before, so I would have known better. Sigh. Definitely learned my lesson. Update 1/20/2010: I have been communicating with Barclay's bank via the BBB. They have decided to reinstate my old APR. (Hallelujah! Amen!) It took two responses from Barclay's though.

The first letter they sent me addressed me, but had numerous errors within the letter. (Addressed me in the opening of the letter and then within the first paragraph they had another person's name and a different credit card type. Plus, if I decide to opt out, they told me to respond by November 29, 2009.) The second letter was a letter of apology for their error and to confirm that they were reinstating my old APR. I accepted it.

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Juniper Bank Rating:
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1.0 out of 5, based on 2 ratings and
266 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Juniper Bank
100 S. West St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
877-523-0478 (ph)
302-888-0405 (fax)
www.barclaycardus.com
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