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Juniper Bank Consumer Reviews - Page 2

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Barclays Rewrites the Calendar to Soak Customers in Fees
By -

A recent emergency move turned my life on its ear, and I was forced to make a "day due" payment to Travelocity Mastercard. The payment was made on the 17th before midnight PST, but was assessed as the 18th, because of an unrealistic cutoff the company puts on payments as 7PM eastern.

I read the site, and being a non-moron, understand why a late charge was applied. My request to them was that they understand my circumstances, and given my excellent payment history, remove the late charge (in an amount more than triple the required payment). "We do apologize for any inconvenience this service fee may have caused. However, we can certainly assist you". Evidently not..

"Our records show that you have a payment due date on November 17, 2009. Your payment in the amount of $15 was processed on November 18, 2009. Since we have received your payment after your payment due date, therefore, a service fee in the amount of $39 has been assessed on your account. As indicated in your terms and conditions, if a payment is not received for at least the amount of the minimum payment due by the payment due date shown on the monthly statement, a service fee will be applied to the account."

The truly backwards part is where I was in the country, the legal date at that time WAS the due date. Disgusting that a company in the digital age creates mock deadlines when the transfer of funds is effectively instantaneous once processed. This is just another tool used by the company to soak customers in fees that are paltry to such a large company but quite significant to those of us 'below the line'. "Please keep in mind, we offer several payment options to assist you in managing your account to maintain it in good standing. You can make payments, free of charge through our automated phone service."

Again, an emergency move, didn't even know where the card was until I unearthed the box... or through the website listed on the back of your card. Simply click on "Pay Credit Card" then select "Make Payment Now". Please keep in mind that you will automatically be provided with a reference number for your payments, when and if they are scheduled correctly. You may verify if the payment was successfully requested by clicking on "Payment History" tab under "Pay Credit Card". Online or phone payments made by 7:00 pm Eastern Time will be credited for the same day".

Yeah, got that... it WAS THE 17th here! My PC says 17th, it's still the due date! Imagine the ego of a company - next they'll be determining what the definition of "is" is. "We also offer an automatic payment program that will draft payments automatically each month on your payment due date. We can send you a form to enroll in our automatic payment program or you may also enroll your account online at our website through the "Pay Credit Card" link. Please choose the "Set Up Repeat Monthly Payments" option to enroll in our automatic payment program."

Screw that noise! There is no way in Hades that I would enroll in their automatic payment program. I have read too many of the horror stories on this and other sites to ever give Barclays that kind of access to my account - they are ineptitude incarnate. My gripe is not with the charge, but the lack of anything approaching understanding in these financially desperate times. I have had an excellent payment history with this company, and for them to maintain the charge is decidedly consumer unfriendly.

I will be transferring the balance of this card to another in my possession, and ceasing all use of the card (not closing the account, mind you - they can have the overhead of my open unused account to manage, and earn their $39 in costs over time).

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Juniper Bank Is Greedy and Does Not Care About Their Good-Paying Customers
By -

Until two days ago I had a Juniper Bank Mastercard for the last four years. I actually loved this card because it had a decent credit limit and no fees for paying my bill online. I always paid my bill on time and I always paid far more than my minimum payment (often making payments over $400, $500 and even $700 or $800 at times) and spent in excess of $15,000.00 on that card over the life of the account. I started to get annoyed with them when they chopped my credit limit in half back in February (there was no warning, I made a large payment and suddenly BOOM my credit limit was suddenly only $150.00 away from my current balance).

Things like that don't do my credit rating any favors, it made it look like I was riding close to my credit limit, which couldn't have been further from the truth. I never even came close to maxing that card out. I understood that a lot of banks were doing that as a preventive measure to keep people from overspending in this bad economy, but I still felt they should have notified me before it happened and given me the opportunity to appeal that.

What happened next is what set me off. I have always paid online, and in May I accidentally forgot and went ONE day over. Besides immediately assessing the $39.00 penalty (I did not recall that this card had NO grace period at ALL) I suddenly noticed that they had increased my APR from 8.9% to 24.24%!! I was so upset, I immediately emailed them and pointed out my stellar history with them, my responsible spending habits, the high-dollar payments I often made (almost every single month) and most importantly pointed out the fact that I had just paid the card off free and clear! I asked for my low APR to be reinstated

What I received back was a snotty quotation from the cardholder agreement and a flat-out lie from them stating that 24.24% was "the only rate available to me at this time". They didn't bother to look at my history on the account nor any of the positives I pointed out to them, they just didn't care. At that point I told them that there was no way I was going to keep a credit card at such an astronomical interest rate and told them to cancel my account.

I received ANOTHER email from them attempting for some perverse reason to "have the last word" reminding me of the cardholder agreement again and basically saying "We'll do whatever we like whether it's fair or not and you just have to put up with it." I repeated my request to them to cancel my account and advised them I wanted confirmation that it was done (and also asked to be removed from their mailing lists so I never have to be insulted by them soliciting me for another one of their horrible accounts, as I'm sure they eventually will).

I did receive that (with the helpful notice that you can still reinstate an account up to 2 months after you cancel it without having to reapply... well ** that, there are plenty of other credit card companies who would like a customer like me. I will never do business with Juniper Bank again, and I will be sure to pass along this experience to as many people as possible.

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Barclay's Spectacular Ineptness
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In May of 2008 I made the mistake of signing up for a Frontier Mastercard offered by Barclays while passing through the Denver airport. The point was to collect the free round trip ticket for the annual fee of $49, then cancel the credit card. Three months went by with nary a word from them, and while my husband worried because we had given them our social security numbers, I figured that big things moved slowly. Then in August, my husband noticed that our normally perfect credit had a ding in it from Barclays. I called, and was told we hadn't paid our $49 fee.

I explained we had never gotten the card or bill. Turns out they had sent it out to the wrong address, and when it was returned instead of contacting us by phone or email, both of which they had, they merely sent it to the same wrong address again, then gave up. I made them read the correct address from the application form and they promised to send it again. It never came. I called again, and again they had sent it to the wrong address. Now they couldn't send it out again, because a three strikes rule told them that possibly fraud was being attempted. I had to spend another 20 minutes on the phone to clear it up.

I told them to forget it, and they promised to send the card to the right address. It came. I tried to activate it online, and it wouldn't work. When I called in person and read the card number off the card in my hand, they told me they had no such account connected to my name. They had sent me the "dead account" that they had cancelled due to potential fraud.

By now I had spent over two hours on the phone trying to fix this mess, and told them to just stop everything. I didn't want their card, and never wanted to talk to them again. They apologized profusely and told the current account would be cancelled and I would owe nothing. I thought it was over. That was in September. It wasn't. May 2009 I get a statement showing that I owe nothing. I call to say the account is supposed to be closed, and they say it was and that for some reason unknowns I got a statement that I should ignore. They promised that it wouldn't happen again.

Yesterday, June 2009, I get a statement showing that I owe $49 annual fee. I call once again, and find that the statement is for the "dead account", but that I owe that amount for the new credit card they tried to give me last year and I refused. They explain, politely, that despite the fact that I never got card or statement, I MUST PAY that annual fee.

Their argument is that by applying for a card I entered into a contract. My argument is that they did not fulfill their part of the contract--giving me the card--thereby voiding any said contract. I insisted they have to remove that charge, and while they say they can't remove me from their system because I am a former customer. I'm going to contact the consumer investigator team of Denver's affiliated TV station because I can't spend another 5 hours on the phone trying to clear this up, but I refuse to pay the $49 bucks. Ineptness should not be rewarded. I caution everyone about applying for this card. I'm sorry I didn't read other reviews about this bank.

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I Have Had No Problem With These Folks.
By -

CALIFORNIA -- Please understand, I am not a proponent of banks or credit card issuers in general. I agree that most, if not all, will run roughshod over you if you let them. The key phrase, 'if you let them'. Credit cards are not meant to be things used to live on. They are not meant to be a crutch for your personal or business financial mismanagement. They are not meant to be a means to live beyond your means. If you cannot pay off your balance every month, or at least 5% of your statement balance, you have no business using them.

Credit cards are expensive for merchants and consumers alike. Ultimately, they are a convenient and secure way to do business and make purchases. You receive benefits that cash or checks do not provide. Beyond those benefits, they are a dangerous thing if you do not manage your behavior.

Enough of my lecturing and back to my point, Juniper Bank. They provide a fair and reasonable service to those who use their product wisely and within the terms of use. If you are late, you are late. Their terms clearly spell out the consequences of your actions. If you have not read the terms then you are the fool. I have had nothing but excellent service from Juniper. I find them to be one of the best credit cards I have.

Let me back up to the first time I made a payment to Juniper. I paid my balance in full for the Apple computer I purchased. I used an introductory 0% offer to purchase an iMac. At the time my payment was due I used an electronic transfer from a bank account. There was a problem with the electronic transaction. I was not aware of the problem until I received a call from Juniper. They told me that the payment was not honored and that they had assessed a returned payment fee, and added the interest that had accrued during the 0% time period.

I explained that I could not understand why the payment was not honored and asked the representative what I needed to do in order to remove the fee and interest. The service representative explained that they would need payment in-full, including a newer charge that had posted to the account. While on the phone with the representative I logged into my bank account, shifted some money to another checking account and paid the full balance on the Juniper website as he suggested. End of story. They honored what they said they would do, they did not hike my interest rate, and they inflicted no other drama on me.

Since that very first payment cycle, I have had no issues. Mind you, I pay my bills on time... Not the day before they are due, not the day after, and I do not use the card in such a manner as to jeopardize my good standing... By that I mean, I do not max it out, I do not go over my limit, and I certainly make certain I have money to pay my debt. If I do not have the money, I do not make a purchase.

Accordingly, Juniper has rewarded me with a handsome interest rate. They do not gouge me, and they do not play games and they have increased my limit substantially over the couple-three years I have been a customer. Why? Because I have demonstrated responsibility in my use of credit.

Juniper is an excellent card issuer and acts responsibly within their rights and their terms of use. Incidentally, I read the terms, I understood the terms, and agreed to the terms. It is black and white. There are no gray areas. I carry a balance when I purchase new business equipment. If I do not pay my statement balance, I pay between 5-15% of my statement balance, dependent upon on how well my sales have been for the month, but never less that 5%. Use credit wisely and quit blaming the credit card companies for your poor decisions.

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Juniper Does Not Have Control Over It's Data
By -

Over the last several weeks, Juniper has initiated a suite of bizarre actions against the credit card I (used to) have with them. These have had significant annoying impacts on my life. For example, stranding me at O'Hare airport and forcing me to spend most of my vacation dealing with their missteps. However, despite their customer-oriented aggression, it was their loss of control over their database, and the inability of a singularly useless customer service organization to address the ensuing problems, is what has prompted me to end my relationship with this organization.

In particular, it was early Sept. when I signed on to their website, intent on making my monthly payment. When I attempted to make the payment I noticed that the payment account I had set up was no longer listed. I figured their system was having some intermittent difficulty and waited a few days. When I signed on to the website again, the information was still missing. I called the customer service desk and they informed me that they would file a bug report on my behalf, but that otherwise, if I did not get the payment money to them within 48 hours, they would assess late payment fees, attack my credit rating, and terminate my card.

Note: My account history does not warrant this level of aggression. My credit standing is quite good and I will have absolutely no problem getting a replacement MasterCard from a Juniper competitor. I informed them that I could probably not get payment to them within 48 hours without incurring some significant fees. In addition, I could not re-establish my payment account as the information required to do so was at home and I was on vacation. Besides, thought I've made at least 24 prior consecutive payments from my payment account - which is a good indication that the payment account was, in fact, in their system.

It seemed to me that the easiest thing to do would be to delay collection of the $36.44 I owed them until Sept. 23rd, when I would be home, have access to my checkbook, and could quickly re-enter the information that Juniper bank had deleted. They refused to do so claiming that if I did not get the money to them by the due date, they would assess late fees, attack my credit rating, and re-evaluate my credit worthiness. In the end I asked a family member if I could borrow their account and sign them up as a payment source for me. They agreed and I received a confirmation email (dated 9/9/2008) indicating that my payment had been received in time.

On the 9/10/2008, I received a response to one of my several email inquiries indicating that (1) I already had an account on file and what was I talking about and (2) that since I had not made a payment I would be assessed late fees, etc. Now, this irked me because the account indicated in (1) was my family member's account, and (2) the payment had in fact been received.

So now I had two apparent problems: 1) Juniper bank seemed to be systematically deleting information from my account so as to force me to generate late fees for them - this is a *highly illegal* practice, and 2) they could not identify that a payment had been made or that the payment source was not the source they had deleted, but a new source added very recently.

Subsequent emails have gone unanswered and subsequent calls have indicated that they can see no problem with my account. When I indicated that "I want to know who deleted my account information, when they did so, and why". I was told "that's just not going to happen". I was also told that "we didn't do it, you didn't do it, and there is no explanation". The latter was repeated to me over and over by one of their customer service representatives.

Can you believe that? Here a customer service representative is stating that the disappearance of personal information from a financial database (the unauthorized deletion of which is a crime) simply "has no explanation." It is Juniper's absolute inability to cope with their deletion of information, their denial that they deleted information (illegally), and their satisfaction that "there simply is no explanation" is, in fact, an acceptable explanation. That really drove me over the wall with these cats. These people are entrusted with your personal information and can impact your credit rating.

This episode clearly indicated that juniper 1) does not have control over it's database, since, according to them, 3rd parties can delete information at will and without their knowledge; 2) they cannot tell when information has been deleted, nor can they tell when payments have been made or when information has been updated; 3) they have no power to cope with the lack of integrity and control over their database systems.

If other people have had similar experiences, please contact me and let us pool our information and experiences. Deleting sensitive information from a customer account without knowledge or authorization is perhaps grounds for a class action lawsuit.

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New Customer/Horrible Service
By -

I opened a new credit card with this company. Naturally the ad sounded good, and my homework appeared to be backing this claim. I used the card once, and awaited the first statement in the mail. I received my first bill in the mail that reads on the incoming envelope "IMPORTANT YOUR NEW CREDIT CARD STATEMENT IS ENCLOSED". Well, looking at my new first statement I find I being charged $39 plus $1 finance fee for non-payment of my first missed payment. What the heck? I called immediately, and was treated like trash.

I was told that the fact that Juniper had my address wrong and that I had been mailed a statement before this, and I missed my payment and I now owed the additional $40 to this account. She wouldn't budge. Would not listen to the truth that they did not have the right address [I live in a condo and there was no Unit # listed on the mailing address.] She told me that "I" being the customer am responsible to KNOW when my payment is due. Well, how can I KNOW??? When I have never received a statement to have any idea as to the FIRST time that they are doing it??? Good grief!!! It does NOT seem reasonable to me at all.

I immediately cancelled the account over the phone and will get a new card company. There are too many out there offering low interest rates. I see no reason for this to be reasonable in any way. If it had been say, over 30 days from the time I made my purchase with the card, fine, then, perhaps I could agree that I am responsible. HOWEVER, even that does not seem reasonable as we don't know our closing dates on the account until we get that first statement. How in the heck can we know? If anyone can tell my "why" we are held responsible for the error of address as being worthy of a first time user at a cost of $40 I would appreciate it.

I truly cannot believe that this is alright for a credit card provider to insist that I should have known my "due date" when I never received the first statement because they had the wrong address. Also, I can't believe that this is true due to the typing on this envelope that says "YOUR NEW CREDIT CARD STATEMENT IS ENCLOSED". For heavens sake, how can this be true? If I had already received a statement, would it say that? I really think this woman who was looking at a computer screen of "pre-programmed" information was trained to act a certain way and be unreasonable and unrealistic.

I know that they are sent to training to learn how to deal with "situations" but, I would hope that a credit card company would have better records for new customers. If anyone out there can tell me a better reason for Juniper to be entitled to my paying a late fee and finance charges on a NEVER RECEIVED, and I do not believe IN TRUTH, statement that was never sent, then I would greatly appreciate it. For I truly cannot believe that there was such a treatment from her that she would NOT even consider that what I was saying was the truth, only that Juniper deserved the $39 plus $1 and it was all my fault. Thank you ahead of time.

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Defrauded me to keep the card by promising to "waive" annual charge
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I filled out an application for the US Air World Master Card card at the airport one day, not knowing about the annual finance charge. When I received my first bill for the annual finance charge of $75, I called Juniper to cancel the card. The rep on the phone tried to get me to downgrade my card to receive half the rewards (1 mile/$2 spent), without an annual fee, but I refused this option.

She kept trying to sell me on it, but my mind was made up, I wanted to cancel the card. So finally she said she'd see what she could do for me, put me on hold, then comes back and tells me her manager authorized for her to waive the annual charge for me. I asked, "you mean I can keep the 1 mile/$1 spent WITHOUT the annual fee?" She said yes, that is correct. I reiterated, "So this is NOT the downgrade card?"

She responded that this was correct. So I agreed to go with the deal. She told me to go ahead and start spending heavily on the card, which I thought was a rather odd thing for her to say, but I was happy to have secured this deal. I asked her if I could receive confirmation of this somehow and she responded that the fee will be waived in their system and they would send me confirmation in the mail.

Well two weeks later, I receive a letter from Juniper Bank that my card had been switched to the DOWNGRADE card, with half the rewards, the option I flat-out refused in the first place! Fuming, I called up the customer service line and after the rep had done a bit of "research", he assured me that the letter had been automatically sent out by mistake, that my annual fee had indeed been waived, and that I really did have the full reward option (1 Mi/$1). I asked if I could get this in writing. The rep agreed to have a letter sent out to confirm this.

So here I go happy as heck, spending on my card like crazy and two weeks later I decide to check my mile rewards online...Yes, you guessed it, I had been getting 1 mile per $2 I've spent! (And no 15,000 miles on my first purchase either, which also had been promised.)

This turns into a series of about four phone calls to seemingly CLUELESS customer service reps who tell me that yes, the service charge looks like it's been waived, but when I ask about why I'm getting only half the rewards, they had no idea and promised each time to have a manager call me back.

Finally I demand get to on the line with a manager (I had enough of "they'll call you") and this manager NAMED JAY finally gets on the line. He tells me flat out that it's impossible for me to have the full rewards with no annual finance charge. I could not believe what I was hearing! He proceeded to pretend that no one I've dealt with ever have offered such a thing to me or suggest to me that I even had such a deal. He knew I didn't have any documented proof of such and indirectly suggested that I had made up the whole thing. I was resigned to. I can't tell you how disgusted I am.

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Do Not Get This Card or Refer to Anyone if You Consider Them a Friend
By -

This card was horrific!!! When I first got this card I thought it was great, a low rate but it changed really fast. First of all I have had numerous ongoing discussions with reps. clearly not American which really frosts me. When I call customer service I would like to be able to understand who I'm talking to and have a phone number available that is toll free and doesn't say to call collect! My first few months of owning this card was fine when I made my payment online, however when we had to replace our computer and I was without it and mailed my payment things changed drastically.

When my first payment reached Juniper late I was dismayed. I sent it in more than enough time to have it post to my account on time two weeks before it was due and somehow it ended up posting 4 days late so I was smacked with a late fee. When I called to contest this I was told that all payments go to a P.O. Box and Juniper only checks this box every 7 to 10 days so if possible I should send the payment at least two weeks ahead of time, kind of hard to do when sometimes I get the statement in the mail and have less than two weeks to get a payment in on time. Even if you do send a payment in with more than enough time it can still be posted late.

It's all in Juniper's hands as to when they check their P.O. Box and apply your payment. Again, unless you pay online if you have access to a computer or by phone and call collect you aren't left with much choice other than to mail your payment. This has happened twice and 3 different customer service reps. verified this to me. In November of 2006 I received my statement saying my low rate of 12.99% suddenly jumped to a ridiculous 30.49%. I never in my life have paid this on any card. I wrote a letter to the company and told them to close my card to further purchases all I wanted to do was pay it off and be done with them.

I tried 3 times to get my fee lowered and they refused saying I managed the card poorly. I asked them how when I sent my payment in with more than enough time to reach them and to be applied to my account on time did they considered it to be managed poorly went it sat in their P. O. Box. After getting nowhere with the customer service rep. I spoke to I asked for a supervisor. When I talked to ** the floor supervisor she tried to tell me all 3 reps. misinformed me. She said that the payments are posted immediately and blamed the postal service and that I need to send my payment in even earlier than two weeks ahead of time and couldn't refund my late fee.

My question is who's lying, the 3 customer service reps. or the floor supervisor. Finally, I sent in a payoff of $840 on April 7th when the payment was due the 16th. I received a letter on the 20th that they could not close my account because I still owed $97 dollars. I couldn't understand why and when I called to question it I was told that I was charged a late fee and over the limit fee plus finance charges. Has anyone else noticed that when you used to pay off a credit card in the past whatever that statement said and you mailed in that pay off check sealed the deal. Finance charges didn't get added after the fact.

The rep. told me this payment didn't reach them until the 19th. I went round and round with this rep. who refused to refund anything so I hung up and called back again. When I was done, after three calls, I had 3 different customer service reps. ** verifying that indeed the payments can sit in Juniper's P.O. box for 7 to 10 days and since they may have had it and didn't post it in a timely manner they did at least refund the late fee. I also told them it's ridiculous that I'm paying an over limit fee strictly on finance charges they have applied since I haven't used the card since Nov. 06.

When I asked this rep. ** to let me know what I owed after the fee adjustment he asked me when I would be making the payment. I asked why that mattered and he said he needed to calculate more finance charges. I said on what? The only thing remaining on my account is the fees Juniper applied and the finance charges they added after I paid off the card. How can they possibly add more finance charges to their own fees.

This is when he really sent me over the edge informing me that although they received my payment, due to the size of the check the Federal Reserve has the right to hold my check and not post it to my account for 7 days and they can assess finance charges during that time. I never in my life with all of the cards I have had heard of such a thing. They have my payment and the check I wrote them already cleared my bank so the only one holding it and making more money of off me is Juniper themselves. I would love to hear from a lawyer who deals with credit card fraud if this is legal because it's a new one to me.

I just love asking to speak to a supervisor above these reps. because they play dumb and ask why. Why? because you're a misinformed robot who doesn't know their job. When I got a supervisor today she told me ** was wrong and that although they will hold my payment no more finance charges will apply. My suggestion to all is that everyone that has ever been screwed by this company write and inundate the president's office with complaints. They need to bring the company back to America, get better training and seriously revise their practices.

Although it may not be cool to put in the names of the reps. I talked to, I myself was a customer service rep. for 13 years in the banking industry and learned how important it is to get the name of who you talked to and who told you what so when it's a tooth and nail fight you aren't just saying "The person I talked to told me this." It gives you more validity and supervisors listen more when you can put a name to what you're told also when your misinformed or need to take the problem higher up in the company they know who to go directly to when they need straightened out.

Also, for nay who have had the misfortune of dealing with this company you may have dealt with these same people and know how hopeless a cause this is. Anyhow, the president's name is Jim Stewart. Just stay away from this card, return your mail ads to them if you get any and don't refer them to anyone. Just let them know with a letter how fed up and disgusted you are.

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Customer service rep Charis (and entire staff) both unwilling and unable to listen to customers
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I apparently applied for this card in the airport at a kiosk on a business trip (in a rush in all of about 60 seconds so I could get a free t-shirt for my son- sort of a 'why not' idea that I'll never do again). The kiosk worker somehow matched my SSN to my in-laws address and had the card issued there. No card or statements ever came to my residence. About 6 weeks later, I was browsing my credit report and saw that my report included a new account from Juniper Bank. I immediately called and was informed I was the proud owner of a new US Airways card. I advised I hadn't received the card and asked if charges were made on the card. Yes: a $79 annual fee.

I asked that they note on the account that I didn't have the card in my possession and to please waive any surcharge or late fee for payment of the annual fee in the event that the replacement and/or statement didn't arrive in time to be paid. The rep agreed to do so. WEEKS later I finally received the replacement card at my correct address. I went online, set up access and to my chagrin, there was a $25 late fee on the as-yet unpaid annual fee. I called customer service, livid that the first agent had not filled his obligation. Charis (the rep) proceeded to:

A) Blame me for not paying on time since I had elected to receive paperless statements.
B) Insist that Juniper Bank does not waive fees.
C) Reassert her position of power in stating that she was a relationship manager and that my complaints would fall on deaf ears. Juniper Bank would not remove the fee, period.

I proceeded to give her every scenario that this fit:

A) I HAD JUST SET UP PAPERLESS STATEMENTS 5 MINUTES BEFORE CALLING. Telling me I was to blame for not getting/paying statements was both ignorant and insulting when I'd just explained for the nth time that I never got anything in the mail from US Airways/Juniper.
B) What if I NEVER got the card? Why hold a card-holder responsible for annual/late fees for months on end if the card were never received? Imagine the impact to my credit score!!
C) Why would anyone in our day and age choose to run a company in this fashion (not allow their top reps the ability to reverse or change/cancel fees in the proper circumstances)?

Other comments about Juniper Bank are identical. Very little positive to say about them. Just an awful company. I'm cancelling. To their credit, the second relationship manager waived my $79 annual fee, but couldn't waive the late fee. He also got the information on the individual(s) responsible for getting me a card that came in the mail ALREADY ACTIVATED (MAJOR NO-NO in today's fraud-riddled society). Hats off to whoever that was, but Charis is a corporate robot who probably doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone in life but herself.

Sounds like from the other reviews and comments that this is priority one when interviewing candidates for Juniper Bank: "Do you have an uncanny knack for saying NO to a customer no matter what they're trying to tell you? Can you talk over them and insist that you are right? Can you make assumptions about others without regard for their questions or concerns and stick to your guns/script, which says "Juniper doesn't issue fee credits"? If so, you're HIRED!"

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Extreme Hold on Multiple Online Payments
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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE -- This is my first 3 cents review, so I hope all will be understanding w/ any replies. I joined because of a challenge w/ Juniper, but I don't want my first words to be complaint... so I'll start by saying that I applied for the Carnival MasterCard because I'm a total fan of the great vacation service provided by Carnival Cruise Line. I recently take two cruise, and have four more booked for the next twelve months.

Today I learned a valuable lesson that Juniper doesn't follow the same practices as the majority of retailers (those who are glad to take your money any way they can get it, and then hope that you spend even more), because if you make more than one online payment in the billing month, each payment is held from your Available Credit for 10 full days after payment clears your financial institution. You'll see the amount subtracted from your bank statement, and you'll receive a message from Juniper thanking you for your received payment, but you won't have that amount available back to you on your card for another week and a half.

When I called to inquire about the reason for this, the person on the phone seemed quite unsure how to describe a reason, other than to say "It's our policy". Any call center worth its salt knows that is a taboo phrase that is rarely accepted by the person asking why. I was told the info was clearly stated in the Cardmember Agreement, which I'd put in front of me prior to the call. I advised that I couldn't find that statement, and requested that I be directed to where that was. After some stammering, she said that she didn't see it on her screen, but that it was still policy.

At the end of one paragraph, it states, "We will apply your payments to the balance in your Account in whatever manner we determine". Wow! I guess that's the blanket statement that covers than on any questions whatsoever. Kind of like growing up and hearing a parent say, "Because I said so, that's why!"

True, I've been using this rather new card much like my debit card for everyday purchases. The simple reason being to earn the Carnival points for future bonus use. I keep my receipts and on Thursday prior to 7:00, I do an online payment for that week's purchases. It gets subtracted from my bank on Friday, but those funds are not available again for me to use during the entire following week. They are available the week after that (2nd week).

I guess all the hoo-ha about how fast online banking transactions occur is only a benefit for the company and not the consumer. I've not paid a dime in interest fees to any card in all of 2007, and don't intend to start. That's why I'm glad I checked my Available Credit balance on the phone prior to making a large purchase. I thought (according to my messages for Juniper about money received) that it was higher than it actually was. In theory, by my math, I actually have a credit balance with Juniper. According to "policy" that will only be recognized later this month. I'm SOOO glad I checked in advance.

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Juniper Bank
100 S. West St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
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www.barclaycardus.com
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