Report: #1340986

Complaint Review: Academy Bank - arora Colorado

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  • Reported By: poohbear1965 — COLUMBUS Ohio USA
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  • Academy Bank 3301 N. Tower Rd. arora, Colorado USA


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I spoke with four different representatives of Academy Bank about the hold time on my little secured credit card. I have money on deposit and I understand that there can be a hold time for payments. I was told my four different representatives that my funds would available today on December 2nd 2016. I made the payment last Saturday nite and posted out of my checking on Monday the next business day.


Today I tried to use my card to buy milk and bread at the grocery store and I was declined I called again and was told that I would now not be able to use my available credit until Tuesday morning which if you look on a calendar is about a 10 day hold. 


They use a third party company and will tell you to call the "bank". When you call the "bank" they put you on hold and refer you back to the first number. They gave incorrect information four different times and no one can do anything. I work for a major bank, someone can do something but they are choosing not to do anything.  They could have verified the funds with my bank.


The credit card is secured with my own money and still hold my payment as not available for over 10 days. They have poor customer service and have poorly trained representatives. The supervisor also could not do anything at all. They are not empowered to do anything except reiterate what the previous representative has told me. What a terrible experience that is causing me an extreme hardship. Do not send this bank your money for their credit builder program. They keep your money and collect both interest on the savings and interest on the unpaid balance and collect a fee monthly to boot.


This is the most useless bank I have encountered my entire life because they are not professional, not trained and provided me incorrect multiple times. I spoke with agen Joyce 14312 and was told noone anywhere can release any part of my funds paid now 6 days ago. Today I was told that it may take up to 10 business days for my credit card payment to clear. Noone can give me a clear and exact definative date that my credit will be available.

I would have been better off just making the minimum payment and not counting on using this card at all. What a terrible customer service with both Academy Bank and the third party that they use for their secured credit card. Consumer beware.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/02/2016 07:12 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/academy-bank/arora-colorado-80011/academy-bank-southern-bank-secured-credit-card-division-incorrect-information-given-by-3r-1340986. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#6 Consumer Comment

In Closing..

AUTHOR: Robert - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, December 05, 2016

Yes this site is to report "RipOff's" and there are many reports that are. But one aspect of this site is that

the PUBLIC can comment and provide suggestions as to why things may not be exactly as you see them.

If this was truly only about a customer service issue, you would not have embellished your report by adding things such as "extreme hardship" or couldn't even buy milk and bread. That was one for one reason...to try and gain additional sympathy for your report.

Had you left out that embellishment it is unlikely that you would have gotten any responses. Now, you got what you wanted..a response. It just wasn't the responses you expected so you didn't know how to handle it except to continue to try and embellish your report to make yourself out to be something more than you are...and there we have the MBA With an MBA you are inferring you are well aware of credit, budgets, finances and are more "educated" than the typical Subprime borrower.

Well a person who truly is as educated as you claim and is truly living "Hand to Mouth" would not even put themselves into this situation. No, I am NOT talking about the decision to pay a huge amount rather than just the minimum payment based on some statement they made, and that is the point of the comments.

The decisions you made are well before that. A person who is describing your situation doesn't go from a zero balance on a credit card, to maxing it out, and then paying it off all within one statement. Only to end up not even have enough cash on them to buy milk and bread. No, you built up your credit balance(doesn't matter if it was $300, $3000, or $30) over time and due to improper budgeting you put yourself in this situation.

You then come up with that you work for the "largest" US bank and that somehow that makes you more knowledgeable. Well this is easily found as being "C****al O*e". The funny thing about this company is that they have several "Second chance" programs including many secured cards, with terms much better than this bank. So one has to ask if you truly work for this company..why don't you have a credit card through them? Doesn't your own company even trust you?

But then you again try to further justify your complaint by adding another "Well it is just THIS company" component. As you had this "exact" card for several years. Now, this statement of "several" is very interesting. As all throughout your posts you have inferred that this "life changing" event of an accident is what caused all of your problems. But here is the thing, you stated that the accident happened only 2 years ago. This would indicate that your bad credit pre-dated your accident, and again is now just being used to gain sympathy when in fact it really has nothing to do with the key issue...your poor management.

So while you can go on and on about how the "evil" bank steered you wrong. The point that I(and the other person) are making is that you need to look at your actions and see how to avoid this in the future.

In the end I hope you get through what ever situation you are in. I will also restate these points again. If you are truly living "Hand to Mouth", trying to rebuild your credit is not a priority. Since you have inferred that you paid off this account, you need to close it and get your security deposit back. Then if you truly do have an MBA then perhaps it is time to start putting that education to work rather than blaming everyone else for your issues and take control of your situation. Good Luck.

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#5 Author of original report

Change in bank ownership of this credit card

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Sunday, December 04, 2016

I have had this exact card for several years and it used to be owned by Southern Bank. It is now Academy Bank. The quality of customer service and information received is my isssue, not my credit score. I know what my credit score is and how to use credit. I have had the funds with this banks on deposit for several years and they had never placed my funds on hold before. Now that it is owned by a different bank, the rules have all changed and the information on the exact amount of time that payments may be placed on hold is not disclosed in the card member agreement. It is the usual vague bank lingo that it is at their discretion. I understand this disclosure and why that it is in place. I have made a payment over a week ago at the website that has remained the same and it was posted to my account for credit purposes but the funds are still not available 8 days later. 


Yesterday I called again and answer has changed. The funds are now possibly going to be available Monday morning. It is a ripoff if you cannot get an honest realistic answer. I have had the same checking account for 10 years. I have never had a returned check with this company and the amount is just under $300 not $3000. 


My complaint about this company is the lack of customer service and lack of correct information when I call. So besides the $300 that they have had on deposit for several years, they have my payment in full now for 8 days. There is noone to speak to on the weekends when I call. 


This forum is about how you are treated by companies not credit repair or credit counseling. The bank is not able to give me consisent honest answers about my account. This is my complaint. I have found out that Academy treats ACH payments differently than if you use your own bank's bill pay service because the payment is already funded. When it was owned by Southern Bank, I always got credit for my payment whether I made it on their website or through my bank.


This is a forum to share experiences with companies and how you are treated as a customer. I deserve correct, consistant, and accurate information regardless of my credit score. The main reason of my complaint is that I have called about 8 times and have received a different answer every time. All of the answers have been incorrect.  This is not a credit card lesson forum. When you have a subprime credit card you pay extra fees and a higher interest rate. It is part of starting over again when you have bad credit. When you pay the extra money, you deserve accurate and professional customer service...period.

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#4 Author of original report

credit card use

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Saturday, December 03, 2016

If you are the same person who wrote the last rebuttal, I do have an MBA and work for the largest bank in the US. I understand how credit works. My complaint is the incorrect information given by this bank not my credit score.  Marriage is not forever, bad credit is.....


I found out that if you use an ACH payment through their website that it is considered to be a risk as opposed to using your bill pay through your own bank. It took 8 calls to get a reason and four different call centers since this bank out sources. 


I only hope you never have to have a life changing experience like a car accident that was no fault of your own to put you in a financial bind. I am in a position to have to wait two full years to settle because my injuries were so severe that my health insurance company may not pay if they believe it was related to this accident during the two-year period. I have been in a nursing home facility twice after surgeries and don't have a rich uncle. I am a single disabled woman.


Life happens and my credit card isn't the top of my list but this is a forum to relay customer service experiences with companies and how you were treated. It took 8 calls to get a reasonable answer about the reason for the hold on my payment. This isn't a credit card education forum. I am physically disabled now and am living hand to mouth. So to me, having a $300 line of credit is like you having a $3000 credit line. I have a zero balance once the payment is released. 


It will be a long road to credit recovery and I am completely aware of how debt to credit ratio, credit scores, payment hold times,  credit and debt management all work. I really do have an MBA and I am in a situation that is no fault of my own.

I am very sad that my credit is in the shape that it is. My income has changed dramatically and I have to make daily choices of filling a prescription or buying food. You are an extremely judgemental person and hope that you never have any similar situations happen to you.


This is a forum for complaints about how you are treated by a company not credit repair or credit education. I hope you have a nice weekend.


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#3 Consumer Comment

Typical Subprime attitude

AUTHOR: Robert - (USA)

POSTED: Saturday, December 03, 2016

Oh yes we get the typical "Subprime" response.  As such, you are try to come here and say you know all about credit.  But let's look at the facts.

You are with a Subprime card because of your credit history.  Now, of course you using the typical "entitlement mantra" of "It's not my fault"..but that's okay because unlike every other person who say's it isn't their fault..in your case it REALLY isn't your fault..right?

If you really have an MBA and know about credit and how it works then you know that "maxing" out your credit card is a very bad thing.  You should NEVER be using more than about 30-50%(at most) of your credit line for the best credit.  Unless your credit line is $25 it is very likely you are maxed out if you can't even pay for Milk and Bread.

The only reason you are maxed out now, is because you spent the credit line and built up the balance until you got to a point where you hit the credit limit(the amount the bank is willing to allow you to borrow).  It is only when you hit this point that you started to "worry" about paying the credit line down.  Again..not the hallmarks of a person who understands credit.  There isn't a box you check for the reason you spent the money, all the creditors know is that you have spent it.

If you have an MBA why are you working in a call center, barely being able to pay for Milk and Bread?  An MBA is not a degree that requires manual labor.  Not only that but call centers would rarely even give you a second look in hiring because you are "overqualified".  In fact a "Call Center" can often be a lot more stressful than much better(and higher paying) jobs an MBA can get...even if you are "disabled".

As a person who understands credit, you also should understand that they actually don't ever have to make your funds available.  They could close out your account today and require you to pay off the balance without allowing you to charge even another $0.01.  

Now, as another, and overall more important point.

If the fact that this credit card is not making your credit line available is keeping you from buying Milk and Bread and causing "Extreme" hardship.  Then you have much bigger issues and problems with your finances that extend well beyond this credit card.  Where I would suggest you close the card out, pay it off and take back what ever "security deposit" is left.  As trying to rebuild your credit is not a priority for you right now.

You of course are going to go down the typical "Subprime entitlement" road with misdirection and excuses as to why it is all the "evil banks" fault.  But when you add all of this "fluff" that does not meet with reality, it puts your entire report into question.

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#2 Author of original report

Credit card terms and changes in the Bank

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Friday, December 02, 2016

I understand how credit works but until you have walked a mile in someone's shoes, you shouldn't judge. This company used to be owned by a different bank that gave upfront correct information about the way that their availability of funds work. Academy Bank has given me now 5 different all incorrect answers.


I am entitled to correct information whether I have bad credit or not.


My complaint is that I was given incorrect information about the availability of funds and the timeframe. I am currently disabled from a car accident that was not my fault. 


I have an MBA and know about credit and how it works. I am having to start over. 10 Business days is not what I was advised of when I called until about the fourth call. All of the calls told me that the funds would be available today Friday December 2016. I work in a call center and asked that those calls be pulled so that those individuals would be coached on the correct timeframes of credit availability.


To you, I appear to be an irresponsible slob that has purposely jacked up my credit to get to this place. Life happens and sometimes things happen out of your control. I only hope that you don't have to experience the things that I have in the last two years.


Life happens and you are preaching to choir about the use of credit. If you read my complaint, it was on the incorrect information giving not the fact that I have money on deposit with this company. The customer service was rude, poor, and they gave me incorrect information. They handled my calls with no professionism and they use a third party company.


Unless you are Jesus and walk on water, don't judge.

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#1 Consumer Comment

You would't need that payment to post quickly unless you have used up your credit line

AUTHOR: FloridaNative - (USA)

POSTED: Friday, December 02, 2016

Since you work at a bank you would know that the only reason you need your payment to clear is to use the credit line. There must be no available remaining credit on your card.  Charging up your credit card to the max is not a way to show the bank that you are responsible with your credit. I looked up the website and it said you can set your own credit limit up to $3000 on that secured card - but you set the limit by sending in the deposit.

The very first thing for you to do is to work on your monthly budget so you aren't squeezed for funds. It appears you don't know how to use credit yet (otherwise, you wouldn't need the secured card).  Once you set up your budget, go to a legitimate credit website to learn the ins and outs of credit usage so you can not have this type of trouble again.  

It isn't the credit card issuer - because they state their terms and conditions in writing. It's you. You have to learn how credit works. By the way, it doesn't matter that the security deposit is your money. That was the deal, you put up the funds and the lender will issue you a card, but you have to follow the rules. The only reason you had to give a deposit to get a card is because your credit report shows you aren't responsible with your credit. Once you get past this stage, you won't have these issues. But you have to show you know how to use credit and actually pay it back. 

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