Thanks to all who have shared their horror stories here -- you may have saved my neck. I endured four years of Emerge misery, having my original credit card bought out by Emerge, making payments on the Emerge bills, although I NEVER received an Emerge credit card, watching my balance climb from $1500 to $2800 (high interest, over the limit fees, late fees), with Emerge consistently refusing to close the account, refusing to give me my full account history, refusing to waive fees or lower the interest to give me a chance to pay the thing off (once I thought I'd finally gotten a bona fide payoff deal, fees waived, no interest, that would allow me to pay off the balance at $85 a month--but later I found out this "deal" was only good for six months, then we were back to high interest and over-limit fees). I finally "hocked the farm" to get a debt consolidation loan, but when I called Emerge about the 70% settlement they'd offered two months earlier (when I was trying to figure out how large a loan I'd need to pay off my debts), once again I found out there'd been another "misunderstanding" -- the settlement would be 90%. OK, says I, send me the paperwork and I'll pay it. OH NO, says they -- company policy is that you send us the money first, THEN 14 days after we receive your money we'll send you a confirmation letter. Based on my past dealings with them, I wasn't very trusting of this suggestion and that's when I hit the internet and read this forum (and a couple of others) about Tales from Emerge. You folks really opened my eyes. I realized not only that the 90% settlement was unlikely, but also that even if I paid the entire balance, there were ways they could still get me, i.e. failing to apply the payment promptly to my account and then adding further interest and OL fees (assuming they even acknowledged receipt of my payment and applied it to my account, EVER), failing to close the account and thereby continuing to add fees (annual fees, late charges on any type of additional charge they added after my payoff, etc), while at the same time "blocking" the account so I'd have no access to find out about their shenanigans. I saw that I was a naive sheep among Emerge wolves, so I asked the person who managed my consolidation loan for professional advice. He has offered to act as a third party on the Emerge payoff, since I'm clearly out of my league in dealing with this type of company. WHEW! What a load off my mind! I don't know the particulars about what kind of third parties can be involved in these situations, I was just lucky that my loan counselor offered. If anyone has knowledge of such things, perhaps he/she could share it here so other Emerge victims who, like me, are naive about financial matters, could investigate a "third party" option.

I, like so many I have been reading, had a Providian account that was sold to Emerge. My interest rate skyrocketed as well to 29.99%. I am cringing on the comments I have read from others about trying to pay off and close the account. I just hope that I will be able to transfer the balance and get it paid off as soon as I can and close it. I can't believe that there isn't a class action suit going on somewhere with this credit card company, but if I ever hear of one, I will be there with bells and whistles!!! Good luck to all the other Emerge victims, we will need all we can get!

This is by far the worse company I have ever had. I told them that I had not recevied a card prior to my experation date and they said it had been sent out. like 4 weeks prior. I said I needed one and asked them to resend it. They said no we dont resend cards. Finally after 30 minutes ont he phone they offered to send me another one. I called back and cancelled my account they are horrible

I turned my account over to Consumer Credit Counseling services and they are refusing to work with me because I had activity on my account when I turned it over to CCCS. The main reaon I turned over my account was because of the interest rate. I received a call from a woman at Emerge demanding that I pay $447.00 from the past month and the current month. I informed her that she needed to work with CCCS. She was very rude, yelled at me and asked when she could call again. I do not recommend this card to anyone. They are a rip-off company.

Since the buyout, this credit card company is horrible.

This started a year ago, when I contacted Providian who said I had no account, I tried to have it removed from my credit report, and 2 months later received a letter stating I owed 7000 to Providain. Against my better judgement(after the threat of having a lein on my home) I paid the funds. A year goes by and these morons are trying to hustle another 5000, out of me. I am at my wits end with them. They will not send anything to prove the account is mine. UGHHHHHHH

providian sold my account to emerge mastercard. they will not reopen the account, i am still looking for my statements for february, they claim that they are not part of providian so why on the top of the web page is providian's name there? also if you are thinking of using providian instead, they are just as bad and will not work with a customer to handle issues that may arise. steer clear of both of these banks.

I started with a Providian card and had no problems at all. This was a secured card with a $500.00 limit. I had around $490.00 on the account when all of a sudden I started getting notices from Emerge stating the account was past due and I needed to make a 22.00 payment to be current, so I did that. The next month, the bill never came so I called and they said that the account was still past due and that I had incurred a $29 late fee and a $29 overlimit fee. I ask how I could be over my limit because i had not charged anything and had a $490.00 balance. They said the late fee put it over the limit, but they would waive the fees if I made a payment then, which I did. The next bill came and now there is another set of $29.00 fees and my balance is now almost $600.00, called again and they explained it was because of me being over my limit, I tried to explain that I had not used the card and that the fees were waived so I should not be over my limit, they again agreed to waive the fees and I make the $22.00 payment. The next month the balance was up to $660.00 for the same reason. This has been going on for 2 1/2 years or more and even though I make the payments, I now have a card balance of $2300.00 on a $500.00 Secured credit card. This is robbery and outright ripping people off. HOW CAN YOU HAVE A $500 SECURED CARD and now have a $2300.00 balance without charging anything at all.

I have been paying on this account for 5 years and they keep either not sending me my bill and charging me late fees, when I call to try to pay my bill they hang up the phone or disconnect me I have spent hours on the phone trying to speak with managers and get information on my acount. My credit limit was $1000. I have been paying since 2001 and it is still at $956.00. Tonight I have been hung up on 4 times and have been on the phone for over 1.5 hours.

I was a valuable customer of First International Bank of Omaha for about 5 years when they sold me to Emerge without my knowledge or consent. I just stopped receiving statements. When I called to find out what was going on, they told me that my account was sold. I then called Emerge with the # I received from First National and was told that I would be receiving statements soon. When I got the first one I payed it on time. Then they stopped coming. When I called them I was transfered to collections and told that the statements had been put on hold due to an address error which was then corrected over the phone. I could pay some now and then make a double payment on the next bill. They would not put a mark on my credit report, they promised. I complied! They lied! Because of that mark, I was turned down for a bank loan. I called Emerge and talked to the people of India and was told that they could do nothing and I was not qualified to speak to collections at this time and by the way, they upped my APR to 25.40% and lowered my credit limit to $4900. This was their mistake and I am paying for it. When I called the BBB, they said that it was my word against theirs'. On another note, I had to call them 7 times one day due to their constant hang-ups and bad transfers, 6 times another day and 8 times the day after. This was all in July, numerous problems since but not enough room to write them all. It's November, I still don't have a card and where is my statement? No need, I'm transfering my balance to Chase just for my sanity, that will probably hurt my credit more but it's worth it just to get rid of them and I can't get a loan for 2 more years anyway. If there is a lawsuit in the works, count me in!

I was lucky that I paid and closed my providian accounts before they sold to emerge. But some how on my credit report (all three) said I had an open account with a zero bal with emerge that I never opened nor did I ever have thier card! It looks like I was very lucky that they did not send me bills for the yearly fee. If you need to (it wont help much) talk to a live rep, check post #20 for the trick to get thru to them it worked for me. I have got one of the big three (transunion)to close the account on thier report still waiting for E & E to do the same

have not been receivind statements. All numbers on old statements are not good. I want to pay off and close account with no way to contact to determine balance. Sounds as if will have trouble with the closing if I ever do get a hold of them.

Horrible companny. Was switched to them, without my knowledge or consent, by First National Omaha. When I discovered I'd been switched, I phoned eMerge to do a direct transfer from my checking account to pay my balance and close the account. Months later I received a bill from them, with numerous late fees and a fee for an insufficient funds check written in the amount of $66.00. Apparently the account was not closed, as I had been assured it would be, and now I was getting late fees for bills I'd never received, plus an NSF fee for a check I'd NEVER sent. I sent them a letter explaining the situation, and 6 weeks later when I'd received no response, called them. You can't get through their phone system to complain, so I lied and said I'd lost my card in order to get to talk to a customer service rep. She was no help. Insisted that I'd sent an NSF check, removed only one late fee, and said there was nothing that could be done to write my credit rating. In variious fees, I owed over $100 on an account that I was told was closed. Unbelievably bad company. If you get switched to them, close the account immediately, and pray that they've actually closed it.

Emerge showed a balance of 509.00 that wasn't really due on my credit report. The account had been paid off for over 8 months. In order to refinance my home, the lender made me pay this "bad debt" and the lender sent a check to Emerge. I called them to find out how to get this cleared and went through their painful automated system. They told me when they got the check it would be refunded and apologized for the "inconvenience". So far it has not been refunded (30 days) and now when I call the automated system they say my account is invalid so I can't get to a customer service representative. I have sent 6 emails. 3 times they have asked for more information. Still nothing!

To begin I actually work in an online banking/bill pay department for a nationwide bank so sadly I have to attempt to assist customers with obtaining the new payment info (name/address) on a daily basis so I have had some experience. While I admit, I will never know every credit card processing compnay, I have found that I can notice a certain address and typically know it is for a third party such as Card Member Services, Card Services, etc. Due to my daily work I was recrutied to help a family member with finding the new account info. Some comments I have for my attempts to assist the individual are: - When I looked at thier bill it did not refernce FNBO or Emerge when it advised to contact them for additional help. The wording was something along the lines of contact Card Services at...which led me to believe it was processed by that company. Wrong. - When I called their customer service, after about 20 mins of VRU talking I was told to send it to Emerge Card Services. Because I had tried it I called back and someone else said to use Compu Serv - Circuit City (which I thought was processed through HSBC which just purchased HouseHold but could be wrong). - When the account holder called, the rep advised them to add the account as Bank of America. I knew this was wrong because I work there. Sadly I am really not sure that this new company Emerge is to blame, it may possibly have been Fleet. Fleet actually sold a number of accounts to Bank of America and that transitions has been smooth but there has been a miscommunication that I viewed first hand. It was understood that all Fleet accounts were being sold to Bank of America and that we issued new cards and everything without a hitch. We did not even hear about these Emerge accounts until the customers began contacting us and we finally found out that this one card was sold to someone else for some reason. The bad part is that one of the individuals that the account holder spoke with a rep at Fleet before the accounts were changed over and she was advised that it would be issued by Bank of America. Due to my knowledge I was able to ghelp her avoid having the payment sent to our credit card depatment and not applied or refunded until the customer advised us of the issue.

Sorry I was unsure of how much space I had avialable on the post I just made so I wanted to post another one and share some of the information I learned as I've been working through finding out the new companies info. PLEASE NOTE: Again I work for an Online Bill Pay company so if we are able to send a payment electronically to a company we sometimes recieve address/merger updates from the merchants. I learned some info that was provided to us by Emerge; however, their customer service was not fully verifying that the info was correct. However, it may possibly help. - Seems that payments are sent payable to Emerge Mastercard/Visa - If you have the bill with the payment address in Newark, NJ...this is a valid address. - Not sure that everyones cycle is the same date but I was seeing a bill dated 6/20/05 and found that I couldn't speak with anyone because it didn't recognize the account number. Nice that they stress on the statement that we MUST update the remit information but do not advise who to make payment to or provide the current account number :) - Customers that had accounts sold to Bank of America have made payments to the old information (Fleet account number and address in error) and the payment was received by Fleet but they then forwarded it to the new processor....Big Warnings on this one....I have not seen the Emerge accounts so there is no way to guarantee that they will forward the payments. Also they may forward for sometime and then stop which can cause problems if you dont update the info. In regards to contacting the payee - If calling the number for Emerge select the option for reporting your card lost or stolen but dont enter in the account number. You have to sit through the scripting about lost stolen cards and fraud but eventual there are some options. Dont remember the exact term but something about rep or other inquiry. - Unsure of Fleets VRU but I use this and find that it works with some companies. If they ask you to enter in the account number, don't enter one, enter in all astricks, or if it says to enter in the account number and pound enter in pound a couple of times. This will avoid it being recognized as sold. Some experiences I have found is that companies will either not let you proceed, will ask it "X" amount of times and then connect you to a rep, or disconnect and tell you to call back with the info. Sadly if you still can't verify the remit company, even though their service is not so good I would call and see if they have a phone pay option. While I agree that it has been such an inconvenience to the customers, it will make sure that the payment is posted.

I was FNANB then Fleet and now emerge. Not my choice. I made a $300.00 payment through western union. Western union delivered the check to them on the same day but no one had the intelligence to post it to my account. When I found the problem I notified them and they treated me as though I was lying and accused me of trying to steal from them. Out of 12 phone calls not one polite person and not one response to 8 letters. I contacted western union and they verified the payment with me and also with "customer service". Still no posting. Western union even went so far as to issue another check on my behalf which was posted to my account and was reversed two days later with no explination. They still refuse to review or credit my account. All the evidence in the world has been ignored by everyone at "emerge". My advice burn this card and burn your Providian card as I am going to do with mine. It's too bad that this rating system does not provide of negative numbers. This company and Providian deserve a negative 10.

I had an fnanb account, which was sold to Fleet, which was sold to Emerge. I never activated my account with Emerge. When I finally did they said they closed my account because of non use (by the way, my balance was 00.00 i had paid off my account, just wanted to keep it for emergencies) Next I get a bill in the mail from emerge for annual fee for $25.00. how can they charge me annual fee if my account is closed? I have tried to get ahold of a live person to get this straightened out but no way.I feel I am going to have an annual fee for the rest of my life without even having a credit card. STAY AWAY

Problem: (Please limit your complaint to 2000 characters.): I had a FNANb credit card with a limit of 11250, since 1994. FNANB sold it's credit cards to Fleet, fleet then sold it's credit cards to Emerge. I was never notified of this change until my card was denied at a store. So i called fleet and their message said, you were previously told this number was no longer valid and listed a new number. I called the new number and after 25 minutes i was told that fleet was bought out and my new card was in the mail. So i waited one more week and called back. This time the representative told me my account was canceled, a new card was never mailed out. This has caused my credit score to go from 670 to 647. I work in a bank and i know that a credit score of 647 means i am not worthy of an unsecured credit card. This has affected my buying power, my credit and my good name. the company has never contacted me except for a bill they send me showing no payment was made, because i made it to fleet. I have no late pays on my credit and no collections. I believe the new "Emerge' Company has slandered my credit score/history and if this has happened to me i'm sure others are affected. Do they have no responsibility in giving notice of intent to cancel or change company names. Most banking laws require 30 days notice. no phone number is available, and check outhttp://ci.cardoffers.dev.office/reviews/cardholders/posted/card.asp?idmin=12297&refid=se9673 and the www.bbb.org. Everyone is having a terrible time with this company and the "emerge card is ruining everyone's credit along with charging large interest rates to people with good credit. I feel as if i have been suckered into this mess without hope of an out! No phone number is avaiable on their website.

I am on hold now with these people....it took an act of congress to get anyone on the phone, and then the guy asked me to hold on because his system was slow, and then he verified my info and put me on hold again. I haven't received a bill in 3 months and he couldm't verify my address. What is that?!!!! If the people I owe money to want their money, you would think they would send the bills to me. I have to make copies of old bills to pay these people. They have become an adverse creditor on my credit report becasue they can't send me a bill. I am fighting them all the way to the end. And it is India that you are calling, not Georgia where you think they are located. I can't believe we as Americans have to endure such BS to have to farm out our banks to India and be deceived to think we are doing business in America. I will not have but one credit card with Chase bank for the rest of my life. These creditors are selling us down the river. My advice is to do whatever you have to and pay them off. Don't let them get another cent from you.

STAY AWAY from EMERGE!! I also had my FNANB card sold to Fleet which in turn sold to Emerge. I have had this account with a 10k credit line and was never late and I usually paid my balance off for over 9 years. I recieved a letter from First National Bank of Omaha Emerge that they had bought my account and have closed it because I was delinquent. (I found out my Fleet payment posted on Sept 6th instead of the due date Sept 5th). Emerge customer service said they couldnt answer any questions and referred me to a Cust. Ser. # in India. I called there 6x's and was disconnected everytime. I asked them for a direct # to call and they gave me the number that I called the FIRST time and could nto get an answer! I did a little research about Emerge and they will close your account if you pay on time and pay your balance off because they dont make any money off you. They close accounts if your credit score is too HIGH! I called the credit bureau and you are allowed to make comments about con-artist companies like Emerge to make sure they dont effect your credit score because of the horrible way they do business. Thank the Lord I didnt have a balance go over to those people.

This is an absolutely horrible card. My FNANB card was sold to Fleet and now FNBO Emerge has my account. Today in the mail I received a Platinum Visa with a $900 limit-lol- they raised my interest to 27.99% for purchases and 29.99% for cash advances. For delinquent accounts it's 33.99% Customer service is non-existant-they keep asking if they can help you but they can't answer any of the questions you ask them. They put you on hold while you are supposedly getting transferred to someone who help you and you get cut off and have to call back.You have to answer all the same questions and they don't comprehend anything.They give you a phone number you can't get through to and a number on the website that was supposedly 24/7 was disconnected. For the privilege of paying online they only charge you $15-yeah right! but there are limitations there as well. You have to read the terms on the website. They charge a $25 annual fee, a $35 late fee $35 over the limit fee a $29 returned check fee and the list goes on and on. Fortunately I read the paper very carefully and was smart enough to have my Fleet card paid off in full so I called and told them I was declining their terms, close my account and make sure they report to the 3 credit bureaus it was closed at my request. I don't care how bad you need a card this is not the one! Even though the note says they aren't taking new customers eventually this crroked company might buy out your credit card company. Beware and protect yourself like I did.

I recently had a transfer done to get my emerge card balance as low as possible. Had a providian card, it was sold to e-merge (is this a providian partner?) and now I don't have a card, don't have access to any information, and don't have any way of contacting these people. I would advise to stay away from Providian too as it seems that all of their accounts get sold to this horrific rip off of a so-called company!!

This is the worst company that has ever stepped into the credit card industry. The only representatives that are available are hindus that you can barely understand. They all sound the same you think you spoke to the same person the last time you called. They have upped my rates to 29.99 that it is ridiculous. Everything with this company is just horrible. Everything deals with money. $2 for a statement, $5 for this and $15 for that. My old acct number with bank one didn't work anymore and I had to get a hold of my new acct number through emerge. When I called emerge and told them that i needed my new acct number they told me that i should have gotten a card. B/S if i had one i wouldn't be calling. they told me that i should of had a statement with the new acct number on there, if i had been getting my statements like they told me, i wouldn't be calling them still. Everything is, "can I put you on hold to review your acct?" They then disappear for 5 minutes and come back telling you the same thing over again, I can't help you, you just have to live with it. The representatives also told me that they would send me a statement in the mail so that I would have it for my files. I never saw it. When I called back to see why I hadn't seen it, the representative told me that the last representative never noted in the notes that he was going to send me an statement. Statements cost me 5.00. There is no way that i am going to pay 5.00 for a statement that should have been sent a long time ago. something needs to be done with this company. I've about had it. NO MORE!

I had a Providian card when I opened the acct many years ago. My acct was sold to emerge. I had since paid off the account, and have not used the card since last aug. I called today, since I had not recieved anything from them, and it took over 2 hours to get the information from them. The customer service is horrible. The claimed I have a current, active, good standing account with no balance, but there is a block on the account that a new card will not be sent out when the current card expires. What kind of crap is that? I have a good active 0.00 balance account, but they won't give me a new card when mine expires soon! I'm currently on my 4th call to them, been on hold for a total of 1:47 minutes. Next person that comes on the line, I'm closing the account! Stay away from emerge!

Thats it, Im not dealing with these people anymore!!! I have paid this account in full and closed it, then the next thing I know is they sent me a bill for a whole .28 cents, so I called and they said that was the accured interest from the time my payment was being processed, and that I should try reading the cardholder agreement!!! I do not know who these people are but it seems like every time I call its a Hindu rep who knows no English and the call always seems to get disconnected. I would advise that everyone go to www.bbb.org and file a complaint, they are listed under Emerge in Atlanta, Ga. Do it now!!!

I GOT A GETSMART MASTERCARD THEN ONE DAY I RECEIVED A LETTER SAYING MY GETSMART HAD BEEN BOUGHT BY ANOTHER BANK SAME COMPANY JUST THE PAYMENT ADDRESS BECAME CREIDTCARD SERVICES.THEN MY INTREST RATE WENT FROM 14.99 TO 29%.THEY NEVER EVALUATE YOUR CARD AND HISTORY AMD NEVER LOWER YOUR INTREST.

I about 6 months ago closed and paid off my account, i am still recieving bills! I have called and i get the run around, they say that it takes time to close an account or it is closed sir, well why am i still getting bills and late fees then. NEVER get an emerge account they are not honest and they do not listen at all to what you say.

I HAD A GETSMART CARD THOUGH PROVIDIAN BANK WITH 14.99% APR AND WITH ONE OVER LIMIT FEEE MY CARD CHANGED TO EMERGE WHICH IS HELD BY PROVIDIAN TO.THEY DONT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS AND WONT GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO NOT HAVE ANOTHER FEE FOR 6MONTHS THEN REVEIW YOUR INTREST AGAIN THEY JUST KICK YOU TO A HIGH APR CARD LIKE EMERGE AT 29.99 APR.THEY NEVER LOWER THE APR EITHER EVEN IF YOU MAKE YOUR PAYMENTS ON TIME FOR 2YRS.

I had First National Bank for years. No problems. I try to use my card this Feb and it's declined. I call FNB and they say my account has been switched to Emerge and that I should have had notification. Received none. Then I receive a letter that they have closed my account for good. "We didn't receive your acceptance to Change in Terms". I never received any notice about change in terms. They can't do anything about, my credit report is going to suffer. I feel like I've been sold a white elephant and can't get rid of it. It's unbelievable that company's can get away with such BAD BUSINESS!!!

My info was sold to them as well. I don't have an account with them (according to them) but according to my credit report I do. The trick to reaching them it call the number listed below, and hit "1" for English, then hit the "#" key a ton of times.. this will bring up a FRAUD menu, hit "1" for card was lost or stolen, then hit I think "3" to report a Fradulant account. This will get you to a rep FAST. I am on the phone with them now, hope this helps. PROVIDIAN EMERGE MASTERCARD PO BOX 23034 ATLANTA Georgia 30348 U.S.A. Phone Number: 866-705-3603

THIS CARD IS HORRIBLE, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AWFUL AND YOU CAN NEVER GET ON-LINE TO MAKE A PAYMENT. I ORIGINALLY STARTED WITH ARIA, THEN GETSMART, THEN EMERGE. I AM GETTING MY BALANCE PAID OFF AND CLOSING THIS CARD. THEY ARE THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH. THEY HAVE NO ENGLISH SPEAKING REPS, SO WHEN THEY CALL I JUST HANG-UP. THERE FEE'S ARE RIDUCIOUS. DON'T EVER ACCEPT AN EMERGE CARD, YOU WILL REGRET IT FOREVER!

This company is the worst, the csr cant speak proper english, rude and need to go back home.

I originally acquired the Providian Card later renamed Aria with an interest rate around 14%. I later learned that Providian was selling it's Aria accounts because its investors want Providian to lose these high risk accounts. The Accounts were take over my Emerge. Shortly thereafter, the interest rate shot up to 29.99% - that is not a default rate; it is the NORMAL rate for Emerge. Needlesstosay, even at paying 200 a month, my balance of 4500 was taking forever to reduce. I took out a loan against my 401K to pay off the balance or I'd still be paying out for years to come. For the hefty finance charges, you might expect to at least get decent customer service and online access to your account; think again! Obviously in an effort to make management of these accounts as cheap as possible, Emerge invests very little expence in customer service. If you call the customer service number, you get some rep in India who can barely speak English. There is no way to pay your bill online, let alone access account balance info except thru their automated phone system - again, another example of providing as minimal customer service for minimal cost. Avoid Emerge at all costs - find someway to pay off your balance and close your account. BE ON GUARD FOR OTHER COMPANIES DOING THE SAME THING. I've lately received add from CapitalOne and Citibank with Credit Card Deals - read the fine print. THough the offer looks appealing, the fine print states that the rate is variable and subject to change without notice. So, you may get one of those 0% offers, but I'd be skeptical - you may find your interest rate is jumped to 29.99% and you'll be back to where you were with Emerge.

providian sold my account to Emerge and immediately I closed my account. The customer service is extremely poor and everything about Emerge is poor. All the representatives are from another country with a significant language barrier. Now what good is that when you are trying to communicate. The interest rate is entirely too high. This should be a crime. Providian is a horrible company, they will sell your account if you miss one payment. I was with them for more than 5 years, with an excellent history and one missed payment doomed me.

YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK WITH THIS BANK THEY WILL SELL YOU OUT IN A HEART BEAT.I HAD GOTTEN A GETSMART CRAD THOUGH THEM WITH A 14.99 INTREST RATE AND AFTER A YEAR WITHOUT CAUSE OR NOTICE THEY CLOSED MY CARD AND TRANSFERRED IT TO THEIR EMERGE CARD WITH A 29.99 INTREST RATE. I WHIS I NERVER HEARD OF PROVIDIAN BANK

I had a credit card with Emerge for two years after it was sold from Providian. The customer service is horrible. I have never got anything accomplished by calling because the service reps never speak english. I have always been on time, and my balance was far below my limit. I finally decided I was going to call and get my annual fee reduced. They told me they would not do it regardless of how long I had been a customer and if I chose to go with another company, it was fine with them. Why do people keep putting money in the pockets of a company who doesn't care about their business? -Jamie

WOW!!! I JUST SPENT OVER AN HOUR JUST TRYING TO GET EMERGE'S CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER AND THEN FINALLY A LIVE INDIVIDUAL TO SPEAK WITH. THAT IS RIDICULOUS! AS YOU WILL NOTE FROM THEIR BILLING STATEMENT, THEIR PHONE NUMBER IS NOT ON IT. I WENT ON-LINE FOR THE NUMBER, NO PREVAIL. FINALLY CALLED PROVIDIAN WHO EVENTUALLY GAVE IT TO ME. 1-866-705-3603. THAT'S IT. BY THE WAY, THE FIRST TIME I CALLED, I DID NOT PRESS ANY NUMBERS ON THE PHONE WHEN THE "AUTOMATED" INDIVIDUAL WAS ON IT. AFTER APPROX. 20 MINUTES THINKING I WAS EVENTUALLY GOING TO GET A "LIVE" PERSON ON THE PHONE, IT DISCONNECTED. SO, THE TRICK IS TO JUST ANSWER A FEW INITIAL QUESTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COMPUTERIZED PHONE CONVERSATION; THEN EVENTUALLY YOU WILL GET A NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING INDIVIDUAL.

I, at one time had credit that was not so good. I started out with Aria and then Getsmart and ended up with Emerge. With Emerge, I kept my balance low, always paid on time more then the minumum and even paid off my balance in full a few times. When it came time to renew I had called and asked them if I still had to pay the annual fee and also because I paid on time, could my interest rate be reduced and my credit line of 1K be expanded? It is nearly impossible to get through to a live customer service agent and there is no toll free number of course! The only way to get through is to try to trick the automated system into getting a live person. There is no option to speak to a customer service representative. When I did get through it was a man with a heavy foreign accent and we could barely understand one another. He said, yes I did still have to pay the annual feee and my account was automatically reviewed each year. If they thought you deserved a better rate, or highter credit line, it would be automatically upgraded. I never saw this. I ended up trasfering to a card that was 0 % interest and wished I would have tried this more agressively sooner. Please be careful with this company. Their main goal it to make money, not to help the consumer.

Ok...ok.. It is official.. I have been ripped off! One would think that by paying your account(s) on time would be considered commendable and Red blooded American. WRONG! Atleast not with Providian/Emerge. I don't have any children to preach to about fraudalent credit card companies ie.. Emerge/Providian, with outrageous APR.... But I do have soldiers.. Lots of them. I will definately report this company to the military better business bureau. Not only have I found myself in the desert fighting for my country, but I have also found myself in a credit card fight aganist emerge bin vidian.

Many reviews have been posted regarding Emerge. Well, people, they are not lying. Yes, like most, I started with Providian (it has been a long time now, too long) especially since the merge. Well, hopefully, within a month, I can finally get rid of this card with a 0% balance transfer. Why do you need to stay clear of this credit card company? Because...customer service is terribly rude, seems like Hindus have taken over the company. I've called several times and sure enough there is someone on the other line with a heavy accent in which I can't understand. Telling me, someone whom has maintained great credit with them (always on time with payments, my payments are more than the minimum). That a review will be conducted and they will contact me, when right in front of them they can see that I've been anything but an exemplarary customer trying to have the interest rate lowered. On another occasion over the phone, they should have waived the over the phone payment fee and they wouldn't work with you. A fee was still accessed and I vowed to get rid of this card within six months. I've done a balance transfer with a 0% interest rate and I'm can't wait to finally be rid of the them. They are DISPICABLE!!!

At of all the credit cards in my life, this is far most the worst one, I have ever had.I started out with an Aria visa, then Getsmart,now this Emerge took over and its got really bad.The interest rate is 24.99,and everytime I call customer service it's always some kinda of Hindu rep! They are rude and of no help at all!I don't know who this people are, but I reccomond getting rid of this card as soon as you can.

I had a Providian card that was sold to Emerge. I paid off my balance a couple of months ago, only to revceive another bill (for finance charges, of course). So I paid the balance and guess what....another bill - this one for $0.12. That's right, twelve cents. You cannot contact Emerge by phone and my repeated attempts to contact customer service via email have all been unanswered. RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,Like others I started my credit account with PROVIDEN card.I never default to pay any of my bill evr,one day I recived a letter from EMERGED MASTER CARD that PROVIDEN sold my account to them and I have to pay $950.00 for no reason,its been like more than 18 mnths ,they charged almost more than a $1000.00 from me and I still getting the letters from them to pay $850.00 ..help me and save me from them

This company separates your balance into two smaller balances and puts an interest rate on each balance. They keep it there even after you close the account under Providian before they bought it from them. Everyone who has a complaint, contact your two U.S. Senators and Congresspeople. Keep the pressure on them, to investigate this company.

I haven't read all 276 reviews, but I am sure they all sound the same and are just like mine. However, I started out with Aria VISA, then they changed their name to GetSmart, THEN I was sold to Providian. Finally, my account was sold to Emerge. When my account was sold to Emerge, I had a 23% interest rate. I received a notice in the mail that the interest rate with Emarge that rate would sky rocket. In order to protect my current rate, I had to close the account. I was on the phone that afternoon. I've lived without credit since then. I've been with Emerge for about two years now and they finally have introduced online bill pay. But guess what, they want $8 bucks a pop for it. No way! I was so angry, I immediately wrote a nasty gram to customer service detailing why I refuse to pad their bottom line. They can wait until the due date and pay the extra labor to post the check and take it to that bank. If they aren't going to make my life easier, I am certianly not going to help them. This card is the worst EVER.

I have received a call for the last 2 months, the day after my husbands payment was due. One day past the due date and I am being bothered. In all fairness, it was late, however the associate was so rude an unprofessional I could hardly believe it. The card is'nt even mine, and I was being grilled for payment of $14.00. I was asked why I would'nt settle the account, why I would'nt make a payment, why I was resisting...each time I replied that it is not my account. I am not even on it. The last straw was when they called my mother who was listed as "a relative not living with you". They called looking for my husband for a 1 day overdue payment of 14.00. I am completely dumbfounded but with no customer service and no online recource for Emerge...I guess they get away with it.

I am in the process of paying off this card. I have called customer service much to now avail. This company is a rip off. They claim they help build credit and they don't I have tried working with them they do not help. I had a card that started off with 500.00 it is now over 1000.00 I just recently fell behind in paying. I pay over the amount asked and I still can't get out of debt with this card. I will never sign up with any card that claim they will help my credit that includes first preimer, prvidian, emerge, and capital one all these cards are rip offs, high interest rate it is not worth it!

I don't know who these people are who purchased my perfect credit card account from Providian. I was never late with Providian and kept my account current with Providian for two years before I begin getting calls from EMERGE telling my I owed them twice the amount of the balance owed to Providian. How can these people aquire an account without consent or notification from consumers. Between fees, alleged late charges and such I have paid more than a a thousand dollars but have not made any "in-roads" to pay this account off.

Like all other reviews this Emerge co. SUCKS. They lie, don't return calls, hang up in the middle of a call, put you on hold-------, and above all, they don't make mistake. I was told today that my Feb. March, April payments were all late, well I keep all of my statements and not one of those payments was late according to the statement. Maybe the screen she was looking at was changed, oh they would not do anything like that would they? I even asked this manager to speak to her boss and no way , I am the manager, and a poor one at that. I told her ,you know how bad this company is don't you, no answer. I have been trying to get my account straight for over 60 days now, all I get are calls on you are late, and I say when are you going fix the mistakes you made and they play dumb, which is not hard for them to do. j amnning

As many of you I had a good-standing Providian card for 2 years, when without a warning I received new E-merge card and notice that my statement will come later. At first I thought that this is new card that I applied for (at that period I filled 2-3 applications for a credit cards. Then, when the first statement came in I realised that this is repacement card for Providian account. Silly me, I didn't even check the % on finance charges. It hit me 2-3 month after, when I was charged late and overlimit fees in one month. I called providian customer service and was surprisingly shocked that I have to call another number and that Providian no loger holds my info and they cannot even say when my account was transferred to Emerge. Than I called Emerge - I will not tell you what happened - you all had the same experience. When I finally (2 hours being svitched back and forth) got a live person on the phone I was not even able to understand what he was saying - his indian/pakistania accent kills the conversation. The only things I got from this so-called supervisor is that (a)they do not disclose info on when and how my account was x-red to them; (b)that I should read all enclosures with my statement (concider the fact if you received it on time); (c) finance charge will remain 29.99%(!!!); (d) to pay my bill on time to avoid late fees (even if you are paying on time they will find the way to screw you and your credit history). So, for 3 years I tried to pay off my $1500 balance and it seems endless. My balance still grows much faster than my payments. If someone can advised me on how to deal with that company I will be so thankful. Of if anyone file a class action against Providian and Emerge -I am in 300%

Like all the otherS, I had a Providian account. Yeah, theY sold my account to Emerge who in turn closed my account and increased my interest rate. I was never late when my account was with Providian. For 2 years now I have written letters and contacted customer service to request a review of my account, even to this date my account has never been reviewed as they claimed it would be. I was actually told that my account would have to be delinquent before they would work out any arrangements with me. This is CRAZY so as a consumer I (a) have to be in debt for life because of an outrageous interest rate or (b) take the risk to ruin my credit score before this so called company will make any attempt to "work" something out with me. Ofcourse, you can't get any names of the CEO, President etc. of the company. These people should rott in jail If there is a law suit count me in. There has to be some right that we have. Believe me I'm researching it.

I had an account and was never ever even a day late.....Emerge bought my account...closed it and then had the nerve to post a annual fee to my account. There needs to be something done to this company.

As with many others, we initially had our account with Providian. We liked the company and never had one problem. Then for some reason our account was sold to Emerge. From the first month we had problems. When we received notice from Providian about the switch, we waited for a bill from Emerge so we knew where to send the payment, but never received one. Then at the end of the month we got one of the nastiest so called "Customer Service" reps we've every spoken with. She told us that because our payment was late, they were suspending our account and we would not be allowed to use it until a review was conducted six months from then. I tried to tell her why the payment was late, that we never received a bill and didn't know where to send the payment. Her response was "I find that very doubtful as every new member was sent out information with their new card at the beginning of the month." I told her we never received a new card, but she didn't seem to care. Needless to say, we never received a new card - THANK GOD!!! - I am paying this off as quickly as possible - then good riddance to bad rubbish!

I have had my run in with this card after I closed out a providian account.The emerge bills started very soon after I canx the providian card.I never ordered or received any card from these folks.They had the NERVE to try to charge an annual fee!! I took it up with the Better Business bureau and they took care of the ridiculous charges.The only way to get rid of these blood thirsty asterds is to get involved with a debt consolidation company.Pay them off as quickly as you can ....EMERGE IS THE WORST CARD OUT THERE (and I have no card with them just an account)I am fortunate to say I will be paying them entirely off this month and never want to hear the name EMERGE again!

Like everyone else here this card is less than dispicable. All of the below has happened to me as well. Fortunately I have been able to make several large payments and near completion. The truth is this is just one of many Credit providing companies hiding under a large parent company. This makes it difficult to get information and who's really responsable for what. The real problem is that they just DON'T CARE. They are a big money make for their parent company adn that folks is the bottom line for this company. I contacted the NYS banking department. Class action suit, I'm in. My biggest problem is I got the origninal card to start rebuilding my credit after college years and they have demolished anything I did with their late fee's and just plain lies. CONSUMER BEWARE OF EMERGE, PROVIDIAN, AND COMPUCREDIT THEY ARE ALL IN BUSINESS TOGETHER TO **** THE CONSUMER.

I hate this Charge Card. The interest rate of 29.9 everymonth is outstanding. I tried calling to see if they would reduce it and they said that accounts are reviewed, of course, when I asked when my account would be reviewed - NO ANSWER. So I saved enough money to pay them off in full. I called and asked what amount would pay the card off and I was quoted an amount. I had to pay $9.95 to get my debit card/check card over the phone and wouldn't you know I received another bill with more interest. When I called on Tuesday the 13th of July I was told that no one could ever be alloweed to give a payoff amount. I advised that I called and was told a certain amount. I told them to way the $12.99 additional charges and get this, they said it could not be done that there was nothing that they could do. I spoke to a Customer Service person and a Supervisor. I was denied by both of them. DO NOT EVER APPLY FOR THIS CARD. IT IS A SCAM AND WITH THE HIGH INTEREST THEY ARE RAKING IN THE MONEY. I mean, really, am I going to keep getting interest rate bills every month!!!!

They are a ripoff. I pay every month and the fees that they charge me every month is more than I can afford. So my balance goes up every month. I think they really need to be investigated. This was my first visa card and with the experience that I have had with Emerge, I will never get another visa card again from anybody else. I feel like they did not give me a chance. I was doing very good with Getsmart or Providian. IT'S JUST WRONG!

As many of you, I too am having a horrible experience with Emerge. My int. rate is up 29.99% and no matter how much I a month my balance never seems to go down. I can't pay enough to make a dent. I hope this company and the one offering this card, CompuCredit go down!! They need to be investigated. I don't understand how companies like this can continue to do business.

This is without a doubt the worst credit card I have ever had. DON'T GET SUCKERED IN BY THEM. THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF WITH INTEREST CHARGES.....

I had not had any problems with my Emerge card. I recieved a letter and my new card when Providian did sell. My interest rate did go up to 23.9% but with past credit I figured it oh well. When I originally gotten my card i opted for the credit protection (which I recommend to everyone, no matter what company). I had activated the Credit Protection 2 times since the card was sold. When I sent my paperwork into Providian (even after the sale and as recent as Jan 2004) the Credit Protection also rolled over to my Emerge card, which was very nice since I had been layed off. I recently had to activate it again in April due to another layoff. I sent my paperwork just like before and Providian had no problem with it. Now 3 months later Emerge is calling 24/7 wondering why I am late on payments. It seems that this time Emerge knew NOTHING about the activation. I have spent 3 hrs on the phone back and forth with Providian and Emerge. It took me a while to figure out a sneaky route to get through to customer service at Emerge. Then they just sent to me to some outside company to "sell" me Credit Protection. At Providian I was transferred 4 times to different people who could not help me. Once I got someone at Emerge (again) I was transferred 3 times, then finally to a "manager". He took about 20 min to figure out what I needed to do. Luckily, I have every billing statement and every letter they have sent me. He told me I need to fax in my proof of unemployment. So that the point I am at. I faxed over my proof of unemployment, my registration with the Department of Labor and the past letters they had sent me reguarding Credit Protection. I am hoping that this will take care of it but I am preparing for the worst. I have gotten the info on the "manager I sopke to so if any thing comes up I can use that. I would NOT recommend this card to ANYONE!!If I could afford to pay off the balance I would. I understand many are in my situation. If we could pay off the balance, we wouldn't have the card in the first place.

My card was originally with Providian and I had outstanding credit with them. I never had a problem. Then Emerge sent me a letter stating that my account had been sold to them and my card had been cancelled and to send the balance asap or make required payments. I was completely confused and could not understand this. Since then I have been late a few times on my payments because really I could care less about it anymore. I made sure though that it wasn't 30 days. Emerge calls me AT WORK which was Very embarrassing to say the least and my payment was only ONE WEEK LATE!!! Customers need to be aware of this company and their terrible ratings. THere are other companies out there that are SO much better and will actually take the time to take care of their customers. Luckily I am getting ready to pay off my balance with my 23% interest rate and I will be rid of these -------- forever.

I don't know how this company has a card out there and how they are not being investigated for ripping people off. This card was orignally Get Smart, then they transfered to Providian and then it turned to Emerge. The interest rate sky rocketted once it switched to Emerge. Customer Service is horrible, They won't lower my 29& interest rate which is not what I had prior to it becoming Emerge. I am just so angry. They never notified me of a change in company and it should be illegal to do something like that and give customers a high interest rate

I also was a Providian cardholder whose account was always in goodstanding. My account was also switched to Emerge, with a higher interest rate, and no card issued. I really think this company needs to be investigated. I only rated this card a 1 because 0 wasn't an option!

They send you this card from Providian and then the name changes to GetSmart and now Emerge. Customer Service is not helpful at all. THey will not settle or try to settle. They tack on extremely ridiculous fees that boost you amt to the sky. THey are a totaly ripe-off. I would not recommend this card if it was the only card on earth! AFTER THERE ARE ANY CLASS ACTION SUITS AGAINST EMERGE COUNT ME IN!

Emerge is a rip-off. I would welcome an opportunity to be involved in a class action suit against Emerge. Emerge will manipulate your account to insure late and overlimit fees. They call many times a day every day. They do not want to settle the account. They are in the business to cheat all that come in contact with their cards. They expect to get Providian card members. BEWARE! STAY AWAY FROM EMERGE! GOD WILL DEAL WITH EMERGE AND ITS EMPLOYEES!

Providian changed its customers to emerge and now we are broke!! this is an insult!

I, too, had a providian visa that was current and in good standing. I always paid my providian payments online, and when the payment was due, I went online to pay it only to find a message that it had been converted to emerge! No address was given to make the payment. By the time I heard from them, the payment was late, and late charges had been assesed which took me slightly over my credit limit. You guessed it - overlimit charges were added. The first time I talked to a living being, I asked where my new credit card was, and was told I would not be receiving one due to my late payment and overlimit status! I'm sorry, but I am baffled. Now I can't get out of the hole because I can only afford to pay the minimum due. the interest rate is 29.9! What a mess. I feel like I'll be paying them for the rest of my life. And the phone calls! They call almost every day, and even on holidays! Is nothing sacred anymore? I do not recommend this company to anyone who wants to keep their credit rating intact.

These people are reprehensible. They stopped allowing us to use the card for no apparent reason about two years ago. I am paying $24.78 each and every miserable month for finance charges on a card we can't use. I tried to work out a settlement with them but was flatly told that they "don't do settlements." They are robbing us. Where is my Attorney General? Why is nothing being done to stop them? Why are they allowed to hurt so many thousands of people? Providian/s CEO should rot in a jail cell next to the CEO of Emerge. I told them just today that they can expect no further payments from me. I will be heard in court before this is over. If my government will not protect us from these criminals then it is up to all of us victims to do something.

I too share with the misfortunate that has been taken by what is now Emerge Mastercard. A few years ago, I received a card from Providian which became getsmart then Emerge. Travelled overseas with the card with no problemw and never late on payments. In 2003, when Emerge became visible, they canceled my card without notice saying there was some I had violated. OK I said, don't need the card and began paying the balance off with the closed account. Later in 2003 billing was not sent to me and I began to get phone calls from collectors which represented Emverge. They said they had corrected the error and would not charge the late fee, This has occured for the 3rd time. ON 5/19/2004 one of the representatives called and began their routine for setting up a check over the phone. I asked for my account number and address to send the payment in with an attached letter for my documentation as I have done the in the past. No dice from the rep. She skated around my request never giving me my account number and their address. I hung up the phone before I said something out of order. Within seconds the phone rang and it was her again. I again requested the information. No dice again and I hung up. Again the phone almost immdeiately rang and I asked my wife to pick up to listen on the conversation. I requested the information again and was referred to as an OWL. Is this a clear violation of the FEDEX or not. I have sent this information to the FTC and still have no way of finding their address to send documentation their upper management. If their is a class action suit, I would like to be included so no one else can receive this type of treatment. I am seeking the advice of a local attorney, but there is strength in numbers. At no time have I tried to be release of my obligation to pay back what I used to this company.

I too was switched from Providian to Emerge without my consent. I always paid my Providian account on time and went from a 20% interest rate to an outrageous 29% interest rate. The best thing I ever did was to pay off this company. Someone really should investigate Emerge and investigate Providian for selling cards to such a rip-off company. I would never in my life recommend someone to get an account with Emerge. The Better Business Bureau should know about this company.

My entire sordid tale of woes with eMerge would take more than the character limit allowed in this forum. It is sufficient to say that eMerge is the most unethical, no class, lying, deceitful, coniving, deceptive, rude, harrassing customer service credit company that has ever existed. Here are the specific articles in the FCDPA that eMerge has violated with me. 1. Using false, deceptive, or misleading representations or means including: 2. Threatening to file suit if: A. The Debt Collector does not intend to file suit when the threat was made; B. The Debt Collector does not intend to file suit as soon as is represented in the letter; C. The Debt Collector's contract with the holder of the obligation did not provide for filing suit when the Debt Collector threatened to file suit; and/or D. The Debt Collector did not have the authority to file suit. E. Threatening to refer the file to the creditor for legal action; F. Threatening to report the debt to a credit reporting agency or otherwise harm the consumer's credit rating G. Mentioning or describing post judgment remedies before suit is filed (e.g., threatening to garnish the debtor's pay check); H. Using a false or deceptive name by a collection agency or a creditor; I. Misrepresenting that the Debt Collector had widespread offices or affiliates; J. Falsely stating that they had investigated the consumer's assets; K. Threatening to immediately garnish the consumer's wages when the creditor has not obtained a judgment; L. Threatening or implying that failure to pay will result in arrest, imprisonment, garnishment, attachment, seizure, or sale when such action is unlawful or is not intended; M. Threatening unlawful or unintended actions; N. Falsely threatening to report the consumer's debt to third parties, such as the consumer's neighbors, employer, or a consumer credit reporting agency; O. Failing to disclose that a communication is intended to collect a debt or that information received will be used for debt collection and that the Debt Collector is indeed a debt collector subject to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act; P. Falsely stating or implying that accounts were transferred to an innocent purchaser for value; I have filed these infractions with the Connecticut State Attorney's Office for Criminal Investigations. And still.....eMerge's calls keep coming. If there is a Class Action suit concerning this company let me in.

This is the worst company to ever have to deal with I have tried to work with them for over a year now - I had an emergency requested they wave the late/overlimit fee just this one time but they would not help after several customer service and mamagers told m they would take the charges off, 1 year later I am still fighting for this and it has cost me so much that I can not afford to fix it. They love to run people into the poor house. They lie, threaten and abuse people on the phone once you get ahold of someone. They call 10-12 times a day and they are just the worst company ever--Watch out anyone that has them ... If they ever get a class action law suit on this company I WOULD JOIN IT !!! SOMEONE NEEDS IN THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT FOR THIS GREAT COUNTRY NEEDS TO CLOSE THE DOWN...HELP!!!!! THIS IS A CRIME!!!!

Emerge Mastercard in the rudest company that I have ever come in contact with. They have the worst Customer Service background. I think some of their Supervisor's need to take Customer Services classes and then train their employees. You have to know whow to talk with people to have them understand where you are coming from. The business need to stop calling credit card holders on their jobs, if that person loses their job they wouldn't get any money.

I hate this company!!! I was perfectly happy with Providian, but my account was changed over to Providian without any consent from me! This is the absolutel worst credit card company I have ever used!!! There is no live person to talk to at their customer service telephone #. There is no only cardholder account services available. This IS the 21st century, is it not? Even most fly-by-night companies at least have a web site now. I am paying this damn thing off ASAP to be rid of them!!! Emerge, you suck!!!!

I also must be counted in the number of people that have been switched over from Providian to Emerge with an interest rate increase to 24%. I'm very angry, first that this was allowed to happen in the first place, but also that it has been allowed to continue for so long to so many people. I paid my monthly bill on time with at least the minumum amount, often twice as much or more, and I was sold out with no regard for my up standing account history, or the damage caused to my credit. It is scams like this that cause many good people to loose faith in all the valid credit card companies. I agree that something has to be done and will gladly join in on any class actions file against Emerge Master Card. Emerge, you can run, but you can't hide and we are coming to get you.....can you hear me now...

Emerge master card is a rip off to all -people. . No one speak english.They bill you high interest rates. Providian was wrong to moved cardholder who paid their bills on time to this bad who do not care .Providian you really should feel real dissappointed at this time.Emerge master card need to do the right thing for all human.Emerge master card need to reduce their interest rate to customer who pay on time. I advise no one to apply for this card you will be ripped-off.

I allways payed my card in full, when the yearly fee came up they would not wave this fee. I had perfect payment history with them and they said no!! This is a bad company don't do it.

Well, like all the other reviews here, my experience has been awful! High interest rate, phone calls at all hours of the day, wanting to schedule a payment, while the account is not even due, to protect me from future late fees, HA! But when you try to call back - you cannot reach a live person! I liked Providian, but I would have preferred to just receive a letter from them demanding payment in full as they were closing my account for their reasons....very deceptive in my opinion....I'd gladly join any legal efforts to keep this from happening to other people.

This is the worst experience we have EVER had with a credit card company! i realy don't even feel that the this company is deserving of the "1 star" rating, but that is the lowest rating you self glorifying web page has to offer. People beware. This company is full of crooked, lieing, 2-faced people,. another prime example of unreguladed crooked corprate America! Consumers BEWARE!

As in my of the posting, my card/name was sold from Providan (who I was very happy with) to Emerge. It's been nothing short of a nightmare ever since. I pay in full every month ($500 limit - it's not that hard), and my checks are held for 10 business days until the credit is released again. They have my money, I have no credit for 10+ days (they say 10 days, it's typically more). Don't get this card, it's the absolute worst. I feel sorry for the customer service people, honestly...can't imagine they last long working there with all the infuriated customers calling in!

I was really happy with Aria which was provided by Providian then it changes to Emerge out of the blue. At the time when that happened, I decided that I would do a settlement arrangment to have the account settled once and for all. We agreed on a settlement amount and I thought that was the last I would hear from Emerge. Lo and behold, the next month, I get a bill with 2 months of late fees charges and then a finance charge on the late fee charges billed as transactions. I was very upset. I tried to call their customer service line and was only frustrated because the representative kept asking me to repeat myself. I decided to pay the balance up and I would highly highly recommend that no one ever gets an Emerge Mastercard...they truly rip people off.

I would never recommend this card to anyone and feel so cheated by Providian. High interest rate, no online payment, charges for payment over the phone,never received a card from Emerge when they took over are just a few of the complaints. They get an F all around!!!!!

I can't believe that Providian sold us out like that and then you get this Emerge card with a HIGH interest rate. The customer service people are snotty and they charge you a unbelievable rate to pay your bill over the phone after they charge you an ungodly interest rate to begin with. Wish I'd never taken the offer from Providian!

Providian also sold my account as well as my husbands account to Emerge without our consent or notifing us of the change and we've had nothing but problems,high interest rates and bad customer service, as well, I too paid providian online, Emerge did not have this option. they charged a high fee to pay over the phone. it was horrible and still is. tried to tranfer my accounts to another credit card but Emerge made our credit look bad so none will touch us. At this rate, we will be 80 years old when we pay off our accounts if we're lucky.

My card went from being Providian to Emerge. I didn't recieve a letter , much less a new card. Then, I've gotten so many terrible phone calls at home and at WORK!!! WORST CARD ---- DO NOT GET THIS EMERGE CARD

This credit card is the worst, I had a question about a charge and tried to call,all I got was a recorded message, not even an option to speak to a customer service rep.

This company is undoubtedly the worse credit card company I have ever incountered. They offered me a lower interest rate to help pay off my credit card 6 months ago and still after many attempts on my part to get them to come thru on their offer they have not.

Can only get through auto attend system to report lost or stolen card. Then all operators are from India and are hard to understand. They purchased this account from another company and immediately raised my rate to 29%. After 5 years with no missed or late payments and no over limits, they would not even discuss lowering rate. They would not even call me back to discuss. Cancelled this card account.

I like many others started with providian and was switched to emerge. The interest rates are criminal and their customer service and communication are archaic. It is unthinkable that in this day and age of technology that there is not a online payment option. But they continue to post late fees towards my account. They are a scam and should be shut down.

I have had this card first as Providian and now as Emerge, and have never had a problem with them. I always pay it in full every month, so have never accrued any interest charges. I used to have a Capital One account as well, which was an unbelievable nightmare.

Unfortunately, I was pleased to know that so many other people have experienced the trauma of emerge. I recently looked on the BBB website to investigate this company and the results appeared to say that Emerge was not so bad. This website reaffirms my knowledge of this FRAUDULANT COMPANY. I started with a Providian card. I was pleased with it and paid over the required fee every month. I used the online feature and was offered increases often. Many of which I denied so I would not get myself in a hole as I had previously done. While awaiting to settle on my first home, I made a conscious effort to get my providian balance down so I would have use of the card to buy household things. I was able to free up 900 dollars and was then told the shocking news that my account limit was decreased 889 dollars. They had taken the money that I had freed. When I called providian, they were unable to tell me why this happened. While attempting to resolve this matter, I was given a letter saying that my account with the reduced balance had been transferred to EMERGE :(. I then found out that worst can get worst. My interest jumped to 29.99% and I lost the ability to make payments on line. I insisted that they close my account immediately and reduce my interest. They stated that my account would be closed but my interest would stay the same. My account increased by almost 900 dollars and I have experienced terrible customer service. I too have experienced the lack of communication skills with their representatives. It is ashame to say but how much help can you get if you can't understand them. Also on my credit report, Providian is no longer listed and it appears that I have been late several times. I am requesting that my providian account stand on its own, while I will write a letter explaining EMERGE. My advise is to stay away from EMERGE and PROVIDIAN. Save your credit score. Go with capital one or orchard bank. Please Report Problems and issues to the BBB.

I am wondering is someone should put together a class action lawsuit against this company as they have since ruined my credit as well. I will not pay them one more cent until they contact me. My attorney will be contacting them. I have a few other credit cards all of which are in good standing except for them. They are truly a scam. It began as Aria, then GetSmart, then this horrible company Emerge.

I, also had a providian card that was in excellent standing and got bought out by emerge, I owed around $400 now almost $900, accounts been closed since it became emerge and they charge over limit, late payment, payment reversal charges??...etc..almost evry month...are the rudest people ever and call my house like 20 times a day! They Suck!!!

My wife and I had not one but three Providian cards for about three years with a relatively low interest rate. Then one bright day in March of 2002, I received a letter from Providian informing me that my Providian Visa account had been sold to a company called Emerge. I immediately called and asked Providian why they had sold my Visa account when I had never been late or over the credit limit. They said I had been deemed a serious credit risk. I then asked that if I was indeed such a bad risk, why were the other two cards I had not also sold? They of course could not or would not give me an answer. Well I figured what the heck, how bad could this possibly be. Boy was I in for a shock. The very first bill I received from Emerge had over doubled my previous interest rate to 29.99% with no explanation whatsoever. Then I called customer service to inquire into this new interest rate and lo and behold they had absolutely no idea why but that I must have been deemed a very bad credit risk. Of course actually getting this information was worse than having your teeth pulled without an anesthetic but we eventually got there. I had an attorney contact both Providian and Emerge to get some straight answers but even he had no luck. After going through the Emerge Customer Service run-around a few times with these incredibly rude indiviuals I decide to just pyoff the balance and have done with them. I paid off the balance 27 days before my payment was due I for the next five months I still received bills saying I owed late charges for not paying my outstanding balance. I finally had to pay a Credit Attorney to have this harrassment stopped. Since this time I have of course closed ALL Providian and Emerge accounts and would never do business with either of these companies again. My recommendation: Stay as far away from this company as possible and warn everyone within earshot about their predatory practives.

I too was an ARIA/PROVIDIAN/EMERGE transferee. I enjoyed my earlier days with this card. Since it became an EMERGE I have had my card frozen, overcharged, and the customer service assistance was aweful. I have paid this card off and will never ever do business with this company again.

I have been through everything that everyone here is complaining about and more. I cut up this card a long time ago and therefor do not have the account number with the 3 digit security code to get through their strictly automated phone service. I put in my social security number and the system says that it is invalid. All I am trying to do is get a payoff amount to get rid of this crappy card once and for all and I can't even get to talk to a human. My attorney has even contacted them and can't get anywhere. Not to mention that because of the way they reported my account status to the credit bureaus I now have a bad rating. They reported me as not paying the minimum payments when I was paying above the minimum but it their late fee that put my balance over the limit and then every month they charged over limit fees on top of it that the balance was not going below the limit. I too was changed from GetSmart Visa without being told I just received new cards in the mail and when I call Providian they would not talk to me because I was no longer an account holder. My interest rate with GetSmart was 9.95% and when Emerge took over they raised it immediately to 29.99%, no warning no nothing.....Nice of them to keep my minimum payments the same, but that only meant that my balance went up each month because of the interest alone!!! CUT UP THE CARD AND PAY IT OFF ASAP!!!

I too agree with all of you. The interest rate, the beating around the bush, owing $$$ when you don't. Upping the interest rate to the ridiculous amount I've ever seen, the not speaking English. I am in NO way predjudice, but c'mon, I can understand a freakin thing their saying and then they get aggravated with you because you ask them umpteen times to repeat what they said. I too went through the horror stories you all went through when Emerge bought Providian out. I had to fight four 4 months or more to get something rectified on my account. I finnally did, but it took all the patience, persitence, tears, stress, aggravation, and willingness to get what was rightfully mine. This company SHOULD be out of business and taken to court. I think we ALL should receive some kind of compensation for all we've had to go through that we should have not have to have gone through. I'll be glad when they are paid off. They are lucky they are getting a dime from me at this point. But I too certaintly do not need to be harassed 7+ times a day on the phone. Been there, done that, do not want the t-shirt. Shannon

I had a Providian Visa with an interest rate of 22% because I was trying to rebuild my credit. After having the card and paying on it religiously for two years, I received a notice that my rate was being raised to 30% but I could "opt out" and shut the card down. I chose to close my account and pay off the balance when I received a notice that my account was being bought out by Emerge Mastercard. First of all, what credit card company does not have a website to access your account online, or offer the option to make payments online? My payments to Emerge are due on the 8th of every month and sometimes I do not even get my bill until the 2nd or 3rd of the month.When I have tried to call them to resolve something or change my address, no one is ever there and if you do speak to someone, they are blatantly rude to you. This company should be shut down for poor business practices.

A few years ago, I got a Visa account with Aria which eventually turned into a Providian account.My interest rate was about 22% which I expected because of my credit. Then after almost two years of paying this account on time and never going over the limit, I received a notice that my interest rate would go up to 29.9%. The statement also gave me the option of closing this account to avoid the increase. I did close this account and eventually I got a notice saying my account was bought out by Emerge Mastercard. I have never had a problem with Emerge except for the fact that when I checked my credit report, both the Providian Visa account and the Emerge mastercard showed up as separate accounts even though they were the same. I disputed the mistake and the Providian account was removed from my report. All in all, I still don't understand why my interest rate was being increased by Providian when I always paid on time.

It has been an absolute nightmare, since Emerge took over for Aria. It is obvious that Emerge is the worst rated credit card out there. They have been scamming me for payments due for almost a year now. You can't get through with the people on the phone, and when you do, they argue with you. Having this account has been one nightmare after the other.

I too received an Aria card, then Providian, then Emerge. My credit limit was increased twice by Providian (voluntarily) from around $2000 to $4000. My credit card was at about $2400 when they switched me to Emerge and froze my account. They sent me a letter saying that I would no longer be able to charge on my account and they suggested that I pay over the minimum and always pay on time. That was the tip off that something wasn't right. I had this account on E-pay with my bank and it was always paid on time, plus I always paid over the minimum. When I called, I got a girl who couldn't speak English, nor give me any explanation as to why my account was frozen. These people are idiots. I have no doubt that they will soon put themselves out of business with their obscene stupidity. My suggestion? Do what I did. Apply for another credit card and transfer the balance. Good Luck!

I had a Providian card for about two years, then a Getsmart Providian card. I had never once been late on a payment on either of these cards and always made big payments to where I often carried a 0 balance or close to it. Then all of a sudden Getsmart Providian sold my account to Emerge Mastercard. Talk about an eye opener!! My interest rate skyrocketed. I immediately cancelled the card and paid my entire balance off within 5 months. Customer service was the worse ever. They were downright rude and talked to me in a degrading tone. After numerous encounters like this with the customer service department, I eventually lost it and wrote a very nasty letter to the company telling them that they all need to go back to fu*king Japan or Korea and learn to speak English. Also, my questions were never answered in a straight forward manner. They just beated around the bush to the point where I had literally wasted my time even calling them. I also called Getsmart Providian and asked why in the world they would sell my account when I kept it in goodstanding at all times. They of course had no answer for me. Anyway, worst experience I have ever had with a credit card company.

Never missed a payment but they closed my account. Never answered my correspondence even when they request that you put your complaint in writing. They switched me from Aria, to Providian, then to Emerge. They are the lowest as far as I'm concerned! Consumer Beware of this Credit Card Company!

If you were thinking of getting this card, do yourself a favor and stay clear of it. God forbid you actually try and pay it off, even though the payment has been posted to your account, they don't adjust your credit limit. Because of this, you may think that your available credit is much higher, then you get socked with a charge that won't be approved. Bad if you have an emergency. The customer service is deplorable. I was put on hold multiple times, adding up to a half hour and still no results. I will be closing this account as soon as possible.

They are the worst... I had Aria, and then Providian.. then we we're sold to this company... I make my payments.. they post them sometimes.. then they try and get me to either pay late fees or harrass me at work to get a payment.. and they waive the 9.95 fee.. how neat!!! I wish that I could get rid of them forever.. guess I will need close all of the accounts.. they are raping us alive!!!

Of course we all know by now that the Emerge Card is bad. I too have experienced all the the problems mentioned here. I thought the card would help rebuild by credit rating, but for the last 2 years it has only hinderd it even more. My interest rate went up to 29.99% with no explanation. My payments are drafted from my checking account monthly, and I always pay twice the min. payment.Therefore, I couldn't understand the reason for the increase. Because the statments are either late, or never arrive, I often call in to check my account. To check the account all you need is the last 4 digits of the card. I thought that was strange, so I choose the option to password protect my account whenever I call in. But, everytime I call in, the customer service rep never asks for the password. I have found out that the Emerge card along with the Aspire card is owned by CompuCredit. The corporate company hompage can be found at CompuCredit dot com. All contact information for the company can be found there also.

My husband and I both opened cards with Providian. My husband's was opened a few months before mine, but we were happy with them, so I opened one as well. Well, mine was opened as a GetSmart card, apparently they weren't giving out the card under the Providian name anymore, or so they told me. A year later it was changed to Aria. I still was basically happy with them, I paid my payments online, I was never late etc. Then in Oct 2002, I went online to make a payment and was told that I could not log in to my account because it had been sold to eMerge. I tried to email and never got a response. I called Providian and was told a large chunk of account were sold, and there was really now reason why, to distinguish the accounts. Every time I try to call emerge I get somebody who can barely speak english...they read from scripts. I paid my balance off on Sept 23rd, so on the 24th I called and asked if they could review my account to lower my interest rate. I was told they could not, so I asked for the supervisor. Again I was told they could not do a review. The supervisor then told me that if he thought I would be happier elsewhere, then I should close my account and move on. I said, you do realize that you depend on my money as well as other customers to pay your paycheck. If you want me to be a happy customer then you should never say that to me and I hung up. I should mention that on the 24th they showed me having a $1100 credit available with a 0 balance. Then I try to use the card today and get it denied. I try to call from my home phone and all I get are rapid busy signals. I call from my cell phone and get right through. Almost as if they are no longer accepting my phone calls. Of course it took 4 times on my cell phone to get through to a person that couldn't even speak english, and was reading from a script! I asked why my card was denied and the system was saying that I have no available credit and am told 4 times "after making a large payment, the system requires 7-10 business days before you can use the account again". So I asked to have my account and was told the same thing, "they can not cancel my account until 7-10 business days after my last payment was made." Well today is the 7th business day, but I was told to call back sometime next week to cancel it. The funny thing is, the original card that my husband had with Providian is still with Providian. It was never sold or transferred and his credit is just as bad as mine. We are still happy with them as well, just not with eMerge. I am glad I found this website, to see that I am not the only one getting screwed by eMerge. I can't beleive they can charge 29.95% interest either. I think I am going to do some researching to see what can be done to report them.

I have had this account for going on 2 yrs now. At first I was tickled with my Providian card, which yes, had a higher rate of interest, but since I had previously experienced credit problems seemed ideal for me, hey they approved me, right?? I loved being able to make my payments online insuring they were never late and I did not exceed my meager credit limit. THEN suddenly I'm told I am first getting hit with a HUGE increase in my interest rate...to the highest legal limit available. With this I cancelled the account, only to receive a notice a few short days later that my card had been sold to Emerge. Ok, fine... this can't be too bad, right??? NO!!! First of all, I go to make a payment online and BAM can't even find Emerge online, much less make payments this way. I called customer service, only to get someone who did not speak clearly to tell me they do not offer this service but for $10. I can do a check by phone... HELLLO my payment was only $15 at the time. Ok, I mail out the payment which magically didn't get posted w/in the time limit, SMACK a late fee. So I make sure I get the rest in on time. Then recently I honestly forgot to mail a payment in, of course I'm anticipating a late fee, it was my fault this time. Not only do I get that, I get another increase in my APR. Ok, then I get a notice in the mail I can enroll in a "Pay Assist Program" offering 0% interest on previous balances-- as long as I make the minimum monthly payments for six months, and starting with the payment that was due shortly after the letter was dated. Happily I drop this in the mail accepting this offer. THEN I get the call at WORK-- my account is past due, when will I make arrangements, etc, etc, etc. Apparently someone 'erased' my home phone w/no reason. I explained I had made my payment and aggreed to the offer THEY initated and didn't appreciate calls at work. I was asked why my account got behind and other offensive questions to which I replied I had accepted the offer and that was the end of it, ending the call. I then decided to call back, speaking to someone who once again did not speak clearly, I explained the agreement I received and the terms as explained in the letter, she was to submit my info and have it cleared up. Ok I'm thinking this is cool, all is taken care of-- WRONG, I get my statement... I was hit with yet ANOTHER LATE FEE, keep in mind my last payment was made before the due date and I still had 2 weeks before the next payment was due. Calling the CS line, I ended up verifying everything but my shoe size (which I did offer) before I spoke w/a 'senior rep' who said there was processing time, etc, etc, etc. NONE of which was mentioned in the letter I had infront of me. I was then told to call the collections department on the following Monday. I believe the late fee is to be deducted but WHO KNOWS... All I know is this is the worst company I have ever dealt with. And I've had cards that were sold, etc. and it was handled much better than this. I agree this is a shady operation and clearly not run effectivly. I was trained that CUSTOMER SERVICE was key, when I did this type of work. I guess that has gone to the wayside with honesty and loyality. I would NEVER recommend ANYONE to get mixed up in this company. They are crooks, liars and cheats.

Like others I was attracted to the Aria card's option of making payments online. I frequently travel and used the Aria card for many hotels, plane tickets etc... After approx. 2 years of use..Aria have given me a $2000 limit and I was never,(not once), late with a payment because of the handy "scheduling payments" function available on the web page. Then the financial flim-flam "emerged". I see that this board will not accept posts which contain personal names email addresses. Too bad. I would like to be involved in any petitions, suits, or class actions against the unprofessional crooks at Emerge. Maybe someone can post the address of another site in which I can find others with my sentiments. We as Americans are accustomed to being wary of many types of businesses. We would never give our credit info to a telephone marketer, a unofficial looking website, or any "questionable" snake-oil- appearing sales pitch. We unfortunately envision the banking industry as reputable, solid, and austere as the Wall Street Exchange building. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that Emerge is one of those inventive opportunistic companies operating on the fringe of legality. I'm sure that they have many legal consultants who will immediately provide explanation of the microscopic fine print that exists in a credit application or contract. Emerge knows they are stealing money from unaware people who are not formally educated in "finacialese". Emerge knows that there will be complaints and backlash, (and some settlements to be made), for deceptive and predatory practices. But the truth of the matter is that charging $35 late fees here... and a ludicrous service charge there... will generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, far outwaying the cost and expense of settling any claims arising from a largely submissive public who is scared to damage their credit history when it is used as a menacing threat. Its big business. Big unethical business. But legal in their fine print. And they are not even too good at it. The transfer from GetSmart to Emerge was totally bungled. The location, contact information, or any information providing any sense of security was non-existent. The webpages appeared to be the work of some hurried college student. Their 1-800 switchboard was impossible to reach and manned with uneducated kids who had access to nothing. I suspect that they have a mail receiving procedure which entails letting it sit an a room for a day or two. Im sure they've calculated the additional revenue per day that can generate. I NEVER mad a purchase with the card yet have paid hundreds of dollars in service charges and late fees. Yes it is true. My mistake was to dial in and activate the card..anticipating that I might need it for upcoming travel. But I never mad a single purchase. I expect that Emerge will not be around long. they will merge with one of Providian's other assets. The team of executives placed in charge of another scam...all the while smiling. We must do something NOW.

I like other customers on this site was in shock as well. I thought it was just me having such problems with this company. I had my account with providian, when it was sold Emerge decided to close my account. My account had NEVER been late as a matter of face I had an increase on my line of credit from the company. I just thought that maybe they found something on my credit they did not like. Well than my friend received the same notice of the account being closed. I got my letter after the fact that they had even closed it. Now, I have paid the account in full and over the amount I owed and am having trouble getting my money back from them. I just can not believe this company can remain in business. I have emailed them all of the information requested and still they ask for the same info over and over. I would NEVER recommend them to anyone. I do have Capital One and they are wonderful!!!!

29.97% interst rate. Do I need to say more? They sell your card, increase the interest rate, all this without informing you. Customer Service? Is there customer service? That is a joke. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS CARD OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a waste of good plastic. The biggest problem (to start with) is that Emerge Mastercard doesn't appear to be a real company... they're operatiing under another assumed name but that name ain't public. I'm working on getting a phone number from the folks at Providian (they sold my account) and as soon as I get it, I'll post that number here.

Not unlike others, I had a Providian card. In October 2002, I recveived not one but two mailings from Emerge. They were threat mailings claiming to send my accounty to collection agents and damaging my credit report. Fortunately the woman I spoke to on the phone spoke English and she explained that Providian sold a chunk of accounts. The bad news was that when the accounts were sold they were automatically closed, but I should feel free to re-apply. Needless to say I did not re-apply. I looked closely at my last staement, and was shocked. I always pay more than the minimum, but if I had made only the minimum payment of $52 dollars, less than $14 would have gone towards the balance. The finance charge was $38.70. I feel sorry for anyone that has this card and can only make the minimum payment. It is like debtor's prison. Looking back, I think the closing of the account was the best thing that could have happened. Recently, Capital One offered me a card and I accepted. The small residual balance from Emerge will go to them if possible.

I also came to Emerge due to the sale of my account which, although current, was summarily closed and they refused to give me a reason. They have consistently misplaced payments and conveniently find them when they can assess a late charge. They hold payments and do not apply them to my account so that the maximum interest will accrue. They now tell me because my account is "late" (it is not now, nor has it ever been), I am being hit with a "delinquency rate." The current rate is 29.99 percent and the customer service representative could not tell me how much the new rate would be. I asked for a summary of my account, which she was unable to provide. She simply gave me another address and telephone number to contact (although I had waited for a customer service representative to come on the line for over an hour!) I believe it's time that this company be reported to the offices of the attorney general of every state in the nation to shut them down.

I too have had a terrible time with both Emerge/Providian. Boy you can be one day late with your payment & their on the phone right now. My account was also sold to Emerge.I have closed both my accounts, & in the process of paying them off. I will be "SO GLAD" when the day comes I have a ZERO balance with them. P L E A S E read all the comments from all those who have chose to write about these awful companies, their way of doing business is cut throat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this company sucks no doubt about look at all the posts they should be shut down abd burried my problem is i sent a payment to them had a relative send in payment for 25 dollars and it never got credited to my account but the check she sent cleared her bank i been talking to them for 2 months and they dont no anything about it its like trying to talk to a wall i hope no one ever uses this card another thing dont go through ameri debt they say its not like going through bankruptcy but it is thats a reason you get promotions for crappy cards like this

my husband and i had bakruptcy and providian was the 1st card that would grant us credit at 18% and we grabbed it because we needed the credit. well, we got the limit up much further then any card we ever had before the banckruptcy and kept making payments and and keeping the monthly total down to a minimum. well, we moved to another state and started catching up on bills to buy a house and all of a sudden we got this notice in the mail, which i think is more then anyone else can say, and it said we could either close the account and keep the APR we had or keep it open and the APR would junp to 33%!!! oh my goodness did i freak. i called them right away and got no reason nor would they give me a letter officially explaining anything. so i said "of course i want to cut it off and i hope a ton of people do the same thing and you may also note on there that you will now be put on the last of my monthly payments...." well, nearly a year later and i can only hope a few representatives jobs later, i have paid them in full tonight! i was trying to get through on the only # i had and it kept hanging up on me and then i found this site.....not to my surprize a TON of people feel the same as us! i am so very glad to be rid of them at last!

This site shocked me - it is such a relief to see that I'm not the only one having terrible problems with this company. Is it some sort of scam that they don't send statements? Months will go by without receiving one. At one point, my balance was reversed, saying I owed nothing at all. This went on for a while... I am dubious. Were they trying to get me to spend all of this "fake" credit? Very shady... Just a tip to help anyone lost in the quagmire of Emerge's "customer service" line - if you need to speak to a rep, choose the the option "fradulent application" - you'll get right through to a rep. But that's a whole mess unto itself. I am immediatey paying off my balance and terminating any contact with this shady company.

My (cancelled) Providian was sent to emerge in October 2002. I never received any correspondence from emerge. I continued to send my payments on time (after reading this site). I was lucky enough to get a bill payers loan and paid them in full in May of 2003. They had the nerve to finally correspond with me in July no less than 5 times in a week by mail and once by phone to say I owe $5.95 against my account. I called and explained that I never had an emerge account. It was a cancelled Providian that I was paying off. I also added that I didn't want an emerge account. They just sent me another statement on 8/25/03 showing no credit line and no balance. All this coming from a company that wouldn't ever send a statement. The best one yet was when I questioned the date they applied one of my previous payments (I sent it certified mail), they said the Post Office was wrong on the delivery date (all this in broken English). Pay them off as quick as you can or SUFFER.

The first news I had that this credit card company was making any changes was when, out of the blue, they sent me a letter stating they were cancelling my account due to poor credit history. Hello, I had the card for two years, you gave it to me based on the same credit history that you suddenly decided was no good?! What a joke. I called the special 800 number set up for poor suckers like me, got a non-English speaking "customer service" (ha, ha) representative, and couldn't get a straight answer about why this card was cancelled. I ordered a copy of my credit report in the hopes that I might be able to prove them wrong, and when I received it, called again to point out the error. The moron lady on the other end of the line kept uttering the same thing over and over again: "We reserve the right to do periodic credit reviews to see if you still qualify for the card." Although I explained repeatedly in a calm manner that my credit report was exactly the smae now as it had been when I first applied, I got no satisfaction, until the rep finally blurted out that the company reserved the right to cancel a card at any time for any reason. WHAT?! Finally, the jerk on the other end of the line just hung up on me! After this, I thought about refusing to pay another dime to these scheisters, but I can't stand the thought of letting them ruin my credit history, so I'm stuck with the payments until I can get them off my back. Don't EVER, EVER, EVER get a card from these people! If there is grounds here for a class action suit, I will be one of the first to jump on that bandwagon. Any lawyers out there with info, please help us poor suckers out!

After a lengthy period of unemployment and subsequent damaged credit a few years ago, it was necessary for me to seek credit in the second tier credit market. I ended up with Providian, which, if not great, was at least tolerable for a while. They "converted" one of my two accounts with them to an Emerge MC account. Soon I'll have this all paid off and I'll never do business with them again. Mine is the usual Providian/Emerge tale of woe and frustration. These people don't even have a functional website. The rates are ridiculously high, the service non-existant and my whole association with them has been unpleasant, demeaning and unsettling. Soon I'll be rid of the account, but it can't be soon enough. Stay away from Emerge, and Providian too, if at all possible.

Providian sold my account to Emerge M/C (who is owned by, surprise, Providian) and then raised the interest rate by 6%. Trying to call Emerge is one of the most frustrating experiences I have had. I have called three different times and have yet to speak to a rep that has a handle on the English language. I am told the same answer over and over, only they aren't answering the question that I am asked. I would not recommend Emerge.

Like everyone else, my Providian card was magically transmogrofied into an eMerge Mastercard card. Unfortunately, this new card company has no internet access. If you're a plumber, no net access may be OK, but NOT FOR A CREDIT CARD COMPANY! I seriously have my doubts over the honesty of this company, and cannot wait to finally be free of my payments.

I read all these reviews and wonder how a company like this survives.. i had a Aria/Providian and was doing fine. i was switched over in october also. how did i find out? not a letter in the mail. by trying to pay my bill on Providian and getting a message to contact Emerge. i went to the website. there was no website! couldnt get through to a human being. emailed and asked for info and a new bill. got nothing back. tried for a couple months. my thought? well if they dont want there money than fine i wont give it to them. ha! now they're saying i owe them a couple thousand in overdue bills that i never got. great. somebody shut them down!

I'm so glad I found this page, when I got my providian Getsmart card I was in heaven, the reps were great, the APR wasn't TOO bad and I had a credit card that I could keep payed off... then I got the letter around october 8th (2002). The letter said my card would be canceled on October 13th as my account had been transferred to eMerge and I should receive it soon, all well and good except I was leaving town on the 15th for my birthday and was relying on my card to pay for the vacation. That's okay, I should receive the card long before they cancel my current one, right? I went on vacation with no credit card, my girlfriend having to pay for the trip (providian said they couldn't do anything about my card canceling too early as they didn't have my info anymore), that's okay, my card will be there when I get home, Right? no. I received my eMerge card on the 28th of the month... do the math, that's 15 days after my providian card canceled and left me high and dry. I should've known then that this card was a trainwreck waiting to happen. I could go on and tell more fun and colorful stories but the rules are specifically requesting I not use profane language. Lets just say I'm still paying off my PROVIDIAN balance on my eMerge card A YEAR LATER after making purchases no larger than lunch once every couple of months with it.

Providian sold one of my two accounts with them to emerge. I promptly closed the second account. I was never late with a payment, and always payed more then the minumum payment. Very disapointing. The main issue I have is that I was charged a yearly fee, but only recieved 6 months membership. I haven't dealt with emerge yet, but plan on settling the account quickly and not looking back. the Providain website directed me to a emerge webpage that looks like a inexperienced 9 year old created it. http://www.emergecard.com/ Providian/Aspire/Emerge will never see my business again.

All the same explanations, all the same excuses, emerge gave me. No notification, rate increase, no communications with anyone would help. I called I wrote letters, no one replied, until I got the better business bur. involved. All I got was that my card was canceled and my rate increased. And all this was after having it for several years, with no late payments and paying over the amount requested. There should be a class action suite about this company and Providian for selling. I'm paying it off as quick as I can and will never have another one. Hate them, hate them, hate them.

I recently had a providian card transferred to this company and still,to this day, have not received any notification from either company that the card has changed/terminated. But even more disturbing is that Emerge has now cancelled my card completely due to my credit history. I would argue this as I have faithfully and promptly been paying this card for the past 3 years!! If you feel that losing a customer who is willing to make payments on time (more than what you probably get from most of your customers!!), then I will accept your terminating me. But this will come with conditions....I will now only send you $10/month and regardless, this card will never be completely paid off before I perish!! So I will let the credit bureaus know that I am making the best payment possible to this company and this will not be held against my payment history. I do know that the credit co's cannot penalize me for making a paymeny, whether it be the minimum or not!! Thus I will make an honest effort to pay you about $120 per year as opposed to the $1200 min you could have received!! I am using the same communication tactics that you felt were appropriate for notifying me!! You need to sit down and re-evaluate what is more important for your business......a consumer who has been very reputible or those who are a pain in the butt to get in touch with for payment!! I think that your company strategy is only looking at the best interests of the upper level management and could give a rats rear about those people who are actually supporting what the company is in business for! At least I am giving you some notice for what to expect from a ticked off consumer.something that would not be done by a money hungry company such as yours!!

Emerge is the worst credit card company I have ever dealt with. They charge high annual fees in addition to a extremely high 29.95 % A.P.R making it near impossible to pay off. Customer service? What customer service? They have no online payment options and if you are patient enough to make it through their labyrinth toll free customer service number, you will be connected to a customer service representative located in India(saves $$) with no service skills and remedial English. Good luck! The company tries to milk you of every penny they can get via late charges etc. Send you payment via certified mail so you have proof of the date your payment was delivered. If you do not, the will charge you late fees stating that your payment was a day or two late despite mailing the payment a week prior to the due date. The parent company of Emerge is CompuCredit: http://www.compucredit.com/ Go to the website for contact info. etc. WARNING TO CURRENT PROVIDIAN CARD HOLDERS!! Your 'friends' at Providian just sold their remaining credit card accounts to CompuCredit/Emerge. Here is a link to the press release: http://investorinfo.providian.com/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=PVN&script=412&layout=-6&item_id=437935 GET RID OF YOUR PROVIDIAN CARD AS SOON AS YOU CAN AND BE PREPARED TO EXPERIENCE THE WORST IN CUSTOMER GOUGING.

This is the worst credit card company I have ever dealt with in my life, they have the worst customer service in the whole world, and if it is this many complaints I know I am not the only one that feels like this. I had to call serveral times before I was able to get in contact with a customer service supervisor and she was no help at all. I think this company should have a class action suit against it for all of the trouble that it has caused everyone. As soon as I pay them off I am turning in my card and not looking back!!!

I for one started off with the Smart Card, providian then it ended up Emerge, my husband became sick last year Sept 29 and was in the hospital a month, , I had credit protection with providian and it was not to change to Emerge till Oct 13. I called to activate it on Oct. 1. I called to activate the credit protection plan, took me for ever and several calls, emerge said they couldn't do anything, they didn't have that service. About the 5th time I called providian, (which i never had trouble with) I said okay I want some one to listen to me and not give me no run around. I said this contract on it says I have 6 months after a sickness ect to activate it. Some one did and she very nicely got it settled and got the credit protection activated, So Emerge kept digging at me even after I explained that I had the credit protection plan, So in Dec to get them off my back I sent them 100.00 which I didn't have to. So what do they do after the credit protection plan stopped last of June 2003, they upped my interest to 29.95, I think that is totally uncalled for, I can't ever pay that off now so I've turned it over to a debt management program.. I'm about ready to loose my job and I'm on disability and it's become to over whelming. I owe under 1000 but it will take me years and years to pay it off. Well now they constantly harrasse me almost every day for a payment when I repeatly tell them they will get their payment the end of this month from the managment program. No they want it NOW. They are rude, I've never talked to any of them that they weren't rude and argumentative. The one who called today kept arguing with me that I hadn't made a payment since Dec 2002. I said that's right the credit protection plan was paying for it. And she still argued with me about it. I know this is long but I just had to let off some steam right now. I used it for emergencys but I'll not do that again. these credit card companies gouge you, shows what kind of business some of should of gotton into LOL.. ...... tear up those cards, it's not worth the hassle and grief......I think they need goverment regulated better on what interest they can charge.

Jenny, I read your post and you obviously must be an eMerge employee, or totally blind to reality. This many people having trouble can't be a coincidence. Go back to my first posting (it was the 5th posting in this thread) and you will see taht everything I predicted with this card has come true with a vengeance. They didn't hurt me because I refused to do any business with them - I paid them off immediately and closed the card to future charges. I just read in the trade journals that Providian just sold the rest of its credit card portfolio to the same company that runs eMerge. Those peoiple have no idea of the screwing they are in for. Unfortunately, many of them will find out the hard way.

I received this credit card, and had a credit line of over 2500.00. They decided to lower my credit line and raise my interest rate to 29.9 percent!! I was NEVER late and I always paid more than the minimum amount. I called numerous times to ask why they did it, and I never got a clear answer. It is also hard to get through to talk to someone. I cup up my card!

I am reading over half of these responses, and people are upset at perfectly legal things. It is legal to 1. sell your card, 2. raise to interest rate to acceptable limits, 3. charge you fees when you are late or overlimit. 4. Call you when you choose not to pay your bill. As far as accounts being sold, of course carhdolders were informed... many people probably threw away the notices that were sent because they did not recognize the name on the envelope. By the way, Providian SOLD the accounts, they are no longer affiliated with the account; Emerge is a totally seperate company. As far as outrage about interest being raised, that is legal and also very closely tied to your credit bureau report... even if youy have not been late with PRovidian/Emerge, if you have credit issues with other things, you are proving yourself to be a risky person and thus your interest will increase- you should be warned that all types of credit are closely tied and that your behavior with one affects all- like one class relates to you overall GPA. One person griped about having a fee waived because they were finally making a payment- Why, just because you are paying money that you owe on a debt you ran up should a company then waive a fee?? You should have paid ontime, and ALL credit cards charge fees. I have never had a problem getting a fee waived if I am RARELY late with a REAL excuse/extenuating circumstance. As far as the calls, that Nick guy was right about the computer dialing system.. A lot of folks get bent out of shape because they get calls numerous times per day, but the fact is, once they actually TALK to the customer, they do not call back that same day. So it does not matter that there are 50 unidentified calls on your caller ID, what matters is the one conversation that day.. that is FDCPA. The Emerge customer service line is 866-705-3603 and collections is 866-290-2830, and they are creating a web site to have online payments (which is not a requirement, by the way). The payment address is: PO Box 23034 Columbus, GA 31902-3034 Customer Service is in India, but everyone I think exaggerates the lack of English becuse they are just frustrated with their bad credit (and the phone menu!) and upset that they cannot pay thie bills they ran up. Then they are upset at 'rude' reps, when they are most liekly being very verbally abusive from the start and then the rep gets upset (naturally). A lot of this can be explained and bettered if people stay CALM and REASONABLE and understand that Emerge is very typical of the indusatry and that they do not endanger themselves legally by doing illegal things (why would a company do that to itself??) Thanks for reading!

Almost 2 years ago I joined a debt consolidation program to pay off my credit card debt. Providian was the best of all my CC companies as far as promptly accepting the proposal and lowering the interest rate. I had two accounts with them, a Visa and a MC. That was 18 months ago. Today I got the most ridiculous letter from some "EMerge" company that I had never heard of. It said that my next payment of $80 was due on MARCH 23, 2003. Now how do you send out a collection letter in JULY and remind the person that their payment is due FOUR MONTHS AGO???? It was such a strange letter (account number wasn't even one I knew) that I got online to see if it was a scam of some sort. That's when I found this site. Oh boy!!! I have already called my debt counselor and asked what to do. She says when my account was sold to EMerge that they probably changed the account #, thus the confusion on that part. She requested I fax the letter to her so she can do investigative work to find out what has become of my account. I am furious to have this happen after I have worked so hard to pay off my debts and now not even know where my account is and why they are taking payments from my debt company, and claiming that I am not paying them, and reminding me in JULY to pay them in MARCH of this year. Once I finish this review, I am contacting the FTC, the BBB, and anyone else I need to. I have also already called my mother who also has these accounts and advised her to shut down the cards.

This company is a predator lender feasting on low income, bad credit customers and sticking high fees and rude customer service to anyone who takes this card! They will illegally charge to your account and I have contacted the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney's office on this company for fraudalent practices and failure to disclose information! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

I just spent the last hour reading a ton of complaints that this company has about them.They raise your APR to 30% and have outrageous late fee's.And it's impossible to get ahold of anyone in customer service.

Well, after fighting with this company for a year, I think I just may be getting a card, who knows! From the stories that I have been reading, and mine is so similar (happy to know its not just me though), I shouldn't expect anything too soon. I see that some people have mentioned a class action, anyone have any idea how to get one started or what grounds. I am pretty sure that a civil complaint would work, as i do not know of any federal rules or regulations that they are breaking, but then again, I am not a lawyer. Deceptive business practices anyone? We should at least look into it. T

Just like everyone else I had a Providian/Aria then GetSmart Card that was sold to EMERGE. Still Providian Bank though. I have never used this Card, because of the Ann Percent Rate and have been trying to pay it off as fast as I can afford. In April 03, they called me and said if you make a payment on the phone; you won't get charged the late fee. OK - I paid over the phone and the next statement had the late fee on it anyway. At the time of that call (Apr) I told them to close the account. They argued with me and I told them to CLOSE MY ACCT! In May - my account was still open open; so I called again and told them to CLOSE MY ACCT! They argued with me again. Finally, May 30, 03 I received a letter from them confirming that the account had been closed. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and did get a real fast response from an Emerge Executive Correspondence Unit. Recommend everyone write to Better Business Bureau with their complaints. Maybe if these people who run this 'crooked' company have enough complaints and payback fees, are forced to reduce their finance charges etc. - Maybe then they will start doing business in a proper manner. My other recommendation: If you see a credit card offer that seems to good to be true---it's probably run by Providian so DON'T APPLY.

Due to an unforseen layoff, I fell behind on some of my bills. Most companies that called were very understanding, but the Emerge reps were unreal. When I explained that my unemployment money barely paid my rent I was told to 1 - Sell my possessions to pay their bill 2 - go to my local church and ask for money 3 - Get a loan from family and friends and 4 - Not pay my rent, utilities etc - after all I had promised to repay this debt when i made the charges! I have never been so rudely treated in my life! One rep even demanded that I list all of my possessions so he could help me figure out how much I could sell them for! Can you believe that? One even accused me of "not really looking for work". There has to be some sort of laws against this, right??

The Emerge Mastercard folks hide their phone numbers... you have to really dig to find them, and when you do, they are hopelessly clueless about your account. I got transferred no less than 6 times in one phone call! Also, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but not a single person I spoke with has mastered the English language. If you have this card, cut it up!

My account was sold to Emerge Mastercard when I refused to take a interest rate hike on my already outrageous Providian Account. I understand that it is legal to do this but I am a little upset at the fact that I pay above and beyond the minium payment and still I see no reduction in principle. I believe this company is sticking it to the consumer with less then perfect credit ratings

IN July of 2002, NextBank failed. I had a NextCard Visa. Unfortunately, NextBank's accounts were sold off & dispersed like depression orphans, with little to no communication to the cardholders. Since the bank failed and the account was closed anyway, I paid the account off in full by September 2002. Here we are, a year later. I just had trouble refinancing my mortgage, partly because that NexCard account was showing as still open with a balance due and VERY late in payment. After calling 3 different banks today to find out where my info ended up, I discovered that my account, my PAID OFF account, was dispersed to Providian Bank, namely as an EMerge credit account. They never sent me any notice of this. I have never received a bill from them. The account was paid completely off almost a year ago, and yet they are reporting it as deliquent. Here's the cherry: called them & they rudely informed me that if I sent a final payemtn ot NextCard and Nextbank didn't send it to them, they I still owe them money. When I asked about why they never sent me a letter or statement, they said because the account isn't open, it is closed with a delinquent balance. In other words, I paid off the account in Sept., they bought it in August & didn't didn't notify me, and now have damaged my credit. I filed a complaint with the FDIC. But I am probably goignt o be pemnalized for not paying what I do NOT owe for at least teh next ten years. STAY AWAY FROM PROVIDAN BANK AND ALL ITS DISGUISES.

Everyone just do like I did and close the account and just pay it off as you can. I know we are getting screwed, but your credit is all you have for the rest of your life. Do the right think and never deal with providian/emerge ever again.

I too have an Emerge card. My card is paid off, but still have 29.99% interest rate. I called them to request a lower rate, since my account was paid off, thinking they would want me to continue to use my card. However, they told me over and over that they could not alter the rate due to company policy. I spoke with a supervisor regarding this and she stated the accounts are reviewed twice a year. I asked when my account would be reviewed next. She stated she could not tell me, due to it being confidential information. I called back to request a copy of policies, and I was questioned why I did not have a copy already. Those of you whom have not been able to reach a live person when calling, try pressing the pound button on your phone. I'm sure I don't have to tell you all how ridiculous their system is. I don't see myself using this card in the future.

Hello Everyone, I have been reading over comments left, and wanted to tell you all that the number for Emerge is still 866-705-3034. Go through the first couple entries then press pound key and this will get you to the awful customer reps. Also I spoke with my attorney to see if it was legal for one company to sell accounts to another company and change the interest rate. He told me that unfortunately it is, because something is usually written in the agreement allowing changes. However, he did tell me that if you have transferred balances from one card to Getsmart card, and they told you it would be at a certain interest rate crappie Emerge should comply with the interest rate quoted. My attorney also allowed that if you had this card maybe try going to your bank and getting a card through them so you can get rid of this card. Please try not to let this company affect your credit, and do your best to not file bankrupcy. I hope this helps.

I like many others, enjoyed my short relationship w/ Providian until they came along and changed my card to Emerge. Now, although they do have the right to convert my card to whatever they want, from second one I could smell trouble. First, you can't pay online like with the Getsmart card. You can't reach anyone in "Customer Service". The Voice Reponse Unit only allows you to pay the minimum payment for a 9.95 fee. The other day I received a call from Emerge stating they had good news for me - they could bring my account current immediately because it took forever for them to post my payment to them. Granted, I mailed the payment on the due date, thus I would have been late anyways, BUT, it took almost 2 weeks for my payment to post to my account and I received a couple of calls from them even though I had advised them the amount I sent, the check # and the such. The rep was VERY RUDE. She was being sarcastic with me and made me feel like a second class citizen. I am usually NEVER late w/ payments and it isn't my fault they don't have a good posting system. Anyways - the Interest rate went up and I have no way to contact them other than an automated system. Luckily I didn't have my line decreased or account closed like some others on here did. However, my suggestion to the credit card searcher is to bypass this product - you'll be glad you did!

I moved to japan and brought my getsmart card with me. a year later, the vital internet service was cut off and i received the standard form responses to my emails to emerge. six months later, despite the fact that my card had not been activated, i was charged the ridiculous annual fee and, now having returned to the states, i still can't contact them because they give you nothing on the phone or internet. what a disasterous company!

Don't think I have to say anything more then everyone else has. I have gone with a Credit repair agency to pay off Emerge. Was warned that Emerge would delay it as long as possiable. Called the FTC today and made a complaint too I suggest that everyone does the same. Person at the FTC was great. If enough of us call the FTC they will investigate this illegal practice.

This company is so crooked that it is ridiculous! I called them today because I had not received this months statement in the mail (not the first time either). I found out that my payment was due today and in order to avoid late fees I had to pay over the phone at a charge of $9.95 for the "convenience" fee. I told the man on the line that I did not receive my statement, but did not get any sympathy. He said that the only way to make sure that I wasn't charged a late fee was to pay this $9.95 charge over the phone. The company also does not have a valid website and is extremely misleading. When Providian had the account I was charged 12% interest. When Emerge took it over, they raised it to 29.99% interest. Please stay away from this credit card and anything dealing with Household Bank. These companies are extremely crooked and should be shut down for misrepresenting themselves to the public.

One day I got a letter from Providian stating that they were raising my interest rate from there already ridiculous 24% to 29.99%. I hadn't missed one payment and I wondered what was going on. I was told that apparently something in my credit report had changed and that allowed them to raise my rate!! RIDICULOUS! I immediately cancelled and closed my account so they couldn't raise my rate. After 6 months (I still payed on time every month), they sold my account to EMERGE where they raised my rate to 29.99% anyway...without my knowledge or consent. I was livid! I can't believe they could do such a thing! The real kicker people, EMERGE is owned by Providian!! I would definitely be interested in a class action suit; they need to pay for what they have done. I refused to pay them for 6 months and now I've negotiated a deal where I pay NO interest. Unfortunately, my credit was ruined in the process. STAY AWAY from Providian, EMERGE, and GET SMART Visa, they all stink!

Like most everyone else I had signed up with a GetSmart Visa card, and suddenly found myself last fall transferred to Emerge MasterCard and a 29.99 percent APR with no reason given. What happened to me recently was I'd gotten my envelopes switched and sent out payment with my address showing in the mailing window. My payment came back to me two days later so naturally I mailed it back out. Trouble is I got a call from them at work today threatening to send me to collections and wanting payment *today.* Fine, except I'm only a week late. This was the first time I'd had some card threatening to do this, and I'd heard most places don't threaten you with collections until the account is 30 days past due. I told their rep to cancel the account and the check was in the mail. Fortunately I'd already made plans this summer to forebear my student loans so I could pay this turkey off in 2-3 months. I just wonder how many extra fees I'll have to get through before this is paid off and done.

Same boat as everyone else, thank God I have them paid off now. I have perfect credit, a high score, etc. yet they canceled me with the explanation that something on one of the bureau's didn't "match" their criteria...blah blah blah. I called, their poor english speaking rep's have "pad" answers and needless to say I got nowhere. Stay as far away as possible from Emerge unless you want nightmares or drama in your life.

I was switched to the emerge mastercard from getsmart visa over a year ago and still have not recieved a statement in the mail. I have talked to them and they refuse to give me a telephone # because it would be too much of a hassle to get a hold of someone. I also never got an address. They just say they will call back. I refuse to answer their phone calls and will not give them a single payment until I recieve something in the mail. I hope they turn it over to someone else so I won't have to deal with them anymore.

I had GetSmart and I had been late once then all of the sudden I get a statement from Emerge. They have closed my account but I have to pay off the baloance with a rate increase to 29.99%!! Then I get aletter stating the 29.99% would only be for 6 months.LIARS!!!! They will not decrease it and it all seems against the law.Is there any thing we can do to them?Since they have screwed all of us!

Was waiting on some checks for a few weeks until I was informed my rate was going from 8.2% to 27%. Told me the 8.2 never existed and no checks were avail. Someone should run up their cards and file bankruptcy on the SOB's

My get smart account was sold to emerge as well. However, I had closed the get smart account just prior. With the old account closed, emerge still bought/reopened there own account and has refused to close it even after 3 letters of request (six months). I even threatened to contact the attorny general. As of now I have open accounts listing for Emerge on three credit reports, a disconnected phone number to emerge, and high blood preasure!! does any one have a current phone number for these scum bags? the 866-705-3603 no longer works. BTW disputing the reports does not work, emerge keeps telling them the account is open. In my mind no card, no balance, no bill = closed account. Good luck to all

This is a horrible company with no customer service skills, terrible marketing department with selling of information and continuing jacking up of interest rates. RUN from this card/

I was with a Visa Card - Get Smart. All of a sudden I was sold and transferred to a Emerge Mastercard. After a few month, I started getting charge an annual fee. I call and refuse the fee, stating that my agreement with Get Smart Visa was no annual fee or I didn't want the card. When you buy a credit card from a company, you have to stand by the agreements that company set up with the customer. The person I was speaking to at Emerge could not speak enough English. I asked for a supervisor and he could not speak enough English to answer any question or resolve the issue. I finally reported to the Attorney Generals Office and the Better Business Bureau and closed my account. They seem to buy cards and not stand by the terms customers agreed on. They are cheating their customers.

Worst card ever. These crooks won't even answer the phone, they just hang up on you. I went to FTC.gov and filed a complaint. I was happy with the GetSmart-Visa and then it was gone. I was changed to these criminals unwillingly. If you don't have this card, don't get it. If you do contact the FTC and the Attorney General in your state.

I too am also hating this card, I was with the get smart card and I loved being able to pay it online, as that is more convenient for me then to use snail mail. Then like many of the others I never knew they had switched companies till I tried to pay my bill online that is when I had gotten the message. I also tried to call this company and it took me a little over a week to even speak with a human voice, I honestly don't see how a company can be that busy, other then being understaffed and getting all the calls from our complaints. I also think something should be done with this company, It took me over 3 months to even get a bill and when I told them I never recieved a card they acted like I was a liar, so it took another 3 months to even get the card from them. Which I have never used from their company. I have made a few late payments because I was so used to paying my bills online I seem to forget about this one since it comes in the mail when it wants to and then the pay period sucks so it doesn't have enough time to get to them, from when I get paid. I honestly have hated this card from the get go. I would NOT recommend this credit card company to anybody that I know.

When Providian sold out to eMerge Mastercard, one of them slipped up, and forgot to tell the account holders. Then to top that off, the new company did not send statements, and if they did, the sent to wrong address's (On purpose?) so as to tack on late charges, etc. I think they are tryig to get a class action going on the board at www.eyeoncredit.com/warnings. They should certainly be held accountable for these scam like tactics.

Like many of those on this list, I too started with a Providian Visa account to reestablish my credit after a BK. They steadily increased my credit limit and eventually offered me a 2nd "Gold" card with a similar credit limit about 2 years ago or so. At least when the account was changed to Get Smart, we were given some notice AND OUR ACCOUNT NUMBERS DID NOT CHANGE. I too utilized the on-line bill paying features. Again, to boost my credit rating, I would use the cards and either pay off monthly or make large payments (in my mind) often of $500 or more. GetSmart then lowered my credit limit on the first card to the existing balance on the account - but left the 2nd account untouched. I was able to get my annual fee, interest rate reduced and grace period established however. Last October, I was making a purchase with a colleague and was surprised to find that both of my cards were declined. When I phoned the customer service line, this is when I found out that my accounts had been sold to eMerge MC. Only after several calls did I even receive my new cards - which are now identical in appearance (minor issue, but I'd like to be able to tell them apart)! My interest rate on the 2nd account has recently been jacked up to almost 30%!!!!! I carry a small balance, keep making large payments, and after numerous calls, tried to get it lowered, to no avail. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there A LEGAL LIMIT OF INTEREST RATES TO BE CHARGED AS 25%!?!? I have considered closing my accounts and going elsewhere, but since my BK was in 1997, I still have one more year to go, and I feel that EMerge is taking advantage of this fact and using unfair and unethical business practices. Believe me, as soon as I can qualify for a "real" CC, I will be dumping EMerge ASAP. Thanks for reading my rants.

I canceled my emerge card over two months ago and over-paid my bill. I have recieved TWO monthly statements since then (0 balance 0 due) but not the refund that was requested in writing. I contacted their accounts department (866-705-3603) and was told the first time that my refund was mailed on April 5. The second time I was informed my refund was mailed on April 11 and the last time I called on April 16 and was told that my refund would be mailed in a day or two. Someone has to be a liar here!!! These people owe me a refund and a $29 late fee. Beware there is NO SERVICE from this dishonest firm. They are STEALING from me.

emrge card was so bad i canceled it and cancelled my providian card for selling my wifes account to emerge. no notive on the transfer of accounts

I guess there is no need for me to repeat what alot of you have already said. But I also had Providian's Aria Card, that is also known as the Getsmart Card. I enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of paying this card online, veiwing my statements online, etc. Then Providian sends me a letter late last year wanting to increase my APR because of inactivity on the card. I have always paid this card on time and in most cases never carried a balance until I lost my job. This is when they strike. The moment I use the card and started to make the minimum monthly payment, they decide I am no longer a prefer customer because of inactivity. But they could extort more money from me if they charged more interest on my already existing balance. So I call them up and say no way. I disagree with your assessment so I want to officially close this account with the understanding that I am still responsible to pay the balance off. Then BAM! I go to make a payment online and it says "Sorry! You are no longer a customer. Call Emerge MC *******" I call them up and to my surprise, they are now the new creditor for this bill and they don't even offer ANY online services at all. This sucks major! Their bills are not easily identifiable as they look like junk mail (credit card offer with company name no where on the envelope). My first payment to them was late because I had no idea I had been transferred. With online pay, you can make same day payments. Now I got to slow boat my payments to them via mail. My second payment was also late. I sent it at least 7 days before the due date and to my surprise they got it on the 8TH DAY. How convenient for them. To prevent further late payments, I have been doing check by phone (a $10 charge)no matter how early it is. I am hoping to just save enough money in the next 3 months to pay them off completely. They need to GET UP TO SPEED with the rest of the online world or process their manual checks ON TIME. They should be charge a late fee everytime they are late checking their mail. For goodness sakes, we are in the same state. How long should mail take to arrive???

I am feeling a little better now that I have read this website. I just want to reiterate what everyone is saying to A) File a complaint with the FTC, they will take it over the phone and B) File a complaint with the Attorney General for the State of Georgia and C) Complain to the Governor's Office Of Consumer Affairs. I have been getting mad at this company for months now because they keep calling me at work. I mail my payment with enough time to get there and they still call me AT WORK! to tell me about it being due! Then I told them I am at work to stop calling, then I followed with a letter. Here I am now, April 2003 and steaming mad at them. WE MUST BAND TOGETHER! PLEASE COMPLAIN TO THE ABOVE!

This is the worst card in history. I did not asked to be transfered from Providian and therefore I feel Providian has the worst Customer Service ever. They should have taken a survey to see if their customers wanted to transfer.

I started with a providian which changed to Get Smart. The Get Smart was great for convience of paying on-line & contacting customer service. The interest rate and membership fee ridiculous. So I told them to cancel card & paid balance. Then I get notified it's changed to Emerge& received new cards in mail. The only reason I used the card again- I was out of state visiting, stopped at bank machine to get money out of my bank account and found my daughter had helped her self to all my funds. So I used the emerge card until I came home. I finally found a bill that says only on envelope cardholder services, no co. name. I'm sure many were thrown out as advertisements. I could not find them on -line. I finally got a tel # when they called me for a payment. Well if I had seen a bill I would have pd it. When my purse was stolen I called one # to cancel my cards and it was fine. Every other company cancelled and reissued new cards. Not Emerge! maybe a month later they write to say they noticed a lot of activity on my card and was everthing ok? The letter had no telephone # to cb. I finally reached them, they cancelled cards and reisussed. I wish I could pay them off again!

I also had an account with Providian that was sold to Emerge. I had arrangements to have them take my monthly payments out of my checking account. They started and then suddenly stopped. They are charging me $29 late charge and now threatening to send my account to a collection agency. I have written countless emails to them to see what is going on. I have tried calling and all I get is a message all agents are busy to call at a later time. I have called now over the past 3 months 250 times with the same response except once when I called at 3am. The agent says he couldnt help me but to call during normal business hours. I want to straighten my account out but how can I when I can't get anyone to talk to? Does anyone have any other number to call other than the one I have? The number is 866-290-2830. For the first 45 years of my life I never had or wanted a cedit card. But to buy on the internet I had to have one.. I got one with providian and now I am so sorry. Countless emails I have sent them stated, someone would be contacting me in no more than 2 to 3 days. HELP!!

I have read the reviews regarding Emerge Master Card and their practices.Specifically,the one's pertaining to those who held Providian cards.Many of us who had the Providian credit card, and were sold to Emerge, were taken advantage of.Much higher interest rates,unreasonable late fees,and an enormous amount of phone calls by rude people.Emerge has gone out of it's way to harass by calling several times a day.If I hang up on them they imediately call back.My bills indicate that my payments have been made on time.Furthermore canceled checks are more indication,yet I continue to recieve late charges each month.There are demands for higher monthly payments.Who do they think they are?I have done some research and have found an agency that can help with this matter.The Federal Trade Commission,and here's the adress;Correspondence Branch,Federal Trade Commission Washington,D.C.20580

I HAVE GONE ROUND AND ROUND WITH PRVOIDIAN AND EMERGE OVER MY APR SINCEAPRIL OF 2002. IT WAS FINALLY FIXED IN LATE JANUARY OF 2003. TO MAKE A REALLY LONG STORY SHORT THEY HAVE MESSED ME OVER TOTALLY AND I HAVE HAD IT. I OPENED A CASE WITH THE FTC WHICH IS THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THEY SAID IF ENOUGH PEOPLE CALL AND COMPLAIN ABOUT IT AND OPEN CASES, THEY WILL GET INVOLVED BUT ONLY WHEN ENOUGH PEOPLE GRIPE. SO CALL THEM SO EMERGE WILL FINALLY MEET THEIR MAKER...THE FTC NUMBER IS 1-877-382-4357(WHICH IS 1-877-FTC-HELP) . ALSO YOU NEED TO CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL TO OPEN A SUIT AGAINST THEM ALSO.

I applied for the Providian GetSmart card over the internet and received my card in a couple weeks. This is when I realized there was an annual fee. I never activated the card but received a bill anyways for 86 dollars which i was forced to pay. I cut the card up immediately. Then Providian switched to Emerge. I got my new card in the mail and called the customer service line to tell them I didn't want it. The operator was kind and told me that there is no annual fee. And whatever balance I had on Providian (which was zero) would be transferred to the new card. So I went ahead and activated it because of the no annual fee. And haven't had a problem with them since. To tell you the truth the only problem I've had with this card is when it was Providian. I don't understand why everyone else is having such a problem. The only thing I don't like about Emerge is the no online feature. But I can't complain because when it was Providian they said that they would charge me like 10 dollars a month to use their online services. I thought this was unfair because all my other credit cards online services were free. From reading all the reviews I see that i'm the only one who has had a good experience with Emerge Mastercard. I receive a statement every month. And I love this card.

I HAVE JUST READ ALL THE OTHER E-MAILS ON THIS SITE AND AM APALLED THAT WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH A COMPANY SUCH AS EMERGE. LIKE MANY OTHERS I HAD PROVIDIAN AND WITHOUT ANY NOTICE I WAS SWITCHED TO EMERGE. I HAD JUST SPENT MONTHS GETTING MY INTEREST RATE DOWN TO 11.9%, THEN EMERGE TAKES OVER AND MY RATE GOES UP 19.9%. AND I WAS TOLD THEY WILL REVIEW MY ACCOUNT IN SIX MONTHS, SIX MONTHS IS UP I'VE MADE ALL PAYMENTS ON TIME AND OVER THE MINIMUM PAYMENT, AND NO REDUCTION IN RATE. YOU CALL THERE PHONE NUMBER AFTER GOING THROUGH NUMEROUS PROMTS, FINALLY GET A HUMAN ON THE LINE, AND THEY CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH CLEARLY ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THEM. I JUST WAITED ON HOLD FOR 15 MINUTES TO SAY I DID NOT RECEIVE A BILL THIS PERIOD, AND MY PAYMENT IS DUE TOMORROW. I TOLD THEM I UNDERSTOOD THEY MAILED ME A BILL BUT I NEVER GOT IT. SHE SAID THERE WAS NO WAY TO WAIVE THE $9.95 FEE. I ASKED TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER, SHARON IN CUSTOMER SERVICE, GOT ON THE PHONE, SAID AGAIN NO WAY TO WAIVE THE FEE. I GOT ANGRY AND SHE TOLD ME TO QUIET DOWN AND I SHOULD KNOW WHEN MY BILLS ARE DUE AND HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY THEM. I AM A MOTHER OF TWO AND A HOUSE WIFE, AND IF I DO NOT HAVE A PAPER REMINDER IN FRONT OF ME I WILL FORGET A BILL IS DUE. I'M HUMAN. SHARON, OF EMERGE ALSO TOLD ME I SHOULD HAVE THE "COMMOM SENSE" TO KNOW THAT I HAVE A BILL DUE THE SAME TIME EVERY MONTH AND EVERYONE'S LIFE IS BUSY, I WAS AND AM STILL APALLED THAT THIS WOMAN THE AUDASITY TO TELL ME I DID NOT HAVE COMMOM SENSE. I THEN ASKED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE HIGHER THAN HERSELF. BILL, A MANAGER SAID THERE IS NO WAY TO WAIVE THE FEE. HAVE THEY EVER HEARD THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT? I ACKNOWLEDGE I GOT UPSET AND RAISED MY VOICE IT STILL GIVES NO ONE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THAT WAY. OBVIOUSLY THEY HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN WHEN SOMETHING IS DUE. AND IF I HAD NO RESPONSIBILITY I WOULD'NT HAVE MADE THE PAYMENT AT ALL. EVERYONE ON THIS SITE IS RIGHT STAY AWAY FROM PROVIDIAN AND EMERGE. UNFORTUNATELY IN MY CASE NOW I HAVE THEM AND CAN'T GET RID OF THEM. ALSO, I DID CALL THE BETTER BUISNESS BUREAU AND MY CONVERSATION IS UNDER ADVISEMENT.

I also have gone though many of the same issues that other people have posted. I called them and requested to have the interest rate reduced. they said that they would get back with me, that was 3 months ago. I also called back and got told that because there office is in Georgia, is that they can charge whatever they want to for interst. I would like to see if that is true. I was paying all along with Aria, and Providian, but have brcome thoroughly discusse with ther customer service.

I had a Providian Card that I paid on once, even twice per month. Because of some old bad credit, they shut my account down and sent me to Emerge to pay off the balance. I was using them to build good credit and they screwed me over with something that didn't affect them at all. I was religously on time with my payments, too.

I had the GetSmart VISA for 2 years,and was quite satisfied with the service I received. Then,I get a bill in the mail from Emerge MasterCard. No explanations,no apologies for the inconvenience,not anything. They had jacked my interest rate up to 29.99%. When I called the company,after going through a lot of BS, I finally got a lady who could barely speak english. Needless to say,she was no help whatsoever.Is this legal? I would gladly join in a class action lawsuit against this company. These people are swine. Please don't give them your business!

I placed over $900 in security deposits with ARIA to build a high credit limit of $7500. Aria was sold to GetSmart and now again to eMerge. Each time, the APR went up by 5%. it is now the maximum possible at 29.99% I ended my account's sharging abilities and asked for the statement of my security deposits so I could see how much I really owe them. On E-I-G-H-T separate occasions, they told me they would have to research this and it would take time because "we have nothing to do with Providian. We just bought certain accounts from them". I now find this is a lie and they are indeed part of the Providian system. After five months, they still cannot track down my security deposits.

Getting involved with this company is the worst nightmare you can imagine! Like everyone else stated there is nothing good about this company, from the horrible collection tactic to no human contact! NEVER get involved with this company!! It will be the worst mistke you can make!!

I had my card with Get Smart Visa for 2 years. I liked Providian(GSV). I got the letter in the mail about the switch to eMerge MC and I was disapointed. Then, they upgraded me to a Gold card despite the 3 months after my baby was born that I couldn't remember to get the payment out on time. When the account was still owned by Providian they told me that after paying my bill ontime for a straight year that my interest rate would go from 29.9% back to the original 12.9% (It was somewhere around there). Now, I try to contact eMerge for a simple question on how to lower my interest rate and I get the "automated service". NO, I did not want to call to talk to a machine. I envy all of you who actually got a chance to talk to a real person!!!! I am just going to have to pay off this card and go to another company. One that allows me to pay my bill online and talk to a real person!! I DO recommend the Capital One Visa Platinum card. My husband has this card and it is wonderful!! I get to talk to a real person when I have a question about his bill and I can pay his bill online,at least once a day, without any extra charges! The bottom line is......eMerge is Junk. They are the loan sharks of Credit Cards. It is the very reason most people are afraid to have a credit card in the first place. I DON'T EVEN WISH A CREDIT CARD COMPANY THIS HORRIBLE TO MY WORST ENEMY!!

I have been reading these reviewes and my experience has been the same. I do get to speak to someone in India only after I confirm all my personal info every time I call, Do they really think a "fraud guy" would subject himself to this torture. I to am joining the class action. STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE AND GET RID OF THIS CARD

I had a Providian Card since 1994. Paid on time or before time. One day I was fine, and by 5PM, I was fighting for my life. You never know when something bad may happen to you. I spent many months learning to walk. When I was ill in the hospital, I called to pay over the phone and told them I was in the hospital, and didn't have my check book to send the payment. They were so rude. When I couldn't pay on time the next month, they called me in the hospital, several times. I didn't give them the phone number, I guess it was caller ID. I went to credit counseling because with the reduced check from my company, I was having a problem paying all my bills. I owed over $12K. They shifted me to this emerge. I received no notice. I called to check the balance to pay off the bill, and found out Providian had sold the account to emerge. I called many times, when I got ahold of someone, they asked all the information, which I gave them, and they agreed it was correct. They would not give me an address, or acct number to pay off the bill. It took many calls and finally 10 weeks later, I received a bill. Since I have paid them off, by sending over $10K, yet they continue to send bills for interest on $0 balance. The bill that came two days ago has a (866) that does not work and does not have any other phone number on it. The phone waits are long. The people are in India, and it seems like they work off a script. If you ask this question, you get this answer. Asking for a Supervisor gets you put back to the main phone menu. To say they are rude is to give them a compliment. DO NOT GET ONE OF THESE. IF YOU HAVE ONE----GET RID OF IT!!!!

Whithout reason my card was sold by Providian to Emerge and the credit cut off. I did not know about this untill three months later when a Customer Service Terroist called me to tell me that I was two months late on payments. They agreed to drop late fees "If I did a check by phone" They did give me the account number and address to mail the payments and the new HIGHER interest rate. Two months later another CALL. They did not get a payment. In the middle of the check by phone the connection was lost. 45 minutes later, I was able to get the number by calling the lost card number. I had to threaten to sue to get it. When I got back in touch I PAID THE CARD OFF. DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY. IF YOU ARE COMPLAIN TO THE BETTER BUSINESS AND MASTERCARD CORPORATION

Reading this review sort of confirms my beliefs about credit card companies in general... About 3 years ago I managed to sign up with Aria, who I had good standing with all throughout the length of time they were Aria into their Getsmart phase... however, it seems that when Emerge came along and bought out Getsmart's business or whatever the case was, they refused to provide me with credit, but were more than willing to raise my APR on the balance I had with getsmart in order to line their pockets with my/our hard earned money(doesn't look like I'm the first person whos had this done to them)... in which case I was left with an extremely high balance, no credit with the company, and a VERY high APR of 29.99%. :( I guess my plan for this company is to make obscenely high payments in order to get my principle down and avoid paying so much interest =( *sigh*

I had two Get Smart Visa cards for 3 years, no problems, paid all my bills on time, more than double the minimum. All of a sudden, they're closing up shop and selling my accounts to Emerge. With Get Smart, one bill was due at the beginning of the month and the other on the 15th. With Emerge, they are both due on the same day! I called customer service and after waiting about 45 minutes on hold (since they have no web-site), they agreed to stagger the due dates of the bill. It never happened. Kept getting the bills at the same time and had to pay them on the same date. Finally called them back again waited on hold again, and customer service (through a thick accent) told me they had no record of my call. Promised to fix the situation. Then I realized that they jacked up the interest rate, so even if I was paying more than the minimum, the finance charge was almost as much as the monthly payment. I cut the cards up and refuse to use them. Am considering taking a loan from my credit union to pay them off so they don't get any more finance charges from me. Also, was used to paying bills on the internet, it sucks having to write checks. This company is the worst.

Here is the correct address, sorry I gave the login address. https://www.mycardaccount.com/icFoundation/frameset.asp?LOC=19

DON'T GET THIS CARD! I'm now like so many of you a victim of Emerge. Before Providian sold to Emerge, I was always on time with my payments and even paid more than required. Now that Emerge has taken over my balance has gone up and no matter what I pay, it remains the same! I shut my account too! Stay away from them! There customer service sucks, even if you can get a hold of them!

You know what? All I see is complaints that Providian sold your accounts, well that happens and is perfectly legal. Companies do it all the time from mortgage loans to charge-off accounts. The website for online payments is a service, something a company does not have to offer, be patient. Changing due dates are usually because of weekends but are actually dates before the true due date to make sure the payment is recieved on time. As far as people saying they get 15 calls a day I really don't believe that, the dialing system compiles a list of accts and calls one by one, if no contact with the cardholder is made another call will be placed later, and is legal under fair debt collection act. I am not a representative of Emerge in any way, this is just my personal opinion. The practices used happen with alot more companies than you think. There really isn't any grounds for any lawsuit because credit card companies examine the laws very carefully to prevent legal action from any consumer. Usually the people who threaten with lawyers and lawsuits are already on the bad end of the stick with the company and have lost most of their ground to persue such action. All in all the best thing to do is find a way to pay it off or ask a representative what programs are available to help pay the account off.

I called the customer service 800 number after i made a big payment to pay-off my card. I called to get the last late charge taken off to CLOSE the account and they said NO. Because I had on reversed in 2001,

hi i too am going though the emerge experince....but there is a reason why they exsist...i found out that back when provian was giving cards out to anybody, bad credit was no problem??? remember??? well they just about went broke with alot of bad accounts....this was there fault. so they decided to create EMERGE to collect this money. emerge is part of provian, they just dont advertise it. i did go to a debt consolidation and emerge is working with me after i went to a local t.v. station and turned them in. so you will have to be tough with these people because they are just a collection service.

When Providian sold my Visa card to Emerge, my balance was at 669.95. Now, somehow I owe over $1100. How can that be? I had been making payments. I was not notified that my card was being sold only to see that I had a MasterCard number all of a sudden. How can I get out from under this albatross?

Not worth time or effort. Charge for account opening, annual fee and Insanely high APR makes this the worst card to get..

On the morning of 3-12-2003, my wife called Emerge Mastercard regarding her account. She had recieved a statement saying she had not paid the previous month. The problem stemmed from the fact that my wife had not recieved a statement in the prior month. When she told the Emerge representative of this, my wife was told "statements are only sent out as a courtesy." The rep was extremely nasty to wife, who also happens to be home on bed rest as instructed by her physician due to complications during her pregnancy. The lady from Emerge continued to berate, harrass and raise her voice at my wife and was not cooperative in resolving the issue. The call ended when the Emerge representative hung up on my wife. Statments are a "courtesy"? Is this how customer service treat their customers? They do not send statements, than charge late fees and raise their minimum payment requirements? Is that even lawful?

Everysince emerge has taken over my account, it appears that the balance is getting larger every month, rather than smaller. I did not ask for Providian to sell the bill to emerge, so why should I have to suffer the higher intrest rates. For the past few months, I did not pay attention to the balance. However, this statement is higher that ever before. They have added an additional $300 to the account, which is closed, so I don't even use it

I am one of the first posters in this thread. I see, unfortunately, that everything I predicted with Emerge has come true with a vengeance. I paid these SOB's off within 30 days of the sale of my account, so I didn't giv ethem a chance to pull the crap I am reading about here. I switched to a Cap-1 card taht started witha $400 line (down rom Get Smart's $1000 line), and after two uses they increased it to $2250 line. The message I'm trying to give is this - you CAN get rid of Emerge, either by paying it down or by opening a different card and building up that credit line so that you can balance transfer. 8 million cards they bought. I wonder how many are left 6 months later.

I am amazed that almost everyone that has posted a review is paying 29.99% interest. I to am currently fighting this battle with Emerge to lower my interest rate. I called them again today to see about getting my interest rate reduced being that my account has never been late and I pay more than the minimum.There response was typical that all accounts are reviews on an annual basis, So I asked what year, month or day was this review to take place. Their response was that they did not know or would not tell me that information. By not revealing this information leads me to believe they have no intention of ever lowering my interest rate or anyone elses. I called the corporate headquaters (here is the address and phone number. Call/Write them and complain! Emerge Mastercard 245 Perimeter Center Pky Ste. 600 Atlanta, GA. 30346 (888)522-2278 The parent company is CompuCredit 245 Perimeter Center Ste. 600 Atlanta, GA. 30346 1-888-522-2278 or 770-206-6200 Even though you can't get anywhere with even the corporate office still flood their phone lines with complaints! I would urge each and everyone of you that are in this mess to report them to the Better Business Bureau you can do it online, your local congressman, senator,local action reporter and anyone else you can get ahold that will listen to stop this company and its deceptive practices.

THIS CARD BY PROVIDIAN IS BY FAR THE WORST CARD I'VE EVER HEARD OF. I'VE MADE MOST OF MY PAYMENTS THRU PROVIDIAN'S ONLINE BILL PAY. THEY SWITCHED MY CARD AS MOST KNOW AND YOU COULD NEVER GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM. THEN THEY RAISE YOUR RATE TO 30%. NOW THEY DON'T EVEN SEND ME BILLS

I think I've found a way to fight this horrible company back. We consolidated this debt a month or so prior to the switch to Emerge. We weren't paying it late, didn't have any problems with the company, we just wanted to get some of our other bills paid and decided to put this one in with it due to the high interest rate. We recieved REPEATED phone calls from them, each time explaining to them that the debt has been consolidated, giving them the number to contact the consolidation company, with no results. Each time someone with Emerge called, they'd state that their records did not reflect a consolidation. Emerge has received regular monthly payments that meet the minimum requirement, but still continue to add on late fees. They call at LEAST 5 times a day, often with a "dialer" system that asks us to hold for an associate. Last week I went searching on the internet to find out what my rights are as a consumer. I found a complete listing of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm I printed it out and put a copy of it out by my phone. Each time they've called, I've reminded them that #1, I am being represented by an attorney and since they have been provided with their name, I cannot be legally contacted. #2, I remind them that repeated and harassing phone calls is also in violation of the Act. #3, I tell them that I have sent a letter in writing via certified mail requesting that they discontinue their calls. The Act states that you can do this and they have to quit calling. #4, I tell them that If they continue to call, I will file a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission the Better Business Bureau as well as the Attorney General. They haven't called my home in over 3 days. (THIS IS A FIRST!) although they've called my husband at work. The next time I hear from them, I'll be sure to remind them that the Act also states that they cannot call you at work if you make it clear that it is not allowed by your employer.

In 1999 after a few years w/o credit cards I tried to re-establish credit by applying for credit cards online. I received the Capital One card, which was suprising since I had an old charge off from them. I now have 2 Capital One cards of my own, and have a 3rd card from them as a joint account holder. I also received the Aria card, which was from Providian bank, which I didn't find out until later. Eventually it became a Get Smart card, and then I obtained a second card from Providian in 2001. I had been told by Providian customer service that besides any offers for credit line increases, which they normally charged for, I would automatically receive a $100 credit line increase annually as a courteousy which would more than offset the $89 annual fee. It was a lie! Well, my second card had only a $500 credit limit, and the balance was over $400 when they zapped me with an $89 annual fee and no credit line increase, so I was over my credit limit. I had to pay my minimum payment plus the amount I was over limit within a few days or they would charge me an overlimit and late fee. Also, when they sent me the new card, they had changed it to a Providian gold card without notice when it had been a Get Smart card just like my other one. Luckilly soon after this we received a new card from First USA with a $5000 credit line, so I transfered the balance of the Providian Gold card to the First USA card. At the time we were going to FL on vacation soon and wanted to be able to charge things on the new card, so I didn't tranfer the other Providian card balance over. I started receiving statements with weird comments that said Providian could check my credit and cancel my account at any time. They obviously knew they were going to close 8 million accounts, including many in good standing, so they wanted to cover themselves, though what they did was bad business practice. The problem is it is probably legal. In October my accounts were transfered. The one I had already closed was sold to My Card Account, which I had to deal with to get checks mailed for 2 credits posted to my account as refunds after closing it. The other account was closed w/o notice and sold to Emerge Mastercard. Emerge has no office addresses or phone numbers in the USA. They only have a payment center in GA, which has only a PO Box address. There customer service (choke) is in INDIA, and most representatives command of English is limited, or their accents are so thick they are impossible to understand. If you can get through to anyone, expect them to hang up on you. Don't waste time calling Amanda at the number someone else gave. I couldn't get through to her, but spoke to another guy there and got no real help after almost an hour. At least he was American and in the USA. The company handles Aspire and Emerge, so I wouldn't get an Aspire card either. Providian still does nothing but lie when calling them, and refuse to give any information or reasons for closing accounts in good standing. They say it was a business decision and things like this are down all the time! I believe it is highly unusual and suspect for a company to sell off EIGHT MILLION accounts to nameless and faceless companies like My Card Account and the bogus Emerge Mastercard. As soon as I am able to obtain a card with at least enough credit to transfer my balance over I will do so. I am ready to sue Providian and Emerge.

I am reading all of these reviews and I am in total disbelief. I have experienced each and everything that others have already commented on. They have charged me fees in error and would not reverse the finance charges assoicated with those fees. They would only reverse the charges but since my bill had already gone out, they stated they could not reverse the finance charges-not even of the next month's bills. The customer service is terrible. And, yes. They do have reps answering the phone who could not find a coherent sentence with a flashlight! I am very disappointed in Providian. I used this card to rebuild my credit and when they sold it to Emerge, Emerge closed my account and revoked my credit priveledges. They did not take into account that I had never once been late on my payment to Providian or any other creditor. I am glad that I can not use the card. I am paying it off that much faster, since I do not use it. I hope this company gets shut down soon.

This card sucks !! I can't get through to customer service, and when I do, they can't help! Don't even think about asking for a payoff amount, because they don't know what it is.....

I just read all of these reviews and am getting rid of my EMerge card. I am tired of having a credit interest rate so high that God is the only one who can see it. I pay 3 times the minimum amount due each month and for what? Nothing....that's what happens to my balance each month, absolutely nothing! I have transferred my balance to Capital One (no problems there) and am canceling Emerge.....good riddance!

Well if your reading this then you have seen what a scam Emerge is already from the other posts. I have tried to deal with them time and time again and get nowhere. When I got my new statement from Emerge and relized that Providian had sold out I tried to get some information on the new credit card company to no avail. I had a very good experiance with my time with Providian and built up a very good credit rating with them. I would have been happy to stay with our new found friends Emerge if I could only find out a little more about them. As most of you know trying to get ahold of a real person is just about impossible. I tried to email them with my concerns and was reponded back with "please do not respond to this email someone will get back to you within 2-3 days" and it been almost two months now and no one has replied. Well I said if they don't want to talk to me I guess they don't need my monthly payment either, so I did not pay. Well that got there attension and they finly called me(only to tell me I was late of course). So while talking to there collection people I found out that they are not even and american company, they are in INDIA. I paid my $8800.00 balance of right away. Who knows where that interest is going,, especialy in this time of terror and war. I am not saying that these people are terrorest but they are in the right part of the world, and they sure are hard to get ahold of. I highly recommend paying off your balance like I did and lets keep our money here in the good old U S OF A.

They keep posting their interest charges, and if the balance goes over my "credit line" they send nasty letters, even before the due date of the payment" informing me of a "serious situation" regarding the balance on my account!! There is no way to pay down a balance on an account with this scummy card company. I would like to find a way to file a complaint against them for their harassing tactics. If I go over my credit line, it's because of their interest charges. They act like I'm the one putting the charges on the account. TOTAL SCUM BAGS.

received this card in the mail....unsolicited,cut it up & threw it in the garbage, never activated it. Now they are billing me & calling me up with telephone robots....I've called them & I get some "green card" who can't even speak "broken english"....they hung up on me....! Unreal

Emerge is one of the worst things to happen to my life. Providian Visa sold my credit card without my knowledge (meaning they sold my SSN no and other info- can they do that?) and transferred my account to an emerge master card. I decided to pay of my balance and cancelled my card. Apparently I had overpaid by $35 which they indicated on their next statement. I wrote them a letter asking them to refund the $35 and cancel my account. They never responded and sent me a check last week due to the fatc thet credit balance had been there for a long time. Well dah, I asked you to cancel and send me the money. Emerge still appears on my credit report and I am contemplating taking legal action against Providian and Emerge for shady deals that they seem to be engaged in. Plus what is up with their phones? They never pick up.

I have never written a review in my life but my experiences with Emerge has given me just the push I needed. My card was transferred from Providian to Emerge and initially I was not concerned because I actually received a letter advising me of the transfer. But I soon learned I would need to schedule time off work so I could wait on hold to actually speak with some one to make a payment because I couldn't pay online. To make matter worse there is a ridiculous fee. Normally when fees are charged it is because the company wants to encourage you to pay online...It is outrageous to charge a few if your only other option is to send the payment regular mail (good luck with it being posted on time). Just because people are trying to reestablish their credit doesn't mean that good customer service and fair business practices does not apply. IT IS BETTER TO GO WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD THAN TO HAVE AN EMERGE CREDIT CARD!

There is help available! I too have had a horrible experience with Providian/Emerge. If your concerns are sincere, I recommend contacting the US Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, DC. They will intervene to work with you and Providian/Emerge for resolution.

Providian sold my Visa account, along with 7,999,999 others to Emerge in October, 2002. I was never advised of the transfer (and when I called Providian, they told me that they were not legally bound to do so..and all this time I thought Providian was such a wonderful company to deal with). When I called in October to make a payment by phone, I was told by Providian that my account had been sold and that I would need to contact the new company..Emerge. I tried for two weeks to contact Emerge. All I ever got was a recorded message stating that there was a minimum two hour wait time to speak with a customer service representative. After two weeks of attempted and failed calls to their customer service, I received a "collections" call at my place of business from Emerge, demanding immediate payment of my account. The woman did not give me an opportunity to explain that I'd never received any written notification from their company saying where the payment was to be sent, nor had I received a new credit card, nor was I able to get through to their customer service department for fourteen days prior to her rude call at my place of employment. I clenched my teeth and asked her for her number and asked her not to phone me at work ever again and said I would call them when I got home that evening. ONce again, I phoned for two hours, but was unable to get through to anyone but their recording. I waited until 11 pm PST and was finally able to get through, but when I did, noticed that there was a gap in the transmission on the telephone, just like there is when I speak to my son in Australia. I asked this young man where he was speaking to me from and he was somewhat hesitant to answer but finally replied..."India". This young man was very kind and apologized for my invonvenience, but said there was nothing he could do to help me except to phone their Atlanta, GA office. (The same office where the rude, dunning call came from).I made my payment (finally) and thought that all was well. But, within a week, I received a letter from Emerge stating that because my payment was late, they would be increasing my APR. I wrote a long letter to their Discrepancies office and was told that they were sorry, but they could not help me. (They either didn't read or didn't understand my letter to them.) In short, I feel that Providian was totally irresponsible by selling these accounts to an obviously inept firm. This firm hires persons with absolutely no customer service skills. Thus, the calls at work "Hey lady, you haven't paid your Emerge card bill. Why not?" I was appalled. I would be fired if my boss ever heard me speak like this to a customer! In my opinion, it all comes down to this: 1) Providian sold 8 million accounts to make money to a firm who has lots of cash but no business savvy; 2) Emerge purposely jammed their phone lines so that Providian cusomters would not be able to get through to make their payments, after they had not been notified of the transfer. Because of this, Emerge was able to impose late fees and higher interest rates on 8 million new customers (maybe making a large percentage of their money back?) Aren't there laws against these types of goings-on?

I couldn't beliewe when I found this site and all the others like myself who had exactly the sames problems that I did. At least I'm not alone. I did get my rate "lowered" as a "courtesy" to 23.9%. What a joke. I complained to the State Attorney General's office in Georgia who forwarded my complaint to OMBD. Here is there info if you want to send a complaint as well: Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3710 Houston, TX 77010 fax number is (713) 336-4301. phone 1-800-613-6743.

Wow. I am tripping. I have been trying to find out who the heck these people are since October 2002 when my account was sold to them by Providian without any notice that this was going to be done. Since then I have received one statement. I have made numerous attempts to contact these people and have failed everytime to actually speak with a representative. It sucks. Who am I sending my money too? And it is true what another reviewer said. When they decide to call you they do so up to fifteen times a day from sun up to sun down. I am in the process of clearing my credit up and they are making the process more unpleasant that what it is without all this extra aggrevation. Something about Emerge is definetly wrong and I would encourage no one to be a part of this shadey operation as much as they can help it. I hate this company and now I hate Providian for subjecting me to them.

My account was switched from the GET SMART Visa to the EMERGE account, without my knowledge or consent. Upon seeing the 23.9% interest rate I decided I had better options, so I transferred the entire balance and actually overpaid by $27. The next month when I was sure the dust had cleared I called Emerge to cancel the account. They informed me that I now had an ANNUAL FEE due. I told them that I did not want the card. I had cut the card into pieces, nad I was no longer a member so I wasn't going ot pay the annual fee, and requested my $27 that I overpaid refunded. The woman on the phone (apparently a foreigner with limited English skills) told me she would take care of it. The next month I got a bill, with the annual fee still intact and a LATE FEE added on. Same routine, called them spoke to a barely audible broken english talking shill, she said it would be taken care of. Next month another bill and another late charge. I called again and raised hell and they assured me that my account would be closed. I got a copy of my credit report yesterday (5 months after "CLOSING" my account. EMERGE IS STILL SHOWING UP AS AN ACTIVE ACCOUNT PAST DUE!!!!!!!!! These people are CRIMINALS. No two ways about it. I am calling the attorney generals office in my state and theirs. I only hope that the people in charge of this SCAM COMPANY rot in hell for the way they rip off innocent people, and I will never forgive CAPITAL ONE for getting me involved with these idiots. HORRIBLE COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!

Please steer clear of this Credit Card........High interest 29.99% They should be laughed out of business, with all the other low interest companies out there. Their web site sucks! Has been under constuction for months. Had a Providian GetSmart Card, was happy with their service, until they sold me out to this Joker of a credit card. SO Please Don't Use EMERGE' What a JOKE Someone needs to check this company out & close them down!

If you need help with your emergecard crises...go to: http://www.eyeoncredit.com/warnings/index.html You will find help there...I have had the same horror story as most of the folks posting here. This company is a SCAM!

Our acct was transferred from Providian Get Smart without our knowledge or consent. I thought it was my imagination, but we are getting our statements AFTER the due dates!!! As a result of this, there appears a $35.00 late fee EVERY MONTH. And, when I call to try to straighten out the problem, I get no response from a human being, simply an automated system. Looking back at the statments, I see a different due date on every one, such as December 12, then Feb 4, then March 7. I'm not sure how to get ahead of this. It's amazing that this company cannot talk to its customers, but it can report accounts as "late" to the three credit bureaus. The thing is that, now that the account is "past due" someone is calling the house and leaving a message but I cannot understand her because she does not speak English well enough to be understood! I finally figured out that she was a representative from Emerge, but when I tried to return her call, not only was the connection bad, but I again got a voice mail that told me that she was not available and that I should "leave a message." I have never dealt with such a slipshod Customer Service Department. I agree with the previous reviewer who states that we should form a CLASS ACTION SUIT. Emerge is putting a black spot on our credit and I do think something should be done out this company.

10 calls a day sometimes there is a person on the other end but usually the computer has gone on to the next victim. When I do get a person I explain in no uncertain terms that I do not care about my credit I am going to Jail I have a terminal disease etc... But don't you want to pay off your balalce ? Perhaps if they concentrated on attempting to collect from individuals who actually care ??/ I was a transfer from Future Card with a good history to Emerge and a canceled acount ???

Greetings Everyone... I am a victom of the emerge card racketeering...there is help available, in fact I am going to take this to the media. For those of you who are interested in a class action suit...go to: http://www.lieffcabraser.com/contact.htm AND... FILE COMPLAINTS, TELELPHONE, SNAIL MAIL, EMAIL, WHATEVER, ONE AFTER THE OTHER. For Providian/Emerge complaints email to attorneys: http://www.lieffcabraser.com/contact.htm ALSO to FTC, and Consumer Affairs the BBB in Atlanta, Georgia, and Consumer Sentinel. There is a way to stop this...but WE all have to stay united and FIGHT BACK!

Pay it off and cancel it. I may be one of the few people who hasn't had a major horror story with this credit card, on the other hand I don't like it one bit. I went through the usual transition of going from a GetSmart card to a Providian and now to an Emerge card, all without being told this would happen or why. My interest rate has risen to 29.99%, and while the company has reserved a domain name at www.emergecard.com the site has been "under construction" for months. The toll free number works, but it's several steps to check your balance. The last time I went through this on a credit card the company folded and I had to pay the balance off, and I think this card must be pretty close to it. It says a lot I haven't seen a single person anywhere have a positive review of this card, and I'm afraid to use it because of all the problems I've heard with charges being misplaced or rejected. I plan to pay this turkey off and probably just do without plastic, this isn't worth it. Most Attractive Feature: None Least Attractive Feature: High interest rate, no web site

I called Emerge for a pay off on my card and they gave me a figure. I then sent in the total amount due to payoff the card, I also cut the card and sent it back to cancel the account, Emerge then charged $59.00 on my card for a service fee. This company is a joke and should not be in business.

I have had so much trouble with this account and trying to reach someone about the account. If you are not behind on your payments you cannot reach anyone. When they decided they want to call you, They never stop. They call at least 15 times a day. Once you can get though and talk to someone they have an attitude. I have not received a statement in 5 months and told the idiot I talked to that and he pretty much called me a liar. I have never in my life experience such bad customer service. This company is the worst. As many others, I had no choice since providian decided to sell my account. I as a consumer demand to be treated with respect. I pay my bills but this bill seems to never get paid. And, when you do make a payment, they never seem to receive it....I am just fed up with the whole thing.

I have had the same experience as everyone else who has posted a review. I have yet to recieve a statement and this happens EVERY month. I have written several times and have gotten no response. I have no idea how to go about it but someone should take legal action against these people.

Why the BBB lets this kind of stuff go on, I'll never know. Maybe their part of the quota system allowed to exist at all costs. Talking to these morons is like being overseas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had two Providian accounts that I was pretty happy with. They lowered my APR on both cards to a reasonable rate. After about two years of being a loyal customer, I received a letter in the mail on both cards stating if I wanted to keep my accounts, my interest will rise to 29.99%, but if I were to cancel, I would be able to keep the 16.9% until paid off. So I cancelled both cards. I then received a letter stating Emerge Mastercard is now handling my account. Fortunatley they did not increase my interest and I was able to pay both cards off in a timely manner without any further problems. When one of my acconts was paid off, I actually over paid by $21.00. It has been an act of congress trying to get them to refund the money to me. Here are a few hints on how to get what you want from them: Get to Customer Service by picking the option if your cards was lost or stolen, you will be transferred to a rep. Refuse to hand up until they get you in touch with someone who is willing to help you. When I talked to a supervisor there, he refused to give me the name of his manager. When I told him I would not hang up until he solved my problem, they finally got me to someone who did resolve the problem, but in the end, all the time I spent was not worth $21, but it's the principal of the matter. You take control of the situation, don't use bad language because they do have the right to hang up on you for that, but be persistant with them. I think Providian could have been a good company. I read several article of their financial difficulties a while back so I was not surprised of the changes they made. I will never do business with Providian again because they cannot be trusted. If you are now stuck with Emerge, pay them off as quickly as possible and when you get in touch with one of the C.S Reps, be persistant and refuse to get off the phone until your problem is resoloved.

I may be one of the few people who hasn't had a major horror story with this credit card, on the other hand I don't like it one bit. I went through the usual transition of going from a GetSmart card to a Providian and now to an Emerge card, all without being told this would happen or why. My interest rate has risen to 29.99%, and while the company has reserved a domain name at www.emergecard.com the site has been "under construction" for months. The toll free number works, but it's several steps to check your balance. The last time I went through this on a credit card the company folded and I had to pay the balance off, and I think this card must be pretty close to it. It says a lot I haven't seen a single person anywhere have a positive review of this card, and I'm afraid to use it because of all the problems I've heard with charges being misplaced or rejected. I plan to pay this turkey off and probably just do without plastic, this isn't worth it.

My balance is only rising and will not go down no matter what I pay. I do not recommend this card to anyone!! It is awful!!

Every review of this card and respective company has hit the mark. I had been a loyal Providian customer for nearly 4 years. Then without any significant notice than an obligatory "Your account had been sold and will be serviced by eMerge Mastercard", I go nearly 7 weeks without a statement at which shortly thereafter I am called about non-payment. Like the other reviewers, I am very diconcerted that there is no website to obtain contact or account information or to make an online payments. Their representatives do not even have the right account balance when I do speak to them regarding payments that I mailed 2 weeks earlier ... "Our systems are sometimes slow in updating". If that's the case, why call and harass me if they do not even know if I made a payment. I could continue, but the gist is that you should avoid this card and try to drop it if you currently have one. Good luck.

Blah, blah...you've heard it all already. I have the exact same issues as everyone else. I hate the fact that they changed my due date & that they have nothing in place to manage the account online. People are rude. Advice: Be rude back & you make the rules. To hell with their "strong-arming" techniques. It sucks that these idiots can have a lasting affect on our credit reports. I wish I could have the same affect on them...

Providian was my first credit card, and after 2 years of being with them, I was sold to emerge mastercard!! I had no clue who or what they were. All I know I recieved a letter in the mail saying my intrist is 30%!!!!! I tried canceling, but I can't because of their intrist making it impossable to pay off, causing my credit rate to to go into "poor". Because of it, Chase won't touch my debt, and I'm paying WAY over the minimum, but I only move a few dollars a month. This card is from hell, and going with this group is like signing your life away. I'm just praying that Capital One will save me from them. They tried helping me before, by increasing my limit as far as it would allow, but it wasn't enough. On top of all that, they DON'T HAVE A WEBSITE, they DON'T TAKE CARD PAYMENTS (talk about old fashioned and shadey). THERE IS NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS TRAP! SAVE YOURSELF! AVOID THIS BANK BY ALL MEANS POSSABLE!!!!