Well perhaps had the customer called during business hours

/ducks

...or had a bigger balance

/runs

If anyone wants to run up the balance to get into the higher card tier, I'll be happy to provide my Amazon wishlist location.

God love disgruntled whistleblowers :)

Their "small balance cards"? Must be the ones for under $500 with the sky high interest rate. Orchard is in the subprime category. They cater to high-risk, shaky credit customers.

Sounds like they think these types of customers (our 'small balance' card holders) can go jump in a lake.

Most credit cards have 24/7 numbers on the back. I don't own an Orchard card (never have) so I don't know if they do as well.

Orchard has a good 2% cash back card for all purchases, which is what I use to supplement my Chase Freedom card that provides 3% for some purchases but 1% for the rest.

My only beef with them is their absurdly low credit limit ($750) that they refuse to increase, despite having a good credit score.

The question is, what happens if your card is stolen and nobody is around to shut it off when you call?

@MissTic: I have one, it's a $300 balance with 8.9% interest. I think I have used it once in a year.

@Dobernala: Let the fraudulent charges post to your account and call during normal business hours. Orchard/HSBC will conveniently bill you for the phone call, a replacement card and the fraudulent charges at the end of the month. Have fun fighting it out!

It actually should be programmed in their vectors to play a closed recording when there are not enough phone reps.

Why not give us their phone number so that we can BLAST them with phone calls to complain?

I used their secured credit card for a few years to build up my credit and then they eventually converted me over to a regular account. I have had nothing but great service from Orchard Bank. I'm surprised to see this sort of behavior.

@Dobernala: They market the cards for small balances only. If your card is stolen you should call back the next day - the card would max out quickly anyhow...

Yeah, I'd like the number posted...so I can test this...

@econobiker: Their loss..

My Chase card gets the big purchases. I pay off in full every month and never miss a payment.

@MissTic: Most cards do have 24/7 customer service, but Orchard indeed has some cards that are restricted to business hours only. And their automated systems determine which type of card you have based on the cardnumber. So if your card doesn't offer round-the-clock help, but you manage to locate one of their 24/7 service centers, you'll only get routed to a recording telling you that offices are closed.

Verizon and Sony do the same thing. No one will be there...yet they'll tell you to please wait for the next representative.

At least Comcast says "We can't connect you...please call back."

@I-Like-Cheese: what's the point of having a card with such a low limit?

anything under a grand and i'd rather just pay cash.

I to used to work at that call center and it doesn't surprise me that they did this. When I used to work there, we had a promotions called "Fish".

Yeah... Nothing I want more then to play a game of operation because of my skills as a collector. I mean, it's not like cash or some such would be good. :)

Just to make this clear; no, it is not at all difficult to setup a message. That is of course incumbant on which application you are using (it could be pretty difficult on some equipment from the early 80's or before), and the person implementing the change to not be a complete idiot.

That last one might be the sticking point.

After some hard times I got an Orchard card. the interest rate isn't terrible and the credit limit is higher than I care to spend, at least after they increased it 6 months into the term (I guess they wanted to see if I would stop paying it in full every month).

@oakie: A low-limit card is useful for holding a reservation at a hotel, or renting a car for a couple of days, or even dining out at a restaurant . . . .

You get the usefulness of a credit card, but (as has been pointed out above) if someone manages to get hold of that card number and use it fraudulently, at least it'll max out fast.

And if you're just starting out and need to build a credit record, it's great.

My only problem with them was that they charged me a $59 annual fee when my one year was up. I called in to cancel my card due to this, which I really did not want to do. However, the lady refused to waive the fee to keep my business. I just got my statement after my account was closed, and low and behold my fee was reversed. That really pissed me off.

@oakie Some people, like me, have low balance cards or secured cards with banks like Orchard because they are trying to improve their credit rating.

So far, it's helped immensely. I, too have had nothing but great service from them. And considering my line of "credit" (a secured card) is only about $200 not having their offices open 24/7 for someone like me is understandable...not that it's right but they hardly get their money out of someone like me as I pay it off every month AND my $200 is earning interest in some bank in Denver so really, they haven't yet made a dime off me. I expect people in my boat repairing their credit scores and such act the same way so if they aren't making much money off us, they're not going to devote the manpower to it.