Consumer complaint received 2023-08-07
Company: Atlanticus Services Corporation
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Sent card you never applied for

Complaint:
I had to open a retail credit account with Fortiva Retail Credit to finance equipment for XXXX the security systems company. This new account was reported to the credit bureaus a couple of weeks after opening the account. To my surprise, 18 months later the account was reported as new again decreasing my credit score by XXXX POINTS! I called the company to understand why this happened and I was notified that my retail credit account was converted to a credit card account. That I was sent a notice via email that I had to " opt-out '' within 45 days. I told them ( a ) I never received the email and ( b ) it is GROSSLY inappropriate to send an email concerning such a serious impact to a person 's credit file! I asked them to forward me the email. After several attempts I never received it. I asked them to confirm the email address. It was WRONG! They had the wrong email address on file. So, technically I never received the opt-out notice. I asked them to convert my account back and the rep said no and there was nothing I could do it about it. I confirmed that this was the email address that XXXX provided to them and no changes to the email were made. I contacted XXXX and I have it in writing from them that they have had the correct email address since the inception of the account. I contacted Fortiva again and told them the error was on THEIR end. Again, since I never received the opt-out notice they need to convert my file back to retail. They refused and told me there was nothing I could do. They converted my account WITHOUT my consent, gave me a credit limit {$300.00} more than my balance thus driving my utilization up over eighty-percent on the credit card and knocking my credit score down by over XXXX points. This is unethical! Companies should not take measures to convert accounts impacting the credit file of their customers without consent. Sending an " opt-out '' email is not acceptable. The option should be to be able to " opt-in ''. They are counting on the email address being wrong ( as was the case for me ), or they are hoping it is spammed or that you miss it. They can make collection calls, send marketing material, but they can not contact you through better means to notify you of something so major? This is a bad business practice and has a direct impact on the financial file of customers. I am extremely upset and frustrated by this. Even after confirming they made an error by not correctly keying in my email address- they still did not do the right thing. I had to request that they do not activate this credit card, that I did not ask for or sign up for. I had them confirm that they would not charge me any fees, activation or otherwise and I paid off the account in full to stabilize my utilization. So, now I am out a lot of money and a large dip in my credit score until it rectifies itself. Opt-out notices via email should not be a business practice. Tacit acceptance when it concerns your finances is a devious business practice. This is not ok.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation