Horizon Gold / Horizon Card Services review: dishonest business practices! 232

I as well was looking to build credit and scanned through several websites that offers credit for people with no/bad credit. I came upon this card and almost fell for the "scam." I guess they rely on consumers' desperation and unwillingness to research before actually signing up for credit from a company that noone has ever heard off. Thankfully, I had common sense and saw that the card being advertised didn't have an mc or visa logo and read the their terms.

i called to canceled my card and they said it will better my credit i have not used this card and its still in the envolope all they be taking out there 29.99 and 19.99 every two weeks

Well anyone supprting this Horizon card go ahead and pay your bill, plus 19.95 a month and whatever else that they mgith charge. Although they do not have a specific visa or mastercard logo it is misleading because they DO advertise an unsecured credit card, which leads ppl to think just that, a credit card visa or mastercard. Although I did pay my $29.95 today is day 2, I can't even browse the "store" beacause I have not recieved my card number, so tomorrow day 3 I will be cancelling to recive a full refund as stated on their website. They may help one's credit out, possibly, but in a misleading way. I will take my bad credit and get a loan on a cheap vehicle first, atleast that way I am not paying a monthly fee, my bill, and shipping and handling when I do want to utilize my credit, as well my credit will build that way too.

I wanted to see if i qualified for this card and it said no fee to sign up absolutley free, but then when i got my bank statement not only did it take money out i did approve but it gave me over draft fees! I would like the money put back not to mention the over draft fee fixed as well.I already made a fraud claim and will be willing to seek legal help if I need to do so!

no offense... but... if you look on the site, at the very top, there is a disclaimer that you can read. it says very plainly that this card can only be used on their website to purchase their items. i wanted to sign up just now... BUT... I READ THE FINE PRINT. listen people... BE SMART. ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT... ALWAYS.

i disagree will everyone because i fell like if they are to help repair your credit then why not.it's so many people out here with bad credit that can't get ###.Not even a car, a loan for a house.it comes from bad jugdement when you are that fresh 18.so i think that's it's ok for people with bad credit.

this is a scam they say they report to major credit companies but on there site it clearly reads they don't the stuff they offer is garbage its like dollar store items at high prices i asked for a refund they hung up on me 3 times before i got a sup and i still didn't get my refund then after all that i had to go to the credit card company for a refund and dispute the charges and they want to say i used the card i never got when you call them all they do is give you benefits of the card and hang up

Thank you for the info about this company I'm very grateful.

I actually think that you all are a bunch of complete #$%@% IDIOTS! It is nobody's fault but your own that you lost money. If you don't know enough to read the TERMS and CONDITIONS BEFORE you enter into anything then you have no one to blame..While i do admit that you do have to do a little bit of digging to find out that it is not an actual credit card, it was not hard to find out the information before submitting any payment information. If anything you should have at least learned a lesson from this, always read all of the terms and conditions before committing to anything. That is why it there. Kinda like a free trial offer. It is a dollar for the first week, after that they charge your account 90$-you need to read the fine print to find this out before it is too late. SO- I'm sorry that you lost money on this but use your brain for once.. Its your fault. ###S!

Yes horizon gold card is very misleading, I have tried to cancel this car twice. I was sent to a manger that did not listen to what I had to say. He contiune to ask me what other company would give me a credit card. I told him that it did not matter if I had a cried card or not and that I di not want this one. He then told me that he would give me 50% off my first purchase and a up my credit line. I don not like this company because they do not respect customers decision to cancel. there is something misleading about this company.

Deloris Wilson

Iapplied for visa or master card instead igot horizon card .i need visa orm! card (credit cards)

I am very frustead

iam very fresturated

there sure are a lot of idiots on here who don't read the material before signing up they just see a card and go hey someone wants to give me a credit card yay for me...a lot of these people prolly had bad credit to begin with or just are in there own little world manily they saw that 7500 credit limit in bold big letters and said YES then when got the account opened and got there card they realized there was no Visa or Master Card logo well DUH ###s read before you sign up its a Catalog card it says it in the in in closed info when its mailed

i agree...thank you guys so much for giving me a heads up...if i never googled horizon gold i would never of know what a scam they are

i also got ripped off, i thought i was getting a credit card with a credit line for 500 what ajoke they even took money out of my account . im closing that account. their making money off of us, and also their ### is junk you couldnt even give it away, we shold sue the shoes off of them and then some. anyfeed back? got taken, janethennessey

What a croc of ### i can not understand why anybody would buy that crap and also take peoples money with out telling them what there in for this pissed me off so bad i cant belve that i got scamed someone needs to stop them i will call the attn general office

i don't recived my card and they take money from my bank every month.

im deborah edgerton ive been ripped off to i applied for a charge card and it was not a ccharge card u have to buy things from them its a lie. i want to cancel my account you r a foney i want to cancel my account im going to the better businee bureau about u if you dont return my refound

It said it was to be a credi card not a online outlet use, , this card is a joke. .

when will i recieve my card blizzard1031@yahoo.com latonya white.

This is not a Visa or Mastercard. I thought I was applying for a Visa/Mastercard so I could start to rebuild my credit but that was not the case. They deducted the amount from my bank account. They said they would send me an email about my account set up & it never came. Do not apply for this credit card is is not what you think. Luckily I monitored it, called my bank and got the withdrawal stopped. Save yourself the trouble.

I wouldn't order this card because I don't way to pay the fees they are asking for. There are other ways to build your credit without paying the amount of money they are asking. However, they are legitimately trying to offer a service to help rebuild your credit. THey are also trying to turn one heck of a profit while they're at it. When I looked at their offer it was clear to me that they were not offering a Visa or Master Card but a credit card to use on their website. I could tell that it was more like a store card. Like a Victorias Secret or Macys credit card. I figured the items sold on the site were not worth purchasing because they wont let you shop the site without having the card. Most stores have a instore card you can apply for. The difference is that you get to see if they have anything you want prior to agreeing to sign up for the card.

Oh and by the way...anytime you see a picture of a card without a major credit card logo on it please understand that it's because it is not one.

I would steer clear of these guys.

CONSUMER AFFAIR
NEW YORK CITY CONSUMER AFFAIRS
42 BROADWAY
NY, NY, 100004

NATHAN SAMUEL
2355 OCEAN AVE.
#2G
BROOKLYN, NY 11229
09/12/2010

Dear Sir/Madam:

I sincerely apologize for any incontinences, I might have caused.

In the month of July 2010, while I was browsing through my e-mails. I came across an ad from Horizon Gold Card Services, guarantying me a $500.00 credit card.

I applied for this offer of a credit card & paid a membership in the amount of $29.95.

I did not receive my card for more than three weeks, I called Horizon Gold & bought this matter to their attention.

Couple of weeks after I got my card, I activated it & logged in into your website.

I was very much disappointed after logging into your website, because this is were I found out, that your offer of a credit card, is misleading & deceiving.

Your offer of a credit card is not a credit card but a merchandize card, which has to be purchased only from your source and none other.

Merchandize offered on your website is not a bargain nor is it competitive comparing them to most of the retailers, plus your shipping/handling prices are outrageous, mockery, bizarre and absurd, then on top of all this hidden charges, comes the monthly membership fees of $24.95.

To be brief and to the point, On August 30th, 2010, 12:54 pm, I called Horizon Gold Customer Services & spoke with a Ms/Mrs. Amy, bought my concerns to her attention and requested her to please cancel my account/membership, she requested me to hold and then transfers me to her Supervisor.

August 30th, 2010, 1:03, Supervisor Jessica comes on the line, I repeat my concerns to her.

Supervisor Jessica try’s to convince me, by raising my credit ($500:00 to $1500:00) I thanked her & respectively declined her offer, then she offers me a $60:00 coupon, which I can apply towards my purchase of their merchandize, which I also declined.

Supervisor Jessica was not happy of my response, and in a loud tone in her voice, she says, this is your cancellation ID # 13499 & then hangs up.

I have not used your card nor did I make any purchases.

Request you to please refund/credit my payment of $29, 95.

Thanking You, I Remain.

Sincerely;
Nathan Samuel
CC: TO ALL IN CONCERN.

My question is every time i called its closed. how do i get my money back?

I APPLIED FOR THIS CARD, THINKING AND ASSUMING(BY THEM) THAT IT WAS A VISA OR MASTERCARD. BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT IT IS A CARD TO ONLY PURCHASE ITEMS FROM THE HORIZON WEBSITE, THATS IT. I APPLIED A FEW DAYS AGO AND GOT AHOLD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WAS ABLE TO CANCEL MY CARD AND GOT A CONFIRMATION NUMBER FOR THAT, PLUS AM BEING REFUNDED MY 29.95 FEE. THE NUMBER I CALLED AND TALK TO CUSTOMER SERVICE WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL WAS [protected]. HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL TO ANYONE WHO MADE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. I TRIED TO ADD A BIGGER PIC OF THE PHONE NUMBER BUT FOR SOME REASON IT WOULDNT LET ME. AGAIN THE NUMBER IS [protected]

THERE IS THE PIC AT THR BOTTOM OF THIS POST. HOPE IT HELPS U ALL

I feel the same way as all of you, I to need to generate some good credit but not from this scam!, all I waqnt is my money back.

They are just helping rebuild credit. The fact that you have to pay for shipping and handling is bull. I ordered a few items, and then returned them because it was dollar store crap at a high price. They said they never got the return and its been on my credit report 1 year as past due and screwed me over!

I have disputed this with them, the credit bureau and the attorney general. They are working on it as we speak!

And if I win, they have to mark my credit report as company error. I swear I returned their crappy merchandise!

The horizon card is not a scam. Everyone assumes it is a major line of credit and doesn't take the time to read the terms and conditions to really understand what your getting. If any of you had half a brain you would read the terms and conditions before putting your debit card number on an application. I have had my horizon gold card for almost 2 years and it has been a positive affect on my credit report. I love how they report on my behalf each and every month. So before you all start putting their company down maybe you should look in the mirror and see who the real idiot is. And lets just put our social security number on there too with out knowing what we're getting. I bet you all have jobs as rocket scientist. So while you guys continue your life with poor credit, I can thank Horizon Card Services for helping me improve mine.

A large part of the problem is that most people getting offers from Horizon get them by filling out applications on sites that market credit cards to people with poor credit. I'm not here to argue over why one might have poor credit or whether they deserve a real credit card. There are any number of circumstances that could cause responsible, timely-paying people to end up with "poor" credit: divorce; extended unemployment, expensive medical issues when they cannot afford sufficient health insurance, et cetera. So it is incredibly condescending and more than a little unhelpful to treat someone as though they don't deserve a decent credit card without knowing any of the circumstances that led to their "poor" credit.

The larger issue is if you are online looking for a VISA or MASTERCARD for someone with poor credit, and you fill out an online application to receive offers for credit cards, there is a certain level of expectation that the offers you get will be for the kinds of cards you're looking for. I understand and agree that a person should read the T&C before they commit their financial information to ANY transaction, but let's be fair. If the company did not hold itself out as offering a "credit card" to people looking for a VISA or MASTERCARD, this discussion probably wouldn't be happening. The overwhelming majority of these people are NOT interested in a catalog card, were NOT intentionally shopping for one, and received marketing for the Horizon product as a result of what they were led to believe was a search tool or application for a Visa or Mastercard. Being more cautious might have saved them some money, but it doesn't make Horizon's marketing practices any more ethical.

Further, the fact that the company apparently goes to great lengths to avoid fully refunding those who feel they were misled and does not have an easily visible website and phone number specifically for handling cancellations and refunds further identifies them as being unscrupulous. The policy of beginning a 72 hour return policy from the time of "activation" while knowing full well that the individual will not have received any physical materials upon which to base their decision to cancel and will not have had the benefit of use of the card within that time frame is highly unethical and does not suggest a company willing to stand behind its product or service. If you compare that practice to the return policies of ANY major bank-issued credit cards, or even that of legitimate brick-and-mortar store charge cards, you will see a stark difference. The idea that a web-only catalog company should get to play by a totally different set of rules when it comes to basic ethical business practices is ridiculous.

As to the purported "benefits" of credit reporting to the bureaus, the truth is that for someone whose credit profile is bad enough to prevent them from obtaining a legitimate revolving credit card, having one company report about one credit line is not going to make a dramatic difference in your credit score, even if you always pay on time. The way your score is calculated penalizes you HEAVILY for even a few accounts that were paid more than 60 days late or any accounts in collections or charged off. For a credit report that looks like that, even adding an American Express gold credit card with a $50, 000 credit limit that has never been paid late and never used more than 10% of the available credit would not be nearly enough to get you back into a "good" credit score range, by itself. So the $80 inital fee and $20 a month would be put to much better use working on the items that are already on the individual's report, or either towards the fees of a legitimate credit professional or attorney.

The bottom line is that just because a thief was able to con you into giving him your car and house keys does not justify or mitigate him stealing from you.

Hello Denese,

Thank you for posting this. I was actually in the process of applying for this credit card, because I am going to be moving and am fretful about where I will get the funds for my security deposit. I have bad credit, so when I typed into google "Credit Cards for Bad Credit", the Horizon Credit Card came up. I went through the application process, but when they asked me for my debit card number, I decided to do a little research, since I thought it was kind of odd that they asked for such information.

After reading your complaint about the Horizon Credit Card, I definitely will NOT be applying for this card, since it won't even assist me in my moving situation in the first place. Additionally, what's the point of getting a credit card to assist me with my finances if they TAKE money from me right off the bat?

I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that with the company, but I do want to say thank you for posting this and stopping other people from having to go through it as well.

Paige
Long Beach, CA

when i received this HORIZON card i thought it was a credit card... i am so pissed off that it isnt... .i even talked to a represenitive before my card came and she even lied to me saying it was a credit card and how it works... .she even told me how much the credIT line is and how much ill be paying to take money off the card AS A DEBIT OR CREDIT ... i am very disappointed and all... ...i hope this company gets what it deserves lying to people to get their money. THE OUTLET SUCKS AND YOU CANT BUY ANYTHING...EVEYTHING IS OUT OF STOCK... UGHHHH= SO MESSED UP.. NO ONE WILL EVER SCAM ME AGAIN AFTER THIS

charge for $24.95 on my debit card that is not suppose3 to be there have not used that card and was suppose to be canceled and i want my money back from this scam

First let me say that I sympathize with everyone who got scammed. However, there is a fairly simple solution. People, you have got to READ these offers. Do you think they could have been around this long if they out and out lied? The truth is all there. ALWAYS read the "TERMS AND CONDITIONS", usually by clicking on to it at the bottom of the page. EVERYTHING you need to know is there. And so many people said "I thought it was a Visa OR a Mastercard"!?! So you didn't even go so far as to determine WHICH it was? If you said "I thought it was a chicken OR a cow and I'm really mad it turned out to be a horse" people would think you were crazy. I'm not saying I couldn't be scammed, because I have been--but only ONCE. Then I learned to read. And to check sites like this one before I give anybody my credit card number or sign anything!

Hey, thanks for the heads up guys, Because I was going to get this card

I just called the company. This consumer did not fully understand what they were offering. It is a retail charge card not a consumer credit card. There are membership fees involved and as a result they report to trans union which is the best credit card report to keep in good standing. I am a valid source for consumer information because I am a authorized investigator both federal and state.

Perhaps they changed the targeted market since 2007 all I know is that it is equivalent to a macy's retail charge card.

I want my money back. This is not the right card. I'm thinking you are a credit card that I use any where. That's not true.

Yes, I just came form seeing it in my email and thought it was a credit card also . If you look more closely, you 'll see it does not have a logo on it for Visa or Mastercard. Be very careful of scams . Unfortunately my account did not have the fee of 79 dollars in it so there were not able to collect.If you are applying for a credit card make sure it is a secure site . A credit card is a card you can use anywhere, horizon is just in a catolog book .

Thank you for the information!