Common Sense not Common: Juniper Bank

Dear Fellow Travelers:

Looks like when "it rains, it pours". Of late I have been cursed with beyond poor customer service. Please, don't take me wrong...The customer is not always right. However, if you / your company are not truly customer driven, you may found yourself and your company looking for other opportunities. My bad to worse to Hell experience with Juniper Bank (as part of my Airtran Visa Card) goes back to 2005 (Summer). My first mistake was not realizing the account notification process was done via electronic mail. My second mistake was "trusting" the customer representative when he assured me that my account was closed. Now, nearly a year after my first customer service experience with Juniper, I got to engage again. For some of you who may think this just about late fees and finance charges...Well, you are wrong. This complain is about a major company (Juniper) lack of integrity and the pursuit of the last dime from a customer. This is about a company like Juniper that can ruin your credit leaving you with little recourse for appeal. This complain is a call for millions of customers to re-consider who they are doing business with.

In July 2005, after realizing MY ALLEGED mistake (not paying attention to e-mails that were filtered out as junk mail by my e-mail filter) I agreed to pay $200.00 including late fees and finance charges for a $28 gasoline charge. YES, $28.00. I did not argue...All I requested was for the account to be closed. Little that I knew that this lack of character bunch were just waiting for the next opportunity to stick it to me where it hurts...in my pocket.

You guess it...the account was never closed, so one of my magazine subscriptions was processed by Juniper (I subscribe to 12 magazines). And, of course, a $46 bill posted 1 April 2006 compounded to $200 dollars. After receiving THE FIRST OFFICIAL LETTER FROM Juniper in Oct 13, 2006, I contacted their "customer service" department. A lengthy conversation with a customer representative left me more frustrated by the moment; "Leslie" condescending tone made it clear that as far as she was concerned I was lying...even when I begged her to open the July 2005 record, she dismissed my argument as "she said-he said". Contacting Juniper Dispute department was another frustrating experience. A terse letter stated "gee, your complain occurred after 60 days...you are out of luck. And, oh, by the way, better send us our money now, because interest and penalties will continue to accrue". And you, Juniper, think that you are a great company!

My friends, I may be out of $400 + with my experience with Juniper. Please know Juniper that this lesson in lack of integrity makes me more resilient in recognizing good service when I see it. And, as you can imagine, I will contact Airtran to acquaint them with this situation. After all, and Airtran representatives, please know Juniper is your face to the customer...and Juniper lack of character and integrity will make customers like me walk to your competition for better service. PAY ATTENTION and do something about it...remember customers have choices.

And of course, I will continue to follow-up with the Ohio Attorney General and will contact consumer advocates like Clark Howard for good measure.

Thank you Juniper for energizing my desire to engage companies of your caliber...making me an active consumer advocate. I hope my $400 dollars are worth all of this pain (my pain and the pain of many Juniper customers trampled by your questionable business practices). And I hope that this blog open the eyes of many that may be considering your services...NO, but hell NO!

Comments are welcomed.

A. Rivera (HispaniCoach)
11 Nov 2006