We’ve been going through hell these past few weeks with my boyfriend’s credit card issued by Providian Bank.
There was a moment back in August when he thought he had lost his card. They said they would send him a new one, and lock his old one. They never sent him the new one, but he did find the old one.
Turned out that the new card was never mailed out because this alleged woman (more on that later) calling herself Theresa Bridgewell at 800-215-9529 extension 2185 had decided that he, because he has a high voice, was really a woman trying to use the account through identity theft. We finally were told what we would have to do to reactivate his account: fax her a letter signed by him, with a signature that would check against their records, along with a photocopy of his driver’s license with matching signature. That was done last night, and he was told to call her again this morning.
When he called, she kept referring to him as “Ma’am,” and accusing him of being a woman trying to use this account, and refusing to unlock it since he was obviously an imposter. He kept correcting her, saying “it’s ‘sir.’ My name is Bryan, and I am a man.” She finally retorted with “you are obviously a woman, and I’m going to call you ma’am.” I listened to him get more and more agitated to the point of actually shaking in anger. I told him he had a right to be kicked upstairs to her supervisor, and he had to ask for that immediately. Her retort? “I am a supervisor, and you are a woman, and I don’t have to transfer your call anywhere.”
Eventually, after threatening to close the account, he thrust the phone at me. I identified myself, and asked what more we needed to do to prove his identity.
She said “and who are you?” My response “I just told you. I’m Paul L. Sungenis, and I am Bryan’s domestic partner.” “OOOOH! Her ‘domestic partner?’” When I heard the way she said that, I knew it wasn’t just Bryan getting wound up. This was obviously an anti-gay bitch, whether or not that was her justification for fucking with him like this. I asked for her boss. She said “I am my own boss. Besides, she asked that the account be closed, and that is what I am doing now.”
“Wait a minute, you are not satisfied with his identity enough to lift a lock on his account, yet you ARE satisfied enough with it to close the account on his say so?”
“I’m not allowed to talk to you.”
“Then let me hand the phone back.”
He repeats what I said verbatim. Then silence. “She put me on hold,” he says. Meanwhile, I’m busy researching state banking statutes and regulations. We’re having a whispered conversation about contacting our lawyer, and where we go from here. Finally, slightly louder, he says “I think you’re right. We’re going to need to sue.”
Suddenly, she says “I’m still here, and there’s no need to sue.”
“I think we’re going to have to,” he says.
“You don’t have any right to sue us.”
“Yes, we do. Under New Jersey law, it’s illegal to discriminate against homosexuals, and that is what you’re doing by the way you’re acting and the way you’re treating me.”
“Well, I’ve just lifted the lock on your account, so you have no grounds now. Good day.” And she hung up.
We’re not stopping. I’ve already sent him to the state Department of Banking and Insurance, and the New Hampshire (since that’s where they’re based) Better Business Bureau. We’re also seriously considering a civil suit against these people unless they fire this woman. To quote my lawyer, “juries love to slap banks with punitive damage awards.”
Sorry for unloading all of this on you. This is just one of many things that has gone horrendously wrong today and I need to vent.
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