Introduction
It seems every few months continental finance (issued by Celtic Bank) send out a mass of pre-approved offers for a different credit card. The latest batch seem to be for the Reflex Credit Card (I haven’t linked to it, because I don’t want it to rank in the search engines). One of my favorite things to do is to review these cards, in the hopes that somebody will read the review before thinking about applying and end up with a vast array of much better options.
Card Basics
Let’s take a quick look at this card to see why I don’t want anybody to apply:
- Annual fee $125 for the first year, then $96 annually
- Monthly maintenance fee $120 annually ($10 per month) not charged first year
- $30 additional card fee
- No rewards program
- 30.49% APY
Our Verdict
Year one you get hit a $125 annual fee, year two onwards is actually worse though due to that monthly maintenance fee – you’ll be paying $216 per year then. These card issuers will try and say that they are serving a market segment that is high risk and because of that these fees are needed.
My argument is that even if a consumer has terrible credit, they still have so many options that are much better than this card. For example:
- Discover offers a secured credit card, you’re required to put down a security deposit but it’s still much better than paying these massive fees. It also comes with a rewards program that is extremely generous for a secured card & and it can unsecure to a normal credit card after only 7 months.
- You can use the shopping cart trick to get some cards without a credit checking being done. These do not have excessive fees.
- Here’s a list of the easiest credit cards to get.
- You might be eligible for better cards than you expect, check online for pre-approved offers.
I’m trying to review as many of these bad cards as possible, hopefully this blog can save at least a few people for signing up for them. You can read other reviews of bad cards below (if you have a suggestion for another card to review let us know in the comments):
View Comments (94)
I used to have Capital One and First Premiere credit cards. I even purchased their insurance coverage, in case of something unforeseeable happens, and it did.
A former friend of mine called 911 to lie and tell them that I attempted suicide. That was furthest from the truth. She kept me awake for a week straight. While I was in ICU, she had taken my pain medication ( I just had them refilled on that day ), and she went through our things ( my husband and myself), and she came across my Capital One and First Premiere credit cards, and she took them.
She had paid her rent with the Capital One, and with the First Premiere, she had taken her 3 kids out to lunch and dinner. She never asked if she could use my credit cards, nor did she call my husband to get his permission. Even after I had gotten back home, she never told me what she had done.
I found what she had done when I went to pay the credit cards, and I had seen several charges on the days that I was hospitalized. I immediately called Capital One and First Premiere, and explained in great detail that I wasn't the one that did any of the charges. I even said that I had no problem faxing them the discharge paperwork.
They stated that it would be my word against hers, and there would be no possible way that I could prove that I didn't give her permission. I said how could I give her permission when I was sedated heavily, because I tried pulling out the tube that was down my throat, I couldn't talk with that tuber down my throat, and why would I give her permission to use MY credit card to pay for her rent, and buy her and her kids fast food.
Later that same year, my husband lost his job due to downsizing, and I called Capital One and First Premiere to let them know that I desperately needed to use the insurance for the month of December and January, and after that, I'll be able to resume the payments. I had paid for this insurance, and I stupidly thought that they wouldn't have any problems since I ALWAYS paid my credit card bills on time, and I never, ever paid the minimum amount.
I called both the middle of January to inform them that I can resume paying on my account. The reply that I had received was a bit of a shock; they had already placed me in collections. They went on to tell me that they had used the insurance for the month of December, and they were not obligated to continue paying anything on my account since I didn't inform them that I needed to use the insurance for December and January.
Since then, I know that they had already used my account for their own taxes, but they never sent me a 1099 -C. How can I go about getting this? Thanks!
I received a confirmation number that I was approved how can I double check & when will I receive it
I recently rec'd the Reflex credit Card and used it. I immediately got a due bill for a selected
date of payment each month. I just got my new bill which did not show a payment that had previously been made. I wanted to get my due date changed and made a phone call only
to be placed on hold and kept getting "on hold" reduced from seven (7) minutes back to wait time of sixteen (16) minutes. I am discussed that I have this card. I am seeing a
lot of red flags.
I've been had a reflex card for several months. I tried to make a 95$ purchase online my card was declined. I have more than enough available credit to purchase the item. Just don't make any sense why reflex declined my purchase. I've never been late making payments, I pay more.
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I just received this card, activated it and made my first purchase which was declined but Reflex said they approved and charged my account for. First purchase and already have to deal with disputes and BS.
This card is a joke at best and fraud at its worst. I applied and was approved but never received the card. Then I got a statement saying I owe 99.00 for the first year. Tried calling and you can't talk to anyone to report that you've been screwed. If you get an app throw it away!!!
DISCOVER is a ripoff, too. After 7 months of payments - all on time and well above the minimum (I usually paid it off entirely), they sent my $200 security deposit back and raised my limit to $2000. Several months later, after my car broke down and I ran the card up to near my limit, they abruptly, with no warning and no reason except a vague "business decision" b***s*** reason, even though I had continued to make ALL payments on time and well above $300/month. Since then, I have done some investigating of my own and found that DISCOVER partakes of a highly unethical, but legal practice called "balance chasing" and has hundreds and hundreds of complaints against them regarding this practice. Simply Google "Discover card, balance chasing" sometime! I would NEVER recommend them to anyone. You are doing your readers a disservice by continuing to do so yourself.
I just received their pre-selected letter in the mail, and as always I head straight to the reviews! This is just plain robbery with all of these fees...smh! I'm working to rebuild my credit and I have 2 cards with Capital One and one with Milestone, which are working well for my credit right now. I wanted to get another one, but quickly decided it won't be this one. I've gotten increases with both of the Capital One cards, and although Milestone doesn't give credit increases, I keep it and use it for gas, Netflix and food. Thank you very much for this informative blog as I'm certain it's very helpful to people thinking that this card will be good for them because they have bad credit. There are so many more options than this card. Peace and Blessings everyone!
Did you try Discover? They seem to be quite liberal, also you can get some nice sign up bonus through Amazon link.
Thanks for the warnings! I just received their offer for the first time and it was so vague, it mentioned none of what you'd stated! I'm not sure why I received this heinous offer as my credit has been shooting up (690s, one dipped into 580s and 630), but I have a $2k Navy Federal platinum rewards (low balance. Paid ontime monthly) , $300 Capital One (no balance), $300 Ny&C (no balance). They are pretty arrogant to believe anyone would be this desperate for a card!
Thanks a lot for the information.
Worst credit card ever... paid my bill week and half early and it still doesn't show my available credit increased.. I called and they said they have to hold the payment for days before I can use it. Hell it didn't take you 2 seconds to pull it out of my bank account but now I still cant use it.. Dont get this crappy card