I think the title says it all. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of applying for this card which is apparently issued by the same company that offers the Horizon gold card. I just wanted to give others a heads up so you don’t fall into a similar trap.
They offer you a $500 credit limit and promise you’ll get approved. What they don’t tell you, or fail to mention is that this is NOT a real credit card because you can’t use it as a visa or MasterCard. Notice how it doesn’t have the visa or Mastercard logo on it? It turns out that you can only use the card to buy things from a website that they control.
Here is the fine print posted at the top of their site in a small box that you have to scroll to see:
How it Works: Upon Account activation of your membership, you will receive various benefits as well as a credit card account to use exclusively on purchases available through the Horizon Outlet Website. Your Account will not work on any other website.
That alone is a major red flag.
So this card is promoted as a credit card and yet it’s not really a credit card because you can only use it with them! and they start charging you for things that you agree to without even knowing it. Beware of this card and the horizon gold card which is basically the same thing. It’s really sad that some companies use things like this to take advantage of people with bad credit who are just trying to fix a crappy situation.
One more thing…
Once you open up an account they also start enrolling you automatically in programs that can cost hundreds of dollars a year.
For ease and convenience, the $19.95 benefits plan membership fee will be auto-debited monthly. The $6.00 monthly card maintenance fee is waived to all active $19.95 monthly benefit plan accounts. In the event your monthly auto-payment of $19.95 fails three times due to insufficient funds, we will for your convenience auto-enroll you into our basic starter benefits plan that in addition to your regular account and credit line access includes Credit Report access, Discount Prescription access and Prepaid Legal access at a reduced charge of $4.95 per month.
At the end of the day though it’s my fault for not reading the fine print FIRST. Never again.
