Credit card rant

[boggen]

ya screaming and hollaring. but honestly. there is a good amount of credit card fraud. way to easy to get someone credit card number and pin number. and make false charges through online website.

if you are in a real emergency. then its 911 time, and concern of who is paying what and how. really is not important. and you have some time to make a call to credit card company.

if your car does break down, then it will be in repair shop. and the tow truck / repair shop most likely has or will call credit company, or credit company will come them to confirm if it is out of ordinary for you. or some such.

credit card companies set limits for a call. to protect you. i am going to assume it is cheaper to pay a few folks to handle "phone calls" and force customers and business to check things. vs letting folks steal a credit card and make outrageous charges. i rather call myself, ya it is annoying as heck. but i rather waste my time with a call, vs other.

hint: if you are at a larger business that deals primary with credit cards to accept cash. the given company most likely has a better number to call. to get a quicker response vs you waiting on the phone. heck i know many folks, will call a credit company on purpose to double check things before shipping things out. to make sure things are legit in a sense. due to if the company ships something out and someone stole credit card. who is out the cash? not you, not the credit card company, but who ever just shipped something off to you.

 

[LD1]

Most everyone else has already made the points that I was going to make, but I dont think they are out of line at all. They have computers that constantly monitor everyones accout. Anything out of the "norm" gets flagged.

While it may not directly "protect" you, it is protecting ALL of us. Imagine if banks didnt have these types of systems in place. Imagine how much MORE fraud there would be. And this added fraud, wouldnt cost the bank a dime to cover. WE ALL would be paying for it via increased rates, annual fees, etc.

 

[zzvyb6]

Wife is always near her credit limit...so there goes your idea. And exactly HOW DOES ONE MAKE AN ONLINE PURCHASE USING A CHECK???

You can easily make an online payment with a check using PayPal. That's just about the only way you can buy stuff on eBay unless its a local pickup. There's a fast growing group of shops, stores and businesses which are taking PayPal for payment. No card to carry, just phone in the email address or phone number, type in a pin and the amount. If you are paranoid about security, set up a special email account just for this purpose. Just about all ISPs allow for up to 10 or so sub accounts. There are people who use just one special computer for this purpose. I got an email today, in fact, from PayPal announcing Home Depot now takes it.

You can also just phone the online store, tell them what you want, give them your name and account number and pay for it. For example when I buy payphone stuff or miltronics stuff, I call them. They can't keep a record of what the account info is. I also stay way from Amazon because they store your account credit card info. A neighbor just got phished on Amazon in this way. Turns out that Amazon does not care because they get their money no matter what. Search for 'Amazon Fraud' and look at what shows up. Its the credi card company that gets socked for the theft.

So you can do online checks in several different secure ways and several different insecure ways. Buyer be ware.

 

[Aging TOO Fast]

You can easily make an online payment with a check using PayPal. That's just about the only way you can buy stuff on eBay unless its a local pickup. There's a fast growing group of shops, stores and businesses which are taking PayPal for payment. No card to carry, just phone in the email address or phone number, type in a pin and the amount. If you are paranoid about security, set up a special email account just for this purpose. Just about all ISPs allow for up to 10 or so sub accounts. There are people who use just one special computer for this purpose. I got an email today, in fact, from PayPal announcing Home Depot now takes it.

You can also just phone the online store, tell them what you want, give them your name and account number and pay for it. For example when I buy payphone stuff or miltronics stuff, I call them. They can't keep a record of what the account info is. I also stay way from Amazon because they store your account credit card info. A neighbor just got phished on Amazon in this way. Turns out that Amazon does not care because they get their money no matter what. Search for 'Amazon Fraud' and look at what shows up. Its the credi card company that gets socked for the theft.

So you can do online checks in several different secure ways and several different insecure ways. Buyer be ware.

I Saw the Paypal thing at Home Desprit, Like an email address is secure.. Don't think I want any part of it.
It does have a place in select uses, but I will Not make Paypal my Preferred way to pay.

 

[jveretto]

I am pleased when cc company requires a call. Some one had my cc number and tried to use it. The main reason they denied the charge was because they did not have an expiration date. CC Company called. Could have approved. They sent a new card and canceled old card. I am not out the hassle of reporting stolen card number. Come on, it's for your own benefit.

 

[Bird]

We got rid of everything except 2 credit cards; one with a $15,500 limit and one with a $12,500 limit, both of which are way more than necessary, and of course I pay them in full every month, so I'm one of those "deadbeats".:laughing: I doubt that we've ever gone as much as $3,000 on either of them. Incidentally, one of them is a Chase card and they've never said anything about getting any pre-authorization. The other card is Discover and I have had them call me a couple of times right after a large purchase, but not in a long time. Several years ago, I paid a hospital bill of a bit over a thousand and they called my cell phone within 15 minutes to confirm it. And I appreciate their calling. They also send me an e-mail any time there's a charge over $300, which is an amount that I selected. But the e-mail won't come for a day or two after the charge.

I do also have a Visa debit card, but it's never been used for anything other than getting cash at an ATM, and very rarely even for that.

 

[3930dave]

Let's see..... arbitrary customer hostile actions by a CC company...... sounds like home - Canada.

I glommed through this quickly JD. The only thing that might not have been touched on (?) is if your wife is usually maxed right out, maybe they are playing things tighter with you ? Probably not though, they usually want people spending like drunken sailors.

Credit card company arbitrary actions: (following happened in Canada, YMMV, depending on your local laws)

My wife (doesn't use her card much, something I am very thankful for) is driving to see a friend in Quebec (neighbouring province). Buys $35 of gas in Quebec to top off for the trip home. 4 cylinder car with a big gas tank, she makes it all the way home w/o buying more gas. A week or so later, she goes to our local dentist for a checkup, and her same card is refused. Her CC company had flagged the $35 of gas as suspicious. OK, we'll stretch things a bit and call it suspicious (if nothing else, it speaks to how many CCards get ripped off in Ontario, and used in Quebec). My issue - they did not contact us at all. They said they called, I call BS on that - same home # for a very long time, and Ans. Machine is on 24x7.

Next - pay at pump. In reviewing CC transactions over the phone with my company, I accidentally stumbled across what they typically do for Pay at the Pump. Scan your card at the gas pump, they pre-authorize for $100. Pump your gas, say $45 worth. They then process another payment for $45, without cancelling the original $100 authorization - it takes the station anywhere from a day to a couple of days to reconcile, and release the $100 hold. The first young lady I talked to at the CC company said she had been stuck herself, because of this "$100 hold" game - run around and buy $20 of gas here and there, often, and you can pretty quickly tie up a low limit card.

I hardly ever have used Pay at the Pump since. ONCE, last year, I was in a real hurry to fill up so that I could remain on time for a major customer meeting. Scanned my card at the pump, it fired up, I filled up my tank. No receipt printed out. I almost headed off to my meeting w/o the receipt, but instead ran into the store to request a duplicate receipt. Turns out, there was some snafu in the system (pumps normally don't turn on in that mode, unless your card has been authorized), and my payment had NOT gone through. Inadvertently, I had nearly driven away, WITHOUT PAYING FOR MY GAS. I think the universe was trying to tell me something. It will be a rare day, before I will use Pay at Pump again.

Pre-authorizations w/o your approval - it gets better......

In checking with my CC company, to make absolutely sure I had not been double billed for the above transaction, I casually mentioned my aversion to Pay at the Pump. The guy I was talking to not only knew all about it, he said "You think that is bad, that's nothing".

Apparently, a common scam with airlines/travel packages is to "reserve" (ie. tie up your credit) "in case you decide to upgrade your ticket/seat selection". A couple goes on a trip, with a $5k credit card. "All-inclusive" at $1200 each, so they pay off the card to zero before the trip, and figure 2x1200 = $2400, leaving them with $2600 to play with for spending money on the trip.

If the airline/travel co decides to, they end up "reserving" another $1000-$2000 of credit, "in case you decide to upgrade". There is an industry standard term for this scam, I've just forgotten what the guy called it. So, couple heads off on their trip, with a budget of $2600 to play with, only to find their card maxing out after spending $500 or so.

Yes, my first thought was "How the **** is this even legal ?" At least in Canada, I'm told this is legal. Yet another situation where you stumble across a problem and think "Geez, this is a little screwed up ($100 at a gas pump)". Dig a little deeper, and you realize " Holy ####, this is really ****** up !".

Yes, those who pay off every month are not a favourite customer. Do the CC companies still make tons of money on fees ? Heck yes, just ask anybody who runs a small business.

My beef is this. Arbitrary actions by a CC company, WITHOUT INFORMING YOU WTF THEY ARE UP TO, can create major headaches.

Imagine if my wife had to stop a second time, on that late night drive home, for gas ? Yes, it would have eventually have been sorted out with the CC company over the phone, but who the **** wants to spend time doing that, when it's 2am and you are just trying to get home.

To say nothing of the danger factor being stuck in an undesirable gas station location, while you sort out paying for gas.

For anybody that travels, I'd recommend having at least 2 different valid credit cards with you, stored in separate locations. Not so much if they get stolen, but if one card does get suspended by an overzealous CC company, you can go ahead and use the other card - then clear up the BS with the first card, when it is convenient, or more importantly physically SAFE to do so.

Guys around here used to race (competitively, not Smokey and the Bandit stuff) all over the USA. Pulling into a gas station late night with a big dually pulling an expensive race car, the standard practice in certain areas was for one guy to stand watch with a pump shotgun, while the other guy pumped the gas and went in to pay.

NOT a location where you want to play Silly Buggers over the phone with a CC company.

I'll never travel w/o at least 2 valid and different CCards on me.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Meant to say guys..... even though most of us us a Nom de Internet on here (not our full names), my inclination is NOT to mention card brand names I have, or specific card $ limits, or specifics of large transactions.

Unfortunately, there are many people (some very good), who make a very attractive living by harvesting this data.

Call me paranoid, I've totally OK with that label ! :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[Bird]

I'm curious. If you don't "Pay at the Pump" just how do you handle gas purchases? I do pay at the pump all the time, and if I go to my card company's website online, they'll show a $1 charge instead of $100 until they get the actual amount. I've noticed at one gas station I use there's a sticker on each pump to tell you that if you use a debit card, your bank may put a hold on a larger amount, but it's your bank not the gas station. And at another station I use, I've had my credit card refused at the pump when I tried to use it a 3rd time in one day. That one is the gas station and all I had to do was go inside and the clerk started the pump.

And as you experienced, occasionally (not too often, but occasionally) the pump doesn't print out a receipt. So I do always go inside and get a receipt. My favorite gas station gives you a free cup of coffee or fountain soda if you have to go inside to get a receipt.

 

[mjarrels]

No credit card, but daughter was admitted to Walter Reed Medical hospital for a week. Wife paid cash for here first night in a motel. Two nights at the Navy Lodge. Local Credit Union Card not approved. Two phone calls, approval. A few years ago, we arrived back from the Philippines to a blinking phone. Had we used a card in the Philippines. Yes we did. My NFCU card works world wide.

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