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Jim Charter wrote:
> Is it just me being paranoid?
I've never let a credit card charge me a 'service fee'. The trick, so
far, has been to read all the paperwork with someone else and to avoid
any thing they offer over the phone. Sure, some cards do have a monthly
or yearly fee, but I never got one of those.
I would say paying it on time is key, but with the companies cutting
grace periods down to 20 days, and then waiting till 3 days after the
closing date to actually mail a statement, it can get tough. I've
switched to paying online. When I pay the one bill, make a note of the
next closing on the calendar and be ready for it next month.
So, no, not paranoid. Paranoid would be using cash for everything to
stay untraceable. Or refusing to use cash because the serial numbers
could be traced back to you. Or worse.
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>> Um... Isn't it the credit card company's *job* to scam you out of your
>> money? I mean, isn't that where 100% of their profits come from?
>>
>
> No, part of it comes from the fee they charge all merchants for the
> 'privilege' of supporting their cards.
Ah, good point...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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"Sabrina Kilian" <"ykgp at vtSPAM.edu"> wrote in message
news:48996c81$1@news.povray.org...
> No, part of it comes from the fee they charge all merchants for the
> 'privilege' of supporting their cards.
that's why i don't accept credit cards in my shop .... they want an
additional 3%. we do however accept debit cards. we get charged 15 cents per
transaction. every time i do a batch deposit it costs me 75 cents, then
theres the monthly account fee $10.75 .... even a $1.00 statement
preparation fee. i'm completly self help until the end of the season when i
empty the account. banks are a giant rip off. unfortunately keeping my money
stuffed in a mattress isn't an option.
Jim
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Sabrina Kilian wrote:
> Jim Charter wrote:
>> Is it just me being paranoid?
>
> I've never let a credit card charge me a 'service fee'. The trick, so
> far, has been to read all the paperwork with someone else and to avoid
> any thing they offer over the phone. Sure, some cards do have a monthly
> or yearly fee, but I never got one of those.
>
> I would say paying it on time is key, but with the companies cutting
> grace periods down to 20 days, and then waiting till 3 days after the
> closing date to actually mail a statement, it can get tough. I've
> switched to paying online. When I pay the one bill, make a note of the
> next closing on the calendar and be ready for it next month.
>
>
One better - some cards allow automatic payment of the balance - tied to
a bank account of course.
So now vacation and emergencies don't catch you off guard.
Tom
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Sabrina Kilian wrote:
> No, part of it comes from the fee they charge all merchants for the
> 'privilege' of supporting their cards.
And part comes from the interest they charge you for not paying off the
card before the end of the grace period. Personally, I've never had a
problem with "scams" because I follow the contract and pay things off.
Most of the complaints you read are along the lines of "I borrowed money
and didn't pay back the minimum, so they increased my rates, whaaa whaaa!"
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Ever notice how people in a zombie movie never already know how to
kill zombies? Ask 100 random people in America how to kill someone
who has reanimated from the dead in a secret viral weapons lab,
and how many do you think already know you need a head-shot?
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On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:28:51 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Sabrina Kilian wrote:
>> No, part of it comes from the fee they charge all merchants for the
>> 'privilege' of supporting their cards.
>
> And part comes from the interest they charge you for not paying off the
> card before the end of the grace period. Personally, I've never had a
> problem with "scams" because I follow the contract and pay things off.
> Most of the complaints you read are along the lines of "I borrowed money
> and didn't pay back the minimum, so they increased my rates, whaaa
> whaaa!"
One of the nastier things they have started doing is sending out these
"convenience cheques" with low interest rates. You have to read the fine
print to see what the % is they're charging for the use of the cheque,
but even more insidious is that on some (Discover has done this) they
require you use the card 2 times a month to keep the lower rate, but the
payments you make go against the lowest interest rate first.
So, for example, on one of my Discover cards (don't ask - long story),
I've got a 0% transfer rate, but I have to use the card twice a month to
keep the 0% rate on what was transferred. But I get hit at something
like 14% on those two usages, and those two usages continue to accrue
interest until the 0% amount is paid off.
Fortunately, my two uses a month tend to be < $5 each (for buying lunch
in the office cafeteria), so they're not making a ton off of me for
that. But you have to manage it carefully and remember not to charge a
couple hundred bucks on it.
Jim
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Tom Austin wrote:
> One better - some cards allow automatic payment of the balance - tied to
> a bank account of course.
>
> So now vacation and emergencies don't catch you off guard.
>
>
>
> Tom
Big emergencies still will. Have you seen what some banks charge if you
drop below a certain amount or, worse, over draw the account?
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> One of the nastier things they have started doing is sending out these
> "convenience cheques" with low interest rates.
Yeah. I always call them up and tell them to either stop sending me
those checks or cancel my card. Surprisingly, the checks stop. Of
course, I'm a pretty good customer, so...
It helps to hold the same card for 20+ years and have good credit to
start with. Otherwise, it's hard to bargain from power.
I always liked the ads that come with those checks: "Cash some in and
spend it on fun stuff, or pay off bills, or just put it in the bank for
a rainy day!" Yeah, right.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Ever notice how people in a zombie movie never already know how to
kill zombies? Ask 100 random people in America how to kill someone
who has reanimated from the dead in a secret viral weapons lab,
and how many do you think already know you need a head-shot?
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On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:33:17 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> One of the nastier things they have started doing is sending out these
>> "convenience cheques" with low interest rates.
>
> Yeah. I always call them up and tell them to either stop sending me
> those checks or cancel my card. Surprisingly, the checks stop. Of
> course, I'm a pretty good customer, so...
I should try that. Thing is, when juggling balances between cards (had
some expenses that couldn't be avoided), they do come in handy when
there's no "you must use the card x times a month to keep the rate".
> It helps to hold the same card for 20+ years and have good credit to
> start with. Otherwise, it's hard to bargain from power.
Yep. I struggled with credit about 8 years ago, so we've finally gotten
on top of it now and our credit is good. The reason for *multiple*
discover cards was the 0% offer came with a new card only - they wouldn't
apply it to the old card, but they *also* wouldn't extend the old card's
credit or set my "member since" date to the earlier of the two dates. So
I keep the one card locked in the safe and just never use it. Every
couple of years I get a new one and activate it and they ask why I don't
use it, and I tell them that it's just so I have an account that goes
back to that original start date.
The thing that bugs me about those cheques the most, of course, is they
sit in my mailbox. Nothing like having blank cheques sitting someplace
where someone can come by and steal them - great way to "prevent" fraud,
innit?
> I always liked the ads that come with those checks: "Cash some in and
> spend it on fun stuff, or pay off bills, or just put it in the bank for
> a rainy day!" Yeah, right.
Yeah, that's really creative. I've gotten in the habit of reading *all*
the fine print and learning to understand it. Of course, the easiest
rule of thumb is "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".
It's amazing more people don't understand that.
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> but they *also* wouldn't extend the old card's
> credit or set my "member since" date to the earlier of the two dates.
It took me three phone calls to get the card to have the member-since
date of before MBNA got aquired, yes. :-)
> The thing that bugs me about those cheques the most, of course, is they
> sit in my mailbox. Nothing like having blank cheques sitting someplace
> where someone can come by and steal them - great way to "prevent" fraud,
> innit?
That's why I call up and complain about it, and threaten to cancel if
they send me more.
I also don't use debit cards, for similar reasons.
> It's amazing more people don't understand that.
Yep.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Ever notice how people in a zombie movie never already know how to
kill zombies? Ask 100 random people in America how to kill someone
who has reanimated from the dead in a secret viral weapons lab,
and how many do you think already know you need a head-shot?
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