Category Archive

I checked out my bank information this morning, as usual, and couldn’t get into my Chase Freedom Visa. Assuming it was a technical error, I sent off a short email to customer service stating the problem. They replied and told me to call a security phone number to fix the problem.

After a myriad of security questions, I was asked if a $3838 charge made today on my credit card was valid. Um, no it was not! This suspicious charge flagged their system and my account was placed on hold. The fraudster did not have the correct expiration date, so the charge never went through, and even if it had, I would not be responsible for the charge. I think she said the charge was to dollardays.com, but I can’t remember for sure. Looking at the site, I can’t imagine who would want almost four grand worth of stuff from there!

I’m a little shocked and unsure how my card number could have gotten out there. Did the clerk at the grocery store skim it? Seems unlikely. I purchased a swimsuit on sale on Victoria’s Secret last night. Could a reputable company like them lack proper security on their site? Did I miss an important document with the number on it and throw it? Do full numbers even COME on anything you get in the mail? Was Yodlee MoneyCenter hacked? How about my computer itself? All these seem unlikely, so I naively want to think someone was simply trying to charge something to their credit card with a digit off from mine, and it was all a mistake. That is equally unlikely, but makes me feel the world is a nicer place.

Anyway, it is all taken care of. I will have to fill out some form to help them investigate, but they are issuing me a new card (will this have an effect on the age of my credit history?) and nothing more needs to be done. I will be able to get by just fine without this card for the next few days. Ironically, this only reaffirms my belief that credit cards are a safe way to do business. In the 8 years I had a card, this is my first fraudulent charge, and I’m liable for exactly zero dollars of it.

I recently said goodbye to HSBC. I have about $85 in that account, which will be moved out next month so I don’t exceed the whole “6 withdrawals per a month” limit. Except…. I accidentally tried to pay my $150 credit card balance with that account, when I thought I was taking it out of my checking. Oooops. And I’m supposed to be this responsible pf blogger person who knows how to responsibly use credit cards. Dang it. Hello $39 fee.

I know they have the ability waive these fees if they want, so I typed up a quick email through their website requesting mercy. They promptly emailed me back (within the hour) and explained how the “returned check fee” works (duh, I already know) and said I could contact my bank with questions. Oh, and the fee was staying. Punks. However, they were sure to mention that they “value my business.”

I tried a second time explaining that I understand, but it was just a little human error, I’m a good customer, and isn’t $39 really too high? Denied again. Third time is a charm? Well, in this case, I think third time is futile and slightly annoying. Oh, and I highly doubt the value my business!

Next step–is it worth the phone call? I think I’m going to have to threaten closing my account to get rid of this fee. The catch is, I actually have to be willing to close it, just in case they call my bluff. Am I ready to say good bye? Well, I’d rather keep the card, but it wouldn’t kill me to lose it either. I’ve only had the card about a year, and I could take my $100 in cash back bonus and run. I found I can only really manage two credit cards at a time, with one being the primary. It will ding my credit score by reducing my available credit, yes. However, house purchasing really isn’t expected for years, so my score will have plenty of time to recover before I need it for something other than, you know, making me feel cool. (Also, it is not my oldest card, so it shouldn’t hurt my credit age.)

So yeah, I’d be able to get rid of it. However, what if I threaten to cancel, and they still insist on taking my fee? Then what is the point of canceling, except to cause me hassle? I guess, for principle. To make a point. To be stubborn.

Anyone know any good rewards cards? I do like the “Visa Signature” cards, because they double the warranty on any electronics you buy and also provide rental car insurance. However, this isn’t a requirement, I just want a solid rewards card, preferably visa.I recently ordered some things with the card, so I will wait for all the charges to process. Then I’ll pay it, cash out my rewards and call them prepared to cancel. I did inform them of this in my final response. I thought about adding “AND I WILL WRITE A BLOG POST ABOUT THIS” but my readership hasn’t been above 300 for a single day, so I don’t know how threatened they would feel about that.

Yes, I acknowledge this was a mistake on my part. I should have selected the proper account. Luckily, I don’t wait until the last day to pay, so i wasn’t hit with any missed payment fees on top of this. Still don’t think it is a fair fee. If it were a more reasonable $10 (or maybe even $20) I might not put up such a fight. But $39 for simply clicking the wrong account? You have got to be kidding me.

(Side note: I still subscribe to the theory that credit cards are good tools. I’ve earned $100 in rewards, so even $100-$40 is a profit of $60.)

This blog has been exceptionally quiet (it never really is all that happening over here anyway) this week. Not only did I send my laptop in for repair (under warranty still), but I was out of town from Wednesday night until late Sunday night (I got to bed at 1:30 am). Perhaps more to come on that “vacation” later. I actually have a lot of potential topics stored up in my mind. For now, I want to talk about my credit cards.

At work, we are all chipping in for a going away present for my manager. My coworker is collecting five dollars from us all, and complained that none of the “young people” had cash. I asked her if she could just accept credit, but no such luck. Not even Visa.

One of my two primary credit cards is a Chase Freedom Visa card. One reason I chose this card was because it was a “Visa Signature” card, and any electronics I buy automatically have a doubled warranty. Sweet. Another cool perk is that any rental car I rent with it will automatically get CDW coverage, which will come in handy when I rent a car over New Years. The cash back bonus is alright, but I really don’t spend that much for it to be exciting.

What has annoyed me about this card is the constant mailings encouraging me to sign up for costly services. More than once a month I get an envelope from them to sign up for some “Credit Protection Plan”. In case I ever fall on hard times, this service will allow me to suspend payments for some period of time. Or something like that. Every time I call them for any reason, they push this service. It costs something like $0.89 per a $100 balance, so it isn’t much, but still. They also said if you don’t “carry a balance” it is free. After questioning this further, I learned that it wasn’t exactly true. You can’t just pay your balance every time you get a statement, you have to pay your balance BEFORE the statement is calculated for it to be free. Anyway, it is annoying. I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I have an emergency fund of almost 10k (yay, go me!) and know how to manage my money. Yesterday I opened some “check” that I deposit, which will enroll me in some $90/year service. I’m not sure what the service is, only that I don’t need it.

My other card is a Discover Open Road card. Discover seems to have has a bad reputation, but I think they are great. The cash back program is solid (and you can pick what one best suites your life). They also let you choose your credit card design from a HUGE selection. Not that it is REALLY important, but where else will give me a flamingo pink credit card with an “S” monogrammed on it? Love it! Of course, you really can’t get by with only a Discover card. While most places accept it, there are still a few who do not. Also, I opened a second Discover card once (to use a 0% balance transfer offer) and they made a huge headache about closing it. The first time I tried my call was simply “dropped” (I personally think they hung up on me because then the customer service rep gets to count it as a customer that was not lost), and the second time I had to argue for several minutes about why I wanted to just close it. Anyway, other than that, Discover has been very nice to me since I first got their card as a college student.

Credit cards have always been a helpful tool for me. I’ve never been late on a payment and never been charged a fee. I typically get a couple hundred dollars in cash back bonuses each year, and they are very convenient. Still, on principle, I think credit card companies stink. They charge outrageous rates and push to sell useless services.

While checking out my expenses in Yodlee, I noticed that there was a fraction of a percent allocated for “Finance charges and service fees” I always pay my credit card in full, so I was mystified.

Further investigation showed that when I had tried to make an early payment to my brand new Chase Visa card, the payment had been returned (this I was aware of–i think the account information I entered was wrong), and they tacked on a 39 “returned payment” fee.

I was surprised that I missed that when it happened, but it was a busy time. I didn’t think the fee was fair ($39 for mistyping the account?) and figured I’d be on the phone for awhile attempting to get them to waive it. I saw that they had an online message center, and I gave that a shot. I like the idea of asking questions online more than the phone, but many times I found that they just reply with a “please call us” message. I sent them a message explaining the situation and asking if there was anything that could be done.

Less than a half hour later, they replied and agreed to waive the fee! Wow!

I could only be more impressed if they hadn’t charged such a ridiculous fee in the first place! (Seriously, $39?)