ZylonBane on 15/9/2010 at 02:41
Quote Posted by zombe
I resisted getting myself a credit card for years. It is significantly less secure than cash sticking out of your back pocket and functionally completely and utterly useless - with the one and only exception: buy stuff from anywhere else over the internet.
Yes, this is why nobody used credit cards before the internet. You are the smarty man.
Mingan on 15/9/2010 at 03:02
Almost everything I buy goes on my credit card. It's ever so much simpler than jamming a huge wad of cash in my already too big wallet. If you don't want to pay interest on your card, you can just pay the bill completely at the end of the month? A credit card is not a licence to overspend, you know.
It's also safer than cash; if you get your card stolen, you ring the bank and they freeze everything. With cash, it's just gone.
Pyrian on 15/9/2010 at 15:12
Quote:
If you don't want to pay interest on your card, you can just pay the bill completely at the end of the month?
It's, like, not human nature somehow. I know for a fact that I cannot be relied upon to pay my bills on time like clockwork. ...So, I do not have a credit card and let my bank pay my monthlies. Yet, it's a well documented fact that there are a lot of people who
think they'll be good about paying off their debts yet
aren't good at it. These people make an 'f-ton of money for credit card companies, which in turn provide really very little value IMO, particularly compared to simpler things like debit cards.
Credit card companies, indeed, make SO much money that their fundamental strategy for dealing with theft amounts to subsidizing it. By and large, they just pay it. Which is indeed a convenience...
What I
really don't get, though, is why cash is always cheaper. If I pay with a debit card, I get charged a small amount. If I pay with a credit card (actually the same card in my case, but whatever), the merchant gets charged. (This means I usually use the debit card as "credit", for obvious reasons! ...Actually, I almost exclusively use cash, for reasons I'll get to, but when I don't...) And yet, supposedly all the banks and merchants want to push card use because it's so expensive to deal with cash rather than electronic money. IF IT'S SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE TO HANDLE CASH, THEN WHY THE HECK ARE YOU
CHARGING TO USE THE ALTERNATIVES!?!? It's insane. :confused:
Enchantermon on 15/9/2010 at 15:32
I tend to pay cash if I have it, but if not, I use my debit card. My parents got me a credit card to pay for necessities like food and gas while I was in college so I could build good credit, but since they footed the bill, all of my non-essentials were paid for in cash or by debit (instant withdraw from bank account, no interest, yes please).
Renz, if you live in NC, VA, or MD, you may want to check out Hampton Roads Bankshares. We've been using them for years and are quite happy, and they have a free checking account option (though if you're using it for business transactions, that may not fly, I don't know).
ilweran on 16/9/2010 at 11:01
Quote Posted by Brian The Dog
Although I do agree that paying by cheques at shops is not needed now - your cheque guarantee card duals as the debit card, so why not just use the debit card?
I used to work in a department store and there would always be a big increase in cheques being used towards the end of the month when people wanted it to take a bit longer for money to leave their account.
The one thing I never understood was people who used credit card cheques to pay. Why would you want the extra charges when you have the card there?? I really upset a customer once by putting it straight on their credit card because they'd just handed me the card but not mentioned they wanted to pay be cheque :rolleyes:
Renzatic on 15/10/2010 at 22:00
I'm sure some of you all here have been waiting for word on my little situation with bated breath here. All tense with anticipation and all that. So, without further ado, a little mini update:
Jack shit has happened.
My lawyer didn't want to commit to any course of action, or even offer up any legal advice, until he saw my credit card agreement. I gave him a copy three weeks ago, and we've been playing phone tag since.
But one thing I've learned from all this is that the proverbial wheels of justice turn slowly, and most of the people involved are lazy and won't do any work unless you annoy them into action. Plus I had the bad judgement of hiring a lawyer who's involved with protecting the local judicial system from their severe Tonya Craft judicial fuckup, so my little case ranks lowly on the totem pole.
It's like pulling teeth.
Renzatic on 18/10/2010 at 20:37
And an update.
Just talked to the lawyer. The conversation went something like...
"Your agreement says that you're responsible for anyone you allow to use the card"
"But I didn't willingly allow him to use the card"
"Then you're not responsible"
"Simple enough. Thanks"
I can't believe I waited almost a month just to have a 12 second conversation.
So now I get the to have the undeniably glorious pleasure of calling up Chase, telling them to go fuck themselves, and wait for the fallout.
rachel on 18/10/2010 at 21:07
Soo... good or bad? :erm:
Good luck either way!
Renzatic on 18/10/2010 at 21:54
It's good in that I now have official confirmation from a lawyer who's allowed to represent me that I'm not at all responsible for the charges. It's bad in the sense that I've still got quite a few headaches to go through before I can officially put all this behind me.
My next step is to hire an accountant, figure out exactly what I owe with interest involved, then define the date when I quit paying Chase.
theBlackman on 18/10/2010 at 22:44
I sympathize, but why use a credit card? I may be old school, but if the money is not in your pocket, or checking account DON'T SPEND IT.
If you buy on line, send them a check and wait.
