Credit Card

[Booster4324]

Fanks!...

 

 

I'll relate the AT&T story. Cinti Bell had a glitch - upshot, AT&T tried to hit me with $200 top-rate long distance charges. I spent, oh, 2 hours on the phone bouncing around from this and that one of their lying curs. I would guess I spoke to 15 people, at a minimum. They sent me letter threatening to sue me. I contacted the Ohio Pub. Utility commission, and to my utter surprise, shook their tree and ended the nonsense.

 

They were notorious with billing due date manipulation. Like clockwork, they'd delay mailings in Nov. and Dec. and speed up the due date - hoping to snag folks with late fees during the holiday season, or cash in with a charge for a phone payment.

 

Hard to think of one praising a credit card company, but Discover is a decent outfit. Clear billings, their cash back bonuses. Never had a single problem. When they issue a new card, I call'em to activate, they are competent, and thank me for being such a long customer of theirs. I tell 'em of course, you've always been upright with me. They do try to sell a little business, but they take no for an answer...immediately.

 

If AT&T was the only phone company out there, screw them. Smoke signals, semaphore flags, whatever.. .

 

Heliograph? Maybe a beacon fire?

 

My bit of advise when dealing with customer service people (not directed at you Cincy) is start off really nice even when you know you have been !@#$ed. Depending on the company, the CSR may have tons of discretion or almost none. Most do not have much ability other than to do basic functions.

 

If you are unable to get satisfaction from the first person you speak to after you have presented your case, politely ask to be transferred to a supervisor. Do not blow a gasket with them, save that for when you get to the top of the food chain. Someone (maybe) will have the ability to perform basic customer service. If you start ranting and raving at the wrong person, this will prejudice your case possibly. When and if you get transferred, politely state your case again. When they refuse to transfer you higher (most seem to have two or three layers tops), and they still are in the wrong, then you unload.

 

One of my stories about bad customer care, I call T-Mobile to change my service. There is no way to do it through the automated system. I ask for a rep after googling the way to do so easily and hear a recording, "Due to unexpectedly high call volume, we are unable to take your call at this time." This was followed by a click and then a sudden realization that a recording hung up on me.

 

Another story, when I got married we canceled the service at her apartment. I dutifully turn in the cable modem and get my receipt. Since we paid in advance, they owed us like $40 and said they would deduct this from the bill.

 

A couple of months later (no refund on the pro-rated service), I get a letter from them saying I owed something like $180.00 for the modem. Cost of the item, plus a penalty of like $20. I call, am really nice and give them the invoice number for where I returned it. They apologize and assure me the situation is taken care of and my refund will be on my next bill.

 

Another two months (still no refund) or so and I get another letter from the cable company. Now I owe somewhere around $250. I call, am a bit curt, but polite and again they assure me the situation is addressed.

 

Yet another month or so later, I get a call saying I owe then $350.00 for the modem I returned. I immediately asked to speak with a supervisor. I tore into that supervisor so hard, they were reeling from the get go. The clincher was was all the notes were there (clearly something wrong with their computer system) of the past conversations. As I scream at the supervisor, "You still owe me $40 bucks for my refund. When the !@#$ do I get to start charging you late fees?"

 

Got a check for the refund and two free months of cable. Oh and a bunch of movie channels for 6 months that I didn't have to pay for.

[stuckincincy]

Heliograph? Maybe a beacon fire?

 

My bit of advise when dealing with customer service people (not directed at you Cincy) is start off really nice even when you know you have been !@#$ed. Depending on the company, the CSR may have tons of discretion or almost none. Most do not have much ability other than to do basic functions.

 

If you are unable to get satisfaction from the first person you speak to after you have presented your case, politely ask to be transferred to a supervisor. Do not blow a gasket with them, save that for when you get to the top of the food chain. Someone (maybe) will have the ability to perform basic customer service. If you start ranting and raving at the wrong person, this will prejudice your case possibly. When and if you get transferred, politely state your case again. When they refuse to transfer you higher (most seem to have two or three layers tops), and they still are in the wrong, then you unload.

 

One of my stories about bad customer care, I call T-Mobile to change my service. There is no way to do it through the automated system. I ask for a rep after googling the way to do so easily and hear a recording, "Due to unexpectedly high call volume, we are unable to take your call at this time." This was followed by a click and then a sudden realization that a recording hung up on me.

 

Another story, when I got married we canceled the service at her apartment. I dutifully turn in the cable modem and get my receipt. Since we paid in advance, they owed us like $40 and said they would deduct this from the bill.

 

A couple of months later (no refund on the pro-rated service), I get a letter from them saying I owed something like $180.00 for the modem. Cost of the item, plus a penalty of like $20. I call, am really nice and give them the invoice number for where I returned it. They apologize and assure me the situation is taken care of and my refund will be on my next bill.

 

Another two months (still no refund) or so and I get another letter from the cable company. Now I owe somewhere around $250. I call, am a bit curt, but polite and again they assure me the situation is addressed.

 

Yet another month or so later, I get a call saying I owe then $350.00 for the modem I returned. I immediately asked to speak with a supervisor. I tore into that supervisor so hard, they were reeling from the get go. The clincher was was all the notes were there (clearly something wrong with their computer system) of the past conversations. As I scream at the supervisor, "You still owe me $40 bucks for my refund. When the !@#$ do I get to start charging you late fees?"

 

Got a check for the refund and two free months of cable. Oh and a bunch of movie channels for 6 months that I didn't have to pay for.

 

Your advice is appreciated and taken in the spirit intended, and I assure you that I deport myself well in society - I've yet to be even remotely close to being fitted with concrete shoes... And thanks for your stories - good read!

 

I speak with all politeness answering and conversing the telephone. I answer mine with a cheery "Good Morning! or Good Afternoon!"

 

Which almost always results in dead air. I do that at stores, restaurants etc. also, and the most common response by far is a drop-jawed gaping maw. Speechless for 10 seconds - minimum. Sad.

 

After about the 5th AT&T hand-off, I realized that I was going to be dealing with a pack of conniving thieves working in concert bent on pulling cash out of my hide. My repeated suggestions that they go about business and resolve things with Bell were fruitless. The Cincy Bell crowd weren't exactly princes in the issue either. They meekly stuck their heads in the sand hoping that I'd fork over my dough. One of their number did let slip that a mistake on their part might have unleashed the fury of AT&T on me. I hope that poor soul didn't get rolled down the staircase and out the door for committing blasphemy.

[Magox]

Good news guys, congress is here to save the day

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-16/b...anks-lower.html

 

Bank of America’s debit-card revenue could shrink by $1.8 billion to $2.3 billion starting in the third quarter of next year because of restrictions on fees merchants can charge for each swipe of a debit card, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a presentation today. The bank is seeking ways to replace some of the revenue lost to the Durbin rule, named after Sen. Richard Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who sponsored the amendment, Moynihan said.

 

The bank also expects a goodwill charge of $7 billion to $10 billion in the third quarter tied to the value of the business after President Barack Obama signs the regulatory reform law approved by Congress this week, Chief Financial Officer Charles Noski said on a conference call. Goodwill is the difference between the price paid for an asset and its fair market value.

 

Lower Forecast

 

Banks had lobbied against the Durbin amendment, while retailers touted the changes as being pro-consumer. “It’s regulating a transaction between two businesses,” Noski said. “This isn’t going to benefit consumers at all.”

 

Card companies have predicted card users will pay higher fees and get lower perks and “points” for free travel and discounted merchandise.

[John from Riverside]

Im not proud of it but overuse of credit cards and paying the minimums did me in with the new laws about the amount of the minimums going up....

 

I was forced to file bankruptsy to be able to keep my house not too long ago.......the septic system failing and having to come up with the cash for that accompanied with my poor choices in using credit did me in.......

 

When I do come out of my 5 years I dont even want to look at a credit card even if it was offered to me......