Reader Anthony was robbed at knifepoint by a jerk with a 10″ blade, but his real complaint is that he feels that AT&T is robbing him again. After he filed a police report and told AT&T that his new iPhone had been stolen, they told him that since he already bought an iPhone he no longer qualified for the subsidized price of $199.
credit cards
Don't Let Credit Blocks Eat Up Your Available Balance
By 8.30.08
Hotels and rental agencies like to carve out the full cost of their services on your credit or debit card before you pay in full. This credit blocking can catch anyone who sticks near their minimum or maximum balance off guard when they try to use their card. Inside, learn how to keep retailers from unexpectedly clogging your credit and debit cards with unwanted blocks.
eBay To Be Credit Card, PayPal Only
By 8.29.08
The word is that eBay is banning checks and money orders, and buyers will have to use PayPal or (if the seller has a credit card merchant account or an account with a service called ProPay), credit cards.
Update: EEEPC Return A Recursive Hellhole
By 8.28.08
Mike writes in with an update on what he’s doing to get his Asus EEPC fixed. We think his number one way to solve the problem is to activate the extended warranty protection on his credit card. His reply to that is, “My credit card has an extended warranty but since it is still in warranty with Asus, that can’t help.” Not that we want to embarrass Mike, but since this can help other people, I need to point out that this isn’t true.
Consumers: We're Mad As Hell And We're Not Going To Charge It Anymore!
By 8.28.08
Once upon a time, Peter Finch won an Oscar for telling us to go to our window, open it, and yell, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore!” Now thousands and thousands of consumers are doing just that, but instead of yelling out their windows, they’re yelling at the Federal Reserve in the form of a record breaking number of public comments about some proposed credit card reforms. Not as sexy as yelling like a madman, but far, far more effective.
WaMu's Inability To Mail Letters Costs Man $3,400
By 8.27.08
Wamu’s fraud department has a problem sending letters. Just like another reader, Kristin, we posted about, Rob is having trouble disputing fraudulent charges on his account. He followed their every instruction, except to respond to the second letter WaMu sent out. How could Rob do such a foolish thing? Because it never showed up in his mailbox, a point, WaMu seems to think, is owing to, not their incompetence, but Rob’s general lassitude and weakness of character. Or something like that. Here’s Rob’s story…
Do You Want To Save 10% By Opening A Target Visa? Just Kidding!
By 8.27.08
Reader Nancy says that Target rejected the 10% coupon she received for being a Target Visa card holder. When she asked why, the cashier told her it had probably been used, but had no more information.
EECB Scores $100 Direct Hit On United Airlines
By 8.26.08
It took a little negotiating but reader Noah was able to get United Airlines to honor the agreement that their CSR made, despite the fact that it was a violation of some kind of deeply sacred policy.
Use Snowball Method Spreadsheet To Pay Off Debts
By 8.26.08
Do you have so many credit cards that you could sew a pair of pants from them? Confused as how to get rid of them? Try this handy Excel spreadsheet to generate a custom strategy for becoming debt-free.
Meet Leverage Connections, King Of The Robocallers
By 8.25.08
Last week we reported that some types of unwanted robocall telemarketing will soon be banned. If you’re on the receiving end of Leverage Connections’ prerecorded harassment—they frequently operate under the generic names “Consumer Services” or “Credit Card Services”—you’ll finally have a way to formally complain to the FTC about them. Why would you want to complain? Because they’re the scammiest, most obnoxious robocall telemarketing company we’ve seen so far—even though what they do is apparently legal.
Russian Mobsters Steal 8 Million Customer Records From Best Western
By 8.24.08
If you stayed at one of Best Western’s 1,312 European hotels since 2007, the Russian mafia now has your credit information! In a nightmarish globalization fairy tale come true, an Indian hacker successfully planted a virus in Best Western’s European computer systems that fed addresses, phone numbers, and credit card details to mobsters in Russia.
Best Buy Employee Arrested For Using Customer Credit Cards
By 8.23.08
A Customer Associate for a Best Buy in Las Cruces, New Mexico, was indicted on Thursday for credit card fraud—three counts of making fraudulent purchases over $2500, three counts of making fraudulent purchases over $500, over 20 counts of falsely signing credit card slips, and 1 count of disposing of stolen property.
Watch Out For These 5 Overdraft Traps
By 8.20.08
Banks need your money. They’re not doing too well on their own, and you’re not screwing up enough to generate the fees they need to make their shareholders happy. That’s why they’ve set up sneaky ways to maximize your every mistake—or in some cases, ways to change the rules so that you make new mistakes where you didn’t before—in order to penalize you. Here are five things SmartMoney says to watch out for.
5 Questions To Determine If Frequent-Flier Credit Cards Are Worthwhile
By 8.17.08
As the value of frequent-flier miles continue to free-fall, it’s worth asking whether you should ditch your frequent-flier credit card. The Times posed five questions to help you decide if it’s time to switch to a different rewards program.
By 8.15.08
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As of August 5th, Alaska Airlines no longer accepts cash on its flights. In their words, welcome to “the convenience of a cashless cabin. Passengers will no longer need to hunt for cash to pay for on board purchases.” Finally! All that cash flitting around the cabin hurting people is a thing of the past. [Personal Finance Weblog]
6 Back To School Money Lessons For Little Consumerists In Training
By 8.15.08
Ah, children. We know you’re trying your best not to mess yours up, but teaching kids about money is hard. If it wasn’t, this credit card would not even exist. So what do you do?
What To Do When Citibank Charges You Interest On A Zero Balance
By 8.15.08
A Consumerist reader was surprised to find that Citibank had applied a finance charge on a zero balance account. She did what every good Consumerist should do: prepared her evidence, jumped quickly ahead to a live person on the Customer Service side, and resolved the issue. Here’s what happened:
