why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

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Johm221122
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why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by Johm221122 »

Bought one of them products you see on tv :oops: , they charged me but never sent product After repeated calls, I called capital one.They gave me products phone number that they had and told me to call.They flat out refused to help.Called capital one back and explained situation. In less than 3 hours had email saying my money was refunded. Thank you capital one. It does pay to use credit card
John
Last edited by Johm221122 on Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Wizard
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Re: why it pays to make purchases wit a credit card

Post by The Wizard »

Credit Cards are especially valuable for that reason for Travel related expenses, especially those which might require payment a few months prior...
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FireSekr
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Re: why it pays to make purchases wit a credit card

Post by FireSekr »

Don't forget the price protection...some cards will allow give you back money if you buy something and price drops within x days....also extend the warranty.

And have to value the points. You can easily get 3-4% value out of the points which is way better than nothing you'd get with cash or debit or the 1% or so cash back cards give
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nisiprius
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by nisiprius »

I've disputed bills with credit card companies about six times in my life, and every single time I got my money back, promptly, and with very little fuss.
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dianna
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by dianna »

+1 for ease of disputed costs.

One time, we were about to leave on a trip for London when noticed a $3000+ USD purchase delivered to a PO box in Brussels... apparently, someone ordered him/herself a nice bicycle for "back in the day" 2001 prices!

No worries - - VISA looked into the fraudulent claim while we were in London (we told them we were going there so they advance-okayed transactions in London proper and the nearby vicinity) and had no issues. Still couldn't trace how the CC# was taken in the first place, but thrilled that VISA dealt with the problem as professionally as they did.
wholeinone04
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by wholeinone04 »

AMEX is the best IMO when it comes to disputed charges. They will generally instantly credit the disputed amount and then investigate haha.

I challenged a transaction with Chase and the guy that called me wanted to do a 3 way call with the business. I said excuse me you have gotta be f&*in kidding me and told him to figure it out and hung up. To his/Chase's credit, they did actually end up reimbursing me haha
SimonJester
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by SimonJester »

I've had the same results with a debit card, disputed a purchase I never received, money was credited before I was off the phone with the banker.

FYI when a debit card is run as a credit card it carries the same protections...
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grabiner
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by grabiner »

SimonJester wrote:I've had the same results with a debit card, disputed a purchase I never received, money was credited before I was off the phone with the banker.

FYI when a debit card is run as a credit card it carries the same protections...
This works for a purchase that you made and disputed; you may not have the same legal protections, but most banks grant the same protections for both debit and credit cards.

But if you have an unauthorized charge on your debit card, or a duplicate charge, the money is gone from your account until you receive the statement listing the charge. And since you don't know that it is gone, you may bounce a check; your bank will probably waive the bounced-check fee, but you have to deal with the payee.
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btenny
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by btenny »

They are also a great lever to get hotels and motels to really check their records and reverse incorrect charges. I used to travel a lot and had huge bills for rooms and rental cars and so forth every month. I used mostly one Master Card CC but had 2-3 others that got some of the action. At least once or twice a year I would get incorrectly billed for a extra night or some TV movie or some mini-bar stuff etc.. It was easy to get these charges corrected when the hotel was told I would call my CC company next if I did not get satisfaction.

I think I have only actually disputed charges twice with the actual CC company and both times they reversed the charges immediately. It was great.

Bill
SimonJester
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by SimonJester »

grabiner wrote: This works for a purchase that you made and disputed; you may not have the same legal protections, but most banks grant the same protections for both debit and credit cards.

But if you have an unauthorized charge on your debit card, or a duplicate charge, the money is gone from your account until you receive the statement listing the charge. And since you don't know that it is gone, you may bounce a check; your bank will probably waive the bounced-check fee, but you have to deal with the payee.
I guess this would be true if you receive paper statements, however with online banking you can know the instant they hit the card. I receive an email for each charge as it hits the card / account. So you can dispute the charge it shows up, your bank might want to wait until it fully posts.

When a debit card is used as cc, it is run though the credit card network (visa, MC, etc) and carries the fraud / protections offered by that network . When run as a debit transaction it is run through your banks ATM network and carries the protection you bank offers on ATM / debit transactions.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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Johm221122
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by Johm221122 »

My niece came from out of town and her car had problems.She only had about half the amount ($200) to fix, I told her to give me the cash and I'll pay for it on my card.We went back the next morning to pick up car and the storm we had that night knocked out phone/internet at there shop, so we could not pay.I had put her money in my bank and sent it to credit card by bill pay and I only keep $150 cash in bank.I called credit card company and they immediately told merchant to give them there merchants number and we were taken care of immediately and merchant payed in minutes


Just thought I share story, cc company came thru in pinch
John
Batousai
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by Batousai »

Cash back is the best reason to use a credit card IMHO. Purchase protection is handy, and so is being able to make an emergency 10,000$ expenditure if you need to w/o having to move money around first.
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Just sayin...
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by Just sayin... »

My personal reasons for using credit cards vs cash:

-Cash Back
-Virtual Account Numbers for internet vendors where cash use is impossible - keeps vendors from "subscribing" me against my will
-Purchase protection / Disputing charges
-Emergency "just in case" money (haven't needed this yet)

I pay both cards off every month and strictly track charges against my budget, so it's basically cash with an advantage for me. But it requires discipline...
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zaplunken
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by zaplunken »

My credit card doubles the warranty period when purchased with the card.
ralph124cf
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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by ralph124cf »

On several occasions my bank has called me to ask if I was making a particular credit card purchase, because it did not fit my profile. On a couple of those occasions I did actually make those purchases, but on other occasions the purchase was not mine and the card was immediately cancelled and reissued.

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Re: why it pays to make purchases with a credit card

Post by crowd79 »

I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred card on a recent trip to Costa Rica. I reviewed all my purchases after the trip online and noticed I was overcharged at a local mom & pop convenience store in Manuel Antonio. I knew I had just bought a snack and beer for $4.32 but the charge showed up as $43.20 on my statement. Called Chase and disputed the transaction. No problems whatsoever getting it resolved.
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