Yep, Michael, we have all heard these horror stories and given your experience, I can see why you have a sour taste in your mouth for any credit card. If that had been my experience, I would no doubt feel the same way. I don't carry any balances on credit cards and you can pay them on line now, from your checking account, so you no longer have to worry about lost checks, delayed mail, non-receipt, etc., etc. Over the last yr I have purchased over $10k worth of camera gear. When the Fed's decided the individual states could require merchants to charge sales tax on merchandise shipped out of their states, I, like everyone else, was not happy. My purchases amounted to $800.00 in sales tax, the amount of which was not required to be taxed for out of state shipments, until the ruling came down. So, enter B&H, with their Pay Boo card, last yr, offering every transaction through B&H crediting back your sales tax. This yr., I will probably be spending upwards of $20k on camera gear. In my state, that would require around $1600.00 sales tax be collected. That is not chump change, so as long as B&H continues this policy, I will take advantage of it, knowing I can purchase a lot of gear with that much money. I am not trying to change your mind, understanding your prior negative experience dictates how you now purchase your gear but, for some of us the Pay Boo system works great. Good luck to you and I understand your position, perfectly.The reason I stopped messing with them at all was due to the way CitiBank did back in 2001 after 9/11 and then the Antrax mailer.
Without telling anyone, they stockpiled their mail (including my payment that had been mailed two weeks before it was due) in a warehouse in Nevada claiming they couldn't open it due to the possibility of their workers being exposed to Anthrax. When my check had not cleared two days before it was due I called their customer service line and asked for a street address so I could FedEx them another check. The CSR assured me since I had never been late with a payment they would waive the late charge if it was a few days late. What he did not say was that they were going to jack my interest rate from 2.9% to 26%, report me to the credit bureaus for one late payment (that had been in their possession before it was due), and cause a domino effect on every card I carried going from low single digit interest rates to near 30%. Admittedly, at the time I had recently been on the verge of being overextended but with the low interest rates was on track to whittle the balances down in only 3-4 years until my interest rates ballooned and the minimum payments tripled yet still didn't even cover the interest at 26-28%.
It ruined my financial life for the next 5-7 years. Only months later did the news come out that they had stored a months worth of mail the USPS had delivered without opening it.
I refuse to ever give any of them another chance to claim they didn't receive a payment and then screw me over like that again. Never.
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