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Post by LFC on May 18, 2021 12:56:34 GMT
We recently cancelled all of our credit cards with Citibank (or Shitty Bank as Bill Maher calls it) due to sketchy actions and the inability of customer service (virtually all with heavy Indian accents so offshored) to grasp the situation or even provide us with the most basic information.The summary is that somehow the first name on one of our cards was changed by somebody or some system. Customer service couldn't/wouldn't tell us what the new name was or when it was changed. Actually they didn't seem to have the ability to tell us much of anything and just seemed befuddled. This occurred with more than one rep. We actually told the last one that if they didn't provide answers on what happened we'd close all of our accounts. That didn't even get us bumped up a level to somebody who might be a little less clueless.
The other issue was that we received notifications about a card number had been changed several years ago due to suspected abuse. While no charges appeared the account was suddenly being treated as active. WTF?
It's bad enough that the info can get into the hands of criminals but when customer service just provides a collective "DERP!" it's too dangerous. Citi is history for us and we're keeping a close eye on the remaining cards we have. BTW Capital One has been rock solid for us.
And on an interesting side note our credit ratings didn't really budge from the cancellation of the cards. We'd read multiple sources that said retiring credit limit could adversely impact your score but that wasn't the case for us. Others' MMV.
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Post by indy on May 18, 2021 13:04:42 GMT
I've generally had good luck with Capital One which I originally got for their cash back offer. Besides the cash back, which is great, their customer service has been really good (but slow, oh well). I get prompt notifications of charges and frequent communications verifying them. Pretty happy with them. I have Chase for the 5% back on Amazon, but haven't really had any interactions with them, so  ? |
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pnwguy
Associate Professor
Posts: 1,447
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Post by pnwguy on May 18, 2021 13:40:34 GMT
The various affinity, air mileage, and cash back cards raise consumer prices on everyone. The merchant fees vary based on the card type, and those things cost businesses an ever increasing amount. Issuers look like they are generous, but it's from shaking down everyone else. So cash purchasers are subsidizing credit card use at ever higher rates. Merchants can't tack on fees, per the card acceptance agreements. That's why places like gas stations have "cash discounts". But apart from fuel, I don't know that I've seen other retailers offer discounts for cash.
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Post by LFC on May 18, 2021 13:44:15 GMT
But apart from fuel, I don't know that I've seen other retailers offer discounts for cash. This is a very fuzzy memory but I thought that it was illegal, though that might be at the state level. |
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Post by Bact PhD on May 18, 2021 14:07:51 GMT
Hmmm.
Oddly enough, my 3-decade-plus relationship with Citibank has been decent WRT their CC service. Our hiccups in recent memory have tended to be with the local credit union, who issued Chem PhD’s cards. It started last month when we received notice that they were changing from VISA branded to MasterCard branded (Citi had changed mine about a decade ago).
Long story (and getting longer), to be continued shortly…
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AnBr
Associate Professor
Posts: 1,818
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Post by AnBr on May 20, 2021 3:48:52 GMT
I have heard a lot of complaints about Chase. I guess it is a matter of your-mileage-may-vary, but my checking and most of my cards are with them and have had few problems. Few to no hidden fees and have not had any nasty surprises. Support has always been good. I don't use my AE card enough to say. Discover on the other hand can be a pain.
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Post by Bact PhD on May 21, 2021 22:24:15 GMT
Our hiccups in recent memory have tended to be with the local credit union, who issued Chem PhD’s cards. It started last month when we received notice that they were changing from VISA branded to MasterCard branded (Citi had changed mine about a decade ago).
Long story (and getting longer), to be continued shortly…
We received the notice that the credit cards issued by our local credit union were changing from VISA to MasterCard branding; in due course Chem PhD received the new MC, activated that, and destroyed the old VISA card. About a week later we received both a phone call and an e-mail from "Fraud Protection" concerning questionable charges, and to call a particular 800 number (not the CS one on the statement). The initial phone call to CS indicated no unusual activity, so we didn't think anything more of it. The very next day, we received a package we did NOT order, the name was butchered slightly, and a call to that establishment revealed that at least it wasn't some sort of subscription, but a one-off charge...to the supposedly dead VISA card. Hello CS AGAIN! This time, the operator transferred Chem over to the Fraud unit, whereupon it was discovered that there were multiple bogus charges (cigar store charges for $200 even??) totaling several hundred dollars. He was told that all the bogus stuff would be taken off the bill...well and good.
The MC statement came early last week. The balance from the old card simply showed as "balance transferred from...XXXX". Over and above that, not only was there yet another small-dollar charge that got taken off, but still ANOTHER charge from the cigar outfit!! Hello, CS AGAIN!!! The upshot -- THAT MC got cancelled and he would be sent a new one, which he received and activated yesterday. When he activated the new card, he checked the online account and the latest round of bogus stuff got taken off. I am guardedly optimistic we're at the end of this fiasco.
Naturally, it was late last week that we were sitting down to book our vacation lodgings...thanks goodness our CC accounts are completely separate.
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Post by indy on May 22, 2021 16:08:39 GMT
Anybody heard of triangulation fraud? I hadn't until it happened to me.
Ordered something from ebay used. It came direct from an on-line retailer and it was brand new in box. So, naturally, a thought bubble with question marks appears over my head.
A little research and I discover this is what happens: the ebay seller orders whatever product you buy from them from a third party with a stolen credit card and has it shipped to you. Since you get a product (typically better than the one you actually ordered) there are no complaints to ebay about the seller and in fact they get a great reputation and the money from you gets released to them. Meanwhile, eventually, the bogus credit card company catches wind of a fraudulent charge to the card and revokes it. Now the retailer has to eat the cost of the product they sent you because 1) you paid for it to the ebay fraudster and 2) you didn't even order it from them in the first place.
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Post by LFC on May 22, 2021 16:37:48 GMT
Our hiccups in recent memory have tended to be with the local credit union, who issued Chem PhD’s cards. It started last month when we received notice that they were changing from VISA branded to MasterCard branded (Citi had changed mine about a decade ago).
Long story (and getting longer), to be continued shortly…
(cigar store charges for $200 even??)
It's easy to drop that on a single box of premiums, and not super high end premiums at that. One of my go to cigars is La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse. They run over $300 for a box of 24. (I don't smoke very much so I rarely buy boxes, usually just 5-packs.)
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Post by Bact PhD on May 22, 2021 17:36:14 GMT
(cigar store charges for $200 even??)
It's easy to drop that on a single box of premiums, and not super high end premiums at that. One of my go to cigars is La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse. They run over $300 for a box of 24. (I don't smoke very much so I rarely buy boxes, usually just 5-packs.)
It wasn’t the amount per se that hit me (we don’t smoke at all, so I have no concept of cigar prices). The establishment, although “cigars” is in the name, also sells miscellaneous other merch (think NASCAR, eg). When I said $200, I meant $200.00 on the nose, not $198.97 or $204.70. And to get more than one normal transaction (unless it’s gift cards being purchased) with that sort of smack-dab, even dollar amount, was just a bit off. |
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Post by Bact PhD on May 22, 2021 17:42:40 GMT
Anybody heard of triangulation fraud? I hadn't until it happened to me. Ordered something from ebay used. It came direct from an on-line retailer and it was brand new in box. So, naturally, a thought bubble with question marks appears over my head. A little research and I discover this is what happens: the ebay seller orders whatever product you buy from them from a third party with a stolen credit card and has it shipped to you. Since you get a product (typically better than the one you actually ordered) there are no complaints to ebay about the seller and in fact they get a great reputation and the money from you gets released to them. Meanwhile, eventually, the bogus credit card company catches wind of a fraudulent charge to the card and revokes it. Now the retailer has to eat the cost of the product they sent you because 1) you paid for it to the ebay fraudster and 2) you didn't even order it from them in the first place. Eek. Going Hmmmm over here. |
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Post by goldenvalley on May 22, 2021 19:07:52 GMT
Anybody heard of triangulation fraud? I hadn't until it happened to me. Ordered something from ebay used. It came direct from an on-line retailer and it was brand new in box. So, naturally, a thought bubble with question marks appears over my head. A little research and I discover this is what happens: the ebay seller orders whatever product you buy from them from a third party with a stolen credit card and has it shipped to you. Since you get a product (typically better than the one you actually ordered) there are no complaints to ebay about the seller and in fact they get a great reputation and the money from you gets released to them. Meanwhile, eventually, the bogus credit card company catches wind of a fraudulent charge to the card and revokes it. Now the retailer has to eat the cost of the product they sent you because 1) you paid for it to the ebay fraudster and 2) you didn't even order it from them in the first place. I have not heard of that. I wonder if that can happen with Amazon. |
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Post by indy on May 23, 2021 0:07:38 GMT
Yes. Amazon and Ebay are the main two.
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AnBr
Associate Professor
Posts: 1,818
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Post by AnBr on May 23, 2021 0:49:13 GMT
Amazon Marketplace I assume.
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pg
Grad Student
Posts: 89
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Post by pg on May 23, 2021 23:49:20 GMT
indy, I have to agree with you on Cap 1. Been with them for decades. Not once, even during the time of pandemic "shift", I have always been taken care of very well.
Now? They do tall you all about how you can use your rewards points on other sites- Amazon a feature but others that aren't great. Time was, I would just opt for the check in the mail, but at least in my city/neighborhood mail delivery got a bit wonky. So I choose to simply use it to pay of a bill, when the rewards get big enough. Then I charge, pay it off with points once the charge goes pending and I show "responsible use" of credit.
It costs me exactly nothing to utilize the credit. So I'm satisfied
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