AOPA credit card --- WARNING.

"mike regish" wrote in message
news:Cy8qd.574458$mD.362961@attbi_s02...

Paul stated them.


Paul was misinformed. What he posted was incorrect.



I really don't need to restate them, do I?


You may be able to copy and paste them, it's unlikely you could state them
yourself.



Osama who?


Bin Laden.

Don't bet on it.

Do they still let you push tin?

mike regish

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...

"mike regish" wrote in message
news:Cy8qd.574458$mD.362961@attbi_s02...

Paul stated them.


Paul was misinformed. What he posted was incorrect.



I really don't need to restate them, do I?


You may be able to copy and paste them, it's unlikely you could state them
yourself.



Osama who?


Bin Laden.

Mike V. wrote:

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Mike V." wrote in message
newsd1qd.675986$8_6.344569@attbi_s04...

Let me try to explain this to you even though you are clearly too damn
stupid to understand: some people do not have enough money to get by, let
alone some extra cash to set aside for emergencies.

GET IT??

I get it. And there are people who are in poor financial situations
because they've made poor decisions. Do you get that?


So making poor decisions is an excuse for allowing corporations to screw
people over double when they are down? There is a limit to everything, and
the credit card co's have crossed the line. Joe Public deserves the same
sort of protections the credit card co's have been given by congress to ****
the average consumer.

You signed the agreement. If they are doing something outside the
agreement, then, yes, the government should step in. If they aren't,
then they aren't screwing you or anyone else. You screwed up by signing
and agreement before you read it. This is a really simple concept, I'm
surprised you find it hard to understand.

Matt

Mike V. wrote:

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...

So making poor decisions is an excuse for allowing corporations to screw
people over double when they are down?

That's not the issue.


It absolutely is the issue. This is just another example of how this country
is ruled by faceless corporations instead of real people. Could you imagine
how much backlash small business owners would experience if they used the
same sort of strong arm tactics on their customers? They can't do it because
they do not have the money to lobby for protections the corporations are
routinely awarded by congress. Ever seen how little tax these large
corporations pay?.... a **** load less than I pay in my (small) business.

What protections are credit card companies getting? Oh, you mean the
protection that they get by having a contract signed by YOU. Yes, the
government shouldn't let them have people sign contracts.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote:

One lesser known fact about credit card companies is that they will
screw
the VENDOR far more readily than they will their customers.

has American Express or Diners Club done the same to you?
(just curious)


We'll never know -- I threw BOTH of them out right after we opened, after
they tried to charge us 5% for each transaction. (The other cards --
Visa, Mastercard & Discover -- charge us "only" 4% for the privilege of
"working" with them.)

Given this, why don't people like yourself offer discounts for cash any
longer? Seems like less use of credit cards would be to your advantage.
Are there other reasons that make credit cards convenient from the vendor
viewpoint?

The fact that many people don't have the cash to buy good or services with
them is all the reason you need to accept credit cards. Few
companies/businesses can get away with shunning credit cards these days.
You lose business if you don't accept them.

this should be obvious.




Matt

Matt Whiting wrote in
:

snip
I agree that better cooperation with our allies will help. However, I
don't consider people who were taking oil money from Saddam to be our
allies as some other people do. So, not having the French onboard is a
plus in my book, not a minus.

Everybody had a use for Saddam at some point in recent history... Even us.

I would like to see the moderate Arab countries brought into the fold
somehow, but I think that is unlikely to happen no matter what we do.
I think the only solution will come when the oil wells in the middle
east dry up and there is no longer money to fund terrorism on more than
a local scale.

I guess for me, getting countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to fess up and
clean house would be a start...

I agree with you completely - the best solution is to eliminate our
dependency on their oil one way or the other (finding an alternative fuel
source will work too) and their power will quickly diminish...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Nlspd.150701$R05.147436@attbi_s53...
Kinda timely since PBS's Frontline had a show on credit cards last
Tuesday.
Very eye opening, it seems that a couple of Supreme Court decisions allow
credit card companies to charge whatever interest rate they want and to
raise the interest rate on money already on the balance.
Most of the credit card holders interviewed had never read or didn't
understand the "fine print" in their card contracts.

One lesser known fact about credit card companies is that they will screw
the VENDOR far more readily than they will their customers.

Over the past couple of years we have had a handful of guests with
guaranteed reservations not show up at the inn, who were charged for one
night's stay. Two of them simply called their credit card companies and
disputed the charge -- at which point the credit card company immediately
credited them and charged us back, no questions asked!

It was then up to US to "prove" to VISA that the guest had stayed with
us -- which, of course, they had not. Despite the fact that these
guests insisted on "guaranteed reservations", despite the fact that we had
pre-authorized their stay on their credit card, despite the fact that we
had mailed post cards to their home, reminding them of their
reservation -- and despite the fact that we followed VISA's own procedures
for no-shows to the letter -- we were totally helpless, and had to eat the
bill. No amount of documentation or phone calls mattered to VISA.

THAT is the real credit card scandal that is sweeping America right now --
but no one outside of the industry knows (or, quite frankly) cares about
it. But we ALL pay for scumbags like these in the end.

That is unfortunate, but did you really "lose" money? The card companies
make the money from the card holders, not the vendors. If no service was
received then you can't charge. Now this then gets into a discussion of a
"confirmed reservation" rather than a "regular reservation."

I would not go so far as to say it is a scandal or that they are scumbags.
Surely they are inconsiderate, but I think you overstate the case.

Did you have to clean the room when they didn't show up? Did you turn away
other guests? What you discuss is all part of the service industry. When
you are in that business you (hopefully) understand that you have to deal
with people and you cannot always choose your clients, though I suppose that
would be nice. Until that day comes, i am afraid you will have to deal with
all types of people and with the standard business practices.


--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article Fuspd.85361$V41.50473@attbi_s52, Jay Honeck
wrote:

Here's another credit card mystery: Why the hell does ANYONE use any card
but Discover? Everyone else charges to use their cards, while Discover
actually PAYS you to use their card -- yet they are a distant third or
fourth in the industry.

If you pay your balance off each month, you wouldn't. But if you're
carrying a balance, that changes things considerably. My Disocver
"pays me back up to" 1%, while at the same time charging me 14.99% in
interest. If I put the same purchase on my MasterCard, I'm paying 6.9%
a.p.r.

Unless I pay the Discover off almost immediately, I come out far ahead
using my lower-interest MasterCard.

Someday, if I ever actually make some money in this business, I won't
need to worry about interest rates. That day's not here yet. :-)

--
Garner R. Miller
ATP/CFII/MEI
Clifton Park, NY =USA=

"Dick" wrote in message ...

That is unfortunate, but did you really "lose" money? The card companies
make the money from the card holders, not the vendors.

You couldn't be more wrong. Credit card companies charge the 'vendors'
a fee for each and every transaction. I fought with VISA for four months
over a disputed charge where they gave credit to the card user and refused
to refund the transaction fee they charged me.
The so-called customer used a credit card to sign up two people for a
conference. I paid the conference center based on a head count that included
him and his wife. I showed VISA the signed contract that put a date limit on
refunds. The customer did not provide any proof that they had ever
cancelled, much less on or before the cancellation date. VISA refused to
honor the charge and left me holding the bag. We no longer accept credit
cards for conference registration. I put most of the blame on the scumbag
deadhead.
Have you never noticed signs near cash registers that deny the use of a
credit card for sales below a minimum purchase? Have you never noticed some
'vendors' will offer a discount to customers that pay cash?

Did you tell them that if they didn't show they would be responsible for
one night's payment.

Yes. Over and over, abundantly. With a guaranteed reservation, we'll hold
the suite all night.

The six home Iowa Hawkeye Big Ten football games are our biggest weekends of
the year. Rates go up 30%, and a two night minimum stay is required -- and
we still turn hundreds of people away. It's what gets us through the long,
dead winter ahead.

Just a few weeks ago a woman booked the Red Baron Suite for both nights, and
we pre-authorized the entire weekend's amount on her credit card.
Everything went through VISA just fine, we told her about the 7 day
cancellation policy (on football weekends, we demand a week's notice, so
that we are assured of re-booking the suite in the event of cancellation),
and we mailed her a reminder postcard, outlining what she had agreed to do.

When she didn't show up on Friday night of game weekend, we held the suite
open for her all night long -- turning away dozens of potential guests. I
called her first thing Saturday morning, and received no answer. I left her
a personal message, telling her that we were holding her "guaranteed" suite
for her, and held my breath.

She never showed up again Saturday night.

Ten days later, she called, spitting mad that we had charged her for ONE
night's stay. (I ate the other $150.) She just wouldn't hear of how
wounded WE were, and called me every name in the book. She then picked up
her phone, called her credit card company, disputed the charge -- and they
immediately reversed our charge AND charged us a $15 "processing fee" to
boot.

We are now in the middle of "the paper chase" with VISA -- but I guarantee
we will lose the battle even though we followed standard procedure to the
letter.

There is no honor among thieves, and what she did to us is no different than
if she had stolen a DVD player from her suite. Yet under the new credit
laws, VISA credits her -- and docks us -- no questions asked.

What VISA is now being allowed to do to their vendors under the guise of
"fairness to the customer" is going to destroy the credit card system in
America. (Which may not be a bad thing.) EVERY consumer is going to pay
more because of scumbags like this woman, and actions like hers will become
more widespread as more deadbeats discover this new way to "beat the
system."

By the way -- in case anyone is wondering, we've never been ripped off by a
pilot. Pilots ALWAYS leave clean suites, ALWAYS tip the housekeepers, and
ALWAYS put gas in the courtesy van when they're done.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"