Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mastercard

The card's out there, and it's play or get played?

Fuzzy Dunlop — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:09:36 -0800

Amazon incorrectly charged a little-used credit card $79 and we stupidly missed it for a few months. What's the best way to deal with the credit card company and Amazon? (Apologies for the long story, but I wanted to make sure to include all the details.)

My wife and I are Americans, but live overseas and, as a result, see our American mail not all that often. A couple of months ago Amazon.com randomly charged my wife $79 for an Amazon Prime membership, despite the fact that she never enrolled in Amazon Prime and knew nothing about it. The charges went on a MasterCard that hasn't been used in years, and, since we don't see the bills frequently, we didn't know anything about the charges until months after the fact. When we did find out about this, the bill was months overdue, with late payment and finance charges added and reports sent to the credit ratings agencies.

So my wife called the credit card company (it's a Citizens Bank Mastercard, which I guess is run by RBS) to dispute the charges. The customer service people basically refused to do a chargeback, told her that she had no choice but to pay the bill on the spot (which she did, over the phone), and told her that if she wanted to do a chargeback she would have to call Amazon and collect some proof that she had not made the purchases herself.

Then she called Amazon, who agreed almost immediately that she had not enrolled in Amazon Prime. They also agreed to refund the cost of all charges incurred to the credit card, including all the late fees and finance charges, as long as she first paid the bill and sent documentation of the charges.

After that she called the card company back, told them what Amazon had said, told them that she was disputing the charges and, as a result, wasn't going to pay the bill (payment of which had been post-dated). The card company representative, a manager, after giving her a hard time about not paying the bill, told her they would cancel the charges and late fees, but could do nothing about the finance charges or knock to her credit rating.

We realize that we bear some responsibility for not looking at the bill enough, but the card company's response still sounds pretty weak to me. The one other time I had to do a chargeback (for a fraudulent purchase on my account) the card company (a different one) was incredibly helpful and reasonable. So I wonder if, in fact, we're getting played by the card company here.

So what's the best way to proceed? Should we suck it up, pay the bill, and hope for Amazon to pony up the refund for all the charges? Should we push the card company take care of it, and if so, how do we push them? Is there anything to be done about negative credit reports and should we really worry about them at all when the rest of our credit history is totally clean? On the one hand, this is a small amount of money, on the other hand, on principle, it seem to me that the card company could be treating us better.

Are shops allowed to add a fee for paying by credit card instead of cash?

wastelands — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:39:19 -0800

Does it go against Visa / MasterCard / etc. policy for a retail store, such as a restaurant or coffee shop, to add a charge to your order if you use credit rather than paying by cash? While it's incredibly common, I have heard that it goes against policy, and the store could actually risk punitive action from the credit card company if they were found out. True?

US bank account outside the US

saysthis — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:52:12 -0800

Assuming I'm a US citizen with no bank account, what's the best way to obtain a debit card, bank account, or credit card within the US? I'll need it for online ID verification, online ordering, paypal, and the other standard slough of uses a debit card is good for. I haven't been home to the US in years, and I haven't used my debit card in ages. The bank, probably rightfully, has placed my account on hold until I can show up in person at a branch to withdraw cash. I still haven't fully investigated my options there, but from the phone calls I've made, it seems like they mean it, and it looks like it'll just have to stay that way until I find my way back to the States again, which likely won't be for awhile.

In the meantime, I'd like to start picking up freelancing work outside China, where I am. China has silly currency and reporting restrictions that I'd really rather not deal with. The easiest way to facilitate this, then, is with a USD paypal account, online bank account, or some other payment system that I'm not familiar with. I'd also like to order things online, obviously, which China's local Unionpay doesn't do very well outside the mainland. If I'm not in the US to apply directly, though, I'll need some form of online application.

Ideally, I'd like a Visa or Mastercard debit card tied to a bank account that I can apply for and manage from here. I can use my parents' address in the States and have them forward my mail if need be. What are my options?

Send us your credit card number by e-mail

devnull — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:59:47 -0800

Why is it that so many non-chain hotels take credit card numbers by e-mail ("you can split it over two e-mails for security"). Do the credit card companies not know this?

Am I a horrible person for reporting my local pizzaria for charging an extra credit card fee?

UMDirector — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:40:18 -0800

I just reported a local small business for adding a fee to my credit card for its usage. Am I a horrible person? A local pizza place just started a fifty cent fee for using a credit card. This is in clear violation of their agreement with MasterCard so I reported it on the MC violation page but now I feel rather tool-like.

I want to support the small guy but:

1) They already charge a $1.50 delivery fee, which I am okay with
2) They will lose probably $30 a week from me if I stop going there since I won't use my card and don't carry cash.
3) That being said if they get smacked for it I may save them other lost customers who would get annoyed by the fee.
4) They have the option to just stop taking cards (for example they do not take Amex)

I feel like my actions may be justified but am having issues pitting the massive corporation against small mom-and-pop over my convenience. I am just sick of places making me buy more to hit a "minimum charge" or charging a fee. The way I bank pretty much means I rarely have cash (outside of emergency cash) so this hits me often.

So am I horrible or have I done them or society a favor?

Credit Auto-Renew

weapons-grade pandemonium — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:14:51 -0800

How common and/or ethical is the practice of auto-renewing a credit card subscription payment without authorization? I signed up for a three month subscription to a popular dating website, and expected it to lapse after that time. But no, it continued, and another charge was debited to my MasterCard. At no time did I authorize the auto-debit of my card. I phoned MasterCard to stop payment, but they said my dispute should be with the website (which I have also asked to reverse the charge). What are the ethics/legalities of this negative option practice? What is the best way to handle this?

Can unsavory purchases end up on a FICO score?

zek — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:11:59 -0800

Is there any credible possibility that credit card purchases of unsavory items (beer, cigarettes... well I don't smoke but you get the idea) might make their way indirectly onto a FICO score or be found out by lenders? Standing at the liquor store with a six of Boddingtons I can't help wondering if I should be paying cash.

How can I get some disposable credit card numbers to use online?

calhound — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:47:14 -0800

Is there an easy and effective way to buy a disposable credit card number online? Short story is I want to get a subscription to NewspaperArchive.com but apparently it's one of those companies that is unresponsive about cancelling. I refuse to give my credit card info out to dirtball companies that do that. Sadly their product is good and has no competition, and my local library's database offerings for pre-1995 newspapers is rubbish.

I'd like to use my credit card with a trusted merchant to put $38 on a disposable credit card and give that to NewspaperArchive, so that if I decide not to continue the subscription the auto-rebill will get rejected.

What's a good way to do this without signing up for credit cards or with megabanks? Is there an online Paypal-type operation that would give me some disposable Visa or MC numbers for a small fee? And do problems ever arise when they validate the card? (such as address verification not being valid on a disposable card)

How to avoid foreign transaction fees

ZenMasterThis — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 09:33:54 -0800

MasterCard or Visa with no foreign transaction fees? I'm doing a lot of international (outside of U.S.) travel lately and I'm tired of me and my company getting ripped off for "foreign transaction fees." Anyone have experience good/bad with MasterCard and/or Visa without these fees?

Credit card annoyance - why ask what kind?

Fupped Duck — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 08:23:44 -0800

All Amex cards start with a 3
All Visa cards with a 4
All Mastercards with a 5.

This much is a fact, with no exceptions so why does every single customer service agent ask me to declare which card I'm paying with just as I'm about to submit my account number? Eliminating this dumb question would free up zillions of man/woman hours and help the economy. Is the age of automation really as fupped duck as it appears or is there a secret reason for wasting everyone's time this way? (See also the automated request for account number while you wait for a human to come on the line and ask you again for the same information already just submitted)

Is there any establishment in the US, or country or region around the world, that accepts Visa or Mastercard but not both?

werty — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 15:13:40 -0800

Is there any establishment in the US, or country or region around the world, that accepts Visa or Mastercard but not both?