Cancelling a credit card...
This'll make you think twice about getting a credit card.
I had an American Express that I used for a good year or so for my business, J & G Consulting. Didn't really have any gripes with it. Earned points for rewards, etc.
Then apparently the "free" year expired, and they charged me $90 for an annual charge. Methinks not. So I called 'em up and told them to drop the charge, and to do so permanently, or else cancel the card. They were totally unwilling to budge, so I cancelled. End of story.
Or so I thought.
Last week, I received an envelope from American Express. Didn't concern me. They've been trying to get me to accept another card. Told 'em no way.
However, when I opened this one, it said that I had a balance of $18! Now I'm in shock. From what?! Looking through the statement showed that GoDaddy.com, a company I use to manage my Internet domain names, slipped through the cracks when I got people off using that AE card. But in this case, not only did they try to use my old AE card, AE gave them a valid authorization!! Then they had the gall to get me to try and pay the bill.
I called them up to find out just what the hell happened. Why would they approve a transaction on a cancelled credit card? They told me that just because it's cancelled doesn't mean it's not possible to charge something on it.
That little blurb instantly dropped me off in PissedOff Land at an amazing speed. I got a supervisor on the phone who promptly told me that they recommend I contact everyone who had that account # and give them a different credit card to use. Excuse me??
I then took up residence in PissedOff and settled in for a long stay. I ripped them a new one. How dare they charge something to a cancelled account (it had been cancelled for 7 months) and then expect me to pay for it!! But you know what? At no point in time did they ever say, "I'm sorry sir, that should have never happened."
Moral of the story? If you cancel a credit card, make damn certain that it is "officially" cancelled and no one can charge anything to it. If American Express does it, you'd better believe that other companies will do it, too.
I had an American Express that I used for a good year or so for my business, J & G Consulting. Didn't really have any gripes with it. Earned points for rewards, etc.
Then apparently the "free" year expired, and they charged me $90 for an annual charge. Methinks not. So I called 'em up and told them to drop the charge, and to do so permanently, or else cancel the card. They were totally unwilling to budge, so I cancelled. End of story.
Or so I thought.
Last week, I received an envelope from American Express. Didn't concern me. They've been trying to get me to accept another card. Told 'em no way.
However, when I opened this one, it said that I had a balance of $18! Now I'm in shock. From what?! Looking through the statement showed that GoDaddy.com, a company I use to manage my Internet domain names, slipped through the cracks when I got people off using that AE card. But in this case, not only did they try to use my old AE card, AE gave them a valid authorization!! Then they had the gall to get me to try and pay the bill.
I called them up to find out just what the hell happened. Why would they approve a transaction on a cancelled credit card? They told me that just because it's cancelled doesn't mean it's not possible to charge something on it.
That little blurb instantly dropped me off in PissedOff Land at an amazing speed. I got a supervisor on the phone who promptly told me that they recommend I contact everyone who had that account # and give them a different credit card to use. Excuse me??
I then took up residence in PissedOff and settled in for a long stay. I ripped them a new one. How dare they charge something to a cancelled account (it had been cancelled for 7 months) and then expect me to pay for it!! But you know what? At no point in time did they ever say, "I'm sorry sir, that should have never happened."
Moral of the story? If you cancel a credit card, make damn certain that it is "officially" cancelled and no one can charge anything to it. If American Express does it, you'd better believe that other companies will do it, too.
posted by Jeff and Gilly | 10:43 AM
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