On Sat, 25 May 2002, Sam Ewalt wrote: > > You can't just send them a check. You have to give them your > > credit card number. > > This just goes to show how different people can be. I'd rather > pay for occasional long distance phone calls than give out my > credit card number to a "free service". I hate the very idea > of it. I just don't trust 'em. I feel almost as strongly about this > as some people feel about spam.
I know what you mean. I'm trying to sign up for a beta test of a new home roaster. The importer wants me to e-mail a CC number on which to charge a $50 down payment now, and the balance once the roasters arrive from Taiwan. The kicker is that the reply came to me written on Outlook Express! Now, I REALLY want to be in on this beta test... but let's see... I'm supposed to send a credit card number via e-mail to someone who will read (and even store?) it in Outlook Express??? I don't think so! It did bug me some to give my cc number to access-for-free given that they use an IIS server, but at least it's a secure server... for whatever that's worth. Also, I have a card with a very low limit that's the only one I ever give online. Given that I really can't afford to be offline for any length of time, the one-time charge of $4.95 for free back-up access seemed a reasonable benefit for that risk. Giving your cc number online is always a risk. Each person has to decide for himself if the risk of the transaction at hand outweighs the gratification of shopping online... then again, many people don't even weigh risks. They just blindly trust that giving a cc number is secure. Oh, to be so "innocent" huh? ;-) (BTW, somewhere along the line, the scales tipped, and now more women make online purchases than men... though this certainly doesn't hold when it comes to people who roast their own coffee. This online market is still dominated by men... to the tune of more than 82%) -- Steve Ackman http://twoloonscoffee.com (Need green beans?) http://twovoyagers.com (glass, linux & other stuff)
