I love my AMEX too - and here's why:
Some year ago, at a show in Barcelona, I put my computer bag down and turned my
back on it for about 20 seconds while I was setting up my booth - this was
inside a supposedly "secure" exhibition area limited to attendees only - the
bag disappeared together with my wallet, credit cards, green card, social
security card, and drivers license (plus laptop and about $400 in cash etc
etc)...
When I calmed down and started called the credit card companies to cancel the
cards, Visa told me that without my credit card number they could not do
anything to help me until I returned to the US and reported the theft.
American Express found my credit card within seconds, asked me a bunch of
questions to prove that I was who I claimed to be and then offered to send me a
new card, cash and provided me with the address of the US embassy, the hours
the embassy was open, and instructions about what I'd need when I got there to
get a green card reissued and travel docs to re-enter the USA (this was post
9/11 so it was not simple) - they also told me to get my butt over there ASAP
as the next day (a Friday) was a holiday in Spain and the the embassy would be
closed Friday through Monday.
I'd add that whenever I've had cause to call American Express on the phone I've
always spoken to someone who not only understands English, but speaks it too.
Edmund Cramp
--
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Dustin Puryear
Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 9:30 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [brlug-general] A cautionary tale
I love my AmEx!
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Jarred White
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 10:14 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [brlug-general] A cautionary tale
And also why no one takes Amex :P
On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 10:57 AM, Petri Laihonen <[email protected]> wrote:
Additionally, Every time you dispute something with the credit card, no matter
how small of an amount, the seller have to pay penalty fees. 10yr. ago they
were $25. today probably a lot more.
This is why smaller businesses prefer to work with you instead.
P
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 9:37 AM, Tim Fournet <[email protected]> wrote:
One piece of advice that I have for situations like these, is to always keep a
credit card that has purchase protection, and make large purchases using that
card. So what if the interest charges are high, pay it off as soon as you get
home. I've had to deal with similar problems with non-tech-related purchases
where the store refused to honor their own return policy. After calling
American Express and explaining the situation, I was not required to pay the
balance for the purchase and then I just had to figure out what to do with the
merchandise. Thanks to Craigslist, I turned a profit on the whole thing.
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 8:36 AM, Mark A. Lappin <[email protected]> wrote:
I've had similar experiences with BestBuy; got the laptop I wanted to
purchase, it was whisked away to the GeekSquad to be checked and I went DVD
hunting. Go to check out and they just assumed I wanted everything
installed....so that was a fight. For a variety of reasons, I went back about
3 hours later to return it (the person who insisted that he leave town with a
laptop that day, didn't like it, didn't even look at the computer, just the
box!). Had a 2nd `nice' discussion with the manager when they wanted to
charge me a restocking fee on an opened product, which I had never even taken
out of the box.
ML
Mark A. Lappin, CCNA, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator | Lee Michaels Fine
Jewelry
Director of Information Technology
11314 Cloverland Ave | Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Ph: 225.291.9094 ext 245 | Fax: 225.368.3675 | Mobile: 225-362-2770
www.lmfj.com
This communication is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended
recipient, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of
this communication .
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Edmund Cramp
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 2:14 PM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: [brlug-general] A cautionary tale
Yesterday I needed a 64-bit machine running Windows 7 - I looked around on-line
and found a cheap little Lenovo laptop at Office Depot for $399 - OK, so I'll
get it and swap it out with the sales demo machine once I'm done testing the
64-bit installers that I'm writing and my daughter can have the old laptop (a
Toshiba running Vista) for Christmas. New machines all round - everyone's
happy.
It looked like the local (Millerville) Office Depot had the Lenovo in stock so,
five minutes later I'm up there, credit card in hand. Turns out they did have
it, but it was the floor model - they jumped on the phone (nice folks there,
very helpful) and they found on at the Cortana Mall store and sent me there.
I get to the Cortana Mall Office Depot, introduce myself (I should point out
that I'm wearing a new pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt that says, "Go Away -
or I will replace you with a very small shell script") and after five minutes
the manager turns up with the laptop, boxed and ready to go. I hold my hand
out to take it. He doesn't offer me the box and the conversation starts;
OD: "What are you going to do with this machine?"
ME: (thinks, "none of your damn business") but sweetly, "I'm writing an
installer and I need to test it in a standard 64-bit environment"
OD: "It this Business or Home use"
ME: "Business"
OD: "You'll be needing a copy of Microsoft Office then"
ME: "No Thanks, I just want a standard machine without any other software"
OD: "What about editing documents, you'll need a copy of Word"
ME: (thinks, "When did EMACS go out of fashion?"), No thanks, I just need a
basic machine."
OD: "What about Outlook for emailing?"
ME: "No thanks, I just need a basic machine - nothing else."
OD: "This system has no Anti-virus software, you'll need Anti-virus software"
ME: "No Thanks, I won't be connecting it anything - look, can we just take it
as read that you've tried to sell me all the software that you're required to
try and sell me, and that I've refused to buy anything?"
OD: "We are required to tell you all of this when you buy a system - if this is
for business then you'll need a copy of QuickBooks"
ME: "No thanks, I just need a test machine without any additional software"
OD: "We offer a service to setup the computer and install all your software"
ME: "No thanks, I don't need anything other than the operating system."
OD: "We can set the computer up for you and remove all the bloat ware and
unwanted software"
ME: "No thanks, I can do that"
OD: "If this is for Business then you'll need the extended warranty"
ME: "No thanks, I don't need an extended warranty"
Buy this time we've crawfished over to the register and he hands the box to the
girl at the register who smiles at me and says, "Cool T-shirt"
OD: Loudly, "Fetch me the LIMITED 14 DAY WARRANTY labels" and then to me, "This
machine only has a 14 day warranty"
ME: (Thinking WTF 14 days!), "Why such a crappy warranty period?"
He sticks their standard limited 14-day return policy label on the box - that's
standard, they've done that for years, and says, "We don't make these machines
and at this price we limit the warranty to 14 days"
I think to myself, "If I can't debug the script in two weeks than I need
another job."
So I paid for it and left the store, never to return to the Cortana Mall Office
Depot store - EVER.
And getting the laptop back to the office, inside there's a little thank you
note from Lenovo with a card saying that I have their standard 2 year warranty.
It boots, it runs like a charm ... unlike my 63-bit installer script - but
that's another story.
Regards,
Edmund Cramp
--
Motion Lab Systems, Inc.
15045 Old Hammond Highway, Baton Rouge, LA 70816 USA
Tel: +1 (225) 272-7364 | Fax: +1 (225) 272-7336
Web: http://www.motion-labs.com
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
--
"The world's my oyster, a hotel room's my prison cell..."
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
