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] <mailto:[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]
<mailto:[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]
<mailto:[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 <http://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]>
[mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Edmund Cramp
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 2:14 PM
To: '[email protected] <mailto:[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
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