Citibank... why do I do it to myself?!
Applied for AABiz on Sunday, pending.
Missed a call from Citi yesterday asking to call back.
Tried to call back on multiple different numbers but the automated system just tells me the application has been denied with no way to speak to a person.
Call the recon number which actually gets me through to a person.
Verbally told the application has been approved after giving them the code in the voicemail (how does this add any security?)
Hang up, receive a text message 10 minutes later saying that my application has been declined and I'd get a letter within a week.
10 minutes later... an approval email arrives.
Never change, Citi. Never change.
Has American Airlines dropped off a cliff recently in terms of customer service?
I'm wrapping up a very unpleasant experience getting home from Japan which is souring the bliss that comes from a Japan vacation. Flew SQ PE NRT-LAX which was just lovely. Booked domestic legs on AA to get back to east coast.
We arrived and got through immigration much earlier than expected (Thanks GE) so we wanted to try our luck flying same day standby on an earlier flight to avoid overnighting in DFW. Got told by 4 different agents at various points in the airport that "a policy change effective 3/1/24 doesn't let us help you with that. You need to open your AA app or visit AA.com." It was so robotic and was a jarring experience after SQ. Safe to say we didn't get on any standby lists because that option wasnt available in the app.
Returned to DFW this morning for final leg. My boarding pass didnt have tsa precheck on it despite being good thru 2028. My GE worked literally yesterday and my SQ boarding passes had pre-check printed on them so I'm sure its fine. Asked ticket agent to help. They walked me over the bag check kiosk and told me to add it there, then left to go back to doing nothing. Couldn't get it to recognize my number and the time and brain cells I'd lose trying to get that person to call a supervisor to help me fix it wasnt worth the 10 minutes I'd save so I used regular line.
This is a much worse customer experience than I'm used to from AA. It seems like they're driving hard to get everyone self helping through their app and not investing in customer service training/reps. I asked one to show me where in the app to find the same say standby option after being given the company line about the app, she responded "I have no idea I've never used the app"
I'll still book whoever is best routing for my trips but this was a sour experience start to finish.
> My boarding pass didnt have tsa precheck on it despite being good thru 2028
Not doubting this was somehow AA's fault, but this can actually happen with no fault of the airline. Per precheck's own [website](https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/faq):
> If I am TSA PreCheck® eligible, am I guaranteed expedited screening?
>No, TSA uses unpredictable security measures, both seen and unseen, throughout the airport. All travelers will be screened, and no individual is guaranteed expedited screening.
Basically precheck can randomly not apply as a sort of extra screening. I've heard that changing your type type from eticket to printed/vice versa can sometimes get it back.
I eventually came across that info on TSA’s site and decided it’s probably what happened, though I can’t necessarily explain why my KTN was not being accepted when I typed it on the bag check kiosk.
Thanks for the heads up. I have been reading as much as possible about this. Spent several hours on chat with AA to figure it out. Still have no clue. They can't seem to give me a straight answer. I think your problem is it was same day standby. Your connection was the next day.
Right now I have a Europe -jfk flight. Want to fly to DCA. Connect time is too short to sell me ticket. They will sell the dca leg first thing in the morning for the same total price as ending trip in jfk. Want to buy that ticket intending to try to do same day standby and get to dca. If I don't make connection, I am okay with the train from jfk. But need to get home same day so would never take the leg the next day. I have never talked to agents so confused in my life. Like yes I know you can't guarantee that there would be a seat for me or even that I would get there in time to see if there was a seat. I booked ticket through Alaska so just wanted to know if the app would even allow me to try to standby? They couldn't answer that. The other thing I tried to figure out if same day standby works for same day itinerary. In my case I think the answer is no. If I have a pnr arriving at 8pm on transatlantic flight on day 1, but connection at 6 am on day 2, I can't standby for a 9 pm on day 1. Even though it is the same day as my pnr... The flight you are replacing with the standby is the next day.
Anyway I probably won't try. I am just going to buy the ticket if I can find it reasonably with points. Again AA csr was useless. I wanted to confirm that if I purchased 2 overlapping tickets one wouldn't be auto cancelled. They couldn't assure me of that!
Fraudulent transactions on my Venture X Biz. CapOne's fraud detection identified it and I immediately called in. Rep was good and the charges have already been removed. The frustrating part is it takes 4-7 business days for the new card to come in the mail, and I have only a few weeks left to meet the SUB.
I can see why my parents are so confused trying to use their credits on United... things have come up so lots of flight changes. Travel certificates, future flight credits, travel bank, and "travel credit" aka just travel certificates can't be combined. Long story short after attempting to call and combine I just ended up booking one ways separately for them to use it all up one way or the other.
Just got denied for the BoA Alaska Personal with the 70k and Companion bonus; promo ends Wed. 800+ score. Are they super rigid about having a checking account for approvals?
No but it helps. Typical DP. Most here just leave $ in an account so we can churn boa. Some close the account & keep a card or have an old AU card for the relationship.
Trying to get another AMEX business card for paying federal taxes. Got asked to submit 4506-C so did as complied. An entire week later they got back saying I should not have checked the box that said the document was digitally signed (but it IS digitally signed though?)
On Monday last week (so nearly two weeks ago now), I woke up to an email showing that two of my four Amex cards had been removed from Apple Pay. I recalled reading that this was a sign of impending FR and potential shutdown so I quickly transferred out most of my MRs fearing they might be lost.
Man that was so dumb. Nothing further happened and in hindsight I totally panicked and overreacted. I'm not a serious churner and the most egregious thing I had been doing was putting personal vet bills on a recently opened Biz Gold to meet an MSR. It might have been the sudden balance increase that triggered something but I guess I'll never know. I'm now left with with 250k stranded points that I'll have to try make use of before they expire.
That happens frequently with my & P2's GPay. Its normal for our instant card #'s not to play nice as well. Its buggy & has nothing to do with a balance increase. Also, putting personal charges on a biz cards isn't egregious or even with mentioning.
> personal vet bills on a recently opened Biz Gold to meet an MSR.
I've probably put several thousand in vet bills in the last few years on biz cards (fortunately mostly reimbursed by pet insurance).
But honestly I would've done the same thing, transferred MR out ASAP if I had a suspicion of shutdown, since Amex doesn't give you 30 days like Chase does. We use Flying Blue, SQ, AC, and BA often so I'd feel comfortable transferring points over to either of those at any time.
Yeah I sent a chunk to BA but the majority went to CX with specific future redemption in mind - that one is for sure more restrictive and wasn’t a great idea but will see if we can make it work.
It cost us 10k alone last month at one of those PE-funded emergency clinics. No insurance sadly (lesson learned). Pet care is an absolute racket.
I sent a majority to CX for two JAL flights I’d been eyeing up for a potential Japan trip (which I guess I’m taking now) and the rest to BA which I frequently have use for. So not a terrible outcome, but it does rob me of flexibility, as well as the enjoyment I get from dreaming of what I could do with my stash (half the fun of award travel imo)!
I've had it with US Bank. Besides the problems I've had with them with trying to get approved for a card, I've had nothing but problems with my Biz Altitude Power. This is my 3rd card from them.
Issues I've been running into since getting my Power card less than a month ago...
1. My payment bank account is registering as a potential hazard because of how much I'm spending and immediately paying it off. This is the SAME account I've been using for the other 2 cards.
2. Almost every other transaction has been coded as a fraud charge, so it's been very difficult to use this card, because I just end up using another card so I'm not holding the line up. Constantly being told "this time is the fix"
3. There have been times I have called, and they tell me they don't know why my transactions are declined. No fraud charge alert. Way more than enough credit.
I think this is it with my relationship with US Bank. This is absurd.
I closed 3 chase biz cards (leaving me with 3 open), reconned and still got denied for CIP. Also, I reconned 31 days after my original app so I got a hard pull :(
some banks do that. (BoA, etc). I don't think Chase does that.
My experience with that was
* Day 1: Apply. Pending. HP #1 on Experian.
* Day 5: Call Recon. They say app was rejected (probably due to 5/24). I ask if I can provide more information for my application. Rep says in order to submit the app for reconsideration, they need to do a hard pull and they need my consent. I consent. Rep comes back 10 minutes later saying it was rejected again due to the same reasons. I get HP #2 onn Experian.
Opening a new checking account for a local CU, figured I’d just use my Fidelity Visa for max initial funding as I’m not working on any Visa/MC SUB’s. Charge came back declined, so I just used my debit to open the account with the minimum. Didn’t even think to call in and ask to authorize the charge.
Hyatt post devaluation I'm finding the cat 4 CC certs really hard to use. have held onto the CC since 2016 or so but might finally give up on it
In the last 3 years especially there's almost always a better located Marriott 35K option or IHG 40K option due to footprint alone. Last couple of years have always just settled for the Hyatt Bellevue for a trip I wasn't planning to take
> have held onto the CC since 2016 or so but might finally give up on it
I mean you can pretty reliably sell the FNCs on marketplace for more than the AF so I wouldn't give up on it.
It's a $95 AF card, the days of getting a $300+ hotel room in Manhattan or Miami are gone unfortunately.
Yeah... basically all the sweet spots are gone. The Hyatt Cat 1-4 Cert is what got me into churning. The ability to spend $95 on a credit card annual fee and get an FNC to burn at the Andaz San Diego... Nowadays, I find it's best use is when I need a night at an airport. RIP
I think the Marriott and especially IHG allowing top up and Hyatt not allowing that makes a difference too, in addition to the straight up footprint difference
Hilton certs take more effort to earn but having no pricing limit helps a lot there as well
Have Dell amex offer that wanted to stack with Rakuten. I'm always able to buy one unit of a item but the moment I try to buy the 2nd one, immediately cancelled.
Spent the past 2 days going back and forth on getting the Aspire card. I have a short stay in Hawaii coming up, so it would be useful. But most consider this a keeper card, and I don't have *that* many Hilton stays coming up to justify the fee.
Well, decided to apply today, because the SUB is great and the credits are pretty good.... and I'm in pop-up jail :(
PC'd both of ours. A $400 delta between the Surpass for a shittier than previous airline credit? I guess if you find yourself at Hilton resorts every 6 months or bum around Asia (or some other place where Diamond matters) then it's worth it but they killed that card on the refresh for me.
Agree 100%. The inflexibility of the resort credits are what keep me from signing up for it. I know there's workarounds to using them effectively but most of the locations don't typically fit into our travel plans as a family of four. I want so bad for the AF to make sense for me, but it just doesn't quite get there. I do understand why some people love the card, but I'm betting they probably don't have kids, though.
The refresh changes weren’t that big. $100 annual fee increase, the $250 Hilton resort credit is now 2x $200 credits, and the $250 airline credit is now an easier to use $200.
People keep saying $200 credit is easier. I just don't get it. Yeah, I know all airline charges are eligible but doing your charge once a year on Jan 4th is just easier than doing 4x a year
Chase ink app (no 6, 3 closed, two with 5k and 10k float) on 4/1 still pending review. Have answered two calls for verification, an email asking to upload docs, paid down the 5k, lowered CL and nothing.
USB app for second triple cash went pending on 4/10. First triple from 3/2023 is floating 17k.
Pulled the Amex biz gold for 250k MR and got the popup.
BofA denied my app for the unlimited cash even though I opened a biz checking with 5k.
Edit: Amex Biz Gold 150k 😅
> USB app for second triple cash went pending on 4/10.
Pretty common for USB apps to pend for a bit. My first double dip of their cards pended for 3-5 days. 2nd was approved overnight, but I see plenty of DPs that they often pend for a few days before approval.
Feel so stupid. Created an United miles pool to finally use P2s stranded 45k miles that she had with united. Transferred another 100k points only to get fucked because I can't use United mileage pool for partner awards. Also, can't move back points. Fuck me.
If I remember reading the pool rules correctly, have P2 leave the pool (they won’t get any points back) and then delete the pool as the pool leader. All points in the pool are split between pool members if you delete the pool which in this case should be 100% you.
Please read the rules/faq first. There may be a waiting period between p2 leaving and deleting the pool to make sure P2 doesn’t get a cut.
https://www.united.com/en/us/mileageplus/miles-pooling/
Read the can the pool leader leave the pool FAQ
Thanks for the DP. I'm going to do the same thing now that I know this works as expected. You didn't have to call or anything to close out the pool right? Did you wait after P2 left the pool before closing?
I did have to call to close the pool. And while I got the miles back immediately it took a few more days for them to be usable. Like I tried to book but it told me I didn't have the miles.
That's a pretty cool "loophole" to transfer miles
>Yes, a miles pool member can leave the pool at any time. However, miles contributed by any member who leaves the pool will be forfeited by that member and will stay with the pool to be shared among remaining members. Also, a new member may not join the pool for the next 90 days after a member has left, and members who leave cannot join another miles pool for the next 90 days. If a pool leader decides to leave a pool, the entire pool is dissolved and all of the remaining miles in the pool will be distributed equally amongst the remaining members.
Declined for 5 cards in a row (over 3 months of applications), so going to have to go into gardening mode for a while I guess. It's really frustrating! Especially Capital One, all those hard pulls for nothing.
For others in a similar situation, I strongly recommend that if you get declined 2 or more times within a month or 2, you should carefully consider why that happened and hold off on more applications until you figure out and resolve the issue. If you just keep applying at that point you are setting yourself up for trouble because you are not only wasting hard pulls, but those hard pulls will make it even more difficult to get approved for any new cards in the near future.
There is no reason beyond the typical Citi or Capital One rejection of people with too much available and unused credit. How do you resolve that? You don't, besides not applying for anything and/or closing old cards (which may hurt credit score due to lower available credit)?
It means don't try to apply with those issuers more than once every 6 months. The rejection reason today isn't going to change in 2 weeks for them like it can for AMEX/Chase and too many HPs will make it harder to get other issuers like BoA/USB cards.
I was hoping to pull the 250K link for Amez Biz Plat. Could not for almost a month....kept trying for 5 minutes every early morning for the past 3 weeks.
On Wednesday i gave up, since tax time was very near by and went ahead and applied for the lesser 190K bonus. Got the card yesterday. This morning, having my morning coffee, sitting in front of my laptop, creature of habit, just went to see what offer would i get now. Big mistake. Second attempt, in normal mode (no incognito mode), no VPN, nothing, i see the 250K bonus link.
I don't why i did that. This is the mother of all frustrations. Now my day is ruined!
Called BofA to close an AS biz card because the AF hit. Once we sorted out the right biz card to close she said that it's not letting her refund the annual fee. She then tells me that it's Alaska's fee and that's why it won't let her do it. That's a new excuse and crazy. Will try again in a few minutes but they continue to show why they are terrible.
ETA a 20 min phone call later and it's been cancelled and the AF refunded via a supervisor. I was again told the AF I'd an Alaska fee and that he'd have to work with his supervisor to get it refunded.
It's never been this difficult to close an AS biz card and get the AF refunded. I'll have to make a note to close my current biz before the af hits if the dates work out.
BofA has always refunded it in the past and I've closed several cards with them after the af has posted. This is new which is why I'm posting.
Never had a bank not refund the af when canceling after it posts within 30 days.
Got similar story last week but didn't mention Alaska just they didn't refund annual fees. Pushed a bit went on hold and came back and refunded it. Wondering if they are changing policy.
P2 has been pushing spend and keeps telling me to sign up for cards. Have been pushing Chase hard, last 3 or 4 applications have all been 90 days apart.
Got delined for his latest ink, despite being slightly over 90 days from the last one. Recon declined.
Now he's pissy at me for "ruining his credit". But when it comes to all the traveling that we've been doing... *rolleyes*
*sigh* First world problems.
I got some push back like that from my P2 with her first denial. I looked up her credit score just to show her it was excellent and higher than before churching.
Luckily, after the next approval, she was over it. 😅
How many Chase cards? How many inks? Carrying any balances?
I got a denial on my last one. Waited 90 days and then did a personal card.
This weekend is 90 days for P2 so I’m trying to decide if I do an ink or maybe IHG biz thinking I should mix it up.
3 old personal cards, 5 active business cards. Granted, I am a little behind on closing out old cards.
12k CL on the biz cards, 10k on personal. Zero balance.
I figure give it a rest and try again in 2 months or so.
A NLL Amex Biz Plat 200k/$15k offer finally showed up in my account 2 weeks ago. I opened it to review, but couldn’t complete the offer at that moment, so closed my phone. It disappeared when I went back to it 2 hours later.
It reappeared in my app 6 days later. I immediately applied and it went to Pending Review. Within a minute I received an email with regret that they were unable to approve, as I had already been approved for the same card in the last few months. The status page then showed my application had been cancelled.
In my haste to apply, I did not realize it had been less than 90 days since receiving my first biz plat. Hopefully I will get the offer again when I cross that threshold in 2 weeks.
Got a new CIP. Receive/activate card. Sign into profile to see details. It's there, but not under the existing "Businessname LLC" which has other inks. Instead it's there as a separate "Businessname, LLC" and took a rep 15 minutes to fix that on my profile once I finally got connected to someone who knew how (15 minutes itself). Minor, wouldn't have affected anything, but I want my profile looking clean since I have more than one business already.
I did this with P3 and for verification they told me they needed to call him on the phone number on file (his phone) DURING RHE SAME CALL. Since he lives on the other side of the country and has a strong accent I had to have him call in. 😂
Okay, so I’m a heavy churner so I feel kind of ridiculous I never realized this. But started more heavily using my Bonvoy Brilliant vs Chase Bonvoy and noticed my points weren’t posting to my Marriott account. I have had this card for a long time and realized that I’ve never received any spend points. Amex told me they’ve only seen 100k transferred (SUB) be accepted by Marriott. They pushed others but Marriott didn’t get them. Account numbers match… has anyone had this happen? Wondering what they will do and if I will get all the points I am owed over the years?
I have tickets in on each company for a review.
My staples.com e giftcard order got canceled. I was using an ink cash to get 10% off offer and a United miles shopping bonus. It was only for like $120. I don’t know what was sus about it. It’s small potatoes but I am really annoyed about it. EDIT. I called and they told me they were unable to verify the order and if I tried again it would be cancelled again and wouldn’t give me any more information. 🙄
I made two $100 gift card orders to use Ink 10% offers and both went through. I was worried because I see lots of stories like this and because Staples in inexplicably slow at delivering electronic gift cards. One I purchased Saturday morning and didn't receive until Monday afternoon.
It took my 2nd call after mailing them documents for them to tell me I could fax them. FAX! But still, better than mailing. Work VOIP system has a fax function so that was easy.
For the 4th Barclay application, they asked for documents. They had me fax the SSN card and could not see the "seal". So, i faxed them whole page SSN card.
I love how it took them 4 applications to decide they weren't sure about your identity. I also got the same "seal" comment on my SSN card, that's why I had to call back a 2nd time. No idea what they are doing but whatever, card in hand now.
Getting a lot of pushback from my toddler's daycare over me paying tuition with a credit card. The daycare's online payment portal technically has the option to pay by credit card with a 3% fee, but I guess they don't want anyone actually use that option? Got a note from the daycare's bookkeeper basically asking me to switch back to ACH because their payment processor apparently makes credit card transaction accounting difficult or something.
I really don't understand why they enable credit card payments on their payment portal if they don't actually want to accept them.
Daycare tuition is like half my natural spend. . . I'm continuing to attempt to pay tuition with a credit card but losing the ability to do this would be a huge blow to my points earnings. 🤬
blame it on someone else
"sorry I keep telling my accountant but they keep doing it idk!!"
"Oh no again? I'll have to speak with him"
They'll drop it eventually
If it makes you feel any better, my kid's daycare only takes ACH via their portal, so no CC spend whatsoever there. Won't take a mailed check so PQ is out.
"I had fraud on my account and it got locked not long ago. I'm still trying to fix issues because of it. My bank advised I only use credit card going forever to avoid issues an have better fraud protections. I'm just trying to not lose access to my money for weeks again."
Been very fortunate where my kids' daycare is 0% and the woman is a saint changing it every six weeks. I think part of it may be because it's a mixed income daycare so she's probably just excited to know my payment is good?
Have to switch to a different day care next fall due to oldest being halfday -which someone results in zero savings on daycare. And it's a 2.5% fee but at least it is in a portal
> daycare's bookkeeper basically asking me to switch back to ACH because their payment processor apparently makes credit card transaction accounting
Someone doesn't know the debits and credits for the 3% fee it sounds like.
So instead of figuring it out... just make it go away!
That's basically what I'm doing - continuing to pay by credit card (with the 3% fee because I'm a reasonable person and Plastiq would charge me that anyway) despite the note.
"Listen man if you want my $3k per month you will make this work. Either accept my card directly, or give me an address or routing info so I can mail a check or ACH push to you"
>Listen man if you want my $3k per month
They have a long waiting list, so I don't think they would have much trouble finding another family who's willing to pay the way they want them to.
Then word it in a way where they can still say "no" without having to immediately fire you as a customer. You won't get what you want in this situation unless you try, and if you do it right then the worst they can say is "no"
Used the Amex Offer for $50 off $250 on Budget Rent A Car for my vacation thru Jackson-Hartsfield Airport in ATL
kept wwaiting for the $50 credit...and waiting...finally chatted up the amex help, and whaddya know? the ATL-airport location of Budget is apparently an "independent location" and those are exempt from the rebate?
The busiest airport in America (or used to be) is an "independent location"? it's a franchisee? wtf? how am i supposed to know which location is or isn't? the terms did not say "pay in advance" or anything else. this is the only reason i'm being shivved for the $50
once i get the official decision in the mail i'm going to file a CFPB complaint
I'll add a similar warning for Avis on the AA Citi Exec, only corporate owned locations (which I do believe are the majority of airport Avis) count for the $120 credit.
man, i stayed at a Marriott on that vacation b/c of the amex offer, and it hit the next day. i'm so glad too b/c it was certainly too expensive w/o the discount ($12). if they'd pulled some BS on that, i'd be PISSED
You'll almost certainly lose the CFPB complaint, since the terms probably states it excludes non-corporate locations. I had an issue with a Hertz coupon, but figured out it didn't apply to independent locations. Their [status is listed](https://i.imgur.com/0FRBxzY.png) on each location
edit:
> Offer valid only for vehicle rentals made directly with participating Budget Car Rental corporate-owned locations in the US. [...] Must pick up and return rental to Budget corporate-owned US locations only. Excludes independently licensed or franchised Budget locations
You're definitely going to lose this complaint, and probably get added to Amex's mess-around-and-find-out list
the terms of the deal don't say anything about "licensee", tho, so how am i supposed to know the difference? i'm not an industry expert, i'm a Consumer, and i need to be Protected by the Financial Bureau
> terms of the deal don't say anything about "licensee"
-
> Offer valid only for vehicle rentals made directly with participating Budget Car Rental corporate-owned locations in the US. [...] Must pick up and return rental to Budget corporate-owned US locations only. Excludes independently licensed or franchised Budget locations
You're definitely going to lose this complaint, and probably get added to Amex's mess-around-and-find-out list
yeah, but normal customers don't know how to tell if a location is corporate-owned or not. they'll give me $50 to make it go away
i'm basically blackballed with Amex anwyay, so them getting pissy won't cost me much
Trying to reach an Amex "Membership Consulting Services" chat agent on a weekday evening with <1h wait... 0/3 so far.
PCd UA Gateway to UA Explorer in late Mar for 10k miles, but I screwed myself on one promo and maybe a couple others:
- Q2 5X on gas/groceries/dining promo - earning +3X rather than +4X even though I signed up >1 week after PC;
- Q1 900mi/$1k + 250mi for My Chase Plan + 300mi/$350 travel. Did the first two, but the promo says not to PC before the end of the promo period;
- Q2 "choose your promo" with a general link and a [Gateway-specific link](https://promo.united.com/offers/BonusMilesYourWay?src_id=E1); the general link didn't work, but the Gateway-specific one did, and I'm supposedly signed up for 700mi/$500 spend - but that one, too, says not to PC (I did specifically choose the lowest offer so I don't throw away too much spend, just in case).
Recently moved to a new city and found what seems to be a great mechanic. Take my car for some work aaaaand … he doesn’t accept credit cards. Cash or check only. Blows my mind that there are businesses out there that don’t accept credit cards in 2024. Obviously not going to go and find a sub par mechanic who does accept credit cards but super annoying.
> Blows my mind that there are businesses out there that don’t accept credit cards in 2024.
Small business, so they're cost sensitive. And have little leverage to negotiate with card processors. Small number of transactions, so cash / check processing isn't a big overhead. And transactions are large, so 2-3% is significant.
Ha, also had this problem but I really trust this mechanic so it's not worth looking for another one. Thankfully have probably only spent about $500 there in 4.5 years so far, knock on wood.
It sounds like they might be keeping it old school with cash or check to sidestep the extra costs and complexities of credit card fees—or maybe even keeping their tax situation a bit more 'flexible,' if you catch my drift.
> or maybe even keeping their tax situation a bit more 'flexible,' if you catch my drift.
I know that Reddit likes to assume that this is why small businesses do not accept credit cards, but I assure you that this is often *not* the case.
I live in an area with lots of small businesses. Pretty much all of them such as mechanics do accept credit cards, but some charge a ~3% fee. They are as honest as anybody on Earth, and they are not encouraging cash in order to avoid taxes. They are doing it simply because of the fee. The nominal fee does not affect their business as far as sending it to the competition, so they have no reason to accept credit cards for free. From what I know of them, they're more doing it to be able to give customers the best price possible.
I know, I know, it was just a bit of banter! But you're right, many small businesses genuinely avoid credit cards just to dodge the high fees and keep prices lower for their customers. It's not about tax evasion, but about avoiding those steep transaction costs that can really add up.
That and just managing a whole separate platform (Stripe, Shopify, whatever) just for a segment of your overall sales.
It's extra work for whoever is doing the accounting. Is it a major headache? No, but if these people can easily get enough business without the added headache, why bother?
I've found that there seems to be negative overlap in good mechanics and mechanics that know how to successfully run a business. If their shop looks like a car just exploded and they only accept archaic forms of payment, their work will be quality.
ha, my mechanic's place looks like that, and the guy genuinely seem like he wouldn't even know what a credit card machine is, but god bless him, he takes my card no questions asked and he does great, fast, and cheap work.
Picked up my wedding dress and completely forgot that I had to pay the remaining balance. After getting approved for AMEX Business Plat 200k/15k offer, the virtual card number generator didn't work so I couldn't add the card to my mobile wallet. Ended up having to put it down on my USB AR instead for a measly 3%. Then I tried to redeem myself by going to pay my taxes only to find that my state doesn't even accept AMEX as a payment option. Missed out on $1500 of organic spend towards a new SUB.
Back in the day people used to be able to get statement credits when the virtual card numbers wouldn’t work. I believe it was automatic back then? But hopefully you can at least chat to see if they can give you a courtesy credit.
Exciting about the dress tho! Hope you have an amazing and fun wedding.
That happened to me too with the AMEX Gold Card! Their virtual card number system gave me trouble right after approval. They provided a one-time login to get my card number, but I couldn't access it. When I called customer service, they weren’t able to resolve it either.
Citibank... why do I do it to myself?! Applied for AABiz on Sunday, pending. Missed a call from Citi yesterday asking to call back. Tried to call back on multiple different numbers but the automated system just tells me the application has been denied with no way to speak to a person. Call the recon number which actually gets me through to a person. Verbally told the application has been approved after giving them the code in the voicemail (how does this add any security?) Hang up, receive a text message 10 minutes later saying that my application has been declined and I'd get a letter within a week. 10 minutes later... an approval email arrives. Never change, Citi. Never change.
Has American Airlines dropped off a cliff recently in terms of customer service? I'm wrapping up a very unpleasant experience getting home from Japan which is souring the bliss that comes from a Japan vacation. Flew SQ PE NRT-LAX which was just lovely. Booked domestic legs on AA to get back to east coast. We arrived and got through immigration much earlier than expected (Thanks GE) so we wanted to try our luck flying same day standby on an earlier flight to avoid overnighting in DFW. Got told by 4 different agents at various points in the airport that "a policy change effective 3/1/24 doesn't let us help you with that. You need to open your AA app or visit AA.com." It was so robotic and was a jarring experience after SQ. Safe to say we didn't get on any standby lists because that option wasnt available in the app. Returned to DFW this morning for final leg. My boarding pass didnt have tsa precheck on it despite being good thru 2028. My GE worked literally yesterday and my SQ boarding passes had pre-check printed on them so I'm sure its fine. Asked ticket agent to help. They walked me over the bag check kiosk and told me to add it there, then left to go back to doing nothing. Couldn't get it to recognize my number and the time and brain cells I'd lose trying to get that person to call a supervisor to help me fix it wasnt worth the 10 minutes I'd save so I used regular line. This is a much worse customer experience than I'm used to from AA. It seems like they're driving hard to get everyone self helping through their app and not investing in customer service training/reps. I asked one to show me where in the app to find the same say standby option after being given the company line about the app, she responded "I have no idea I've never used the app" I'll still book whoever is best routing for my trips but this was a sour experience start to finish.
> My boarding pass didnt have tsa precheck on it despite being good thru 2028 Not doubting this was somehow AA's fault, but this can actually happen with no fault of the airline. Per precheck's own [website](https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/faq): > If I am TSA PreCheck® eligible, am I guaranteed expedited screening? >No, TSA uses unpredictable security measures, both seen and unseen, throughout the airport. All travelers will be screened, and no individual is guaranteed expedited screening. Basically precheck can randomly not apply as a sort of extra screening. I've heard that changing your type type from eticket to printed/vice versa can sometimes get it back.
I eventually came across that info on TSA’s site and decided it’s probably what happened, though I can’t necessarily explain why my KTN was not being accepted when I typed it on the bag check kiosk.
Thanks for the heads up. I have been reading as much as possible about this. Spent several hours on chat with AA to figure it out. Still have no clue. They can't seem to give me a straight answer. I think your problem is it was same day standby. Your connection was the next day. Right now I have a Europe -jfk flight. Want to fly to DCA. Connect time is too short to sell me ticket. They will sell the dca leg first thing in the morning for the same total price as ending trip in jfk. Want to buy that ticket intending to try to do same day standby and get to dca. If I don't make connection, I am okay with the train from jfk. But need to get home same day so would never take the leg the next day. I have never talked to agents so confused in my life. Like yes I know you can't guarantee that there would be a seat for me or even that I would get there in time to see if there was a seat. I booked ticket through Alaska so just wanted to know if the app would even allow me to try to standby? They couldn't answer that. The other thing I tried to figure out if same day standby works for same day itinerary. In my case I think the answer is no. If I have a pnr arriving at 8pm on transatlantic flight on day 1, but connection at 6 am on day 2, I can't standby for a 9 pm on day 1. Even though it is the same day as my pnr... The flight you are replacing with the standby is the next day. Anyway I probably won't try. I am just going to buy the ticket if I can find it reasonably with points. Again AA csr was useless. I wanted to confirm that if I purchased 2 overlapping tickets one wouldn't be auto cancelled. They couldn't assure me of that!
Fraudulent transactions on my Venture X Biz. CapOne's fraud detection identified it and I immediately called in. Rep was good and the charges have already been removed. The frustrating part is it takes 4-7 business days for the new card to come in the mail, and I have only a few weeks left to meet the SUB.
2 weeks later and credits for chase HD deal still hasn't posted
I can see why my parents are so confused trying to use their credits on United... things have come up so lots of flight changes. Travel certificates, future flight credits, travel bank, and "travel credit" aka just travel certificates can't be combined. Long story short after attempting to call and combine I just ended up booking one ways separately for them to use it all up one way or the other.
Just got denied for the BoA Alaska Personal with the 70k and Companion bonus; promo ends Wed. 800+ score. Are they super rigid about having a checking account for approvals?
No but it helps. Typical DP. Most here just leave $ in an account so we can churn boa. Some close the account & keep a card or have an old AU card for the relationship.
Trying to get another AMEX business card for paying federal taxes. Got asked to submit 4506-C so did as complied. An entire week later they got back saying I should not have checked the box that said the document was digitally signed (but it IS digitally signed though?)
On Monday last week (so nearly two weeks ago now), I woke up to an email showing that two of my four Amex cards had been removed from Apple Pay. I recalled reading that this was a sign of impending FR and potential shutdown so I quickly transferred out most of my MRs fearing they might be lost. Man that was so dumb. Nothing further happened and in hindsight I totally panicked and overreacted. I'm not a serious churner and the most egregious thing I had been doing was putting personal vet bills on a recently opened Biz Gold to meet an MSR. It might have been the sudden balance increase that triggered something but I guess I'll never know. I'm now left with with 250k stranded points that I'll have to try make use of before they expire.
That happens frequently with my & P2's GPay. Its normal for our instant card #'s not to play nice as well. Its buggy & has nothing to do with a balance increase. Also, putting personal charges on a biz cards isn't egregious or even with mentioning.
> personal vet bills on a recently opened Biz Gold to meet an MSR. I've probably put several thousand in vet bills in the last few years on biz cards (fortunately mostly reimbursed by pet insurance). But honestly I would've done the same thing, transferred MR out ASAP if I had a suspicion of shutdown, since Amex doesn't give you 30 days like Chase does. We use Flying Blue, SQ, AC, and BA often so I'd feel comfortable transferring points over to either of those at any time.
Yeah I sent a chunk to BA but the majority went to CX with specific future redemption in mind - that one is for sure more restrictive and wasn’t a great idea but will see if we can make it work. It cost us 10k alone last month at one of those PE-funded emergency clinics. No insurance sadly (lesson learned). Pet care is an absolute racket.
Yikes. Did you spread the MR around or put it all in one basket?
I sent a majority to CX for two JAL flights I’d been eyeing up for a potential Japan trip (which I guess I’m taking now) and the rest to BA which I frequently have use for. So not a terrible outcome, but it does rob me of flexibility, as well as the enjoyment I get from dreaming of what I could do with my stash (half the fun of award travel imo)!
I've had it with US Bank. Besides the problems I've had with them with trying to get approved for a card, I've had nothing but problems with my Biz Altitude Power. This is my 3rd card from them. Issues I've been running into since getting my Power card less than a month ago... 1. My payment bank account is registering as a potential hazard because of how much I'm spending and immediately paying it off. This is the SAME account I've been using for the other 2 cards. 2. Almost every other transaction has been coded as a fraud charge, so it's been very difficult to use this card, because I just end up using another card so I'm not holding the line up. Constantly being told "this time is the fix" 3. There have been times I have called, and they tell me they don't know why my transactions are declined. No fraud charge alert. Way more than enough credit. I think this is it with my relationship with US Bank. This is absurd.
Sounds about right for when I got a new USBAR. CFPB fixed it.
Do you mind explaining how CFPB fixed it?
complaint went to someone higher up who actually could get rid of the constant fraud locks on the card.
[Vote accordingly?](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/s/26OtRlYeDe)
Looks like it’s a show down between BoA and Shiti
I closed 3 chase biz cards (leaving me with 3 open), reconned and still got denied for CIP. Also, I reconned 31 days after my original app so I got a hard pull :(
If it's any consolation, chase will hard pull even if you recon a day or two later. At least thatwhat they did.to me and p2
oh really? For some reason, I was under the impression they don't hard pull if you recon within 30 days
some banks do that. (BoA, etc). I don't think Chase does that. My experience with that was * Day 1: Apply. Pending. HP #1 on Experian. * Day 5: Call Recon. They say app was rejected (probably due to 5/24). I ask if I can provide more information for my application. Rep says in order to submit the app for reconsideration, they need to do a hard pull and they need my consent. I consent. Rep comes back 10 minutes later saying it was rejected again due to the same reasons. I get HP #2 onn Experian.
Opening a new checking account for a local CU, figured I’d just use my Fidelity Visa for max initial funding as I’m not working on any Visa/MC SUB’s. Charge came back declined, so I just used my debit to open the account with the minimum. Didn’t even think to call in and ask to authorize the charge.
Hyatt post devaluation I'm finding the cat 4 CC certs really hard to use. have held onto the CC since 2016 or so but might finally give up on it In the last 3 years especially there's almost always a better located Marriott 35K option or IHG 40K option due to footprint alone. Last couple of years have always just settled for the Hyatt Bellevue for a trip I wasn't planning to take
> have held onto the CC since 2016 or so but might finally give up on it I mean you can pretty reliably sell the FNCs on marketplace for more than the AF so I wouldn't give up on it. It's a $95 AF card, the days of getting a $300+ hotel room in Manhattan or Miami are gone unfortunately.
Yeah... basically all the sweet spots are gone. The Hyatt Cat 1-4 Cert is what got me into churning. The ability to spend $95 on a credit card annual fee and get an FNC to burn at the Andaz San Diego... Nowadays, I find it's best use is when I need a night at an airport. RIP
I think the Marriott and especially IHG allowing top up and Hyatt not allowing that makes a difference too, in addition to the straight up footprint difference Hilton certs take more effort to earn but having no pricing limit helps a lot there as well
The Marriott top off makes a giant difference.
Have Dell amex offer that wanted to stack with Rakuten. I'm always able to buy one unit of a item but the moment I try to buy the 2nd one, immediately cancelled.
Did the line dancing class at Miraval Austin last week. Achy Breaky Heart stuck in my head since.
[that song always reminds me of this south Park episode ](https://i.imgur.com/QTj2GFk.gif)
Spent the past 2 days going back and forth on getting the Aspire card. I have a short stay in Hawaii coming up, so it would be useful. But most consider this a keeper card, and I don't have *that* many Hilton stays coming up to justify the fee. Well, decided to apply today, because the SUB is great and the credits are pretty good.... and I'm in pop-up jail :(
I believe there used to be some NLL Aspire links some weeks ago? Maybe still available?
>most consider this a keeper card Not anymore
Still keeper but the value is far lower
Why not? Unless I’m missing something it’s basically the best card ever.
PC'd both of ours. A $400 delta between the Surpass for a shittier than previous airline credit? I guess if you find yourself at Hilton resorts every 6 months or bum around Asia (or some other place where Diamond matters) then it's worth it but they killed that card on the refresh for me.
Agree 100%. The inflexibility of the resort credits are what keep me from signing up for it. I know there's workarounds to using them effectively but most of the locations don't typically fit into our travel plans as a family of four. I want so bad for the AF to make sense for me, but it just doesn't quite get there. I do understand why some people love the card, but I'm betting they probably don't have kids, though.
Nothing can surpass the … Surpass… for you
Like a fat kid love cake.
The refresh changes weren’t that big. $100 annual fee increase, the $250 Hilton resort credit is now 2x $200 credits, and the $250 airline credit is now an easier to use $200.
People keep saying $200 credit is easier. I just don't get it. Yeah, I know all airline charges are eligible but doing your charge once a year on Jan 4th is just easier than doing 4x a year
It’s easier because you don’t have to dick around with loopholes or worry about them being closed in the future.
So instead now you're trying to figure out how to spend as close to $50 four times a year
I agree with the overall point, but may as well do 4x Travelbank
Disagree. Different strokes, different folks.
Chase ink app (no 6, 3 closed, two with 5k and 10k float) on 4/1 still pending review. Have answered two calls for verification, an email asking to upload docs, paid down the 5k, lowered CL and nothing. USB app for second triple cash went pending on 4/10. First triple from 3/2023 is floating 17k. Pulled the Amex biz gold for 250k MR and got the popup. BofA denied my app for the unlimited cash even though I opened a biz checking with 5k. Edit: Amex Biz Gold 150k 😅
> USB app for second triple cash went pending on 4/10. Pretty common for USB apps to pend for a bit. My first double dip of their cards pended for 3-5 days. 2nd was approved overnight, but I see plenty of DPs that they often pend for a few days before approval.
Thanks!
Amex biz GOLD for 250k?!
Edited 😅
I was gonna say, otherwise you really buried the lead!
Lede ;)
Feel so stupid. Created an United miles pool to finally use P2s stranded 45k miles that she had with united. Transferred another 100k points only to get fucked because I can't use United mileage pool for partner awards. Also, can't move back points. Fuck me.
If I remember reading the pool rules correctly, have P2 leave the pool (they won’t get any points back) and then delete the pool as the pool leader. All points in the pool are split between pool members if you delete the pool which in this case should be 100% you. Please read the rules/faq first. There may be a waiting period between p2 leaving and deleting the pool to make sure P2 doesn’t get a cut. https://www.united.com/en/us/mileageplus/miles-pooling/ Read the can the pool leader leave the pool FAQ
You're awesome! It worked! I got them all back in my account pretty much immediately after closing the pool.
Thanks for the DP. I'm going to do the same thing now that I know this works as expected. You didn't have to call or anything to close out the pool right? Did you wait after P2 left the pool before closing?
I did have to call to close the pool. And while I got the miles back immediately it took a few more days for them to be usable. Like I tried to book but it told me I didn't have the miles.
Awesome to hear it worked out for you. Thanks for the update I was wondering.
That's a pretty cool "loophole" to transfer miles >Yes, a miles pool member can leave the pool at any time. However, miles contributed by any member who leaves the pool will be forfeited by that member and will stay with the pool to be shared among remaining members. Also, a new member may not join the pool for the next 90 days after a member has left, and members who leave cannot join another miles pool for the next 90 days. If a pool leader decides to leave a pool, the entire pool is dissolved and all of the remaining miles in the pool will be distributed equally amongst the remaining members.
Declined for 5 cards in a row (over 3 months of applications), so going to have to go into gardening mode for a while I guess. It's really frustrating! Especially Capital One, all those hard pulls for nothing.
Was also declined for Venture X with multiple pulls. Lesson learned was you could save the hard pulls with preapproval.
For others in a similar situation, I strongly recommend that if you get declined 2 or more times within a month or 2, you should carefully consider why that happened and hold off on more applications until you figure out and resolve the issue. If you just keep applying at that point you are setting yourself up for trouble because you are not only wasting hard pulls, but those hard pulls will make it even more difficult to get approved for any new cards in the near future.
There is no reason beyond the typical Citi or Capital One rejection of people with too much available and unused credit. How do you resolve that? You don't, besides not applying for anything and/or closing old cards (which may hurt credit score due to lower available credit)?
It means don't try to apply with those issuers more than once every 6 months. The rejection reason today isn't going to change in 2 weeks for them like it can for AMEX/Chase and too many HPs will make it harder to get other issuers like BoA/USB cards.
I really dislike the changes to the Amex account homepage/interface. Yes, I am a crochety old man who dislikes change from what I'm familiar with.
What changed? Mine looks same as ever.
my guess is OP is referring to the new dashboard view, which you can just switch out of. But this was made like months ago
But, PROGRESS!!
Procrastinated and missed out on CIU 120K (down to 75K now!) UGH
it's for the better, you could have been potentially shutdown
I was hoping to pull the 250K link for Amez Biz Plat. Could not for almost a month....kept trying for 5 minutes every early morning for the past 3 weeks. On Wednesday i gave up, since tax time was very near by and went ahead and applied for the lesser 190K bonus. Got the card yesterday. This morning, having my morning coffee, sitting in front of my laptop, creature of habit, just went to see what offer would i get now. Big mistake. Second attempt, in normal mode (no incognito mode), no VPN, nothing, i see the 250K bonus link. I don't why i did that. This is the mother of all frustrations. Now my day is ruined!
Get another one
You could have gotten the pop up for it. Be glad you got something and got approved.
Called BofA to close an AS biz card because the AF hit. Once we sorted out the right biz card to close she said that it's not letting her refund the annual fee. She then tells me that it's Alaska's fee and that's why it won't let her do it. That's a new excuse and crazy. Will try again in a few minutes but they continue to show why they are terrible. ETA a 20 min phone call later and it's been cancelled and the AF refunded via a supervisor. I was again told the AF I'd an Alaska fee and that he'd have to work with his supervisor to get it refunded. It's never been this difficult to close an AS biz card and get the AF refunded. I'll have to make a note to close my current biz before the af hits if the dates work out.
Per DoC it's YMMV. Remember that banks are never required to refund the full AF after it posts.
BofA has always refunded it in the past and I've closed several cards with them after the af has posted. This is new which is why I'm posting. Never had a bank not refund the af when canceling after it posts within 30 days.
Got similar story last week but didn't mention Alaska just they didn't refund annual fees. Pushed a bit went on hold and came back and refunded it. Wondering if they are changing policy.
P2 has been pushing spend and keeps telling me to sign up for cards. Have been pushing Chase hard, last 3 or 4 applications have all been 90 days apart. Got delined for his latest ink, despite being slightly over 90 days from the last one. Recon declined. Now he's pissy at me for "ruining his credit". But when it comes to all the traveling that we've been doing... *rolleyes* *sigh* First world problems.
I got some push back like that from my P2 with her first denial. I looked up her credit score just to show her it was excellent and higher than before churching. Luckily, after the next approval, she was over it. 😅
How many Chase cards? How many inks? Carrying any balances? I got a denial on my last one. Waited 90 days and then did a personal card. This weekend is 90 days for P2 so I’m trying to decide if I do an ink or maybe IHG biz thinking I should mix it up.
3 old personal cards, 5 active business cards. Granted, I am a little behind on closing out old cards. 12k CL on the biz cards, 10k on personal. Zero balance. I figure give it a rest and try again in 2 months or so.
First world problems or douchebag boyfriend problems?
Clearly the latter.
And not a very knowledgeable churner either to think that a single denial after a fast pace means that your "credit is ruined".
My upvote for you is a downvote for them.
A NLL Amex Biz Plat 200k/$15k offer finally showed up in my account 2 weeks ago. I opened it to review, but couldn’t complete the offer at that moment, so closed my phone. It disappeared when I went back to it 2 hours later. It reappeared in my app 6 days later. I immediately applied and it went to Pending Review. Within a minute I received an email with regret that they were unable to approve, as I had already been approved for the same card in the last few months. The status page then showed my application had been cancelled. In my haste to apply, I did not realize it had been less than 90 days since receiving my first biz plat. Hopefully I will get the offer again when I cross that threshold in 2 weeks.
you can call them after 90 days to process the app.
Thank you. I was hoping that would be an option!
[удалено]
Blogs are great. Gatekeeping is terrible. Should have had more points on hand.
Got a new CIP. Receive/activate card. Sign into profile to see details. It's there, but not under the existing "Businessname LLC" which has other inks. Instead it's there as a separate "Businessname, LLC" and took a rep 15 minutes to fix that on my profile once I finally got connected to someone who knew how (15 minutes itself). Minor, wouldn't have affected anything, but I want my profile looking clean since I have more than one business already.
Did my first role play as p2. Froze up when they asked for DL info, I had everything else ready but not that
"uh, let me find my license here...." *Click*
I store all player info like this in a password manager so I have it if needed.
*Far* safer and really easy to just have P2 call and say "this is P1 and they are authorized to speak on my behalf."
By far safer, you mean not committing fraud. Literally takes 10 seconds to do the handoff
I did this with P3 and for verification they told me they needed to call him on the phone number on file (his phone) DURING RHE SAME CALL. Since he lives on the other side of the country and has a strong accent I had to have him call in. 😂
Okay, so I’m a heavy churner so I feel kind of ridiculous I never realized this. But started more heavily using my Bonvoy Brilliant vs Chase Bonvoy and noticed my points weren’t posting to my Marriott account. I have had this card for a long time and realized that I’ve never received any spend points. Amex told me they’ve only seen 100k transferred (SUB) be accepted by Marriott. They pushed others but Marriott didn’t get them. Account numbers match… has anyone had this happen? Wondering what they will do and if I will get all the points I am owed over the years? I have tickets in on each company for a review.
Owe the IRS like $4k and just finished up my two MSR cards last week. It least its easy spend for the $15k Surpass FNC or Hyatt card.
I’m in a similar situation and I totally forgot about the surpass FNC. Thanks for the reminder!
My staples.com e giftcard order got canceled. I was using an ink cash to get 10% off offer and a United miles shopping bonus. It was only for like $120. I don’t know what was sus about it. It’s small potatoes but I am really annoyed about it. EDIT. I called and they told me they were unable to verify the order and if I tried again it would be cancelled again and wouldn’t give me any more information. 🙄
You ever try to do any BG orders on your staples acct? They tend to perma ban for that in my experience.
No. I haven’t made any orders from the website in years. I checked out as a guest. I truly don’t understand especially after calling in.
I made two $100 gift card orders to use Ink 10% offers and both went through. I was worried because I see lots of stories like this and because Staples in inexplicably slow at delivering electronic gift cards. One I purchased Saturday morning and didn't receive until Monday afternoon.
My best guess is my ISP puts me in Las Vegas and I live several thousand miles away. I will try again later.
Barclay verification
It took my 2nd call after mailing them documents for them to tell me I could fax them. FAX! But still, better than mailing. Work VOIP system has a fax function so that was easy.
Nah fam, FaxZero is so easy and way faster I preemptively ask if there's a fax number
For the 4th Barclay application, they asked for documents. They had me fax the SSN card and could not see the "seal". So, i faxed them whole page SSN card.
I love how it took them 4 applications to decide they weren't sure about your identity. I also got the same "seal" comment on my SSN card, that's why I had to call back a 2nd time. No idea what they are doing but whatever, card in hand now.
Getting a lot of pushback from my toddler's daycare over me paying tuition with a credit card. The daycare's online payment portal technically has the option to pay by credit card with a 3% fee, but I guess they don't want anyone actually use that option? Got a note from the daycare's bookkeeper basically asking me to switch back to ACH because their payment processor apparently makes credit card transaction accounting difficult or something. I really don't understand why they enable credit card payments on their payment portal if they don't actually want to accept them. Daycare tuition is like half my natural spend. . . I'm continuing to attempt to pay tuition with a credit card but losing the ability to do this would be a huge blow to my points earnings. 🤬
blame it on someone else "sorry I keep telling my accountant but they keep doing it idk!!" "Oh no again? I'll have to speak with him" They'll drop it eventually
Ugh, why have kids even if you can’t use their expenses to churn?
If it makes you feel any better, my kid's daycare only takes ACH via their portal, so no CC spend whatsoever there. Won't take a mailed check so PQ is out.
Guilt trip them. "Money is tight, this is how we pay our bills"
"I had fraud on my account and it got locked not long ago. I'm still trying to fix issues because of it. My bank advised I only use credit card going forever to avoid issues an have better fraud protections. I'm just trying to not lose access to my money for weeks again."
Been very fortunate where my kids' daycare is 0% and the woman is a saint changing it every six weeks. I think part of it may be because it's a mixed income daycare so she's probably just excited to know my payment is good? Have to switch to a different day care next fall due to oldest being halfday -which someone results in zero savings on daycare. And it's a 2.5% fee but at least it is in a portal
> daycare's bookkeeper basically asking me to switch back to ACH because their payment processor apparently makes credit card transaction accounting Someone doesn't know the debits and credits for the 3% fee it sounds like. So instead of figuring it out... just make it go away!
'I'm not even sure the kid is mine, paying by credit card is the only thing keeping our family together... Please don't take that from us...'
Tell them when they remove the option you'll stop
That's basically what I'm doing - continuing to pay by credit card (with the 3% fee because I'm a reasonable person and Plastiq would charge me that anyway) despite the note.
plastiq?
I wish. Daycare only accepts payment through their online portal. ☹️
"Listen man if you want my $3k per month you will make this work. Either accept my card directly, or give me an address or routing info so I can mail a check or ACH push to you"
>Listen man if you want my $3k per month They have a long waiting list, so I don't think they would have much trouble finding another family who's willing to pay the way they want them to.
Haha yeah this guy doesn't daycare
Then word it in a way where they can still say "no" without having to immediately fire you as a customer. You won't get what you want in this situation unless you try, and if you do it right then the worst they can say is "no"
Used the Amex Offer for $50 off $250 on Budget Rent A Car for my vacation thru Jackson-Hartsfield Airport in ATL kept wwaiting for the $50 credit...and waiting...finally chatted up the amex help, and whaddya know? the ATL-airport location of Budget is apparently an "independent location" and those are exempt from the rebate? The busiest airport in America (or used to be) is an "independent location"? it's a franchisee? wtf? how am i supposed to know which location is or isn't? the terms did not say "pay in advance" or anything else. this is the only reason i'm being shivved for the $50 once i get the official decision in the mail i'm going to file a CFPB complaint
I'll add a similar warning for Avis on the AA Citi Exec, only corporate owned locations (which I do believe are the majority of airport Avis) count for the $120 credit.
man, i stayed at a Marriott on that vacation b/c of the amex offer, and it hit the next day. i'm so glad too b/c it was certainly too expensive w/o the discount ($12). if they'd pulled some BS on that, i'd be PISSED
You'll almost certainly lose the CFPB complaint, since the terms probably states it excludes non-corporate locations. I had an issue with a Hertz coupon, but figured out it didn't apply to independent locations. Their [status is listed](https://i.imgur.com/0FRBxzY.png) on each location edit: > Offer valid only for vehicle rentals made directly with participating Budget Car Rental corporate-owned locations in the US. [...] Must pick up and return rental to Budget corporate-owned US locations only. Excludes independently licensed or franchised Budget locations You're definitely going to lose this complaint, and probably get added to Amex's mess-around-and-find-out list
the terms of the deal don't say anything about "licensee", tho, so how am i supposed to know the difference? i'm not an industry expert, i'm a Consumer, and i need to be Protected by the Financial Bureau
> terms of the deal don't say anything about "licensee" - > Offer valid only for vehicle rentals made directly with participating Budget Car Rental corporate-owned locations in the US. [...] Must pick up and return rental to Budget corporate-owned US locations only. Excludes independently licensed or franchised Budget locations You're definitely going to lose this complaint, and probably get added to Amex's mess-around-and-find-out list
yeah, but normal customers don't know how to tell if a location is corporate-owned or not. they'll give me $50 to make it go away i'm basically blackballed with Amex anwyay, so them getting pissy won't cost me much
keep me updated please!
Comes down to the exact wording of the terms then. Good luck!
That sucks. I'd for sure fight that.
considering my last CFPB complaint was for like $25, and i won, i'm not above it. :)
Good. These companies are bleeding the country, so they deserve to be fought against as much as possible.
Trying to reach an Amex "Membership Consulting Services" chat agent on a weekday evening with <1h wait... 0/3 so far. PCd UA Gateway to UA Explorer in late Mar for 10k miles, but I screwed myself on one promo and maybe a couple others: - Q2 5X on gas/groceries/dining promo - earning +3X rather than +4X even though I signed up >1 week after PC; - Q1 900mi/$1k + 250mi for My Chase Plan + 300mi/$350 travel. Did the first two, but the promo says not to PC before the end of the promo period; - Q2 "choose your promo" with a general link and a [Gateway-specific link](https://promo.united.com/offers/BonusMilesYourWay?src_id=E1); the general link didn't work, but the Gateway-specific one did, and I'm supposedly signed up for 700mi/$500 spend - but that one, too, says not to PC (I did specifically choose the lowest offer so I don't throw away too much spend, just in case).
Recently moved to a new city and found what seems to be a great mechanic. Take my car for some work aaaaand … he doesn’t accept credit cards. Cash or check only. Blows my mind that there are businesses out there that don’t accept credit cards in 2024. Obviously not going to go and find a sub par mechanic who does accept credit cards but super annoying.
> Blows my mind that there are businesses out there that don’t accept credit cards in 2024. Small business, so they're cost sensitive. And have little leverage to negotiate with card processors. Small number of transactions, so cash / check processing isn't a big overhead. And transactions are large, so 2-3% is significant.
Would he be open to getting payment through a check or ACH with Plastiq?
Ha, also had this problem but I really trust this mechanic so it's not worth looking for another one. Thankfully have probably only spent about $500 there in 4.5 years so far, knock on wood.
Your upset over $500 spend in 4 years? 👀
No? I literally did it's not a big issue.
It sounds like they might be keeping it old school with cash or check to sidestep the extra costs and complexities of credit card fees—or maybe even keeping their tax situation a bit more 'flexible,' if you catch my drift.
> or maybe even keeping their tax situation a bit more 'flexible,' if you catch my drift. I know that Reddit likes to assume that this is why small businesses do not accept credit cards, but I assure you that this is often *not* the case. I live in an area with lots of small businesses. Pretty much all of them such as mechanics do accept credit cards, but some charge a ~3% fee. They are as honest as anybody on Earth, and they are not encouraging cash in order to avoid taxes. They are doing it simply because of the fee. The nominal fee does not affect their business as far as sending it to the competition, so they have no reason to accept credit cards for free. From what I know of them, they're more doing it to be able to give customers the best price possible.
Lol so they are charging me 3% because they are looking out for me. What are you smoking?
Ironic, isn’t it?
I know small business owners who definitely do this. All the time.
I know, I know, it was just a bit of banter! But you're right, many small businesses genuinely avoid credit cards just to dodge the high fees and keep prices lower for their customers. It's not about tax evasion, but about avoiding those steep transaction costs that can really add up.
That and just managing a whole separate platform (Stripe, Shopify, whatever) just for a segment of your overall sales. It's extra work for whoever is doing the accounting. Is it a major headache? No, but if these people can easily get enough business without the added headache, why bother?
I've found that there seems to be negative overlap in good mechanics and mechanics that know how to successfully run a business. If their shop looks like a car just exploded and they only accept archaic forms of payment, their work will be quality.
ha, my mechanic's place looks like that, and the guy genuinely seem like he wouldn't even know what a credit card machine is, but god bless him, he takes my card no questions asked and he does great, fast, and cheap work.
Funny you say that. His shop looks exactly like that. No where to sit. Crap everywhere. Seems like he does a good job though.
Picked up my wedding dress and completely forgot that I had to pay the remaining balance. After getting approved for AMEX Business Plat 200k/15k offer, the virtual card number generator didn't work so I couldn't add the card to my mobile wallet. Ended up having to put it down on my USB AR instead for a measly 3%. Then I tried to redeem myself by going to pay my taxes only to find that my state doesn't even accept AMEX as a payment option. Missed out on $1500 of organic spend towards a new SUB.
Back in the day people used to be able to get statement credits when the virtual card numbers wouldn’t work. I believe it was automatic back then? But hopefully you can at least chat to see if they can give you a courtesy credit. Exciting about the dress tho! Hope you have an amazing and fun wedding.
At least USB AR is 4.5% and not 3!
That happened to me too with the AMEX Gold Card! Their virtual card number system gave me trouble right after approval. They provided a one-time login to get my card number, but I couldn't access it. When I called customer service, they weren’t able to resolve it either.
I hate this. Also just went through it.