![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarotgalI got very little accomplished today. I did watch the shuttle launch, and I took a much needed nap. But that's about it apart from general relaxing.
I called my Credit Card company to check records with them. And then asked to file a dispute and had my CC cancelled. They'll issue me a new one and send the dispute to me so I can sign it and make it official. Then I called the company that charged $89.99 to my CC bill. They gave me SUCH a runaround! I have NEVER been more adamant as I was on the phone with them. I'm soooooo proud of myself for giving them polite Hell. Especially as they tried EVERY play in the book with me, including talking REALLY fast so I couldn't catch the cancellation number, and saying they'll take the charge off but not even asking me who I was, and trying to sell me other subscriptions/memberships. I started out the call with a very nice "Hello. Your company charged me for a service I do not have and do not want. I would like this removed from my bill. Furthermore, I would like my contact information removed from your system." And about 10 minutes later he was STILL on the "But your membership in the program's already been paid for and your benefits include--" to which I replied "Yes I know it's already been paid for. It was charged to my credit card and I would like that removed." BASTARDS! I swear, they're total creeps. Luckily, the people at my bank were SUPER nice and really, really sweet. It was like night and day, those phone calls. LOL I'm *SO* not worried about this at all. The company was hilariously horrible and I know I'm not going to have to pay for this crap.
I looked them up on the net and they're well known scam artists. The company is TLG or Trilegiant Inc. which is a spin-off of Cendant, a huge direct-marketing/membership venture. I got hit by TLG Autovantage. But they seem to be pros at scamming people out of money and have so many ways of doing it. Just one more reason to watch one's CC statements VERY carefully. The is what consumer afairs has to say about them: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/tlg.html
See? Not nice boys. WATCH OUT, PEOPLES!
On a much less scammy note... I finished my second R/S FQFest fic this morning. I need to edit it a little, but it's pretty good if I do say so myself. So I've got major editing to do (thank you Meg & Circe for the betas on the last one! *HUGHUGHUGHUGHUG*) but I have a little over a month now. So I'm not too worried :-) And so I didn't do any of that work today. LOL
I did, however, start yet another Spike fic. It's set during season 5 of Angel. I've been wanting to write some Angel & Spike stuff for a while, but never could come up with something plausable. As I was working my way through the season on DVD today, and idea struck me, and as I was writing, it all seemed to come together well. Then I hit a spot between episodes where this would fit well. So I'm excited. So I'm happy about that. I'd absolutely LOVE to write some evil foursome flashbacks... just don't know how that would work in yet. And I'm a little nervous about trying my hand at Darla and Dru and Angelus and Willy... but if I could figure out what to write and how to make it fit, I definitely will. *G* It's nice thus far, though. 4 pages. And, oddly, lots of Fred thus far as well. Well, maybe not so odd, but you know what I mean.
Anyhoo... yeah. Beware of TLG!
What's really funny is this is the credit card I NEVER use anymore and it had on record an address I haven't used in over a year. So I'm curious as to where it got my info and how long it's been sitting there.
I called my Credit Card company to check records with them. And then asked to file a dispute and had my CC cancelled. They'll issue me a new one and send the dispute to me so I can sign it and make it official. Then I called the company that charged $89.99 to my CC bill. They gave me SUCH a runaround! I have NEVER been more adamant as I was on the phone with them. I'm soooooo proud of myself for giving them polite Hell. Especially as they tried EVERY play in the book with me, including talking REALLY fast so I couldn't catch the cancellation number, and saying they'll take the charge off but not even asking me who I was, and trying to sell me other subscriptions/memberships. I started out the call with a very nice "Hello. Your company charged me for a service I do not have and do not want. I would like this removed from my bill. Furthermore, I would like my contact information removed from your system." And about 10 minutes later he was STILL on the "But your membership in the program's already been paid for and your benefits include--" to which I replied "Yes I know it's already been paid for. It was charged to my credit card and I would like that removed." BASTARDS! I swear, they're total creeps. Luckily, the people at my bank were SUPER nice and really, really sweet. It was like night and day, those phone calls. LOL I'm *SO* not worried about this at all. The company was hilariously horrible and I know I'm not going to have to pay for this crap.
I looked them up on the net and they're well known scam artists. The company is TLG or Trilegiant Inc. which is a spin-off of Cendant, a huge direct-marketing/membership venture. I got hit by TLG Autovantage. But they seem to be pros at scamming people out of money and have so many ways of doing it. Just one more reason to watch one's CC statements VERY carefully. The is what consumer afairs has to say about them: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/tlg.html
See? Not nice boys. WATCH OUT, PEOPLES!
On a much less scammy note... I finished my second R/S FQFest fic this morning. I need to edit it a little, but it's pretty good if I do say so myself. So I've got major editing to do (thank you Meg & Circe for the betas on the last one! *HUGHUGHUGHUGHUG*) but I have a little over a month now. So I'm not too worried :-) And so I didn't do any of that work today. LOL
I did, however, start yet another Spike fic. It's set during season 5 of Angel. I've been wanting to write some Angel & Spike stuff for a while, but never could come up with something plausable. As I was working my way through the season on DVD today, and idea struck me, and as I was writing, it all seemed to come together well. Then I hit a spot between episodes where this would fit well. So I'm excited. So I'm happy about that. I'd absolutely LOVE to write some evil foursome flashbacks... just don't know how that would work in yet. And I'm a little nervous about trying my hand at Darla and Dru and Angelus and Willy... but if I could figure out what to write and how to make it fit, I definitely will. *G* It's nice thus far, though. 4 pages. And, oddly, lots of Fred thus far as well. Well, maybe not so odd, but you know what I mean.
Anyhoo... yeah. Beware of TLG!
What's really funny is this is the credit card I NEVER use anymore and it had on record an address I haven't used in over a year. So I'm curious as to where it got my info and how long it's been sitting there.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-27 08:35 pm (UTC)Yep. And I'm glad I got it taken care of, too. Always read over your statements every month just to be sure! There are such horrible people out there taking advantage of people.
so it's definite that you wont have to pay it?
The way VISA works is if there's an unauthorized charge on your card you absolutely, definitely don't have to pay it. So I'm not the least bit worried. I have to be sure it gets taken care of so there aren't any finance charges/interest if the stupid scam artists don't credit me as they said they were going to (I don't believe them). But even then, I won't have to pay those. I'm filing an official dispute so it's all on record and VISA absolutely won't make me pay it. I'm SO not worried about it.
that is creepy how they got your information, esp. if it's a card you dont use. O_O
I suspect that they got it waaaaay back in Sept 2002 since that's when they say my name first shows up in their system. Which means they got it back when I WAS using the card. They could have hacked into the bank and stole records (like in all the recent news coverage about these sorts of things) or picked it up from some oneline trasaction of mine. Clearly they had to have gotten it over a year ago since they didn't know my address had changed. I just find it odd that it took them THAT much time to do something with it! So you never know! Catch me when I least suspect it! All of us could have had our identities stolen years ago and these guys are just sitting around waiting for the best time to use the info! That's what really scares me.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-27 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-27 11:18 pm (UTC)But interest rates aren't really dependant on the NAME (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc.) of the card so much as the person who has it and the type. People who make lots and lots of money are approved for better cards, because the CC company thinks they have more of a likelihood to spend more money on more expensive things. Students get really high interest rates and low limits because we can't be trusted to control our spending and pay off our card on time (therefore, they make lots of money off us). Once in a while a special program/offer will come along that you'll be approved for (based on your credit report and annual income) that will be better than others (or better than what you have now) but that's true for ANY of the cards out there. There are like a gazillion different VISA cards, with different programs associated with them. Cash back, rewards, security, levels (silver, gold, platinum, etc.) and they all have completely different interest rates. You might not have a lot of options at this point in time but if you look over a Discover card program that seems better and you qualify for it, I say go for it!
When deciding on a CC, I suggest you figure out what would work best for you and NEVER choose a card that has an annual fee. That's just a complete rip-off and REALLY unnecessary & bad, especially if you don't use the card all that often. There are plenty of cards out there with no annual fees.