Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis remember my credit card problem. If not, let’s recap:
- In October, I found a charge on my credit card for $340. It was from Google advertising.
- I promptly disputed it.
- Three months later, the CC company told me that they investigated the charge and determined it was valid
- The reason for that determination was that the vendor had provided documentation.
- I asked for a copy of this documentation.
In the meantime, I was not happy with the support I was getting from the credit card company, Barclay bank, so I decided to apply for a card from another bank. I figured that with a credit score of 815, I could get any card I wanted. I was correct. I got a cash back card with a large credit limit and even more favorable terms than the one I was using.
I recently got a call from Barclay’s management team. They decided that the charge was not authorized after all, and told me that the charge would be credited back to the card. When I asked the manager where the documentation was that I requested, the caller danced around it and made vague noises without actually admitting what I already knew: they don’t have any documentation.
Taking the charge off was too little, too late. My new card came in the mail today and I will be taking my business elsewhere. Of course I won’t cancel the card. I will simply stick it in a drawer and stop using it. That way it stays as a positive tradeline on my credit report.
9 Comments
Hedge · January 26, 2022 at 6:51 am
After a year that old card in the drawer will get cancelled and if it increases your overall credit usage above 30 percent you will lose score points. Ask me how I know. You probably already know that with an 815 though ; )
Don Curton · January 26, 2022 at 7:56 am
Make sure that they not only credit back the false charges, but also any interest they charged you on the unpaid false charges while you waited for it to be settled. I had an old account that, unknowingly, had about $5 of interest charged to it for a false charge. After about 3 months I started getting nasty letters and had to go through a whole ‘nother round of phone calls stating that I was not paying interest on false charges that sat on my account for several months while ya’ll dicked around trying to resolve it. Anyway, check you bill for several months just to verify.
And that also leaves one more card that can be hacked. If you’re not using it, I’d get rid of it.
Divemedic · January 26, 2022 at 10:13 am
Getting rid of an old card damages your credit in two ways:
It lowers the average age of your accounts by eliminating the old, established account.
It raises your utilization by reducing your total available credit.
When getting rid of old tradelines, you need to be very careful on how you do that. Sometimes it costs you more to get rid of an account than it does to keep it.
I have old credit cards that I only use twice a year to make a small purchase like lunch or a tank of gas, just to keep it active and maximize the benefit to my credit score.
It's just Boris · January 26, 2022 at 8:40 am
I would request a new card – false charges, don’t you know, the number is clearly compromised – and put that one, never used, in the drawer. You still want to check it every so often, but it reduces the likelihood of more fraud while you aren’t as likely to notice it.
Divemedic · January 26, 2022 at 10:10 am
If you read the original post about the incident, you will see that this is exactly what I did back in October, when all of this started.
Back in October, I found a charge on my credit card for $340. The merchant was listed as GOOGLE*ADS4756092809. I didn’t recognize the charge, so I called the CC company and reported fraud. They cancelled my card, and I had to wait two weeks for another one.
https://areaocho.com/screwed-2/
It's just Boris · January 26, 2022 at 3:27 pm
Understood.
If, however, you have used the new card since, I would still request another new one prior to putting the account to bed (assuming they don’t charge you for the privelege) to ensure the number is no longer “out there.” Simply a buffer against fraud on an account soon to not be in regular use.
Jonathan · January 26, 2022 at 11:19 am
That’s good news, hopefully it ends this nightmare… Freeing up energy for whatever comes next!
joe · January 26, 2022 at 6:37 pm
i had a cap one card i had forever…the started raising the interest rates and i asked them if there was any way to keep mine like it was…never a late charge, always paid off…a few times i had a credit even…they said no so i cancelled it…fuck em…didn’t hurt my credit score any…the whole credit score game is a damn scam to begin with…how does it make sense to have enough “credit” to go in debt until the end of time (if you lost everything and had to use it)…it doesn’t it…the only thing that should matter is if you pay your bills on time and don’t have huge debt…the system likes us in debt though, that’s how everything stays afloat…pretty soon someone is going to plug…and it’s going to swirl down the toilet like a fat shit pickle…
Divemedic · January 26, 2022 at 7:48 pm
Naw. I only use cash back cards that have no annual fee. I pay every single expense for the month with the cards, then I pay them off at the end of the month. Since I pay them at the end of the month, the interest rate doesn’t matter.
One card gives me 5 percent cash back on all Amazon purchases.
I have cards that give me 5 percent on gas, 3 percent on utilities (including cell phone and cable tv/internet), 3 percent on dining, 3 percent on groceries, and 1.5 percent on everything else.
In all, I get several thousand dollars per year in cash back from 4 different credit cards.
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