Using Credit Card pays off

**jasonnoguchi** · 11-11-2009, 08:50 PM

Credit cards with no annual fees pays off in more ways than one. Buyer's protection + endless freebies, IF ( BIG BIG BIG IF), you are the kind who pays every charge within the no interest period.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 11-12-2009, 08:11 AM

I've had a number of times where CC purchase protections have been helpful. A funny yet small price one was once I bought a CD for my husband. I could not read the CD labeling as it was in the language of my husband's mother & grandmother, a language I'd never even heard spoken, except a few words here and there. But the picture on CD showed people decked out in traditional clothing, holding traditional instruments. The CD was shelved in the folk music area. I bought it, but it turned out not to be not folk music but rock, and not in the language of the lable even. I went to return it at the "NO RETURNS ACCEPTED" store. They rebuffed me, but I just told them I was leaving the CD and told the manager that I would have the CC company withhold payment. That is all it took. They ran the refund back to my CC. (Always make sure refunds on CC actually show up later.

More recently, I bought a $120 cover for a mattress. I admit I was suspicious when the salesperson told me that if there were any problem with it I would need to return it to the manufacturer, not the store. Directions for use included laundering and machine drying before first use. I followed the directions to the letter, and the mattress cover was ruined. Took it back to the store. They threw their hands up in dismissal and told me to deal with the manufacturer. Again, I did not take no for an answer. I put the item on the counter and told them that I was returning it here at the point of purchase. It was defective in that it could not even be used as directed and that I would have the CC company withhold payment to them. Bingo. They issued the refund on my CC.

When I do this, I do call the CC company to tell them what is going on. They have always backed me up.

**graceful** · 11-12-2009, 08:18 AM

Originally posted by wincrasher View Post

I bought a very large gas grill from an online merchant two weeks ago.

It was quite a bargain - around $900 off list price.

It was delivered to the house while I was away. My person who was going to help me by accepting the delivery was running late and the delivery guy of course could not wait (nor did he call ahead as agreed) so he left it.

The box was strapped to a pallet and all looked good. So my friend slid it into the garage.

Fast forward to last weekend. I get hom`e, eagerly unpacked my new toy first thing saturday morning. My heart sank. Once the box was removed, my beautiful 375 lbs of sexy stainless steel cooking apparatus lay there a smashed up mess. Turns out it must have been dropped on one of it's corners, cracked the pallet and bent up the contents.

Well, I expected a hassle for a return. Box was all cut up, no notice to the delivery company, etc, etc... Well the vendor did offer to give me money to keep it, then they offered to get me replacement parts to fix it myself (hilarious!) then they offered to pick it up and consider a refund (once they get it back and look at the damages). I said OK, but if I don't get a refund in a few days, I'm calling Amex to stop payment.

Well within 24 hours, they had picked up the grill and credited my card! And I went back online to order a new grill, and it's $100 cheaper now. Bonus!

How has the grill been working out now? Any hints on which grill and online merchant. We might be in the market for a grill...

**wincrasher** · 11-12-2009, 12:04 PM

Well the new one is en-route. Fingers crossed that the shipping company doesn't demolish this one too.

The vendor was Grillsdirect.com.

Its a 5 burner, 32" Ducane. It's pretty sweet in the pictures. Less so in a crumpled heap.

**buildmybudget** · 11-12-2009, 12:41 PM

Wow, that's excellent! I've had SO many bad service experiences lately it has been driving me crazy. Glad you had some leverage to get the right thing done by you.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 11-12-2009, 01:09 PM

Lovely, and why I use CC too.

**graceful** · 03-22-2010, 10:37 AM

wincrasher,

So, how's the grill been working out for you?

I'm on the market for a grill now that the weather is getting nicer.

I'm clueless about grills. Is Ducane a good brand? What about Weber? Any ones I should look at and ones to stay away from?

Would you buy from Grillsdirect.com again?

Thanks

**safari** · 03-22-2010, 01:02 PM

I only have positive things to say about American Express. A few years ago I called them up about the extended warranty period for a DVD burner that stopped working after the manufacturer's warranty expired, but since I bought it with my American Express card, they doubled the manufacturer's warranty. When I called them up, they asked me when I bought it and once they verified the purchase, they went ahead and credited me for the entire purchase amount. I asked them if they wanted me to send the broken DVD burner to them, but they told me they didn't need it and I could just throw it away. I was shocked to discover how hassle free their process was.

The second instance was a few months ago when the hotel where I stayed in Sydney, Australia charged me over $100 for the phone calls I made from my room using a toll-free calling card, even though before I placed the calls I had contacted the front desk and they assured me that I could call a toll-free number from my room at no charge. I filed a dispute with American Express and they asked me to send them a letter explaining what happened along with the supporting documents. They immediately put the hotel charge on hold, so I didn't have to pay for it while they were conducting investigation, and then in about 2 months they credited me back and completely removed the charge from my statement.

**wincrasher** · 03-23-2010, 04:51 AM

Well I've had my new grill in use for a couple months now. Had a guy come out and hook up a permanent gas line to it.

The second grill had turned up perfectly. So it was a matter of just putting it on my deck and getting the gas hooked up.

So far I'm loving it. No worries about gas bottles. It did take some getting used to though, because it cooks differently than my old one. Burned a few good steaks refining my technique.

Yes I'd do business with them again.

**AlFromLA** · 03-25-2010, 03:14 PM

ya but you could also do that with a charge card not necessary a credit card. also creditcards aren't bad to use if you use them as charge cards and don't carry over any balance.

Using Credit Card pays off