OT - Best Business Credit Card?

True, it's due to their own blatant stupidity -- but we *all* pay for it.

Ditto motorcycles, skydiving, and guns.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT net writes:

And to say Amex is not a credit card is ridiculous. Of course it is;
it just operates a bit differently because it was there first. It
gives you credit until you pay the bill.

Actually, AMEX provides both credit and charge cards. For example,
the "Blue" and "Blue Cash" cards are credit cards (no need to pay the
bill in full if you want to pay stupidly high interest rates instead),
while their "Gold" card is a charge card (you must pay the bill in
full).

Chris
--
Chris Colohan Email: PGP: finger
Web: www.colohan.com Phone: (412)268-4751

Jay Honeck wrote:
Amex gives me a level of service not found elsewhere with detailed
quarterly management reports for all my employees, no hassle charge-backs
for disputed charges and especially their Rewards program.


Can you expand on that "no-hassle charge-backs for disputed charges" thing,
Jim?

Thanks,

From the website -

• Guaranteed Product Satisfaction — Return Protection* offers guaranteed
product satisfaction on designated items purchased entirely with an
eligible American Express® Card.
• 90 Days Protection — If you try to return an eligible item within 90
days from the date of purchase and the merchant won't take it back,
American Express will refund the full purchase price.
• Up to $300 Per Item — You are covered for up to $300 per item,
excluding shipping and handling, and up to $1,000 annually per
Cardmember account.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
Amex gives me a level of service not found elsewhere with detailed
quarterly management reports for all my employees, no hassle charge-backs
for disputed charges and especially their Rewards program.

Can you expand on that "no-hassle charge-backs for disputed charges"
thing, Jim?

I've only had to use the service three times in the 13 to 15 years I've been
using Amex but there was one unauthorized charge of a thousand-something
from a store up in Boston or something. I didn't charge it. Don't know who
did. Called Amex and had the charge removed almost instantly, no questions
asked.

There were two other instances where there was a questionable charge that
was no fault of Amex. One was a "stupid tax" where I had been paying 10.00
a month for some miscellaneous computer service web thingy. I stopped using
the service but forgot to cancel the automatic draft of my Amex account
until, many months later, I examined my statement and noted it. Called
Amex, told them to disallow any further charges. They not only did that but
refunded the all the charges accrued up through those many months that I had
not used the web service thingy. It was perhaps a hundred dollars in
charges.

With all that said, I'm not stuck on Amex. If you come up with a better
deal, I'd like to hear about it . . . . After I accrue enough points to get
my plasma TV.

--
Jim Fisher

Rachel wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

Amex gives me a level of service not found elsewhere with detailed
quarterly management reports for all my employees, no hassle
charge-backs for disputed charges and especially their Rewards program.



Can you expand on that "no-hassle charge-backs for disputed charges"
thing, Jim?

Thanks,


From the website -

• Guaranteed Product Satisfaction — Return Protection* offers
guaranteed product satisfaction on designated items purchased entirely
with an eligible American Express® Card.
• 90 Days Protection — If you try to return an eligible item
within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won't take it
back, American Express will refund the full purchase price.
• Up to $300 Per Item — You are covered for up to $300 per item,
excluding shipping and handling, and up to $1,000 annually per
Cardmember account.


AND you don't know what a chargeback is either, do you!

That's purchase return protection, not guaranteed chargeback rights.
Chargebacks are not merchandise returns!!!

Jay Honeck wrote:
American Express, hands down. I use their personal card, but both my
brother and father have the company card, and love it.


Too few businesses accept AMEX for me to consider them. They also extort
more money from the vendors -- which is why we threw them out of the hotel
back in 2002. Even Walgreen's threw them out of all 14,000+ stores in the
U.S. because of their absurdly high rates.

IMHO, unless they change their business model, they will follow "Diner's
Club" into the ash heap of CC history.

We don't accept amex either, but don't hold your breath waiting for
their business model to collapse wreak sweet revenge for the outrageous
fees. They evidently have a niche.







Monday January 23, 6:46 PM EST

By James B. Kelleher

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Express Co. said on Monday that its
earnings rose 13 percent in the most recent quarter, lifted by consumer
and corporate cardholder spending as well as double-digit growth in the
transaction fees its charges merchants. snip Even so, Groshans and
other analysts were encouraged by the growth in cards in circulation.
Over 2 million were added in the last three months alone, bringing the
total number of American Express cards in circulation to 71 million.

American Express shares closed up 4 cents at $51.44 on the New York
Stock Exchange.

American Express said its return on equity -- a key measure of
underlying profitability -- rose to 25.4 percent during the quarter, up
from 22 percent a year ago. Stripping out Ameriprise entirely, American
Express said its return on equity surged to 31.5 percent.

Whose is best? What card do you guys use?

Bank of america has a "rewards" cash back card which paid me $275 to use it
last year (a real check, not "credits"). It's also linked to my checking
account to automatically pay the balance at the last possible billing
moment, giving me free use of their money for 30 days; zero effort on my
part. Plus it offers more protection and benefits (rental car insurance,
extended product warranties etc) than a debit card.

Jose wrote:
True, it's due to their own blatant stupidity -- but we *all* pay
for it.

Ditto motorcycles, skydiving, and guns.

You think any of those are statistically riskier than flying small planes?

Like I said, I don't believe in buying something you can't afford at
the time. And yes, that extends to credit cards. What's the big
deal? I'm sure not missing the $2.00 a month in interest that I
might be losing.

You must be brand new to the wonderful world of credit cards. No decent
card charges interest if paid in full by the due date, usually 30 days after
the purchase. This free use of the bank's money is called "float". Plus,
THEY assume liablilty for fraud (as opposed to your debit card).

JohnH wrote:
Jose wrote:

True, it's due to their own blatant stupidity -- but we *all* pay
for it.

Ditto motorcycles, skydiving, and guns.


You think any of those are statistically riskier than flying small planes?

My disabling fear of heights is telling me that skydiving is.