Credit card authorization

[steve from staten island]

Im sure a lot of you are more up on theses things than I am but if your not when paying bills with your credit card be careful.
I just got a alert from my card that a charge was made to a insurance company, one that I use for home and auto.
I called my insurance company and sure enough they made the charge, it was for a umbrella policy.
Now what happened is a few years back I discovered they cancelled my umbrella policy, they gave me some kind of excuse but fact is my premium is paid in full when it comes in. I did not recall any notice of cancellation.
So when I called to reinstate it immediately I had to pay over the phone. I never gave them authorization to use my card automatically.
I called the broker up and straightened out the issue, honestly because of unrelated issues with them and the fact that they seem to call often with other solicitation's, im really getting getting fed up, this is just another discredit on them.
Ive found so many companies I do monthly business with want your credit card so they can bill you every month automatically. I want a bill sent in the mail, no computer, then I write you a check. In 45 years we've never been late with a payment.
Recently my bottled water company told me there will be a three dollar and change charge for sending out a bill rather than going the paperless route. I told the lady as soon as I see that charge I will cancel my account.
Just a little note for some of you who still do things the old fashioned way, with a envelope and a stamp.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'm old school on this also. I prefer to get a bill in the mail and mail out a check. With the increasing hacking of bank accounts and credit cards, I just don't like the idea of companies having online access to my bank accounts.

 

[R/T Boy 67]

I do zero banking on line.

 

[44070dart]

I don't know, I've had direct deposit and bill paying for a number of years and haven't had a problem. I know there is a risk, but today there are so many different ways they can get access into your accounts I figure it's worth the risk. Every check you send out has your account number anyway. I keep a close watch on my statements and I get notices from my credit card companies about questionable charges. Recently they emailed me about what appeared to be a overly generous tip. My wife had one of those groupon things and I tipped on the overall amount, appreciated the heads up.. And if I have to pay the slugs at the post office $.55 for every bill and then wonder if it will get to it's destination, I'll chance it. Not like there is a hell of a lot in my checking account anyway

 

[Dennis H]

Never had a problem with the USPS. But, most are auto-pay. Insurance etc. Paperless.
My CU charges rip off costs for the most basic check too.

 

[GetX'd]

I’m electronic bill pay via my bank all the way. Still get most of the paper bills cause I want to review them to see what they’ve added on lately. But I pay by bank on line. Been doing it since it became available in the early nineties. Never had a problem. I won’t do auto pay with my credit cards except on rare occasions. I want to see the bill. But I don’t want to mail a check. I write only a handful of checks in a year. Mostly to get my hair cut. They don’t take credit cards. Other than that electronic banking all the way. The bank has to cover the damage if there is any so I don’t worry about it.

 

[Dennis H]

You get haircuts?

 

[JB400]

Cash is king for me, but I don't mind giving the mail carriers a job. No checks, just go in and get a money order and a stamp. I tried online banking. Went to buy a few things online, and the bank wouldn't approve it. Had to send a money order to buy what I wanted

 

[funknut]

FYI, for those that choose to pay with credit cards, you have way more protection when paying using a credit card than debit card. Major credit card company have huge fraud prevention/detection teams.

I've had direct deposit for many years and no issues. Giving a company permission to put money IN your bank account (like direct deposit) is very different than authorizing a company to take money OUT.

 

[GetX'd]

You get haircuts?

Well they’re starting to charge me by the hair which is actually less expensive.....

 

[kiwigtx]

Credit Cards saved my *** to the tune of $1300 a few years ago....paid for a bathroom set in a local store. Long story short, the company (bathroom store) went belly-up, and I was left with no shower...as they are custom made on site. I wrote a letter to my bank (on advice after a phone call) and at the end of the specified 43 day period, I got my money back in full. Unlike all the company's other 200+ creditors. I told my bank that it was a fraudulent transaction, and they agreed. Banks do not like fraud.

I prefer to pay my stuff online as a bank transfer, and do not enter into Direct Debits with any company. They are very hard to cancel or get out of....and even harder to recover over-charged money if the account is ever closed. Once they have your money, they are very reluctant to return it.

PayPal also saved me twice with bad sellers.

 

[Budnicks]

I'm old school on this also. I prefer to get a bill in the mail and mail out a check. With the increasing hacking of bank accounts and credit cards, I just don't like the idea of companies having online access to my bank accounts.

I'm with you there, some things I prefer to pay for, with a check...
My insurance policies, is one of them...
I usually hand deliver it to the office too...
I want to look my agent in the eyes...

even if I could get a shitload more points
or miles on the credit cards

IMO it's a better paper trail so to speak
some stuff I want the bill & check payment, contract in writing/on paper
not thru e-mail or some pdf file BS
or some office flunky or other personnel knowing or having my card #'s

plenty of other stuff I use the credit cards for
take advantage of points or discounts, online "only" secured shopping
mainly parts, some dog stuff, groceries
I have 'ask for ID' written on the back of my cards too
many that use the card chip payment BS,
don't even ask for ID, even for $500+ purchases

that's just nucking futs, anyone can use it, almost anywhere

most credit cards have automatic insurance for scams
& wrongful, damaged or fraudulent purchases too

My father had auto-pay on a few things,
he uses his cards for everything, he's a points/miles whore
he's been scammed a couple times too, used in questionable places
mostly all out of state purchases, while RV-ing/traveling
fortunately he also has Lifelock for card & identity protection...
So far nothing out of pocket, except time & huge hassles...

Knock on wood
I've been pretty vigilant, safe don't give much if any personal info
or credit cards by phone etc...

 

[Ghostrider 67]

My honey does everything on line. I don't touch any of it. TBI is not compatible with money matters. Seriously.

 

[moparedtn]

Just about every bill we pay each month is paid by the wife electronically.
The local water department is the lone holdout - have to go pay homage to them
each month.
Knock wood, no issues that I can think of ever.
There was the one time we used a CC at an Office Max that someone wound up stealing
the info from somehow (must have been an employee??), but that card automatically calls
you when something funny happens, so we stopped that one quick and someone got busted.

 

[moparwacko]

I write maybe 3 checks per month. I pay everything online that I can. Also i never agree to auto pay anything, and all bills are mailed. They all try to push the auto pay, and the only issue I've ever had was with a certain satellite radio company with the initials "Sirius Radio". I decided to let the service expire, and after repeated calls to them telling them I DO NOT WANT TO RENEW, they still attempted to charge my card for 3 consecutive months. They are scum in my opinion. I have had cards hacked a few times, and just about every time I can trace it time-wise to using it at a restaurant, especially when on vacation.

 

[Grabbergreendream]

I devised a formula for paying my bills years ago. It has helped me save a lot of money. Here's what I do... my check from work gets direct deposited into my checking account, which has a debit card. I have a second checking account with the same bank that I do not have a debit card for. I added all my bills up per month and multiplied it by 12 months, took that number and added $1,000. Then I divided that number by 52 weeks in a year. I rounded it up and have that much money taken from my primary checking account and sent to my secondary checking account every Monday. All my bills are set to auto pay and come right out of the second checking account every time they're due. This has worked wonders for me. And it's helped my credit, and also help me prevent from overspending from my primary account.

 

[Dennis H]

Cash and checks are fine until you are behind someone at the grocery waiting for a clerk to **** around getting a check approval.

 

[moparedtn]

Cash and checks are fine until you are behind someone at the grocery waiting for a clerk to **** around getting a check approval.

 

[1967coronet]

We keep 2 checking accts. One is used for direct payments for life insurance , health insurance and a couple other direct debit bills.
We just keep enough on deposit to cover the outflow plus a small cushion for debit card use ect.

Our other checking is the one we use for everyday stuff and other bills sent by mail ect.
If I ever do get hacked ect. They can only hit the one acct.