chen@uiuccsb.UUCP (03/31/84)
#N:uiuccsb:26900002:000:616 uiuccsb!chen Mar 31 10:45:00 1984 <......................................> Recently I received a mail from a "Credit Card Service Bureau" (Courthouse Square, 510 King Street, Alexandria Virginia 22314) offering me six month credit card protection free of charge, no obligation of any kind. When my credit cards do get lost, I can call a tool free number from anywhere in the world. The offer even come with a free gift (a calculater key chain). It sounds too good to be true to me. I don't understand how they can make a profit out of this deal, except perhaps by saling my credit card number to someone else. Any one has experience with this?
stuart@sdchema.UUCP (Stuart Oatley) (10/12/84)
Has anyone had experience with organizations like Credit Card Sentinel and Credit Card Service Bureau? They take all your credit card numbers and arrange for replacements in the event of loss, arrange for the recording of your new address, provide emergency funds to get you home if you lose your cards while you're away, etc etc. Stuart Oatley ...sdcsvax!sdchema!sdchemc!stuart
daves@ios.UUCP (David B. Schnepper) (10/16/84)
I joined "Credit Card Service Bureau" about 5 years ago. I've never had an opportunity to check out their "Theft Insurance" or "Money to get home" features. However, their "Automatic Change of Address" feature did not work for me. I informed them of my change of address, but up to a year later I was getting bills for seldom used cards (that were listed with them) at my old address. I had to inform every creditor individually (a good reason to have few cards!). They also send lots of mail urging me to "Sign up now for lifetime protection, only $XX dollars more, this is your last chance!". On the plus side: I haven't had any charges on my cards that I didn't make, so they appear to be trustworthy in that regard. They also were good in recording updates to my list of cards. On the whole: I don't think I'll renew when my coverage expires. Dave Schnepper ios!daves
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (10/16/84)
In article <254@sdchema.UUCP> stuart@sdchema.UUCP (Stuart Oatley) writes:
~| Has anyone had experience with organizations like Credit Card Sentinel
~| and Credit Card Service Bureau? They take all your credit card numbers
~| and arrange for replacements in the event of loss, arrange for the
~| recording of your new address, provide emergency funds to get you home
~| if you lose your cards while you're away, etc etc.
~|
For $20 a year, or whatever they charge, why not just write the numbers
down on a piece of paper and leave it in your safety deposit box or in
a safe place at work? If your wallet's stolen, it's not THAT hard to find
the phone numbers to call. I've seen lots of these offers and consider
them all to be a waste of money.
As to emergency funds, there's always a way - you can call a friend
of relative collect if necessary.
Dave Sherman
--
{ allegra cornell decvax ihnp4 linus utzoo }!utcsrgv!davebrian@sdcc3.UUCP (Brian Kantor) (10/21/84)
I don't subscibe to the credit card protection services because my credit card numbers, and the phone numbers and addresses to notify are kept redundantly where I can get to them if my wallet is ripped or missing. Any my homeowners/renter's policy will cover the $50 minimum responsibility. Before you subscibe to one of the credit card services, check to see what coverages your existing insurance policy gives you. My agent mentioned that most homeowners/renter's policies do cover credit cards. ihnp4 \ Brian Kantor, UC San Diego decvax \ akgua >---- sdcsvax ----- brian dcdwest/ ucbvax/ Kantor@Nosc
2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (henning) (10/22/84)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh > Before you subscribe to one of the credit card services, check to see > what coverages your existing insurance policy gives you. My agent > mentioned that most homeowners/renter's policies do cover credit cards. My credit card service company (CCSB) only agrees to call the company to notify them of the loss. This is necessary to limit your liability to the amount under federal law and covered by home-owners insurance. This also insures prompt replacement of the lost card. I used the service once and got the new card in 2 days. I subscribed because I found it impossible to keep phone numbers for all of my credit cards. I tried for 2 years and never did get all of the phone numbers. If I lost say one gas card and couldn't contact the oil company in time, I could be liable for 1000's of dollars in charges.
jimb@amd.UUCP (Jim Budler) (10/24/84)
> In article <254@sdchema.UUCP> stuart@sdchema.UUCP (Stuart Oatley) writes: > ~| Has anyone had experience with organizations like Credit Card Sentinel > For $20 a year, or whatever they charge, why not just write the numbers > down on a piece of paper and leave it in your safety deposit box or in > a safe place at work? If your wallet's stolen, it's not THAT hard to find > the phone numbers to call. I've seen lots of these offers and consider > them all to be a waste of money. > > As to emergency funds, there's always a way - you can call a friend > of relative collect if necessary. > > Dave Sherman > -- > { allegra cornell decvax ihnp4 linus utzoo }!utcsrgv!dave They also provide total insurance to cover the $50 per card for which you remain liable. -- Jim Budler Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (408) 982-6547 UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!jimb Compuserve ID: 72415,1200 ********************************************************** * Advanced Micro Devices is not responsible for anything I * * say here and probably wishes I wouldn't. * * I'm not responsible for typos and homonyms. * **********************************************************
wjm@whuxl.UUCP (MITCHELL) (10/26/84)
Credit card protection is generally included in your homeowner's (or tenant's) insurance policy - read your policy and/or check with your agent. Anyway, don't worry about $3K bills on a lost card, by Federal law in the US (for US issued cards) you are limited to $50 per card liability. Admittedly, even that can be a bit stiff if you have a lot of cards, so try to minimize the number of cards you carry. You really don't need dept store charge cards, most of them now accept Amex and most other stores take Visa, MC or both. I generally do quite well with only Amex and Visa (of course I don't drive - if you do you might want to add one oil company card). The only place I shop that doesn't take Amex or Visa is Sears, and they still take the folding green stuff. Regards, Bill Mitchell (whuxl!wjm)