Richard Aerni on sat 4 oct 08
Hello again everyone,
First, many thanks for the responses I received, both on and off list. They
were too numerous for one busy potter to answer individually, so this has to
be a group thanks.
I tried again to run my personal credit card through the site last night (my
business card is admittedly got a lot on it, but I sent in a check to cover
all current expenses yesterday, just in case) which has 95% of it's credit
limit free and clear. Still no dice. I will be unable to contact my banks
about this stoppage until Monday, but will do so then. Even if my credit
limit has been lowered (as I've been hearing over and over again on the
radio is being done by banks with credit cards) that card should still have
gone through.
I suppose it's possible I am the victim of identity theft, and I will check
into that when the banks are open as well. But, I think that unlikely, as I
haven't had my wallet available for anyone to see, and both cards are being
denied, which have been issued by separate banks. The banks (or rather, one
bank and one credit union) are both local and thoroughly solvent.
I suppose it is a glitch in the Stamps.com software, but I received a
response from them that said they had tried to run both cards and both were
denied by the issuer. They urged me to take it up with the banks in
question.
I do believe I understand (in a general way) what is going on in this time
of financial uncertainty. I was married to an economist for 25 years, whose
specialty was banks and monetary policy. In this environment, even if you
have paid your bills on time, and carry no debt, you will have your credit
restricted. This has nothing to do with you, or me, but rather with the
banks' ability to secure credit to carry short term debt from their normal
channels. It remains to be seen whether the government's rescue plan will
help in this situation or not.
So, the soap opera continues...
Thanks to all for your suggestions, support, and for taking the time to
consider the situation.
Best,
Richard
Richard Aerni
http://blog.richardaerni.com
http://www.richardaerni.com
http://richardaernipottery.etsy.com
Studio
1115 East Main St. Suite 106
Rochester, NY 14609
585-429-0211
Lois Ruben Aronow on sun 5 oct 08
Don't wait for the "banks to open on Monday". On the back of your credit
card, there is an 800 number. CALL IT IMMEDIATELY. If there are
unauthorized charges on your card, you need to know NOW. You should also go
on-line and check your credit card and banking statements on a regular
basis. We now live in a 24/7 world.
Your credit card issuer cannot lower your line of credit without telling you
first. The have to tell you every detail beforehand; that's the law.
If you are still interested in the entire, non-partisan definition of
"credit crunch", you can look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_crunch and here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/migrationtemp/2812608/Idiot%27s-guide-to-
the-credit-crunch-explained.html. It does NOT have to do with your
immediate access to personal credit that you have demonstrated the ability
to repay.
If you do not report presumed theft or card glitches immediately, you can be
responsible for thousands.
I don't mean to be an alarmist, but I have 2 cards, and both numbers have
been stolen this year without my knowledge, as have my husband's. We
haven't let the cards out of our sight. Our local Costco has been noted as
one of the sources of CC number theft for others in our area. that would
explain the Amex, but not the MC, which we don't often use.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of
> Richard Aerni
> Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 9:26 AM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Mass response about "credit crunch"
>
> Hello again everyone,
> First, many thanks for the responses I received, both on and
> off list. They were too numerous for one busy potter to
> answer individually, so this has to be a group thanks.
> I tried again to run my personal credit card through the site
> last night (my business card is admittedly got a lot on it,
> but I sent in a check to cover all current expenses
> yesterday, just in case) which has 95% of it's credit limit
> free and clear. Still no dice. I will be unable to contact
> my banks about this stoppage until Monday, but will do so
> then. Even if my credit limit has been lowered (as I've been
> hearing over and over again on the radio is being done by
> banks with credit cards) that card should still have gone through.
> I suppose it's possible I am the victim of identity theft,
> and I will check into that when the banks are open as well.
> But, I think that unlikely, as I haven't had my wallet
> available for anyone to see, and both cards are being denied,
> which have been issued by separate banks. The banks (or
> rather, one bank and one credit union) are both local and
> thoroughly solvent.
> I suppose it is a glitch in the Stamps.com software, but I
> received a response from them that said they had tried to run
> both cards and both were denied by the issuer. They urged me
> to take it up with the banks in question.
> I do believe I understand (in a general way) what is going on
> in this time of financial uncertainty. I was married to an
> economist for 25 years, whose specialty was banks and
> monetary policy. In this environment, even if you have paid
> your bills on time, and carry no debt, you will have your
> credit restricted. This has nothing to do with you, or me,
> but rather with the banks' ability to secure credit to carry
> short term debt from their normal channels. It remains to be
> seen whether the government's rescue plan will help in this
> situation or not.
> So, the soap opera continues...
> Thanks to all for your suggestions, support, and for taking
> the time to consider the situation.
> Best,
> Richard
> Richard Aerni
> http://blog.richardaerni.com
> http://www.richardaerni.com
> http://richardaernipottery.etsy.com
>
> Studio
> 1115 East Main St. Suite 106
> Rochester, NY 14609
> 585-429-0211
Joan Hoyt on sun 5 oct 08
There is another factor. Visa has just changed it's rules and now
allows gas stations, groceries or whoever you make a purchase with to place a hold
up to $500.00 for a period of time no matter how little your purchase.
While this practice has been in place supposedly to protect you to make sure you
are the card holder (I don't understand this premise), the allowable amount of
the hold was much smaller, but two ten dollar purchases could end up with a
$1000.00 hold on your card.
When I have seen this in the past, it has been hotels that put a hold on
significantly greater than the actual charge. The $500.00 limit above was
for small purchases, I don't know what it is for larger charges. This could
cause significant overdraft charges that are completely unwarranted. Makes me
wonder who gets the overdraft fees, whether Visa gets them for Visa accounts.
Joan
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