Recently had some issues with American Express and had to call in to their 1-800 number to activate some cards I had gotten for the kids to use. Apparently AMEX wants to sign the kids up for their own AMEX online accounts as part of the process to activate cards they are issued under my account. LOL
So I call into AMEX and I notice the person on the other end of the phone does not sound very American, in fact their english was barely understandable! I asked the representative "Is this American Express"? to which they replied Yes. I asked them where their call center was located and they told me the Philippines! I asked the lady to speak with someone in an American call center and they transferred me to someone in Virginia while they listened into our telephone conversation. I could tell they were doing this because it sounded like a conference call with one side on mute.
Recently I had to call into AMEX for another issue and was connected to a call center in India! I asked the representative how this could be, that I thought I had an American Express, not a Philippines or India Express! They just gave me the standard "we're a global company line"..
Pffft.. My Discover gives me 100% US customer support! Why would American Express or anyone else for that matter ever think that a US customer would want to deal with anyone but an American call center?
Anyway, just thought I would mention that...
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
For example in my next little lawsuit (purchasing a Cadillac Escalade from a dealer without a title), every person I dealt with was white... so explain that?
I dont care if some Indian-American in a US call center answers the phone, I just want that person to be American regardless what color they are! Is that too much to ask!? Is it too much to ask that an AMERICAN Express company at least live up to its name for AMERICAN customers? Maybe American Express is really a South American company? In that case, excuuuuuuuuuuuse me!
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
For example in my next little lawsuit (purchasing a Cadillac Escalade from a dealer without a title), every person I dealt with was white... so explain that?
White people do LOTS of crooked shit, just look at Kavanaugh.
How can a dealer sell a vehicle without a title, or even take one in on trade without a title? That's fucked up.
American Express = World Bank ( or similar ) = Rothschild = Globalization....( Or something like this )...
Get your Credit Cards from a Bank that has gold as it's Reserve Value...Not "Legal Tender" as per Federal Reserve...
Enough said,
Rastus
NB. You'll find that there's a good chance that your Internet provider, Cell Phone services etc etc will all have overseas correspondence when you need to speak with them...
"It is the way it is, because it is"... Globalization !!!! grrr...
I'm pretty sure Mr.Trump is against this type of thing ( Globalization ), & I support him in this view. I do however remain Switzerland lol !...No wars please...
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
Call it what you will Rastus, but I have had AMEX crawling up mine and the companies ass for over a week now... Every since that deal with the Cadillac at the dealership!
It is ridiculous really, pay them a fair amount of money for memberships and they brag this high credit line then they $hit their pants when you try and use it! LOL
At least some companies can still hang, otherwise I would have been left looking like a fool! Then when I confront AMEX about it they get all testy and launch a full blown investigation into my business and personal credit files! Sure, I am cooperating with them but it is very funny because in my test of their "powerful backing", they failed!
Just a total joke because I love testing creditors.. It is not the first time a big financial institution or a dealership has come up short on me! Had it been me that come up short on them, costing them money - they would be all over my ass like a cheap suit.
I purposely diversify my portfolio in terms of credit cards for this very reason... when one gets all weird I just move my business to the others... it is never long before they come back around.
All in all, for the most part AMEX has been good to me... and they do extend credit to the business, so I been putting up with this nonsense trying to take the high road.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Before I answer your question, lets focus on the discovery of the most beautiful concept of mathematics, Zero '0.
It's hard to say when and where "zero" originated. Some says the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta was the earliest to introduce formal concept of zero in number system. Some says Aryabhatta (476-550 AD) an Indian mathematician invented zero as a digit. But the truth is, Zero was invented independently by the Babylonians, Mayans and Indians (although some researchers say the Indian number system was influenced by the Babylonians). The Babylonians got their number system from the Sumerians, the first people in the world to develop a counting system. Mayans and the Mexicans were the first to use the concept of zero and that is why they developed their number system so early and made their calendars which are still known as the earliest calendars up till now.
THE ancient Greeks were aware of the concept of zero (as in 'We have nomarbles'), but didn't think of it as a number. Aristotle had dismissed it because you couldn't divide by zero. The Romans never used their numerals for arithmetic, thus avoiding the need to keep a column empty with a zero symbol. Addition and subtraction were done instead on an abacus. About 1,500 years ago, a symbol was used to represent an abacus column with nothing in it. At first this was just a dot; later it became the '0' we know today. In the 8th century the great Arab mathematician, took it up and the Arabs eventually brought the zero to Europe. It wasn't warmly received; the Italians in particular were very suspicious of any change to their ancestors' system of numerals. In 1259 a law was passed forbidding bankers from using zero or any of the new Arab numerals in their accounts.
Even in the earliest examples, there were numeral systems (Arabic for example) that used some form of zero, but only as a placeholder. Roman numerals actually originated before zero was ever used anywhere, even as a placeholder (as far as we can tell), and the western world picked up on that practice pretty late. By the time Fibonacci brought that concept to the west, in the 13th century, other parts of the world had already been using zero for hundreds of years. Romans never welcomed this concept of zero. What I believe is, Romans were people who have huge egos! and that is the reason behind their non-acceptance of the concept of zero.
People were less greedy maybe back then...But in those days, you were known for how much land you owned, how fairly you bartered in trade, & maybe how large your stock-pile of gold was...
Gold & silver coins I'd imagine to be the yard-stick of the value of something, & how many coins you were prepared to trade for. ( I guess that they were weighed to an agreed amount ).
Zero is also quite a powerful number, as it enhances any quantity by 10 each time it's used...
-- Edited by Rastus on Friday 19th of October 2018 05:00:03 AM
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
Before I answer your question, lets focus on the discovery of the most beautiful concept of mathematics, Zero '0.
It's hard to say when and where "zero" originated. Some says the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta was the earliest to introduce formal concept of zero in number system. Some says Aryabhatta (476-550 AD) an Indian mathematician invented zero as a digit. But the truth is, Zero was invented independently by the Babylonians, Mayans and Indians (although some researchers say the Indian number system was influenced by the Babylonians). The Babylonians got their number system from the Sumerians, the first people in the world to develop a counting system. Mayans and the Mexicans were the first to use the concept of zero and that is why they developed their number system so early and made their calendars which are still known as the earliest calendars up till now.
THE ancient Greeks were aware of the concept of zero (as in 'We have nomarbles'), but didn't think of it as a number. Aristotle had dismissed it because you couldn't divide by zero. The Romans never used their numerals for arithmetic, thus avoiding the need to keep a column empty with a zero symbol. Addition and subtraction were done instead on an abacus. About 1,500 years ago, a symbol was used to represent an abacus column with nothing in it. At first this was just a dot; later it became the '0' we know today. In the 8th century the great Arab mathematician, took it up and the Arabs eventually brought the zero to Europe. It wasn't warmly received; the Italians in particular were very suspicious of any change to their ancestors' system of numerals. In 1259 a law was passed forbidding bankers from using zero or any of the new Arab numerals in their accounts.
Even in the earliest examples, there were numeral systems (Arabic for example) that used some form of zero, but only as a placeholder. Roman numerals actually originated before zero was ever used anywhere, even as a placeholder (as far as we can tell), and the western world picked up on that practice pretty late. By the time Fibonacci brought that concept to the west, in the 13th century, other parts of the world had already been using zero for hundreds of years. Romans never welcomed this concept of zero. What I believe is, Romans were people who have huge egos! and that is the reason behind their non-acceptance of the concept of zero.
Oh yeah, really good post SELLC ! ( I forgot to mention that in my reply)
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
It cost the company $450 per year to carry the American Express Platinum card...
And for that $450, we get d1cked around... Countless credit line decreases and half of your merchants will not even take AMEX because they do not want to pay the high fees associated with them!
They advertise that American Express is "Powerful backing" but honestly you would be a fool to rely on that statement because they will figure out any excuse to let you down when you need that backing. Just read my thread about the time I tried to use them to purchase a vehicle outright -
For one the merchant did not want to take the card due to the amount of fees they would have to pay, then when I used the card for an advance I "checked my spending power" and it said I was approved-
Then when it came time for AMEX to pony up the cash, they failed. They made up some excuse trying to suggest we were trying to do something against their policy and then proceeded to slash $10k of our credit line across all our AMEX accounts!
Having just paid them $450 for their membership fee I was obviously a little upset, but this is not the first $10k haircut I have had to endure in my existence so I was prepared with another lender and ended up getting $8k cash from Discover within minutes.
So that is my experience with American Express, although I must admit they were most handy in dealing with that bad experience the wife and I had at Greektown Casino-
And since I mention the wife, I should also note that American Express may be sexist given the fact they have not touched the wifes credit line, despite the fact they are well aware we have a joint income. She had gotten approved for a $10k AMEX card with zero interest for almost two years so in taking one for the team we moved over about $10k in company debt to her card, which reports under my credit report as me being an authorized user. So they can sit on that $10k for another year which Id imagine is a heck of a lot more than $450! So there you are, fuck you American Express! You mess with the bull, you get the horns!
All that said I am still a bit torn on AMEX, I still carry every card I got from them but perhaps only because closing them would even further lower my credit score. And before anyone gets to thinking it's me, just know I have $130k chilling, with $30k liquid and $40k available credit across lines. I am doing $60k plus a year revenue. That being said, I think my next thread will be about all these different credit reporting scoring models and how your credit score really is a number all the creditors (aka banks and credit card companies) work to manipulate into whatever they want it to be.
Hope you had fun reading.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Only one is maxed currently, and that is the wifes ZERO interest AMEX! And it will stay that way until the month before the promotion ends! bwahahahahaha
In the meantime I have been working hard to nearly zero out over 70% of my cards and I am even chipping away at my mortgage too.
Has anyone noticed how high mortgage rates have gotten!? They are up to 9% at some places! Mine is fixed at 3.99% and I doubt that I would refinance. That does not stop me from checking their rates though, it is just a shame that checking the rates requires a hard pull on your credit because no lender can guarantee you a rate until AFTER they have your full credit report.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
For those that "don't know", the way banks look at how much they're willing to loan you, goes something like this...
Your proven gross earnings per year, is then multiplied by approximately 2.8 to 3.2 times that amount...And this is the maximum, & final amount they'll ever loan you.
If you already have outstanding debt, bankruptcy history, poor repayment records status etc etc on other loans from the past or present, the above amount is reduced to suit their own "Risk Management"...
Should you have a questionable finance history etc etc, their risk goes up, so they reduce the amount they'll loan you by their own guidelines...
And let's not forget that the bastards make massive amount of profit with their interest rates...
Simple solution is this....
If you haven't got the cash for it, you can't afford it until you have.
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
I would agree that the cash method is about the most simple way to go but it can be hard to use just cash when you run a business or have a family.
For many years I run on a mostly cash basis, but even still I had to maintain a bank checking account and at least a few credit cards to even be able to do business!
For people who are working for someone, single and without kids the cash method may be the best way to go, but not if you travel or plan on having any bills, or if you plan on buying or selling online.
The simple fact is you can live local on cash, but you would be hard pressed to run a business online or off without having some form of banking account and or credit card. How did you pay for your most recent motorcycle parts order from China, Rastus? Did you pay with a credit card or did you just send them an envelope full of cash or a money oder? If a money order, you were still using the banking system.
The object for credit card companies is obviously to make money and if they are loaning money they should make a little. I try and reward card companies based on the merit, for example whoever extends the most credit and lives up to their credit lines will be the company that I will let make the most money. As a business a great deal of my interest is tax deductible when it pertains to the business and often times it is impossible to get credit for the business without personally guaranteeing it. Credit is like anything else, if you do not use it youll lose it.. and in some cases, like AMEX, if you try to use it, youll lose it. LOL, I myself diversify and I am not afraid to let a creditor do a hard pull on my credit report if it is going to save me money or increase my available credit. I usually keep well under 30% in utilization across the lines as they hate noting more that someone who is not utilizing their credit. For awhile there I just ran on cash after getting my mortgage while keeping all cards at ZERO balance but my score would then decrease as they claimed I was underutilizing my credit and not showing a history of repayment! Sad fact of the matter is they have many different scoring models and most all of them run between 30-60 days behind when reporting so keeping what many would seem to be a good score could just depend on timing. If you are using 30-40 precent of your credit per month and paying that 30-40 percent off as each statement comes due it can be possible that thru the months the amount you owe at one time when reported looks to be more than what it would two weeks later after you paid the balance. I will go into this more in my next thread I want to write about credit reporting companies.
Getting back to the original thing with cash, once you start getting over a few thousand dollars it becomes a concern as to where to hide it, and if you do hide it will the house burn down or will someone else find it if you die? These are things people sitting on massive hordes of cash will worry about every day. The flip side to that is that banks can go under also, and while very rare it still happens as we all seen in 2008 and in Greece and many other undeveloped economies. Gold and other commodities are also safe places to put money but are also subject to many of the same worries as keeping large amounts of cash on hand. I myself do not keep more than the maximum that the insurance company would cover in the event of a loss.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Oh for sure I need / use a card, ( everyone is "forced to" now-days ), & of course I paid for the stuff from Hong Kong using one...All I'm saying is, don't fall into debt with one, that's all.
The Card I currently use is a Visa, that I bought for $07:00 from the Post Office. It's called a "Load & Go", meaning that you load your cash into it, & then use it to pay for stuff. I have it linked into my Pay-Pal account. It works fine mostly, it's just that my government is trying to pull-in-the-reigns on internet purchases, simply because they're missing-out on taxes, & claim that local businesses are hurting...
At the moment, with the poor exchange rate ( similar to Cananda's ), if I use e-bay, I pay both US-of-A tax, & Aus-tax, plus massive shipping costs, so it makes buying from around the world very expensive at the moment. Plus E-bay doesn't always work, so it sux !...eg. You spend 10-minutes shopping & going through the check-out etc etc, only to discover that "This item does not ship to Australia" LOL !
Cheers,
Rastus
-- Edited by Rastus on Monday 22nd of October 2018 06:16:38 PM
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
