‘Credit Card Secrets’ an Open Book
Anyone who has ever wrangled with a credit card company will appreciate a new book, “Credit Card Secrets,” by attorney Howard Strong. It is a witty, sometimes sarcastic, and always practical look at the credit card industry--and an excellent guide to protecting your legal rights.
Trying to correct a mistake on your Visa or MasterCard bill can be a frustrating experience, even for a lawyer. Your letters--you should always complain in writing--are frequently answered with computer-generated responses.
And it is difficult to know exactly what to say and to whom you should write. Unfortunately, the explanation of your rights included in mailings by credit card companies is often written in standard government-issue legalese.
Strong explains your rights in a friendly, easy-to-understand style and provides hypothetical examples as well as real-life experiences of credit card users who have won their battles with the banks that issue the cards. (A persistent card user received more than a $2,000 credit after numerous letters complaining about billing errors and returned merchandise.)
“Complaining is a learned art,” Strong writes, and offers these basic tips:
* Nastiness gets you nowhere.
* Do not start at the top.
* Fighting is hard work (some small things may not be worth it).
* Know what you want.
* Say: “I have a problem and I need your help.”
* Be persistent. And brief.
* Give a deadline.
* Type your complaint.
* Never send originals of documents.
In addition to the common-sense discussion of your rights when it comes to billing errors, the book details the procedure you can use when you are dissatisfied with merchandise you’ve purchased on a credit card. Under the Federal Fair credit Billing Act, you can demand that the credit card issuer (the bank) not pay the merchant for items you purchased. There are limitations, however. The charged merchandise must have cost more than $50 and been purchased in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address. And this right to “stop payment” doesn’t apply to items ordered directly from the credit card company.
First, you must make a good- faith effort to work out the problem with the merchant, but then you “just tell the credit company not to pay the bill.” If you can’t get the card company to comply to your request, Strong outlines how to pursue your rights.
The author also discusses why a credit card company should not cancel your credit card without notice, citing a court case in which a man learned to his dismay that his card had been canceled when he tried to use it to pay for an expensive meal he had just finished eating.
He discusses what to do if someone steals your card, how to pick the best card for your needs, and what you should know about currency exchanges for international purchases.
Strong advises using an experienced lawyer--and not suing in small claims court--when you can’t resolve a credit card dispute, because if you win, you have the right to collect legal fees.
If you can’t find “Credit Card Secrets” in your local bookstore, you can purchase it from the publisher for $29, which includes shipping and taxes. The publisher is the Boswell Corp., Box 7100, Beverly Hills, Calif. 90212, telephone (213) 478-2056.
Speaking of credit, Bankcard Holders of America, a nonprofit group, now has available a do-it-yourself credit-check kit, including a directory of credit bureau offices and a pamphlet called “Understanding Credit Bureaus,” designed to help consumers correct problems with their credit records. Write: BHA Credit Check Kit, 560 Herndon Parkway, Suite 120, Herndon, Va. 22070. Include $2 for postage and handling.
