There are only a few states in the Union where aluminum cans, and plastic & glass bottles are returnable for cold, hard cash. My home state of Maine is one of them along with California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. (This is also currently true in the state of Delaware but it won't be as of February 1, 2011 as their bottle bill has recently been repealed.)
Knowing that every bottle or can you see on the side of the road is just waiting to be picked up, washed out, and returned for a bright, shiny nickel can make taking a walk in Maine a very profitable enterprise. You certainly aren't going to get rich picking up bottles but you can make some decent beer money by picking up empty beer cans. You can pick up litter, get exercise, and make some money all at the same time. That is my kind of multi-tasking!
There is one other extremely important factor when trying to find aluminum nickels in the state of Maine: poison ivy. Maine is just chock full of poison ivy. This means there is a fairly limited window to safely retrieve aluminum nickels from the sides of the road during the year. You have about a month in the spring after the snow melts before the ivy sprouts, and a couple months in the fall once it dies down again. I suppose you can look for them all winter long if you can brave the snow, wind and cold. Brrrrr.
As luck would have it, I happen to be in Maine this very week, the poison ivy has died down for the year, and the weather has been fairly decent (i.e. it hasn't snowed.) As a result I have been cleaning up on my daily walks this week and have been coming home with 3, 4, or 5 bottles and/or cans each and every day. The only limiting factor has been running out of pocket space to store them as I walk. I just can't seem to walk by an aluminum nickel without picking it up.
I actually think they should expand the bottle bill nationwide as it would create jobs - permanent jobs - reduce trash, and encourage recycling. Obama hasn't been able to jump start the economy enough to spur job creation so maybe he should give a national bottle bill some thought.
Mood: Frugal.
Movie Quote of the Day:
"Hey every dad is entitled to one hideous shirt, and one horrible sweater. It's part of the dad code."
-Cheaper By The Dozen 2
Showing posts with label Personal Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal Finance. Show all posts
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Money Honeys
Are you familiar with the term Money Honeys? If your not here's the Urban Dictionary definition for the term: "Any hot female television news reporter that covers the business and finance world." The world of finance is my bread and butter so I know a thing or two about money honeys. There are oodles of websites devoted to the following and maybe even stalking of money honeys like Erin Burnett and my girl Becky Quick.
The problem with the money honeys is that they have no actual business or finance credentials. They are just pretty faces with degrees in broadcasting who can read a teleprompter. Don't get me wrong, if Erin Burnett rang my doorbell tomorrow and asked me to move to a tropical island with her you would NEVER hear from me again. EVER. That being said there are some actual money honeys who don't get as much coverage on the blogosphere but have the credentials to go along with their looks. Here are my top three:
Liz Ann Sonders - I have been in love with Liz Ann Sonders for nearly a decade since I first saw her on Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser. Liz Ann knows her stuff and has the degrees and Wall Street credentials to prove it. You don't become the Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co. because you have a pretty face.
Danielle Hughes - Danielle is one of the few women on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange trading with all the boys in the pit day in and day out. She has worked her way up the Wall Street ladder from sales associate to CEO. She now runs her own financial services firm, Divine Capital Markets. Oh yeah, and she's smoking hot. Rich, smart and hot - what's not to love there?
Michelle Meyer - Michelle is an economic analyst with the firm Barclays Capital. Another female in a predominantly male job title. I haven't been able to locate her biography but I have heard her speak enough to know she is the real deal.
I will give honorable mention to Michelle Caruso Cabrera. Not because she has the credentials to back up her looks but because she has a porn twin. Michelle's porn twin is named Alaura Eden. They look so much alike that they could be twin sisters! I imagine millions of men in America would love to see Michelle naked and thanks to Alaura Eden they can.
Mood: Reflexive
Failed Advertising Slogan Of The Day:
"Wegmans - So Big You Can't Find Anything."
The problem with the money honeys is that they have no actual business or finance credentials. They are just pretty faces with degrees in broadcasting who can read a teleprompter. Don't get me wrong, if Erin Burnett rang my doorbell tomorrow and asked me to move to a tropical island with her you would NEVER hear from me again. EVER. That being said there are some actual money honeys who don't get as much coverage on the blogosphere but have the credentials to go along with their looks. Here are my top three:
Liz Ann Sonders - I have been in love with Liz Ann Sonders for nearly a decade since I first saw her on Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser. Liz Ann knows her stuff and has the degrees and Wall Street credentials to prove it. You don't become the Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co. because you have a pretty face.
Danielle Hughes - Danielle is one of the few women on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange trading with all the boys in the pit day in and day out. She has worked her way up the Wall Street ladder from sales associate to CEO. She now runs her own financial services firm, Divine Capital Markets. Oh yeah, and she's smoking hot. Rich, smart and hot - what's not to love there?
Michelle Meyer - Michelle is an economic analyst with the firm Barclays Capital. Another female in a predominantly male job title. I haven't been able to locate her biography but I have heard her speak enough to know she is the real deal.
I will give honorable mention to Michelle Caruso Cabrera. Not because she has the credentials to back up her looks but because she has a porn twin. Michelle's porn twin is named Alaura Eden. They look so much alike that they could be twin sisters! I imagine millions of men in America would love to see Michelle naked and thanks to Alaura Eden they can.
Mood: Reflexive
Failed Advertising Slogan Of The Day:
"Wegmans - So Big You Can't Find Anything."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Happy Anniversary Baby!
If you pay any attention to the stock market you know that yesterday, September 15, 2009, was the one year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. It marked the beginning of the absolute free fall of the financial markets that took place over the ensuing 6 months, so it was indeed an important anniversary.
However, there is another one year anniversary today that no one has been talking about. It was one year ago today, September 16, 2008, that The Reserve's Primary Fund, a money market mutual fund, "broke the buck." The reason it broke the buck was it held some Lehman Brothers notes and paper which instantly became worthless. This caused the asset value of the fund to drop below the sacred $1.00 threshold. This was a HUGE event and it caused banks, businesses and individuals to rethink the security, safety and liquidity of all money market mutual funds, but no one is talking about it.
The Reserve was the pioneer in the money market mutual fund industry. Their breaking the buck is the equivalent of the Surgeon General of the United States admitting he has taken up smoking. The breaking of the buck was only the beginning of the troubles at The Reserve. Within a few days they froze all assets in all of their money market mutual funds, even ones that had no exposure to the toxic Lehman Brothers debt. I know this because I had one of The Reserve's other funds, the US Government Money Market Fund, in my IRA, Roth IRA and brokerage account. In an instant, the majority of my cash reserves was suddenly frozen, illiquid and inaccessible.
One year later the Reserve Primary Fund still has not returned all it's money to shareholders. This is an absolutely unacceptable outcome after 12 months have passed. The only thing more unacceptable than that is that there has been no new regulation of the financial services industry over the past 12 months. Nothing, nada, zilch.
Mood: Perplexed
Failed Advertising Slogan of the Day:
West Virginia: Lame and Annoying
Song Of The Day:
"Happy Anniversary baby! I've got you on my mind."
-Happy Anniversary
The Little River Band
However, there is another one year anniversary today that no one has been talking about. It was one year ago today, September 16, 2008, that The Reserve's Primary Fund, a money market mutual fund, "broke the buck." The reason it broke the buck was it held some Lehman Brothers notes and paper which instantly became worthless. This caused the asset value of the fund to drop below the sacred $1.00 threshold. This was a HUGE event and it caused banks, businesses and individuals to rethink the security, safety and liquidity of all money market mutual funds, but no one is talking about it.
The Reserve was the pioneer in the money market mutual fund industry. Their breaking the buck is the equivalent of the Surgeon General of the United States admitting he has taken up smoking. The breaking of the buck was only the beginning of the troubles at The Reserve. Within a few days they froze all assets in all of their money market mutual funds, even ones that had no exposure to the toxic Lehman Brothers debt. I know this because I had one of The Reserve's other funds, the US Government Money Market Fund, in my IRA, Roth IRA and brokerage account. In an instant, the majority of my cash reserves was suddenly frozen, illiquid and inaccessible.
One year later the Reserve Primary Fund still has not returned all it's money to shareholders. This is an absolutely unacceptable outcome after 12 months have passed. The only thing more unacceptable than that is that there has been no new regulation of the financial services industry over the past 12 months. Nothing, nada, zilch.
Mood: Perplexed
Failed Advertising Slogan of the Day:
West Virginia: Lame and Annoying
Song Of The Day:
"Happy Anniversary baby! I've got you on my mind."
-Happy Anniversary
The Little River Band
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Due Diligence
This post is mostly to myself to remind me (waves!) to not be such a dumbass and do a little more research before buying any individual stock.
I purchased 40 shares of Xyratex (Ticker XRTX) in my Roth IRA on September 3, 2008. It is a company that manufactures external disk drives, parts and components and the machines used in making those drives. Given the explosion of data available online ready for downloading and media being created and uploaded daily from people's digital cameras, iPods and other devices this certainly sounds like a growth industry.
The first thing I did wrong was I bought too many shares. My standard practice is to buy 25 shares of any company the first time out. Then if it drops in price, a minimum of 10%, preferably 20%, I do more research to determine if I should scoop up more shares at a lower cost basis. But I bought 40 shares instead of the normal 25 because I was being greedy.
The second thing I did wrong was to base my purchase decision purely on earnings estimates of the stock. Earnings estimates are helpful when researching a stock, but they are not concrete - they are ESTIMATES and they can change very rapidly. At the time XRTX was expected to earn $1.09 per share this year and $1.77 per share next year - solid earnings growth.
What I also should have done in September was go onto their company website and review their Annual Report for 2008. This would have given me more insight into their business. Where their revenue comes from, how much debt they have, future expansion plans, an overview of their industry and tons and tons of financial data for the past 3-5 years.
Alas, I didn't do that and bought the stock purely based on the earnings estimates for the two upcoming years. As we all know, the economy has tanked and now XRTX is estimated to LOSE $.25 this year and post a profit of.....wait for it.....$.01 next year. As a result the stock, which I bought at $13.85 per share, now trades at just North of $2.00 per share.
The 2009 Annual Report for Xyratex came today in the mail so I gave it a look while eating lunch. If I had bothered to look at the 2008 Report, which I could have accessed for free on the company's website, I never would have purchased the stock. It turns out XRTX got 70% of all its revenue for 2008 from only 3 customers. So if one of those cancels some orders, goes bankrupt or even merges with another company XRTX will probably be screwed. (Ironically, one of XRTX's major customers is another stock that I have owned in the past Western Digital [WDC].) Having a few customers account for the overwhelming majority of a company's revenue is a Major Red Flag with "Don't Buy Me!!!" printed in huge, bold letters on it.
Greed 1, Jon 0.
Mood: Inquisitive.
Movie Quote of the Day:
"Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive." - Van Wilder
I purchased 40 shares of Xyratex (Ticker XRTX) in my Roth IRA on September 3, 2008. It is a company that manufactures external disk drives, parts and components and the machines used in making those drives. Given the explosion of data available online ready for downloading and media being created and uploaded daily from people's digital cameras, iPods and other devices this certainly sounds like a growth industry.
The first thing I did wrong was I bought too many shares. My standard practice is to buy 25 shares of any company the first time out. Then if it drops in price, a minimum of 10%, preferably 20%, I do more research to determine if I should scoop up more shares at a lower cost basis. But I bought 40 shares instead of the normal 25 because I was being greedy.
The second thing I did wrong was to base my purchase decision purely on earnings estimates of the stock. Earnings estimates are helpful when researching a stock, but they are not concrete - they are ESTIMATES and they can change very rapidly. At the time XRTX was expected to earn $1.09 per share this year and $1.77 per share next year - solid earnings growth.
What I also should have done in September was go onto their company website and review their Annual Report for 2008. This would have given me more insight into their business. Where their revenue comes from, how much debt they have, future expansion plans, an overview of their industry and tons and tons of financial data for the past 3-5 years.
Alas, I didn't do that and bought the stock purely based on the earnings estimates for the two upcoming years. As we all know, the economy has tanked and now XRTX is estimated to LOSE $.25 this year and post a profit of.....wait for it.....$.01 next year. As a result the stock, which I bought at $13.85 per share, now trades at just North of $2.00 per share.
The 2009 Annual Report for Xyratex came today in the mail so I gave it a look while eating lunch. If I had bothered to look at the 2008 Report, which I could have accessed for free on the company's website, I never would have purchased the stock. It turns out XRTX got 70% of all its revenue for 2008 from only 3 customers. So if one of those cancels some orders, goes bankrupt or even merges with another company XRTX will probably be screwed. (Ironically, one of XRTX's major customers is another stock that I have owned in the past Western Digital [WDC].) Having a few customers account for the overwhelming majority of a company's revenue is a Major Red Flag with "Don't Buy Me!!!" printed in huge, bold letters on it.
Greed 1, Jon 0.
Mood: Inquisitive.
Movie Quote of the Day:
"Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive." - Van Wilder
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Twenty-Oh-Eight
This time of year you can't turn on the TV, read the paper or surf the net without running into "The Year in Review" over and over again. Those things seem to come earlier and earlier each year, just like Christmas decorations at the mall. The problem with airing your "Year in Review" show on December 10th is that there are still 21 more days for stuff to happen. Here are two examples of that:
Bernie Madoff - he was arrested on December 11th and charged with investment fraud. His hedge fund investors may have lost $50 Billion - that's Billion with a B. Family fortunes, entire life savings and charitable trusts gone forever in an instant. This is major, big time news and should definitely be in your Year in Review show, list, blog...
The Shoe Thrower - that guy in Iraq threw his shoes at President Bush on December 14th. In the grand scheme of 2008 this is a relatively lame event, but the entire incident is over in 10 seconds. Surely you could cut out 10 seconds of Paris Hilton or Kanye West to fit it in.
Here's my attempt at a review of 2008.
Favorite Memory: Bonfire in Maine
Friday, October 10th. A warm fall night with copious amounts of Miller High Life, smores and Red Sox Playoff baseball via radio in Freeport, ME. It was the perfect ending for my last night of the year in Maine.
Best Song: "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)" by O.A.R.
Best Play: The Catch, Superbowl XLII
Up until February 3, 2008 if you mentioned "The Catch" it was understood that you were talking about the throw from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark to win the 1982 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys. Not anymore. Now you are talking about the ball Eli Manning flings in the direction of David Tyree. Tyree leaps into the air to grab the ball, takes a pounding hit from the Patriots' Rodney Harrison and comes down with the ball clutched between his hands and helmet. Thirty six seconds later the Giants score the winning touchdown to end the Patriots hope of a perfect season.
Best Movie: Ironman
Biggest Surprise: Stock Market Collapse.
With one day of trading left the S&P 500 Index, which represents the 500 largest public companies in the US, is down a mind boggling 39.3% for the year. This is the worst year for the S&P Index since 1931. We have had bear markets in the past, but none as severe and swift as what we have seen in 2008.
Underdog of the Year: Tampa Bay Rays
You might expect me to pick my NY Football Giants win in Superbowl 42 but you would be wrong. The Giants proved that they could play with the Patriots in the final game of the regular season on December 29, 2007. It's awfully hard to beat a good team twice in a season, so I don't consider their Superbowl win much of a surprise.
What was a surprise to me was the Tampa Bay Rays making it to the World Series in 2008. This is a team that had never had a winning season since they came into existence in 1994. In fact, they had never finished better than 21 games under .500 in a season. They had finished in last place in their division every year except 2005 when they finished in...next to last place. A worst to first story indeed.
Mood: Hopeful
Song of the Day:
"Banks back then was lendin' money, the banker was the farmer's friend."
- A Month of Sundays
Don Henley
Bernie Madoff - he was arrested on December 11th and charged with investment fraud. His hedge fund investors may have lost $50 Billion - that's Billion with a B. Family fortunes, entire life savings and charitable trusts gone forever in an instant. This is major, big time news and should definitely be in your Year in Review show, list, blog...
The Shoe Thrower - that guy in Iraq threw his shoes at President Bush on December 14th. In the grand scheme of 2008 this is a relatively lame event, but the entire incident is over in 10 seconds. Surely you could cut out 10 seconds of Paris Hilton or Kanye West to fit it in.
Here's my attempt at a review of 2008.
Favorite Memory: Bonfire in Maine
Friday, October 10th. A warm fall night with copious amounts of Miller High Life, smores and Red Sox Playoff baseball via radio in Freeport, ME. It was the perfect ending for my last night of the year in Maine.
Best Song: "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)" by O.A.R.
Best Play: The Catch, Superbowl XLII
Up until February 3, 2008 if you mentioned "The Catch" it was understood that you were talking about the throw from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark to win the 1982 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys. Not anymore. Now you are talking about the ball Eli Manning flings in the direction of David Tyree. Tyree leaps into the air to grab the ball, takes a pounding hit from the Patriots' Rodney Harrison and comes down with the ball clutched between his hands and helmet. Thirty six seconds later the Giants score the winning touchdown to end the Patriots hope of a perfect season.
Best Movie: Ironman
Biggest Surprise: Stock Market Collapse.
With one day of trading left the S&P 500 Index, which represents the 500 largest public companies in the US, is down a mind boggling 39.3% for the year. This is the worst year for the S&P Index since 1931. We have had bear markets in the past, but none as severe and swift as what we have seen in 2008.
Underdog of the Year: Tampa Bay Rays
You might expect me to pick my NY Football Giants win in Superbowl 42 but you would be wrong. The Giants proved that they could play with the Patriots in the final game of the regular season on December 29, 2007. It's awfully hard to beat a good team twice in a season, so I don't consider their Superbowl win much of a surprise.
What was a surprise to me was the Tampa Bay Rays making it to the World Series in 2008. This is a team that had never had a winning season since they came into existence in 1994. In fact, they had never finished better than 21 games under .500 in a season. They had finished in last place in their division every year except 2005 when they finished in...next to last place. A worst to first story indeed.
Mood: Hopeful
Song of the Day:
"Banks back then was lendin' money, the banker was the farmer's friend."
- A Month of Sundays
Don Henley
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Deadlines
If it weren't for deadlines I would clearly get nothing done. The 2009 NCAA Frozen Four is being held in my backyard next April at the Verizon Center in Washington DC - our nation's capital. I have had an eye on this event for probably a little over 2 years since I first noticed in early 2006 that DC was the 2009 host city.
The Frozen Four is a very popular event and in order to get tickets you have to register online for a lottery drawing. The application process began on April 1, 2008 and ends today, June 1, 2008 at 11:59pm EST. I have literally had a note on my whiteboard that states: "2009 Frozen Four; April 9-11, 2009; apply 4/1/08 - 6/1/08" since February or March 2007. So when did I apply for tickets? Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 9:25pm! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh?
The ticket process is quite interesting in itself and is part of the reason I waited until the very end to apply. The NCAA charges your credit card, or debits your checking account, the day after they receive your application for the full amount of the tickets, $177 per seat, plus a $7 handling fee. This, however, does not mean that you are going to get tickets in the lottery. So I spent $361 today for the privilege of being selected in the ticket lottery to be held sometime this summer. If my application is not picked they will refund me $354 sometime in July or August and keep the other $7 for themselves.
In the financial world that is known as "float". They get to collect money from thousands of fans, sit on it for upwards of 5 months, earn interest on it and then refund some of it to the unlucky applicants who are not chosen for tix. That is a pretty good racket. In fact, dozens of Fortune 500 companies specialize in doing just this for a living. Ever heard of American Express? Sorry American Express, the Frozen Four only accepts Visa or Mastercard.
Mood: Fabulous!
Song of the Day:
"I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going keep me down"
-Tubthumping
Chumbawamba
The Frozen Four is a very popular event and in order to get tickets you have to register online for a lottery drawing. The application process began on April 1, 2008 and ends today, June 1, 2008 at 11:59pm EST. I have literally had a note on my whiteboard that states: "2009 Frozen Four; April 9-11, 2009; apply 4/1/08 - 6/1/08" since February or March 2007. So when did I apply for tickets? Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 9:25pm! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh?
The ticket process is quite interesting in itself and is part of the reason I waited until the very end to apply. The NCAA charges your credit card, or debits your checking account, the day after they receive your application for the full amount of the tickets, $177 per seat, plus a $7 handling fee. This, however, does not mean that you are going to get tickets in the lottery. So I spent $361 today for the privilege of being selected in the ticket lottery to be held sometime this summer. If my application is not picked they will refund me $354 sometime in July or August and keep the other $7 for themselves.
In the financial world that is known as "float". They get to collect money from thousands of fans, sit on it for upwards of 5 months, earn interest on it and then refund some of it to the unlucky applicants who are not chosen for tix. That is a pretty good racket. In fact, dozens of Fortune 500 companies specialize in doing just this for a living. Ever heard of American Express? Sorry American Express, the Frozen Four only accepts Visa or Mastercard.
Mood: Fabulous!
Song of the Day:
"I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going keep me down"
-Tubthumping
Chumbawamba
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
What's In Your Wallet?
You've seen the ads with the vikings pillaging hither and yonder. Taunting and stealing from the poor, common village folk. Then they look in the camera and say "What's in your wallet?"
But before you apply, let me tell you about my experience with Capital One. I have had a Capital One card for years but I don't use it much anymore. American Express gets the majority of my business these days and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Although, there are still plenty of places that don't take Amex - the entire state of Maine for instance - so it never hurts to have a backup.
I got a letter in April from Capital One with an offer for a balance transfer of 0% until September 2008. It said the only cost is a 2% upfront transaction fee, a pretty reasonable deal. They need to make a profit, I understand. "Sign me up for some of that" I thought to myself. So I promptly stroked a check for $4,800 to knock out all my existing credit card debt, mailed it off and never gave it another thought. Until today.
Today I was perusing my June 2007 Capital One statement and low and behold it shows an interest rate of 18.21% on the balance I transferred over. 18.21% is not 0%, not even close. My initial thought was "What the fuck?" My next thought was: "Where is the phone?"
I dialed Capital One at 10:31pm EST, it took me approximately 3 minutes to navigate through their phone maze to get to an actual person. (Just press zero a bunch of times and you will usually cut the wait time way down.) At 10:34pm Fiola answered the line and I explained my problem to her - got a letter, zero percent til September 2008, being charged 18.21% instead. At first she said they did not have any offers like the one I mentioned. When I offered to fax her a copy of the letter - "because I have it in my hand" - she put me on hold to "research" things. She came back on the line to tell me that she would transfer me to a senior associate who could help me. (Skillz - that's level 2 to you.)
So, 9 more minutes on hold - thank god for speaker-phone - and Myriam came on the line at 10:46pm EST. Again, I explained the situation. She was very familiar with the offer I was referring to, it is a very popular offer for the company. So it does exist, amazing! She said there was an "error" and I was mistakenly charged the wrong rate for the balance transfer. She "corrected" the error and the proper interest rate of 0% will appear on my July statement and they will credit back the $88.17 in interest they charged me this month.
I am not officially closing the books on this one until I get my July Capital One Statement. I actually remember seeing a news article on Capital One on Dateline NBC or some other similar show a couple years ago. They are famous for doing this kind of stuff. Now you know how they operate, don't let them, or any credit card company, pull this type of crap on you!
It's Ironic:
That the people who have the license plate with the picture of the deer on it are the people who shoot deer.
Congratulations to:
Oregon State - Back to back National Championships in NCAA Division One College Baseball. If you go for the three-peat, please play South Carolina. Then I would have my dream of the "Cocks" and "Beavers" fighting it out for the National title. Is that too much to ask?
But before you apply, let me tell you about my experience with Capital One. I have had a Capital One card for years but I don't use it much anymore. American Express gets the majority of my business these days and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Although, there are still plenty of places that don't take Amex - the entire state of Maine for instance - so it never hurts to have a backup.
I got a letter in April from Capital One with an offer for a balance transfer of 0% until September 2008. It said the only cost is a 2% upfront transaction fee, a pretty reasonable deal. They need to make a profit, I understand. "Sign me up for some of that" I thought to myself. So I promptly stroked a check for $4,800 to knock out all my existing credit card debt, mailed it off and never gave it another thought. Until today.
Today I was perusing my June 2007 Capital One statement and low and behold it shows an interest rate of 18.21% on the balance I transferred over. 18.21% is not 0%, not even close. My initial thought was "What the fuck?" My next thought was: "Where is the phone?"
I dialed Capital One at 10:31pm EST, it took me approximately 3 minutes to navigate through their phone maze to get to an actual person. (Just press zero a bunch of times and you will usually cut the wait time way down.) At 10:34pm Fiola answered the line and I explained my problem to her - got a letter, zero percent til September 2008, being charged 18.21% instead. At first she said they did not have any offers like the one I mentioned. When I offered to fax her a copy of the letter - "because I have it in my hand" - she put me on hold to "research" things. She came back on the line to tell me that she would transfer me to a senior associate who could help me. (Skillz - that's level 2 to you.)
So, 9 more minutes on hold - thank god for speaker-phone - and Myriam came on the line at 10:46pm EST. Again, I explained the situation. She was very familiar with the offer I was referring to, it is a very popular offer for the company. So it does exist, amazing! She said there was an "error" and I was mistakenly charged the wrong rate for the balance transfer. She "corrected" the error and the proper interest rate of 0% will appear on my July statement and they will credit back the $88.17 in interest they charged me this month.
I am not officially closing the books on this one until I get my July Capital One Statement. I actually remember seeing a news article on Capital One on Dateline NBC or some other similar show a couple years ago. They are famous for doing this kind of stuff. Now you know how they operate, don't let them, or any credit card company, pull this type of crap on you!
It's Ironic:
That the people who have the license plate with the picture of the deer on it are the people who shoot deer.
Congratulations to:
Oregon State - Back to back National Championships in NCAA Division One College Baseball. If you go for the three-peat, please play South Carolina. Then I would have my dream of the "Cocks" and "Beavers" fighting it out for the National title. Is that too much to ask?
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