I-Bill Credit Card Fraud Warning

[MikeH]

Reluctantly, last night I tried to use the "I-Bill" internet credit card service to purchase Cherry Picker. Before I could write down the information needed to access the product, I-Bill's software auto-forwarded me off the page. So my credit card has been billed (which I have already confirmed), but I have no product. When I call I-Bill, I'm told that's not their problem: they have their money and could care less about whether I get the product.

In my opinion, this is blatant fraud. I would be very careful about using I-Bill. They were rude and absolutley of NO service whatsoever. Looks like I'm just out the $25. E-mails aren't responded to either!

[tanda]

You need to contact Handi2k. I am sure that if they have a record of your purchase, then they will give you the information/code to download the product.

I am surprised at the response from I-Bill (I have had no problems with them on either purchases or returns). However, although their tone appears inappropriate, the substance is correct. They process the credit-card transaction, they do not provide the product. Thus, they are unable to give you the product or, in this case, the information/code to download the book. This does not justify their tone, but they are, in fact, correct that it is not their problem that you did not get the product. It is Handi2k's. However, they should have indicated that if Handi2k did not resolve the issue, then they would refund the transaction.

Nonetheless, your credit card company will resolve this issue if you get no repsonse from Handi2k (I would be surprised if you did not since they responded promptly to questions of mine). You can protest the charge with your credit card company and, in all likelihood, they will remove the charge.

However, Handi2k probably will make this unneccessary.

[MikeH]

I don't have the time to deal with people like this. Pointing the finger at someone else is NOT a moral way to do business. This is what REALLY bothers me about the entire computer industry: they are very good at taking your money, then telling you that the problem you are having isn't their's. Both sides point the finger at each other, while the consumer in the middle gets screwed. And very often (like my conversations with 3 different people at I-Bill), they are rude. Their attitude is usually:
"How rude of you to want me to work?"

[Dick Schmidt]

Mike,

Two words: CHARGE BACK. They HATE that, and serves them right. Arrogance is what kills internet businesses.

Dick

[tanda]

MikeH,

My point was that I-Bill DOES NOT HAVE YOUR PRODUCT. You are complaining to the wrong company. It is not finger pointing by I-Bill. They cannot give you the code to download the e-book for a very simple reason: THEY DO NOT HAVE IT! Yet, they should have offered to charge back the product if you received no satisfaction from Handi2k (after you requested such satisfaction).

Probably what happened is this: I-Bill received a complaint which should have been directed to another company (Handi2k). The complaint was one they could not resolve (by resolution I mean providing the product since they are not part of Handi2k). Unfortunately, the reps you spoke with did not explain this to you, let alone in the proper tone/manner. Nonetheless, by the third call, I could see why the reps would be frustrated. You needed to be calling/e-mailing Handi2k.

Now, you may suggest that I-Bill should have the ability to provide the product themselves. Of course this is ludicrous. Are they to maintain a warehouse of all the products sold by its client merchants? Are its client merchants to release e-boook codes, etc. to I-Bill? Of course not. And I would not want that to be the case. I prefer that they are independant of the merchant, so that if a dispute arises, they will not be biased in the merchant's favor.

I ordered the same product with no problem. I suspect that your problem was an error with the web-browser or something similar since you should have been connected to the Handi2k page and given the code or received an e-mail with the code (I cannot remember which).

I doubt very seriously it is fraud. Have you contacted Handi2k?

[Tom]

I would suggest you contact the state attorney general's office in bother your states and whatever state "I-Crooks" operate out of, and then the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint.
Your post here has already cost them 1 customer forever-me.
Good Luck.

Tom :mad:

[boxcar]

Another way to go, if you can't get satisfaction from Handi2k, is call your credit card issuer and formally put the item in "dispute". The I-Bills of the world don't like that because then the transaction becomes a big hassle to them.

Boxcar

[Tom]

Originally posted by boxcar
Another way to go, if you can't get satisfaction from Handi2k, is call your credit card issuer and formally put the item in "dispute". The I-Bills of the world don't like that because then the transaction becomes a big hassle to them.

Boxcar

Good idea, Boxcar. Most of the pathetic excuses we have for business and banks these days do what they do becasue we take it-cause them as much bother as is legal, I say. I always take ALL the crap they send me in my monthly statements, staple it all together along with other scraps Iwould have thrown away anyways, and put the check in the middle of it all. Staple again to be safe. I also always send back those little postage-free ads that continually fall out of magazines - blank of course, or sometime, if I am in a giddy little mood, I tell them Osam Bin Laden is interested in Sporiting Life subscription.
By myself, not much problem, but I trying to get to catch on-imagine, a million postage due blank notes coming back every month?

Tom :rolleyes:

[boxcar]

Hi Tom:

I take another route to derive "perverse" pleasure from banks/credit card companies, since I'm not very fond of these kinds of institutions either.

As we all know if we were to apply for a loan at a bank, in most cases the bank would make us jump through flaming hoops blindfolded before they'd approve the loan application.

But in this day and age, who has to go to them for money? There is hardly a day that someone in my household doesnt' get solicited, through the mail, by some company with one "spectacular" short term deal or another.

The first thing I do is toss all offers that aren't offerning a 0% deal.

Secondly, I want a 0% deal that is at least 6 months in duration -- and preferably would apply for purchases and balance transfers. (I most especially love the deals when they send you those "checks" that allow you to do whatever you want with THEIR money.

Well, I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. Currently, I am holding literally thousands of dollars of these banks' money and earning interest on it all. A couple of months ago, one bank alone approved me for $20,000 credit limit, so I took their checks and opened an account with it. You just have to be sure that the interest you earn will exceed the balance transfer fee, which usually it will if the credit limit is high enough, since there is a cap on the fee.

Then just a couple of days ago, and _existing_ credit card issuer sent us an offer for their platinum card. Sure I'll take the upgrade that will come, probably, with an even higher credit limit. Since this bank is offering 0% for 6 months, come May I'll transfer virtually all the 20K balance over to them, from this one bank alone, so that I can continue earning interest on it.

My wife told me the other day that I had better not die before all these transactions are paid off because we have several of them going simultaneously. She also told me that I had better get a secretary to keep track of everything. :)

But this is my way of "screwing" these legalized loan sharks with their exhorbitant interest rates.
I figure if they're stupid enough to offer me free money -- money that I can take to earn more money -- I'd be foolish not to play their stupid game. Their game, of course, is to suck in as many consumers and entice them to incur more debt. But there are two things in this life I don't do: Debt and Interest! Fortunately, the banks haven't caught on to my philosophy yet.

Boxcar

[Tom]

MR. Boxcar......

I bow to you my friend. Pure genius.
You are a continuation of my hero, Jesse James ~G~

Tom ;)

[boxcar]

An interesting perspective, Tom. Never thought of myself in those terms. I suppose because, unlike Jesse, I don't even have to use a gun or a mask, thanks to the greed of the banks.

Boxcar

[CumberlandBluesHSH]

that's beautiful boxcar! absolutely beautiful!

[Schlagman]

Boxcar,

Here's the cap for your approach (I have to admit doing it myself but only by running up charges with the 0% card- didn't think of writing checks against it too). Umbrellabank.com pays over 3% interest on checking account balances with no monthly service fee by keeping a modest balance. This is higher than money market funds, short term CDs, etc. Your money is FDIC insured and perfectly liquid. Also, their visa credit card gives rewards amounting to 1% of all purchases starting from ground zero (2% if applied to air travel) - this is significantly better than the other rebate deals that all advertise up to 2% cash back, but only give a small fraction of that except on that portion of your spending for the year that's above a very high level. You have to read the fine print to find this out - very misleading advertising on their part.

[boxcar]

Schlagman, since this thread has seemed to evolve into something that has nothing to do with racing, I'm taking it over to the Off Topic Forum.

Thanks,
Boxcar