Prepaid Credit Cards Question: possible bad credit?

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=31197

toiletpaper55

22-01-2006 21:52:39

hey ive been getting my friends whove wanted to do these free sites prepaid credit cards from simon.com and one friend who did the AOL offer, forgot about the trial and it drained the card....but he said they keep trying to charge him, so called them and gave him his normal debit card to pay off the difference.....if he didnt do this, could he possible get bad credit from letting the card drain?

is this possible since it is basically a gift card?
thanks

darkscout

23-01-2006 06:15:40

[quote6194d4db3d="toiletpaper55"]hey ive been getting my friends whove wanted to do these free sites prepaid credit cards from simon.com and one friend who did the AOL offer, forgot about the trial and it drained the card....but he said they keep trying to charge him, so called them and gave him his normal debit card to pay off the difference.....if he didnt do this, could he possible get bad credit from letting the card drain?

is this possible since it is basically a gift card?
thanks[/quote6194d4db3d]

I paid cash for mine. I went to a Simon Mall. Walked up to the counter. Handed her $110 cash. She handed me 5, $20 gift cards. Other than I guess mall security tracking down exactly who bought it...

Your friend is retarded. No offense. There is nothing that ties him to the card. It's a gift card. 2 of my cards have a balance of $0.10. PartyPoker or what ever keeps trying to charge enormous amounts of money. To one. It just comes back 'denied'.

Never register the card online. NEVER. They say to buy stuff on the internet you lihaveli to register. But it's the exact opposite. If you don't give them name/address data. Then they will validate the information that you do have.

Gigante

23-01-2006 07:03:32

Do not use prepaid cards. They deliver bad/fraudulant leads. Unless your card is stocked with $1k+, just don't do it.

toiletpaper55

23-01-2006 09:19:36

[quotea975326a23="darkscout"][quotea975326a23="toiletpaper55"]hey ive been getting my friends whove wanted to do these free sites prepaid credit cards from simon.com and one friend who did the AOL offer, forgot about the trial and it drained the card....but he said they keep trying to charge him, so called them and gave him his normal debit card to pay off the difference.....if he didnt do this, could he possible get bad credit from letting the card drain?

is this possible since it is basically a gift card?
thanks[/quotea975326a23]

I paid cash for mine. I went to a Simon Mall. Walked up to the counter. Handed her $110 cash. She handed me 5, $20 gift cards. Other than I guess mall security tracking down exactly who bought it...

Your friend is retarded. No offense. There is nothing that ties him to the card. It's a gift card. 2 of my cards have a balance of $0.10. PartyPoker or what ever keeps trying to charge enormous amounts of money. To one. It just comes back 'denied'.

Never register the card online. NEVER. They say to buy stuff on the internet you lihaveli to register. But it's the exact opposite. If you don't give them name/address data. Then they will validate the information that you do have.[/quotea975326a23]

wait....register....not meaning ordering online, b/c i ordered it online
lol so my friend got tricked into paying the 45$ difference?

when you order online, it asks for their name addy phone etc....so they can track it

zbalz

23-01-2006 11:09:39

Quite frankly I am actually shocked that one can use a gift card to order products from websites and not even have to enter any billing information!

Can anyone verify this?

Because if I recall correctly, many sites have required fields one must enter..and often those required fields are billing info (name, address). If nothing is entered you get that dialogue box requesting that something must be put in. Putting a 'fake' name or address is fraudulent and BAD in so many ways.....

darkscout

23-01-2006 14:36:35

[quote34e50d312b="zbalz"]Quite frankly I am actually shocked that one can use a gift card to order products from websites and not even have to enter any billing information!

Can anyone verify this?[/quote34e50d312b]

I can. I used it once w/new card. Trying to get a ref done. Everything went through smoothly. I went to check if I had registered that card. Nope I hadn't. I was like wtf.

So the next offer I did, I used my school address (instead of my home where all my CC information is tied). Went through, no issues.

Next time i tried my work address. Still no problems. On the website you still have to enter informatino becuase there is javascript and the such that checks if a field is blank.

toiletpaper55

08-02-2006 18:33:08

lets just say the cards registered b/c it was purchased online, could a bad credit report be made?

nytrate

08-02-2006 20:44:36

where can you buy one in person

in my case its just wanting to distance it from my normal cards. I load enough to take care of things.

I also use my normal address as the billing address (I got it online). I buy it as a gift card and send it to myself. It's a PREPAID gift card. They can NOT keep charging you after it's done. At least not the ones I've gotten. I asked about it.

timmerk

09-02-2006 01:15:25

[quote677d401a4d="toiletpaper55"]lets just say the cards registered b/c it was purchased online, could a bad credit report be made?[/quote677d401a4d]

bump.. anyone know the answer to this? i'm thinking no, because they don't have your social security number.. but I could be wrong if debt collectors come

WillTradeRefs

09-02-2006 02:46:38

I used Greendot mastercards which you have to provide your SS# to activate so if he had to use his SS# like I do I would say that paying off the balance is a good idea.

nytrate

09-02-2006 05:39:08

yea most require a SS# to activate

however that is just to prevent cc fraud. Like ordering prepaids with someone elses CC.

The site I used is for giftcards. so if someone bought me a $50 gift card...there is no way in hell they'd be responsible for overdrafts.

that's why its called a prepaid or gift card.

CollidgeGraduit

09-02-2006 06:01:15

Common sense. Failure to take care of your debts will result in bad credit.

nytrate

09-02-2006 06:34:45

[quotef23d0e86d3="CollidgeGraduit"]Common sense. Failure to take care of your debts will result in bad credit.[/quotef23d0e86d3]

however the point is, a prepaid card does not allow you to go in debt. That is the only reak point I have.

It's like overdrafting off of a bestbuy giftcard. No way you could do that.

It works like a debit card...so if there are insufficient funds it would get declined. it would not process as credit.

I guess if this happened the company could resume service and try and send a bill to your house...but I don't know.

But I'm sure the person BUYING the gift card (that's who has to use their SS# to prove its not a stolen card) can not be held responsible. PEople give these as presents, they come in happy birthday, happy aniversary, congrats..etc designs. no WAY the purchaser could be held responsible.

tramahound

09-02-2006 07:55:42

the company you use the giftcard to start a trial or whatever would still have your address if you supply that honestly so I guess they could send you a bill in the mail...

toiletpaper55

09-02-2006 18:41:46

[quote3856b6f21f="tramahound"]the company you use the giftcard to start a trial or whatever would still have your address if you supply that honestly so I guess they could send you a bill in the mail...[/quote3856b6f21f]

so what happens if you dont pay that bill in the mail?? court or something b/c that would be bad....

also, when ordering the simon cards, no SS# is required but the reciepents info such as address phone number name etc is needed, can like AOL or other trials give that person bad credit if they dont pay off the balance after it has hit 0?

brendenipod

11-02-2006 19:50:16

I know that if you dont pay bills for compaines, they will often refer you to a "collection agency." If you put your actual phone number into the system, and you dont pay your bills, expect 100s of phone calls in about 6 months. Still, there is a reason that the cards are DEBIT cards, they are not linked to your credit. even if you get a DEBIT card at your bank, it doesnt affect your credit score. In fact, it doesnt establish credit at all. If your card says DEBIT on it, it will not affect your credit. if a card says CREDIT.....then you know what will happen

nytrate

11-02-2006 22:40:37

no I have heard of them sending bills, I'd bet in terms of service its listed that if you don't cancel properly and card gets declined that they reserve the right to bill your residence

or something like that