• '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    My credit card company charged me $15/month ($10,000 limit with no overage fees) and I called to cancel.  I don’t make a lot of corporate purchases anymore, having basically sold off the majority of my company to CompUSA and letting their staff handle the headaches of deliverable logistics while I get the more fun aspects of managing the over all projects.  The credit card company actually told me that they’d wave the fees if I kept their card!  (American Express, Small Business Platinum.)


  • I’m not sure on the free stuff…but I guess the whole “squeaky wheel gets the oil” bit works here.

    I know customer service is really not at all what it should be, and that many services and utilities will respond to you more whenever you try to cancel.  In fact, I think I had posted a listing of companies and how to get in touch with a real person ASAP to voice your concerns.  Many of the companies had you talking to the same people, except that people who pressed 9 to cancel instead of 1 to talk to customer service got priority.  Then they did anything to keep you on.

    CC, I think the credit card company was trying to get you to stay on through the holidays, hoping to squeeze a bit more out of you before you moved on.  Maybe something else…


  • Nice post.
    W.r.t. staying on through the holidays - you might be right, but i told them i was using another bank’s card . . . we’ll see.  In the mean time, i don’t have to bother changing all of the stuff i had directly billed to my first credit card, and i got $200 (plus the reward airmiles i accumulate), so that’s nice.

    Yesterday i was at Starbuck’s where i asked for a venti hot chocolate (yes - i’m a doctor who does not drink coffee).  She told me that would be $3.73.
    me:“what?  I have to give you money for this”
    her: “yup i’m afraid so”
    me (as i’m handing her $4.00, with a smile) “where’s your Christmas spirit?”
    her: “you talked me into it - no charge”

    to reward her i bought a $10.00 gift card which i needed to buy for a Christmas exchange anyway . . . :D

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    :)  My motto is: “Why not ask?  Worst that happens is they say no.  If they say no, my life is not destroyed…but if they say yes…hmmm…drool…” hehe


  • @cystic:

    Yesterday i was at Starbuck’s where i asked for a venti hot chocolate (yes - i’m a doctor who does not drink coffee).

    You…do coffee…enemas, then?  :evil:

    Why wouldn’t you be charged for a hot chocolate?  I guess the point is you got it for free.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Hot Chocolate:

    10 ounces Dark Chocolate
    1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

    Melt the two together, add boiling water as needed until right consistency

    Whip up some heavy cream to dollop on the top with either a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg for flair.

    Why in the world would you get Hot Cocoa from Starbucks???  CC, you need a woman if you’re so desperate as to freequent that haven of bourgousie oppression and cow spit. :)

  • '19 Moderator

    @Jennifer:

    Why in the world would you get Hot Cocoa from Starbucks???Â

    I can’t speak for CC, but I go for the Carmel Machiatio w/ 3 extra shots (5 total). Boing  :-o GOOD MORNING!


  • I very rarely go to Starbucks.  All the required things to make your regular hot coffee or a cold smoothie is at the supermarket.  Anything Starbucks can make, I make them like 100 times better AND at the comfort of my house.  :wink:

    Doesnt mean I don’t like to go there.  I do get lazy sometimes.  :lol:


  • @Jennifer:

    Hot Chocolate:

    10 ounces Dark Chocolate
    1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

    Melt the two together, add boiling water as needed until right consistency

    Whip up some heavy cream to dollop on the top with either a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg for flair.

    Why in the world would you get Hot Cocoa from Starbucks???  CC, you need a woman if you’re so desperate as to freequent that haven of bourgousie oppression and cow spit. :)

    i’m lazy, i have no family, and i have an income that surpasses my needs.  If i want some (free) hot chocolate that someone wants to make for me, then i’ll happily take it.
    Now look at it from another perspective.  Let’s say that it takes me about 15 minutes to purchase the needed ingredients and make the hot chocolate (not counting driving to the store etc. as we can say i’m picking them up while i’m shopping).  Let’s also say that i make around $100/hour during the day, and $170/hour after midnight.  For <$4.00, i can do something that would normally cost the equivalent of $25.00 - give-or-take in time.  Depending on your perspective, one might argue that i am saving $21 by asking for a hot chocolate when i’m buying a (needed) gift card from there . . . .

  • 2007 AAR League

    And, you’re creating jobs!

    Back on credit cards, I’m pretty happy with mine. There’s no annual fee, and I get about 1% cash back on all my purchases, and I think the percentage goes up if I spend more than a certain amount. Not points or anything, cash. Yesterday I saw my bill and saw that it had been discounted by $133 for all the money I’ve spent on it. I’m going to look into putting my mortgage on the card…

    The card is a CIBC VISA Dividend card. And it also includes perks like replacement and travel insurance. Did I mention it has no fees?


  • cc, i hope you tipped well for your cocoa and merry christmas (i hope things are slow for you)


  • @critmonster:

    cc, i hope you tipped well for your cocoa and merry christmas (i hope things are slow for you)

    Thanks, but sadly no . . . .  I have more on my plate for the three weeks before New Years than i need (average week around 60-70 hours).  Also the ERs are just as busy as ever before.  During the summer it was wasp bites, winter - ankle sprains on the ice.  Plus the never ending attack of the dizzy/weak/unwell little old lady (the ER version of LOL).


  • merry CHRISTmas anyway and don’t forget to tip your barrista 8-)

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Dunno what people normally tip.  I heard the average tip in the United States for restaraunt service is 8-12% and for delivery is less then 1%.  My personal philosiphy is $5 per hour for restaraunt service -$1 for each time my coffee cup goes dry. (That’s been $20 tips for a cup of coffee before.)  And for delivery I try to tip the same as the delivery charge (about $3 or 15%.)

    As for tip jars and Starbucks/Caribou Coffee are concerned, I’m not paying them to do their jobs.  Next you’ll see tip jars at friggin McDonald’s!

    What’s other people’s tips?


  • At Starschumcks?  zero.


  • i don’t frequent espresso shops and only go out occasionally (feeding children) but as my wife used to be a waitress i generally tip 15-20%

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    I live on coffee.  But I get the sinking feeling that caffiene effects metabolism and causes your body resistance when trying to loose weight, which might explain why the US Army has a policy against caffiene and outright forbids you to have any during combat training (even prior service.)

    So i’m planning on no caffiene next year til I loose 35 pounds.


  • @Jennifer:

    I live on coffee.  But I get the sinking feeling that caffiene effects metabolism and causes your body resistance when trying to loose weight, which might explain why the US Army has a policy against caffiene and outright forbids you to have any during combat training (even prior service.)

    So i’m planning on no caffiene next year til I loose 35 pounds.

    Your body is actually attuned to a small amount of caffeine.  But too much can put stress on many things (heart, adrenals, etc.).

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Would 12 cups of coffee in the morning, 1 Venti Mocha on the way to work, 12 cans of diet coke at work and 2 Monsters on the way home from work count as “too much” ?


  • @Jennifer:

    Would 12 cups of coffee in the morning, 1 Venti Mocha on the way to work, 12 cans of diet coke at work and 2 Monsters on the way home from work count as “too much” ?

    OMG, Jenn, I think that qualifies you as comatose!  :-o

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