Previously I wrote about my horrible experiences with Capital One when dealing with my business card from them. From poor customer service to just average rewards I was quite glad when the whole fiasco happened with them, because it finally annoyed me to the point of trying to find a better business card. I had been using Capital One for years as they were the fastest to approve my card, and also gave me the highest credit limit of the four companies I applied for a card with. Now, 4 years later, my credit history has grown, and I've been able to establish a great credit rating making this the perfect time to look for a better business card.
After reading many articles in magazines (Specifically Inc.) and online (Various blogs) I decided the perfect card for myself as well as Reimagine Memories was the American Express Open card through Costco. I don't know of anyone who has ever spoken a word against Costco, and being a member for the last few years I know I've only praised them time and time again. With their higher-paid staff who are consequently much more knowledgeable to their prices and to their amazing return policy I can't think of a better retail experience than shopping at Costco. So when I heard they offered a credit card aimed at small businesses through a partnership with American Express I knew I had to include that as another card to consider.
It may sound silly spending time researching a credit card, but after the Capital One disaster, and after hearing other business owners brag about their rewards I knew I had to do some work to get a great card. No annual fee is a big one for me, because that annual fee is going to cut a big chunk out of the awards you earn using the card. With the TrueEarnings card from American Express/Costco as long as you pay your Costco membership there's no annual fee. The spending limit is a big one for me, because although somewhat rare we do make purchases on the magnitude of several thousands of dollars at onetime when purchasing a lot of hardware such as desktops, laptops, or servers all at one time. Previously after a certain dollar amount we would have to split the purchase between our credit card as it maxed out it's limit and a debit card. All of that money going on the debit card had limited protections on it, and wasn't getting us any rewards. With TrueEarnings you get a really high-rate right from the start, and you can get temporary limit increase approvals through their online system in just minutes. The rewards is the next big consideration when choosing a card, and the American Express rewards are perfect in our case, but may be less than perfect for you if your spending trends differ from ours. For the TrueEarnings card you get 5% cash back for gasoline, 3% cash back at restaurants, 2% cash back for travel, and 1% cash back for everything else. I know a lot of cards have better rewards for frequent travelers so I would consider a separate card for those types of purchases. Most of the traveling we do is done by car, which makes the 5% cash back for gas incredible for us. The only other downside with rewards is they are paid out at the end of the year instead of monthly like other cards I have had. While not a big deal for us as we would rather have more rewards waiting for us at the end of the year than fewer rewards every month if you considered about month-to-month cash flow you might want to consider another card.
We've been using the card for the last three months or so, and it has worked out perfectly. With already one minor dispute settled without a big hassle, and a few customer support calls to ask about general questions about the card we have been throughly impressed by the support staff. The temporary rate increase tool enabled us to put our whole desktop order on the credit card, and we didn't even have to talk to anyone to do it. The online system is easy to use, and allows for some nice graphs showing what areas our expenditures are in most often (Mostly gas). Trust me when I say American Express didn't pay us to post this or brag about them. After my experience with Capital One it has been so refreshing dealing with the American Express staff I had to post about it.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of
Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Taking the Right Away to Comment Anonymously
Kentucky State Representative Tim Couch is introducing a bill this week that would make anonymous posting on the Internet illegal in the state of Kentucky. Here's the information they plan to collect and somehow guarantee is accurate:
"The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site. Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted."
The real kicker is that sites who do not comply with the law and allow anonymous comments will be fined $500 for a first offense, and $1000 for each offense after that.
I can understand Representative Couch's intentions with the bill to stop online bullying, which I believe is a significant problem in some schools and communities, but this isn't the answer to that. The Internet only facilitates bullying, but doesn't cause it and didn't create it in the first place. The same bullies who bullied on the playground are now bullying after school using the Internet as simply another tool. Such a bill clearly threatens our first amendment rights, causes businesses to rethink being located in Kentucky, is tough to enforce, and could set a bad precedent for Internet censorship. What should be created are laws that allow for prosecution of online threats and bullying, because that directly addresses the bullying problem, and will close a loophole in some states that prevent prosecutors from being able to punish those who have taken their bullying online. The majority of bullying that is the most damaging happens during the school years where the victims know each other. With the almost universal presence of MySpace, Facebook, etc. for teenagers there is the need to create new laws that ensure that this online bullying is prosecuted.
I doubt this law will make it past the introduction phase, but if it does then I hope a judge will strike it down immediately after it becomes. Such meddling in the Internet world can have far reaching consequences, and can generally make starting an Internet company even that much more difficult. I hope that if this law gets any further that the entire Internet community will take a stand, and use the power that possess as clearly demonstrated during the Internet radio fight last year.
Source: WTVQ
"The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site. Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted."
The real kicker is that sites who do not comply with the law and allow anonymous comments will be fined $500 for a first offense, and $1000 for each offense after that.
I can understand Representative Couch's intentions with the bill to stop online bullying, which I believe is a significant problem in some schools and communities, but this isn't the answer to that. The Internet only facilitates bullying, but doesn't cause it and didn't create it in the first place. The same bullies who bullied on the playground are now bullying after school using the Internet as simply another tool. Such a bill clearly threatens our first amendment rights, causes businesses to rethink being located in Kentucky, is tough to enforce, and could set a bad precedent for Internet censorship. What should be created are laws that allow for prosecution of online threats and bullying, because that directly addresses the bullying problem, and will close a loophole in some states that prevent prosecutors from being able to punish those who have taken their bullying online. The majority of bullying that is the most damaging happens during the school years where the victims know each other. With the almost universal presence of MySpace, Facebook, etc. for teenagers there is the need to create new laws that ensure that this online bullying is prosecuted.
I doubt this law will make it past the introduction phase, but if it does then I hope a judge will strike it down immediately after it becomes. Such meddling in the Internet world can have far reaching consequences, and can generally make starting an Internet company even that much more difficult. I hope that if this law gets any further that the entire Internet community will take a stand, and use the power that possess as clearly demonstrated during the Internet radio fight last year.
Source: WTVQ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
