American Express TrueEarnings is the Perfect Credit Card

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

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

Hilarious Super Smash Bros. Brawl Ad

Hi Everyone,

Even though this doesn't directly relate to Reimagine Memories I couldn't help not posting this:

While browsing online stores looking at prices/availability for Super Smash Bros. Brawl I ran across this hilarious features description on CircuitCity.com

"Features

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a brawling, battling, action-packed video game that features a varied roster of characters for four-player simultaneous melees!

When you hit an opponent, his or her damage meter builds up. The more damage that builds up, the farther an opponent flies each time he or she gets hit! An opponent with higher damage flies farther.

Also, in some modes, each time you KO an opponent, you earn points.

If you had to call it something, I'd say it's almost like a sport."

-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of
Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com

We Are On TechCrunch

Hi Everyone,

I have some very big news that I've always hoped to be able to announce here on the blog. We made it onto TechCrunch yesterday:

Check out the post about us

Duncan Riley, one of the lead writers on TechCrunch, asked start-ups to send in an elevator pitch, which is just a quick, 1 minute, video that quickly explains what your company does and why people should use/invest in it. Last Sunday when Duncan asked for companies to submit their elevator pitch I spent some time putting together a quick video, and then sent it off to Duncan. As chance would have that time paid off, and my video and a link to our website was posted on TechCrunch, which is the most popular blog/website for our web industry. I've seen a lot of positive come from this already with many new visitors, new business, and a lot of people sending us emails congratulating us. We are close to getting some other stories written about us as well in the local newspapers here in Southern California, but to be posted on TechCrunch, a blog I read everyday, is another honor in itself.

Thanks to Duncan for posting, and for all of you who have made our site great over the years.

Here's the video:



-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008.

I hope everyone out there has made some great New Year's Resolutions, and have already started on the path to keeping them. I have high hopes and goals for Reimagine Memories as well as 10 or so pounds to lose over the next year, which I hope a year from now I can write about my successful journey in accomplishing both. 2007 has been an incredibly busy year for me both professionally as well as personally, and I go into 2008 with high hopes that I can continue the intensity of the professional life while sustaining more of a balance with the personal one. Either way 2008 will be a busy year, and already I have 2 speaking gigs, a convention planned, and several marketing campaigns to run in just the next two weeks. I leave on Sunday to attend CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center for my fourth straight year, and right after that will be speaking at both the Long Beach and Laverne Computer Clubs. During all of this Reimagine Memories has a few local marketing campaigns as well as online campaigns that I am running lead on. Already 2008 is shaping up to be quite the year and it is only January 1st. I'd be afraid though if I had nothing planned, and nothing to do, because then nothing would get accomplished during this pivotal year in the company's future.

May your holiday season end on a great note, and may 2008 be everything you have hoped for it to be and so much more.

Happy New Year,

-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of
Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com

Happy Holidays from Reimagine Memories

Hi Everyone,

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and Happy Holidays if you do not. I meant to get this up here earlier, but the Christmas crunch has been worse than any other year this year. With many orders being ordered just last week and needing Christmas Eve delivery it was quite a busy holiday season for Reimagine Memories. All of that business has taken its toll though, and it was nice to get a complete break from work on this Christmas day. That said, being able to reimagine all of those old home videos into memories reborn again on DVD or online is such a great experience. From the large orders of over 50 camcorder tapes to the small orders of just one or two each customer is a unique experience for us that makes the work always exciting.

I hope all of you are having a great holiday season, and continue to have one. It has been great helping so many of you be able to regain those memories that have been stored in closets, attics, and under beds. I hope that during this holiday season you have been building and capturing many new memories that will forever be remembered and available for future generations.

Have a safe and happy holiday season,

-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of
Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com

There's Bad Customer Service, Then There's Capital One's Customer Service

Hi Everyone,

I've finally gotten everything resolved with Capital One after literally months of work to clear up a credit card charge, and now that I've gone through that experience I want to discuss the insane leaps and bounds I went through to get this sub-$3o0 charge off my credit card. So here's the story of how Capital One lost a customer and unveiled the horrible customer service of their company:

So Capital One reeled me in through their many commercials, and their constant stream of credit card mail offers that seemed to invade my mailbox everyday. Having used a debit card for years, I decided that I wanted to begin building credit and get some cash rewards in the process so I decided to take the plunge and get a Capital One Credit Card. For the first year or so there were absolutely no problems other than the somewhat annoying website problems that would have me find their payment system down for a day or more at a time. Despite all of this I was quite satisfied with my choice of going with Capital One until one faithful day in August.

This past August a friend and I decided to spend the weekend at Pechanga Casino, a local Indian Casino, in Temecula, CA . Having driven nearly two hours to get there we were told that we would not be able to stay there as we had booked through Orbitz and it didn't correspond with their system or their rooms. Now I had many words with nearly everyone who worked at the casino, and yet they just wouldn't put me up in a room due to being overcrowded, which was the first customer service I have ever had at a hotel. So after driving back, now taking 3 hours as the traffic started, I attempted to get Orbitz to give me a refund. At first they were quite receptive, but after numerous follow-up calls they never made good on their promise to refund my credit card for the nearly $300 room charge. At this point I sure was happy that I had used a credit card for the purchase, and envisioned getting my money back quickly and easily from Capital One with just one phone call. Boy was I wrong.

I was able to file the dispute online and had the charge taken off my account immediately. I then received a letter in the mail a few days later asking for additional information, which I gladly gave and sent back in the same day. At this point I couldn't believe how well this was going, and was happy that I had decided to go straight to my credit card company. I received some more letters stating that they had not received my letter, and resent it as well as faxed it. I even called customer support to confirm that it had gone through. While a bit perturbed that my original letter got lost in the mail or was misplaced by Capital One I still had a great impression of Capital One's service.

While on a date towards the end of October I tried to use my credit card and found that it had been declined. I figured that it was either a fluke or the waiter didn't know how to put it through so I paid with cash and pulled out my iPhone to see what was up. Nearly two months after the original dispute I find the complete charge, nearly $300, billed back to my credit card by Capital One, my own credit card company. It was nearly the end of the month so my credit card was quite full of charges so this $300 had pushed it past my limit causing overdraft fees, and my inability to use the card anymore.

At very few other times had I been so angry with a company (The only other comparable time was when I had to switch hosting companies due to them not responding for 12 hours despite promising 24/7 service). I called that night and for the next two nights after that, but was told that office was not open until Monday by outsourced call center representatives. Come to find out Monday when I finally get through to the New York office that they are indeed open 24/7 all year-long, which made me even angrier. The fact that they told me I had never sent them any of their letters back only made the fire burn stronger. They also wouldn't temporarily take the charge off either. So I had to wait for another letter to be sent out, it took 3 days, which should have been sent out before my account was charged along with a phone call notifying me of the pending charge.

After submitting the letter again nothing happened so I called another representative and confirmed the faxed letter with her. Yet still nothing is taken off my account, and I haven't been even acknowledged that they were reviewing it a week after the fact. At this point I called once again and asked for a supervisor. Well I should was in for a treat. After explaining my situation in a somewhat calm if not completely unemotional way this customer service woman began to raise her voice. This was new for me, and as she continued by yelling at me that she didn't like being told what to do or being insulted (Neither of which I had done) I told her how I really felt and hung up.

Calling another number got me to the head of the claims department who was the first person to actually help me through this whole fiasco. She apologized for the other supervisor's behavior, and promised that she would be dealt with. She then informed me that they had recieved every single one of the letters that I had either faxed or mailed, but that they had a question about one of the items of information. She informed me that their limited software only allowed them to send that one generic letter stating that they had never received the email. She quickly resolved my problem, and I was able to get all of my money back.

To give you an idea of the hassle this whole thing was I talked to literally 8-10 people with nearly half of them being outsourced call center representatives, had to mail 5 or so letters, faxed 3 or so letters, and spent hours on the phone trying to figure out what I was doing wrong when the whole thing could have been solved if the employees were educated on the computer system's generic letter limitation, and/or that more specific letters were mailed to customers.

Morals of the Story for Me:
1. Be sure that every customer service member is trained
2. Don't outsource your customer service that deals with any type of account problems, money problems, or any other situation where your customer is going to be easily irritated and is not going to appreciate having to repeat everything due to you saving a couple pennies
3. Use the phone to notify customers of problems so you can verify they have been informed
4. Don't do anything to a customer's account without informing them well beforehand

So I am looking for a new credit card company (I've heard American Express is good???), and being sure that we as a company and even more so myself personally don't make any of the mistakes that Capital One did in the future, even as we grow.

-Brad Jashinsky
CEO/CoFounder of
Reimagine Memories
http://www.ReimagineMemories.com