I received a promotion in the mail for a pre-approved credit card. It was associated with Best Buy so I figured it was legit. I reviewed the Terms and Conditions and it was a standard card with no annual fee and decent rates. I opted for the "Account Shield" protection program cause it seemed reasonable. I then used the card a few times and set up online payment through their web site. Here's where they got me. I charged the card up to within $10 of the limit. I set up a payment and it came out of my bank without any issues. What then happened is they held the payment for about 5 days without crediting my account. This put a pending charge on my account for the amount of the payment. Now, we all know that payment is sitting in a big account somewhere earning. 003% daily. So, it makes sense for them to hold it as long as possible. They stated that the system will do it automatically. While waiting for the payment to "clear" I was out of the $ in my bank account and couldn't use the card. Then the statement was released and there was an over limit charge of $35. I checked online and it showed that the "account shield" actually put the balance over the limit. Had the payment "cleared" I would've been $100 below the limit and had no problems... It's a shady way of doing business.
The card is OK as long as you just use it for purchases at retail stores. No gas, No cash, and DO NOT use their on-line bill pay. The best way to pay them is through your own bank because it's usually sent electronicaly so if they try to charge you late fees you can dispute it through your bank.
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