Conference 7.286::digital

	I belie it is something to do with opportunity channel.

	UK_DIGITAL had somethinmg in there about it.

	Heather

Here in good old Germany, we have a special offer for DIGITAL employees - the 
AMEX-card costs DM 9,-- per year instead of DM 100,-- per year for 'normal'
people. (this price is not a misprint - it's nine german marks!!!)

We then get two cards, the normal one and a corporate one.

So for me, the reason to take AMEX was the cheap price.




Michael.

re.0:

I can't answer your question but I can point out that you missed one question,
"what will it cost you to use it". As the Digital UK are paying your annual fee
you will be taxed on it as a benefit if you use it to make personal purchases.

Dave.

    Original reasons for Corporate card:
    1. Some people who are just out of school could not qualify for private
    card.
    2. AMEX has an "unlimited" credit line, so no worry of not being able
    to get a ticket when you are out of town and plans change.
    3.  Lets you keep your corporate and private transactions separate.
    4.  Company receives detailed reports on how card is used, info is used
    to help work with hotels and others for lower rates when we can show
    them usage reports.
    5.  Cost is minimal, in U.S. we are charged only $5 for processing fee
    vs. normal cost of $55.
    Sure their are other reasons, but these are a few that come to mind.
    Regards, Boston Bob

    Take care using it.
    
    Management gets a transaction report from AMEX (I think they still get
    it).  
    
    I got a nasty-gram A1 from my managers manager regarding my using the
    Amex card at a photo shop and didn't I remember the agreement I signed
    regarding using the card only for company business......endless.  He
    never asked me what I used it for, he assumed it was personal.
    
    I had used it to duplicate slides loaned to us from a customer for a
    important presentation.  Sent a return nasty back and asked if he
    wanted the card back.
    
    On a lighter side, a few years ago, AMEX screwed up and sent me the 
    monthly useage report for a very senior manager.  Seems I was listed as 
    his manager. Interesting to see where he spent the companies money.  
    Called AMEX and his secretary, it took six months to stop sending me 
    his reports.
    
    It is good if you travel or 'entertain' (if we still do that anymore)
    Digital customers. Your not using your credit.  I get my expenses in on
    time and only pay the AMEX bill when the company re-imburses me.
    
    

    Well, I just found out why we need this dumb card.
    
    Yesterday I called to get airline tickets through our new travel
    agency.  I tried to put it on my own AmExp card.  I've had this card
    for 20 some odd years and have always used it.  Anyway, they said they
    had been informed by Digital that it had to be on a corporate card or
    they couldn't approve it.  I have since had to fill out a travel
    request - you get the form from VTX - and forward it to my manager for
    his approval.
    
    Ken

If you get your expenses in on time and
If there are no screwups in getting your reimbursement, all is well.

If, on the other hand, there is a hitch somewhere, remember that:
It is YOUR credit, not Digitals that is affected
AMEX is NOT a revolving credit account, meaning that they expect to be
paid in FULL each month  No monthly payments here.

I had a friend, several years ago (things are MUCH better now!!) who had her
credit rating ruined because there was a grand snafu in getting her
reimbursement which held it up for several months, at a time when she simply did
not have the cash to float Digital's business expense.  AMEX showed little or no
sense of humor about the matter and cared not at all that she had not been payed
by Digital.

    Having a Corporate AMEX also affects the size of your travel advances.
    
    Mark (who's leaving for Taiwan with $150 in advanced cash for a 7 day
          trip because a), you're allowed 50 per day with AMEX card for 
          International travel and b), people on the disbursement side of
          fence don't know that Taiwan is not in the US :^))

    Re: .7
    
    	You bring an extremly valid point.   Please be careful and review
    all the expense reports that AMEX send to you.
    
    Personal Horror Storry:
    -----------------------
    
    	I relocated last year from Puerto Rico to Albuquerque, NM (USA).
    DEC was closing the Puerto Rico plants, so AMEX got very hectic and
    on everybody's tail for outstanding vouchers.   There were a couple
    (four to be exact) guys in Puerto Rico who's name was: Jose Morales.
    We'll guys that is also my name and the reason I use my full (with
    the two last names) name.
    
    	AMEX got on my tail because Jose Morales from Puerto Rico who has
    a DEC Corporate Card owed them for over one year the amount of $
    3,500.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Say what !!!!!!.   I called
    them, send them mail, certified mail, etc. etc.    But just as
    .7 said months passed by and they kept on sending me those AMEX
    Grams (Nasty Grams is more proper), that they were going to ruin
    my credit and send it to a collection agency or both.  Finally
    I receive a certified mail from a Collection Agency in San Juan.
    That's when I decided that enough was enough and called in my
    lawyer.   He asked for cancelled checks and or other information.
    Since I was not that Jose Morales, I had no check, simply because
    I in the first place did not spend the $ 3,500.00.  However, I have
    kept the monthly billing statements showing that I owe them zip.
    With that in hand my lawyer sent AMEX and the collection agency
    a certified mail to ceast and deceist collection of something
    I did not owe them.   After that I did not received any more
    nasty grams.  I also check the credit bureau and everything
    was ok.
    
    		Leasons Learned.
    
    	1) Your credit is the one on the line.
    	2) DEC can not do anything to help you.
    	3) Keep copies of at least one year worth of invoives and copies
           of checks (if you are a DCU member they will have them
           for you).
    	4) Check the monthly statements carefully.
    	5) If something is wrong, call AMEX and follow-up with
           a Certified Mail - for your records - just in case.
    	6) If AMEX keeps on bugging call your lawyer.

    I just got airflight tix yesterday, but I used my citibank mastercard I
    had no problems....but this was not for a business trip...maybe thats
    the difference...yes ? no ? I guess yes...
    
    
    Chris

    Read the litte booklet that they send to you in the mail with the 
    card.  There are addition services that you can use when on the
    road.  I do quite a bit of travel and sooner or later you will need
    to call in some help.  In addtion if you travel on business and use
    the card for travel....you are insured for $200,000.00 US. just 
    by having the card....
    
    
    Richard

    I also ran into this 'only corporate card or charged to the company' 
    thing myself recently, after having been using my own VISA card for
    many years. Part of the explanation I was given was that the business 
    travel insurance coverage is now only available via the above... 
    Whether it's true or not I don't know, that's just what they said.
    
    In my case I only travel a couple times a year, though some trips are
    problematic from a credit card viewpoint. For example, the 'trip' I'm 
    on at the moment will be just shy of 8 weeks duration. Sort of makes it
    hard to pay the bill when it comes in if you are on the other side of
    an ocean from your mailbox, and the duration makes any 30 day float a
    moot point. So I've taken to making sure I build up a reserve before
    the trips, and just pay all my home bills a few monthes ahead and drop 
    a few thou on the card before I leave, and sort it all out upon return.
    
    Sigh,
    	Dave

from  NOTED::ON_THE_ROAD

        <<< NOTED::DISK$NOTES2:[NOTES$LIBRARY_2OF4]ON_THE_ROAD.NOTE;3 >>>
                              -< Business travel >-
================================================================================
Note 629.0           Don't use your Corp AMEX to rent a car            9 replies
ERLANG::BACKES                                       21 lines  20-APR-1993 11:39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    When I rent cars on business trips, I always decline the insurance as
    per company policy, and pay for the car using my corp AMEX card. I
    have always assumed that the AMEX card covers losses when you use it
    to pay for the rental car.
    
    While on a business trip last week, my rental car was broken into and
    my suitcase, briefcase and notebook computer were ripped off. Surprise,
    surprise, AMEX informed me that their agreement with Digital excludes
    that sort of coverage! Digital self insures, so they will
    reimburse my cc for the replacement cost of the computer (DEC property)
    but as for my personal belongings, too bad!
    
    Fortunately, my homeowners insurance covers me (after a healthy
    deductable).
    
    But as a word of advice, if your homeowner's insurance doesn't cover
    losses from rental cars DO NOT use your corporate AMEX to rent the car!
    Use a personal credit card (assuming that they, as mine do anyway,
    include such things when you use them to rent a car).
    
    Time to read that agreement again, carefully this time!

    Another caveat - you cannot get a cash advance on the corporate AM-X
    card (even though Am-X will send you a card offering all kinds of
    help, including cash, if you call one of their numbers).
    
    David

    re .4
    
    Unlimited Credit. Not quite. I needed to book some international
    travel through amex travel. THey would not use the card, until I had
    a "corporate officer" fax a guarantee that they would be paid.
    
    re several cost. 
    
    DEC Australia get their Corp cards for $0. This broke the Amex billing
    software once introduced...
    
    q

RE: previous on using personal credit card.

  You might want to check the T's & C's of you personal credit card for 
  travel usage.  While some do offer theft loss coverage while traveling 
  on a personal basic,  they specifically exclude it when used 
  for business travel. 

    
    re.12
    
    Digital thanks you for the interest free loan.

    
    Your question might be more 'officially' answered if directed to
    the Corporate Charge Card Manager?
    
    See $VTX TRAVEL for both Travel Administration personnel, including
    Corporate Charge Cards, and for Corporate Charge Card information
    (USA).
    

    Those of you who have an Amex Gold Card and get the annual reports know
    how impossibly inaccurate the information that goes to our management
    is. I had an incident where I took my family to a Marriott in February
    for a birthday supper. The following year the Amex Gold Card Summary
    showed up stating that I had spent $59 at the Marriott for lodging on a
    date about a week after the birthday supper. The date happened to be a
    night when my boss and I went to supper and I paid with my Visa card.
    After some very heated discussion with my wife, I produced the slips
    and found that the Marriott had dated the birthday supper in January
    (they just don't bother to set the date on the imprinter), Amex codes
    each vendor with a single category for each Amex vendor account they
    have. This Marriott had one account the the whole hotel which was coded
    "Lodging". The dates on the report that does to management are the date
    the batch of tickets are submitted by the vendor and not necessarily
    the date of the service.
    
    In general, it is a very oversold service with very little quality
    built it. This is also like the Amex Travel organization which made
    itself look good by calling you up the day before departure with a
    flight at a lower fare and then reporting you as refusing lower fare
    when you would not change your travel plans at the last minute.
    
    We are all manipulated by services like this which purport to give
    management the control that they can only get by paying attention to
    their people and developing a trusting relationship.
    
    Paul. 

    re .19
    
    I had just the opposite experience as far as their gold card service
    goes.
    
    I was mistakenly billed by the hotel for some days I didn't stay there. 
    I just called the 800 number on the AX bill and they credited me for the
    entire amount (3 line items) and contacted the hotel and told them to
    straighten out their billing.  I got a nice letter from AX telling me
    what they were doing and a follow-up letter telling me the hotel had
    made a mistake and was resolving it.  It took six weeks, but it was six
    weeks of float for me until the bill was resolved between AX and the
    hotel.
    
    I'm happy with my card and I don't need another one to worry about. 
    Anyway, the only time you need a corporate card is for airfare, the
    hotels, cars, etc. will accept anything.  A travel auth. rqst. will
    work for the airfare and you don't have to expense it, it's billed
    directly.
    
    Ken
    
    

>>                    <<< Note 2615.20 by RIPPLE::CORBETTKE >>>
>>                          -< Different experience... >-

>>    I had just the opposite experience as far as their gold card service
>>    goes.
    
>>    I was mistakenly billed by the hotel for some days I didn't stay there. 
>>    I just called the 800 number on the AX bill and they credited me for the
>>    entire amount (3 line items) and contacted the hotel and told them to
>>    straighten out their billing.  I got a nice letter from AX telling me
>>    what they were doing and a follow-up letter telling me the hotel had
>>    made a mistake and was resolving it.  It took six weeks, but it was six
>>    weeks of float for me until the bill was resolved between AX and the
>>    hotel.

That's not just a nice service,  it's the *LAW*.  Any credit card must
do this with a contested charge.  To preserve you legal rights though ,  
you need to follow up the phone call with a letter.

Garry    

I guess you've never had a disputed charge.  With most cards you have to do all
the work getting is resolved.  The card company would just sit on the side line
while you fought it out with the vendor.  While they would not charge you for
the disputed item, if it took too long to get resolved they do become impatient.
Amex was the first one I had that did ALL the work without being asked.  They
also told me that I did not need to file in writing (as the law requires), my
word was good enough for them.

Re:  <<< Note 2615.22 by NYAAPS::CORBISHLEY "David Corbishley 321-5128" >>>

>Amex was the first one I had that did ALL the work without being asked.  They
>also told me that I did not need to file in writing (as the law requires), my
>word was good enough for them.

I had the same experience with my Amex personal card a few years back.  I went 
to a restaurant in New York and was disatisfied with the quality of both the 
food and the service.  So I left a quite small tip.  The restaurant took it 
upon themselves to increase the amount of the tip to 15%.

I called Amex and told them what had happened.  They gave me an instant credit
for the overcharge and said they'd take care of the restaurant.  Talk about 
hassle-free...  :-)

On the other hand, the issuer of my Visa card refused to get involved when I 
had a dispute with a place from where I'd purchased mail order merchandise.  It 
took a *lot* of work on my part to get that one resolved.

-  David

I have a personal Gold Card with Amex.  [My corporate card is a DC.]

Last year I helped a friend move -- usually I'm the one who procures the rental
truck and accessories and drives it.  Well, I rented a truck at Budget.  All
well and fine.  When I returned it, there was someone from some small company
who was also returning a truck.  Somehow my charge slip ended up attached to his
Rental Agreement and vice versa.  His rental charge showed up on my bill.  The
facsimile of the charge slip clearly showed that it was his company's card, not
mine, that it should have been charged against.  I called Amex.  They
immediately reversed the charge [with a temporary credit] and went after Budget
to fix the problem.  Two months later they posted the correct charge (mine) and
did a permanent credit of my account for the inaccurate charge.  No muss, no
fuss.

Very impressive.

I'll stick with Amex, thanks...

j

    
    ditto.  I used to have a Gold Amex card.  The account had been
    closed for some time, when one day I got a bill.  One phone call
    and about 3 wks for them to investigate took care of it.
    

	Personally, I wish Digital used AT&T Universal Card as a Corporate
	Card. In my experience, they have gone out of their way for customer
	service and give me a non-fee-for-life card with many benefits 
	(grace period for payment, doubling warranties, rental insurrance, etc)
	that Amex simply does not provide. It is also a phone card, which 
	Amex is not. 

	My guess was that we used Amex, because we used Amex Travel Services
	for the corporate travel. With the change to Thomas Cook, perhaps
	it's time to move on to someone else too. 

	BTW, AT&T is also heavily advertizing their card for corporate customers. 

ditto on AMEX. I was returning an AVIS rental in Frankfurt and catching
a flight to London. Since I was running tight on time in Frankfurt the
people at AVIS told me that I could pick up the rental bill when I got to 
London. When picking up my car in London I also got the bill for the
car I returned in Frankfurt. 

AVIS charged me for driving from Frankfurt to London and returning the 
car in London - talk about "sticker" shock. After going round and round 
with AVIS and explaining how it would have been physically impossible for
me to have dropped off the car in London (plane tickets, time constraints, etc)
and getting nowhere I called AMEX. They gave me an immediate credit and
finally convinced AVIS that AVIS had screwed up.

AMEX also saved me overseas, out of cash, HAD to catch a flight, and everyone
was booked solid, but that is another story.

 
>with AVIS and explaining how it would have been physically impossible for
>me to have dropped off the car in London (plane tickets, time constraints, etc)

You mean Avis tried to say that you drove the car accross the English Channel??

Re:    <<< Note 2615.28 by MR1PST::AVNGRS::BOELKE "A 100,000,000 ?'s" >>>

>You mean Avis tried to say that you drove the car accross the English Channel??

No big deal.  The ferry boat and hovercraft services make it easier than it 
used to be.  :-)

But just wait for the Channel Tunnel...

-  David 

they must have assumed I took the ferry.


yf

I'm pretty sure the reason AMEX can afford to be so generous in deleting
charges from your bill is the fact that they don't pay the merchants until they
get the payment from the customer. It's also the reason that many merchants
don't accept AMEX. Between the time of the charging, AMEX sending the customer
the bill, receiving the customer payment and then AMEX paying the merchant you
have a pretty big float time from inital purchase.

If you dispute the charge AMEX just tells the merchant the charge is disputed
and they have to provide proof of a valid charge or they don't get payed. Amex
also makes the merchants take the loss on purchases made on stolen cards this
way. 
 
VISA on the other hand pays the merchant as soon as they submit the bill and it
is up to the customer to argue with the merchant over disputed charges. 

Metz

    I don't think that is quite right about VISA. I recently contested
    a charge and VISA immediately credited my bill and they went after
    the merchant. I didn't do much other than write a letter. Of course
    your mileage may vary on who services your card. The matter was
    fairly resolved with the one letter.
    
    Jim C.
    
    

re .-1

When you're talking with VISA, or one of those other cards that's
offered by a zillion different backs, doesn't your service/hassle level
depend on precisely who you're getting your card from?

(That is, I suppose that I as a customer have to deal with
 my card supplier, not the central VISA organisation).

    Exactly and I mentioned that your mileage may vary by who
    services your card.
    
    Jim C.
    
    

    
    RE: Basenote
    
    I recently travelled on business and had not been issued a corporate
    card and had to leave without getting an advance. I had to use my
    personal money and credit card for this trip. Although Digital
    reimbursed me for all the expenses, it was a hassle. I couldn't get
    tickets while I was away because I could not get a travel authorization
    nor did I have a corporate card to charge too. I also was not thrilled
    that I have to use personal funds for corporate travel as I AM held
    responsible for those charges on my card, not Digital.
    
    If they give you a corporate card to travel, use it. Don't use your
    personal one. I know people who have travelled in the past using their
    personal card and this amount WILL show up on a credit check on you and
    could cause problems. I believe the AMEX cards issued for corporate
    will not.
    
    Mary
    

One last time:
"Corporate" AMEX cards are on YOUR CREDIT.
They hold YOU responsible for paying the bill, and will trash
YOUR credit rating if you don't.

Any problems you may or may not have getting reimbursed by Digital
are not their concern.

    re: .7 and subsequent horror stories...
    
    In June this year I was robbed in my hotel in NYC.  The thief got my
    corporate AMEX and other ID, including VISA.  He charged TONs of stuff
    to the cards and opened many department store accounts using my IDs.
    
    To make a long story short... YOUR OWN PERSONAL CREDIT FILE IS
    UNAFFECTED BY HAVING A CORPORATE CREDIT CARD...
    
    I had, like you, previously believed that it was MY CREDIT rating that
    having a corporate credit card was using.
    
    Not so.  
    
    As a result of the robbery, I have obtained a listing of my credit
    report from TRANS UNION and EQUIFAX... and am waiting for the report
    from TRW.  My Corporate AMEX account is NOT ON ANY OF THESE REPORTS. 
    In fact, defaulting on these accounts would not affect my credit
    rating.  What would happen, is that AMEX would contact DEC, which would
    take appropriate action.
    
    So, relax... your own credit rating is NOT on the line for having a
    corporate card.  DEC's is.
    
    
    tony

re: .37

Unless the agreement has been changed in the past 2 years, read the fine print
on the contract you signed when you got the corporate card.  It explicitly
says you are responsible for the bills.

Bob

    re .35.
    
    Corporate AMEX charges do show up on your personal credit report.  I
    have first hand and very negative experience regarding this matter.

    re:39
    
    Corporate AMEX charges do not show up on my personal credit report.  I
    recently bought a house, and had to be very sure on this point, as the
    banks make extremely detailed credit investigations.
    
    I do not know why my experience contradicts that of Rick Dwyer's.  I
    do know that I have a Corporate AMEX card, and not a personal one.
    
    Bank loan scoring polices will disqualify most borrowers if the monthly
    charge amount exceeds a certain percentage of annual income - even if
    the balance is paid off every month.  You can easily hit this condition
    if you charge a month of travel expenses on your personal VISA/MasterCard
    AMEX or Discover card.  If you then try to buy a car or a house, you may
    discover you are SOL.
    
    I charge all business travel expenses on a corporate AMEX card.
    
    

Re: .40

Your corporate AMEX card may not have shown on your credit report, but that
doesn't mean they don't show on others'.  Amex tends to be selective about
reporting credit history to credit bureaus, but I can verify that as far
as AMEX is concerned, a corporate card is just a personal card for which
your employer pays the fee.  YOU are responsible for the debt and if you
don't pay, they come after YOU (and your credit history). 

					Steve

RE: AMEX not on personal credit history -

 There are three major U.S. based credit reporting firms:
   
   Trans Union,  Equifax and TRW.

 Not all credit transactions are reported to all three firms, so it is 
 entirely possible, depending on the number of accounts a person has, and 
 also who the credit line is with (ie. Visa/MC, AMEX, SHELL, SEARS, or a 
 smaller retailer) to have some accounts show up on one credit report but 
 not on all three.

 Makes a good case for rotating which report you review.

 p.s.  Having a credit card that says Corporate on it doesn't let the 
       individual off the responsibility hook.  They will come after the 
       user that signed the application and card - not Digital. 

.26

I'd imagine the reason we donn't go for AT&T cards is that AmEx are
international and there are certainly some places where AT&T cards 
are unheard of (here for starters) 

Regarding the going after digital or your credit record I believe it's 
a matter of escalation - if you don'tpay they write to you, repeat that 
a few times, then they write to digital, then they stomp all over 
your personal credit rating (probably at about the same time the internal 
mail has managed to find your manager).  Unless you intervene with a fax saying 
how until they get their act together and stop addressing you by the 
wrong name and sex as you asked them to correct *ages* ago you will 
not pay the bill. (I did also offer to go visit their offices in Brighton if
they would pay the bill and demonstrate to them that I am most definately 
female. )  The amused and apologetic amex employee seemed to avoid the 
chain going near to anything serious after that.

	Re. .43

	> I'd imagine the reason we donn't go for AT&T cards is that AmEx are
	> international and there are certainly some places where AT&T cards 
	>are unheard of (here for starters) 


	Oh, the AT&T cards are just VISA and Mastercards, accepted at many more
	places than AmEX. They are simply issued by AT&T in conjunction with
	a bank. They also double as telephone calling cards. 

Once upon a time, it seemed like AmEx was the only card which worked
well in the UK, continental Europe, and the USA.  At that time, I had
an AmEx card.

These days, VISA works just as well, and they charge a good deal
less (like $0 rather than $75, for personal cards), so I no longer 
have an AmEx.

    FWIW - 
    
    Several years ago I had a personal AMEX card and no other credit.  When
    I later used this as a reference on my first new car loan, the banker
    told me that AMEX does not report to the credit bureaus so that could
    not verify my credit rating with them.
    
    
    Years later when I got a mortgage AMEX did not appear on the credit
    report, even though it was a personal account.
    
    

    Re: .46
    
    I'd heard that too a number of years ago.  However, I have since 
    seen several of my credit reports which did show my personal Amex
    account, which was currently active.  (I closed it a year or so
    ago when I came to the realization that I didn't need any of the
    "services" which Amex uses to justify its high annual fee.)
    
    				Steve