Thursday, January 22, 2004
Like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife
Yesterday I found out that, in two weeks, I am going on a business trip for which I will have to rent a car. Renting a car always poses a host of problems for me, since I am under 25 and don't have a major non-debit credit card (or at least not one that isn't completely maxed out). When I first started traveling for work, my boss suggested that I apply for another credit card and then use it only for work-related travel expenses, paying off the balance each month with my reimbursement check. (My company does not give out corporate credit cards, which I think is absurd considering the amount of travel they require, but whatever.) It seemed like a good idea, but I was hesitant to apply for another credit card when I'm valiantly (yet somewhat unsuccessfully) trying to pay off the two I have now.
So far, none of my travel has required me to go through the hell that is renting a car, so was able to make do with my debit card for the most part. But most car-rental companies, if they take debit cards at all, will charge a huge deposit on it, which usually results in a nice little overdraft notice from my bank. I realized I would just have to suck it up and get a credit card. My dad suggested that I just apply for one of the pre-approved credit card offers I get in the mail nearly every day, which seemed like a good idea. I mean, if I was already pre-approved, I could probably get the card faster, right? On my way home, I fervently hoped that I would find multiple pre-approved credit card offers in my mailbox.
Which, of course, I did not. This is the rule of pre-approved credit card offers (and most things in life, really): If you don't want them, they come in droves. But the one day you decide you do want one, they are nowhere to be found. The irony is, I had just gotten a pre-approved credit card offer in the mail yesterday, but I'd thrown it in the trash as I usually do. And I had chosen that night to take my trash out to the Dumpster.
Unfortunately, with my business trip in two weeks, I didn't really have time for irony. So I did what any sane, rational person would do in this situation. I went to the Dumpster to retrieve it.
Yes, you read that right. I actually pawed through nasty piles of trash to find a pre-approved credit card offer. Look, I'm not proud of it. But, you know, desperate times and all that jazz. (I do have to admit that I was a little proud of the relative ease with which I was able to locate my bag of trash.)
Of course, when I went online this morning to actually get the card, I learned that it would take somewhere between 7 and 30 days just to process my supposedly pre-approved credit application. So it seems that all of my sifting-through-garbage efforts were in vain anyway.
I'm sure that when I get home today, there will be at least four pre-approved credit card offers waiting for me. Because that is the law of pre-approved credit card offers.
Yesterday I found out that, in two weeks, I am going on a business trip for which I will have to rent a car. Renting a car always poses a host of problems for me, since I am under 25 and don't have a major non-debit credit card (or at least not one that isn't completely maxed out). When I first started traveling for work, my boss suggested that I apply for another credit card and then use it only for work-related travel expenses, paying off the balance each month with my reimbursement check. (My company does not give out corporate credit cards, which I think is absurd considering the amount of travel they require, but whatever.) It seemed like a good idea, but I was hesitant to apply for another credit card when I'm valiantly (yet somewhat unsuccessfully) trying to pay off the two I have now.
So far, none of my travel has required me to go through the hell that is renting a car, so was able to make do with my debit card for the most part. But most car-rental companies, if they take debit cards at all, will charge a huge deposit on it, which usually results in a nice little overdraft notice from my bank. I realized I would just have to suck it up and get a credit card. My dad suggested that I just apply for one of the pre-approved credit card offers I get in the mail nearly every day, which seemed like a good idea. I mean, if I was already pre-approved, I could probably get the card faster, right? On my way home, I fervently hoped that I would find multiple pre-approved credit card offers in my mailbox.
Which, of course, I did not. This is the rule of pre-approved credit card offers (and most things in life, really): If you don't want them, they come in droves. But the one day you decide you do want one, they are nowhere to be found. The irony is, I had just gotten a pre-approved credit card offer in the mail yesterday, but I'd thrown it in the trash as I usually do. And I had chosen that night to take my trash out to the Dumpster.
Unfortunately, with my business trip in two weeks, I didn't really have time for irony. So I did what any sane, rational person would do in this situation. I went to the Dumpster to retrieve it.
Yes, you read that right. I actually pawed through nasty piles of trash to find a pre-approved credit card offer. Look, I'm not proud of it. But, you know, desperate times and all that jazz. (I do have to admit that I was a little proud of the relative ease with which I was able to locate my bag of trash.)
Of course, when I went online this morning to actually get the card, I learned that it would take somewhere between 7 and 30 days just to process my supposedly pre-approved credit application. So it seems that all of my sifting-through-garbage efforts were in vain anyway.
I'm sure that when I get home today, there will be at least four pre-approved credit card offers waiting for me. Because that is the law of pre-approved credit card offers.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]