If I signed up for a trial offer with a gift card, but used the remaining of the balance on the card before they could charge me again for a membership fee, would it be possible for them to track me down (with limited info: name, address, phone number) and somehow mess up my credit when my card is declined?
Long Story:
My brother got me hooked on online surveys. I just signed up for trial offer that requires them to send me a package. I used the gift card to pay the 1.97 shipping and handling, but if I don’t cancel the trial offer within so many days they will charge a 20 dollar per month membership fee. When I signed up, the only information I put in was my name, address, phone number, and gift card info. Instead of going through the hassle of calling them up and cancelling, could I just use the rest of the money on the card before they get to, without the risk of getting my credit messed up?
BTW: When I purchased the gift card, I didn’t have to activate it or give any info, just paid for it and left.
I work with gift cards as about 50% of my job. No, they can’t mess up your credit. Gift cards and other pre-paid debit cards are not credit cards and have no effect on your credit rating. They are not tied to your credit in any way.
My credit card bank offers a service called “Shop Safe” which is a small app that I can call up and use to create a “fake” credit card number that is tied to my real card. The new “fake” card that I make at the time of purchase has a limit that I choose and an expiration date that I choose. The name and address on the “card” are my real ones, though.
So say I want to subscribe to uhm…Yahoo Personals for just one month and not have to worry about cancelling. I make a “fake” card through Shop Safe that has a $20 limit and expires in one month. The service I am subscribing to is $19.95. When they go to re-charge me a month later, the card is both expired and overdrawn.
I do not get any over limit fees on my real card (the charges on this “fake” card show up like any other charge on my real bill, btw) and the only thing that happens is that Yahoo can’t charge me again until I give them another card number.
So, this is an example of using a real, active card with my real, active personal info, doing the same thing you’re doing, and not once has it had a negative effect on my credit. In fact, it never has a negative effect on my Yahoo account either.
In your case, you’re doing the same thing I am but that credit card isn’t even really tied to your credit (I don’t THINK). It’s really just a free $20 or whatever from Visa bought in your brother’s name.