Obama's credit card declined at New York restaurant

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

He could have given up his Nobel Peace award as collateral for the food he ate

 

[livingdead]

Fraud detection systems do not recognize persons, they rely on pattern.
Not sure what it has got to do with democracy or capitalism.

Most US presidents need not get to pay their bills, and need not carry cash. If they need cash, usually security services guys can loan them.
Do US presidents carry cash and credit cards? - BBC News

 

[indiatester]

He'd already eaten. Not sure how India works, but normally any "sit-down" eatery in the US, you pay after you eat.

I don't think that they thought for a moment that he wasn't good for it. Most middle-class+ Americans have more than 1 credit card, so you just use another. Or pay cash. In the case of the President, he could ask to come back to pay (if it really got that bad), and they'd trust him for it. BTW, I've done that myself - ate at a local place, realized I'd left my wallet at home. They didn't make a big deal out of it, I went home, got my wallet, came back and paid them (with a very nice tip).

The golf course thing is completely different - that would be the Secret Service detail wanting to shut the whole place down for a day so the President can play golf. Declining that, particularly on short notice, is very understandable.

That is what I have seen as well. Usually very warm people. I have had a few places give me free dessert just because they saw me 2-3 times at their restaurant (Always converts into a big tip ).
But if the president comes to my place, I'd have that charged to the house and not bill him. May be a token amount for framing purpose though.
Hopefully it was just an event that caused a few chuckles.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Could you expand? I can't tell if your being sarcastic, or if you want VIPs to be less pampered and exceptional.

Isn't it obvious ? Ofcourse I want the VIP culture in India to end.

 

[Not Sure]

Just imagine if it was Pakistan.

First of all, the president, in our case PM would not have gone to restaurant of commoners, even upscale commoners. If he had and his credit card was declined, the person swiping the card would have been roughed up. IF this was not enough, the restaurant would have been closed and its staff badly abused and bill not paid.

PM's card would be declined only if the PM agrees to pay. What are the chances?

 

[gambit]

Not quite true. It isn't how often you use your card that affects your credit rating..it's how many times you f*ck up and how long you own your cards.

For instance when I was in college in the mid 1980's I signed up for an American Express, a visa, and a mastercard from the student offers on a bulletin board on campus. I used them once in a while but not often. In 1992 I joined a database mining company that was used by a major credit card issuer. I was horrified at all the data I could query on people just through their credit card purchases (where they have been, what they buy, where/when they buy their gas, etc). I was so paranoid I put all my cards in a drawer and didn't use them again until thirteen years later (2005) In 2006 I applied for a mortgage and found my credit score was 820!!

For someone who didn't use his cards much in 20 years I certainly achieved a pretty good score.

The thing was I kept the same credit cards for 20+ years and since I didn't use them I didn't have any screw ups.

Edit 820...not 720

I went under the credit radar for nearly 12 yrs. Simply put, I lived within my means. If I wanted something, I saved enough for it. I bought only used cars and motorcycles. Never had any new vehicles in my life. I had literally no credit cards. In '07, I applied for a mortgage and found my credit score was 520. The first lender basically said he sees one or two persons like me per yr, those who are financially responsible, and there was nothing he could do for them, so then nothing for me. Not even the VA behind me was enough.

Four other lenders said the same thing, two were Wells Fargo and Countrywide. According to the Countrywide agent, the 520 score was simply because I must have some kind of a rating since I basically had no credit history to speak of. Just out of curiosity, I applied for a car loan, an '07 BMW 550 with $12k down payment. No can do. Not even my own bank -- Wells Fargo -- could work with me. Funny part is that I could have bought the car loaded for cash with some leftover for performance upgrades. To get a mortgage in my situation back then, either it was at least %50 down or cash. The first option would break me, so there was no second option.

I had to get a secured VISA card to rebuild my credit history and the best I got was $500 from First Premier. I used it regularly for 6 months and I got a score of 620. I dropped First Premier and Wells gave me a VISA with a $5k limit. I used it regularly and never got over $1k in balance. When I finally got approved for a mortgage in '09, with VA backing, my score was 720. I learned my lesson. Today, I have two VISA cards, one from Wells and one from Mountain America Credit Union. I use both and set automatic payments to cover most of the monthly charges.

Personally, I think this credit rating thing is a sham, even though I understand there is a business desire for it. The three monsters -- and you know who am talking about -- are criminally lax with their business practices. But if not criminally lax, then morally deplorable because they do not care enough about the consequences of their business practices on regular people like us. They are slow to make corrections, especially when any of them is at fault and I have personal experience in that. I was a victim of ID theft before the issue made national headlines and my ex-wife removed me from two joint accounts and none of them updated whatever file/database info they have. We gave them notarized documents stating my name's removal and it was under threat of legal actions from me that all three finally fixed their shit. For the ID theft event, I was proactive and fast enough that no damage was done. Nevertheless, Equifax took nearly one yr before my file was cleansed. The other two a-holes took nearly four months.

I do not consider myself to be a hateful person in general and there is not much in life that bothers me. But I do hate, not merely dislike, the three credit rating/reporting agencies.

 

[osama zafar]

Atleast they are fair if not anything else eh?

 

[Hyperion]

If it were Pakistan, the PM or President first of all wouldn't have paid the bill. Secondly if someone had asked for the bill, the owner of the restaurant plus his his whole family would've ended in jail, and of course, the ownership of the restaurant would've been shifted to the PM's daughter or son in law!

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I went under the credit radar for nearly 12 yrs.
....
According to the Countrywide agent, the 520 score was simply because I must have some kind of a rating since I basically had no credit history to speak of.
.....
Personally, I think this credit rating thing is a sham.

You just made one simple mistake - you canceled your credit cards. I still have cards that say member since '88. One card I have used only once since getting it. NEVER cancel old cards...just don't use them.
People who jump from card to card don't realize what will happen.

One problem with the no-cancel strategy is hey are cracking down on "deadbeats" (people who never use their cards). I had to setup an autopay for one of my bills on one of my cards.

I haven't intentionally carried a balance past 30 days since probably 1989.
They probably even have 20% interest for all I know.

And yes the whole FICO thing is messed up. We have similar circumstances but the outcome was completely the opposite.

 

[indiatester]

You just made one simple mistake - you canceled your credit cards. I still have cards that say member since '88. One card I have used only once since getting it. NEVER cancel old cards...just don't use them.
People who jump from card to card don't realize what will happen.

One problem with the no-cancel strategy is hey are cracking down on "deadbeats" (people who never use their cards). I had to setup an autopay for one of my bills on one of my cards.

I haven't intentionally carried a balance past 30 days since probably 1989.
They probably even have 20% interest for all I know.

And yes the whole FICO thing is messed up. We have similar circumstances but the outcome was completely the opposite.

Even though I don't live in the US anymore nor do I intend to ever return, I still maintain a credit-card to keep my FICO score out of fear :-D