🚀 go-pugleaf

I lost about $100 two years ago to a company that went under, and I learned
that contacting your credit card company by telephone buys you absolutely
no protection.  You also are unprotected if you do not complain to your
credit card company within 60 days of when the cc company sends you your 
statement.  This complaint must be in writing, and must detail why you
think that the charge is in error.  My practice now is to consider any
charge "in error" if I have not received the merchandise (whether or not
the company claims that "we shipped it yesterday" or "we expect that
item to come in early next week").

If you do complain in a timely fashion, the CC company should charge
back the vendor until the merchandise is delivered.  If the merchandise
is never delivered, it is the CC coimpany that is left holding the bag
(and believe me, Wells Fargo Bank has a lot more clout than you do
in getting back what people owe them)!  Complaining to your CC company
probably does a lot more good than does a letter to MacUser.

The best solution is to deal with companies that don't charge your card
until the corresponding items are shipped (like MacConnection).

Ron Thisted
ihnp4!gargoyle!galton!thisted