Should I keep paying on credit card?

Question

This is a long one so bear with me!!

Recently I bought a Notebook computer from a large electrical store in Australia who offered 22 months interest free. The way it worked was they set you up with a credit card through a company they regularly use & then charge the item to that card.

I have been making payments onto the credit card to pay it off gradually and on the last statement i noticed that it shows all of my payments, but no purchases.

Then out of the blue, the electrical store called me the other day asking if i could go back in to sign the contract again as apparantly the credit card company "couldn't read the signature" on the copy they faxed.

To me it looks like the notebook has not been charged to this credit card & they cant unless i resign. My question is should i stop paying money onto the card & assume i have got this notebook for free or will i end up in trouble for not paying for it?

Answer 1

Unless you have an outstanding balance, yes stop paying as the interest period will begin once the credit company has received the paperwork.

You will need to go back into the store to sign the contact & then it will be put onto the card. The resume paying.

If you don't it s stolen goods & the police can be called to retrieve goods.

Answer 2

It could very well be on the statement, but usually 0 interest purchases are in another subsection of the credit card.  But beware, if you don't pay off the laptop, you will have to pay the compounded interest for those 22 months. So if you have been using this card, the catch is that, some of that payment is paying the balance that is being charged interest. I would be very careful about this one, because it could be your Balance is correct, but you aren't seeing the purchases, because the regular purchases are interest bearing. If you assume you got the laptop for free, you could end up with bad credit, and having to pay about 18-30% more for the laptop if you don't pay off the laptop balance is due (22 mos).  Now all isn't lost, if you want to pay off the laptop, make sure to pay well above the min, for example if you have about 500$ in purchases... then about 10-20$ min payment is required. And that Only goes towards that, none goes toward the laptop. And this is legal by all means. So lets say the laptop was 800$, so your balance is 1300, but your min of 15$. All that money is being paid to the interest bearing amount.

When you buy something with no interest, you could technically never be paying on that amount if you pay the minimums.

To avoid credit problems, i would definitely call the company/get this resolved, and ask them questions too. It will help you be a better buyer.

Answer 3

Do the right thing.  If you live your life cutting corners and trying to get away with things, especially at others' expense, it will surely come back to haunt you.

Answer 4

First question:  Did you buy the computer?

If so, pay for it.