Credit card over limit charges

Until yesterday I was in an understanding that the banks would deny/disapprove attempts on swiping Credit Cards over and above the credit limit on the card. Looks like either my understanding was wrong or things have changed. My Father has a credit limit of Rs.X. Last month he had made two separate transactions. The first one was within X but when he swiped for the second time, the total amount went greater than X. Under normal circumstances as per my understanding, the second transaction shouldn’t have been approved knowing that it overshoots the credit limit. But no such denial or intimation was made. This month’s billing had a “Over limit Fee” of Rs.500/- (add Service Tax, Cess etc. to it) added to it (in fact that is when my father came to know that he had overshot his limit). Called the Customer care only to learn that, thats how things work. The person has replied that the bank doesn’t know under what circumstances the transaction was made and hence approves the transaction even if it overshoots. He also informed that Over limit fee wouldn’t have been levied had the excess amount been paid to the bank before the billing date. Now there is no other option but to pay the charges, looks like..

Courier services adopt Windows Mobile

Not sure if its just me but I saw this for the first time yesterday at my residence. I was used to signatures in delivery sheets from the courier boys the last time I received a courier on hand myself at home. I was taken by surprise yesterday however when a courier boy handed over the Airtel mobile bills.

The moment he handed over the courier to me, he put his Windows Mobile smart phone in hand to use and tapped a few entries using the stylus and with a couple of seconds handled over the mobile to me for my signature. I had to sign using the stylus on the mobile screen. It had a comments section too. Checked with the guy and learnt that it was a custom software built by the courier company itself(though I doubt that its a third party solution).

Mobile is definitely the future !

Buying a Home appliance – Brand outlet vs Dealer outlet

I am sure most of you would have had experience buying a home appliance (TV, Fridge etc.). Every time I go to a Brand outlet (like Sony World etc.) I wonder how they make business. I am assuming everyone knows that the cost for the same product is higher at such outlets than other Private dealer outlets like (Vasanth, Viveks etc.). More often then not, they blindly quote the MRP stuck on the product. Another plus point in approaching the private dealers is that you get to pick and choose from a variety of brands.

If my understanding is right, those Brand outlets also work under dealership – meaning, they are not setup by the brand companies themselves. Not sure what their business model/strategy is like. It certainly calls for some understanding between the brand owner and the outlet.