Tracfone added credit card information into my account behind my back

[Rick880]

This afternoon I was surprised to find that the credit card I used for a Tracfone phone order was in my Tracfone account. Here is the story. About a couple of months ago, I redeemed some reward points to buy a couple of phones and used a credit card to cover the amount exceeding the redeem coupon. During checkout I believe I had declined to save the credit card information as I always did with credit card transactions. But somehow the credit card information still ends up in my Tracfone account. I had done this kind of transaction - rewards redeem coupon and credit - twice last year and nothing like this happened. I think Verizon must have made some change(s) in this area after taking over Tracfone.

[Tracfancier]

That was also going on with Tracfone long before Verizon had thoughts of buying Tracfone.

[Rick880]

That was also going on with Tracfone long before Verizon had thoughts of buying Tracfone.

I wasn't aware of that Tracfone practice. As I said I had done similar transactions before but only the latest one gave me the trouble. Another not-so-good thing is I couldn't delete the credit card in the account. I end up replacing it with a virtual card I got from a rebate offer. The virtual card has only a few dollars left and serves the purpose.

[rpz1]

A credit card is never deleted with a service whether cell or otherwise. Case in point. If you have some account like a Computer Anti-Virus like Norton that auto renews which is standard on most now, just deleting your CC doesn't stop that from happening. You need to actually cancel the account.

[hpham]

A credit card is never deleted with a service whether cell or otherwise.

I disagree on that. If I delete all the credit cards stored at sites like Amazon.com, Walmart.com, etc then when I make a purchase it'll ask me to enter a credit card number, else the order won't go through because there's no source of payment.

EDITED: After reading your post more closely, there's a difference between recurring subscription/service and purchases. If you signed up for something like Auto Pay, then most sites will keep using the same card info that you initially used, unless the site has an explicit function to change the card being used. In the OP's case, it was a non-recurring purchase. Removing/changing the card on file and it will not use the card that was used in the previous purchase.

[rpz1]

I disagree on that. If I delete all the credit cards stored at sites like Amazon.com, Walmart.com, etc then when I make a purchase it'll ask me to enter a credit card number, else the order won't go through because there's no source of payment.

EDITED: After reading your post more closely, there's a difference between recurring subscription/service and purchases. If you signed up for something like Auto Pay, then most sites will keep using the same card info that you initially used, unless the site has an explicit function to change the card being used. In the OP's case, it was a non-recurring purchase. Removing/changing the card on file and it will not use the card that was used in the previous purchase.

Thanks. On second thought I agree. The example I gave I guess is considered auto pay even though the auto renewal is mandatory with something like Norton. I guess my point was more that with non-recurring purchases the service likely retains the CC info for a period, not that they'll charge anything to it. Would that be correct ?

[hpham]

I guess my point was more that with non-recurring purchases the service likely retains the CC info for a period, not that they'll charge anything to it. Would that be correct ?

If a site retains the CC info, most likely it will be there until deleted by the account owner.

[Rick880]

I guess my point was more that with non-recurring purchases the service likely retains the CC info for a period, not that they'll charge anything to it.

That is my understanding too. I believe the CC information will stay with every transaction, even the buyer declines to save the CC information or removes the CC on file after the transaction. Removing the CC on file can only prevent the seller to make future charges against the CC.