Don't tell me it doesn't work cause it does 
I tried it on my Chase and Amex cards, as well as Capital One etc. Forgot to activate the card, and used my Capital One card in the past, and went through worked fine...... so I tried it on others and it all works without calling in or logging on to "activate the card" So question is what in the world is the point?
Starting Score: 08/29/2011 TU 671 EQ 674Current Score (myFico + Amex): April 2013 TU 754 EQ 694 EX 694
Wallet: NFCU Visa Sig 25k, Amex Lowes 22k, NavCheck 15k, Amex PRG, Amex Zync, Discover It 13.5k, Amazon Visa 5k
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webhopper wrote:
The credit card companies want to use the time that you call in to cross sell you on additional products such as "wallet protector"
True in some cases, but not all. AmEx didn't upsell me anything, nor did Chase on my debit card (though I may find out they do differently for credit when I activate my Freedom).
The main thing activation does for the companies is verify that the card is in the hands of the person it was delivered to. It also verifies your phone number for them if you activate via phone. The accounts are typically active already, but these little bits of data housekeeping make the people in their risk management departments very happy. 
Starting Score: EQ 717 EX 724 TU 736
webhopper wrote:
The credit card companies want to use the time that you call in to cross sell you on additional products such as "wallet protector"
+1
when I called to activate my WF card, they tried to sell me a private banking and financial consultant. I was like "Really? it is the cash back COLLEGE visa with a $600 limit...do I really sound like I need that?!?!?!"
I saw that thread, congrats again. It is exactly what I did to my freedom. I didn't get another HP, they used the one that is already pulled.
I had a debit card mailed to me once after about 10 days I didn't get it, I was on my online account for something esle and saw all these random charges that didn't look familiar. Asked the wifey she said she didn't see the card come nor had she even used her card lately. Called the bank to dispute the charges, they confirmed it was on the new card and not the wifes card and since the card was never activated they would cancel the card, flag it to be held and notified(which I guess tells the retailer to not give the card to the person and to call the cops/bank? I'm guessing) and that all charges would be reversed immediatly and that if I had any overdraft fees that occured due to this they would be refunded (which luckily I didn't the guy appears to have only been testing the card - a dollar here a dollar there). From now on though, any time we get a new debit card, we have to pick it up at a branch and show ID an all that when we have a new card issued, which luckily is only once every couple years.
