Since the Nissan broke down I had to get a rental car so I could get home. In order to do that I had to go Enterprise Rent-A-Car and fill out the paperwork. Enterprise is a good organization on the whole, but they freaked out when I handed them my debit card.
"Do you have a regular credit card?"
"No"
"Well, we'll have to charge you $500 on your debit card"
"mmm-No"
Eventually we were able to get it worked out that they would bill Nissan for any charges and then I would reconcile with Nissan if I owed any money.
But my question is how we ever got by without credit cards before. How did we rent cars, or make hotel reservations, or buy plane tickets before there were credit cards? I mean, were there a lot of incidents of fraud with rental cars before credit cards? What's to stop someone who wants to steal a rental car or defraud Enterprise from defrauding their credit card companies too? They collect and get the same information: name, address, phone number, social security number, etc.
See, for me, I was a stupid kid. I have bad credit because when I was younger I applied for credit cards and I was profligate with them. I bought all manner of stupid shit I shouldn't have. It's only been in the last 5 years that I've started to approach a good credit rating, but I'm still gunshy when it comes to credit. I just don't trust myself. What are people like me supposed to do in this "all credit or nothing world"? What about the people who've had their lives destroyed by identity theft and can't get credit. Why should they be punished?
I frankly think this complete focus on credit sucks, and there needs to be a way where you can get a car, or a hotel room, or a flight without having to put it all on your credit card.
I'd like to know how to get along in this world without credit cards. I was looking for such information and came across this page... I can't get a card due to a variety of reasons. I need to travel overseas soon and it's tough without the booking agents asking for a credit card.