Minor things that bother you

[snowc]

(I'm not sure why the lot at this store is such a mess; it's the closest WinCo to Summerlin, so maybe it's people with an "I'm so rich I don't deserve to have to put my own cart away" mentality.)

Is WinCo the primary grocery store chain in Las Vegas? I just looked it up and was surprised to see only 4 locations. In the immediate Rochester area, which is less than half the size of Vegas, Wegmans has 16 locations, and Tops (Wegmans' main competitor) and Aldi have about a dozen locations each.

Wegmans and Green Hills (or Greenies for short) coexist within Syracuse.
We have in the South, Carlie C's. Very well known company, yet they had to shut down two locations recently due to lease termination. Why do people just simply do that, where landlords hike up rent prices and these longtime businesses don't agree to it?!
Also, Food Lion primarily coexists (in some states) with other AD brands like Hannaford Brothers or even BOTH Giants and Martins. In fact the last FL that exists before to Mason Dixon line is on Exit 26? of I81 in Falling Waters WV.
There are even Hardee's that go up to PA as well. And Waffle House. Hardee's JUST opened their first location in NY, but ALL the way down near the PA-NY line at Exit 1 near Ripley on I-90.

[SEWIGuy]

I have allowed direct debit for years and never had a problem. Sometimes I think people get way too concerned about this kind of stuff.

I'm surprised how people forgot how insecure checks are.

A check often has the person's name, address, account number, bank name, & bank ABA number. It has the person's signature. It's a piece of paper that has everything possible to gather someone's identity and banking information.  Once handed over, it can go thru any number of hands. It can be photocopied and distributed. It can be dropped during transportation to the bank. The bank can enter or scan the info wrong, causing a much larger than intended withdrawal.

If a check was thought of today, it would be crucified as being a magnet for identify and banking theft.

And to top it off, many individuals and businesses have the ability to submit the check electronically for deposit. The banking info that was attempted to be kept off the internet was still submitted via the internet.

Can issues occur with auto withdrawals? Of course. Nothing is fool-proof.

And ACH transfers are protected under federal law. You have 60 days to notify your financial institution. Honestly if you keep up with your accounts, and I check my active ones daily and have enabled notification settings for my inactive ones, financial institutions usually act quickly in any fraud cases.

[CtrlAltDel]

....

Another option, and one I use for my gym, is to set up another account at another bank specifically for the purpose and only put just enough money to pay the rent into it each month. So, while the bank will have access to the account, your main account will be protected, thus minimizing the potential for financial errors or hijinks.

The one thing as to which I would advise caution is to note that some banks will automatically close an account if the balance is too low or zero, so unless vdeane can verify that the bank would not do that, it would probably be a good idea to put some amount beyond the rent payment in that account and just leave it there.

True. The account I have has a 100$ minimum balance requirement, and so what I do is have 150$ in there as a "base," and then I make monthly deposits on top of that.

[vdeane]

Agreed regarding your last point. It's a lot more logical for the payee to give out their bank account information and allow the payer to set things up on their end than to force the payer to give out their information. Will they not allow you to send a check to a different address?

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

Of course, I hate paying by check because the account information is right...smark... dab at the bottom and can be easily duplicated.

I have no idea what was written on the checks my landlord was receiving.  Since I was paying via the bank's online bill pay feature rather than writing one myself, presumably it has something else, especially since the money would be withdrawn when it was sent, not when it was cashed.  It's just a mechanism they use so anyone can be paid via online bill pay, whether they're set up for it or not.

[JayhawkCO]

Agreed regarding your last point. It's a lot more logical for the payee to give out their bank account information and allow the payer to set things up on their end than to force the payer to give out their information. Will they not allow you to send a check to a different address?

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

Which is annoying because I like earning frequent flyer miles for my bills.

[Rothman]

Target = Walmart but with slightly better presentation.

Target's higher end selection is better than anything I see at Wal-Mart.

Right.  Target = Walmart, but with everything cashews.

"Higher end" is an interesting term to use at a Target...

[SSOWorld]

Target != Macy's (it hardly meets the level of JCPenney)

[gonealookin]

Agreed regarding your last point. It's a lot more logical for the payee to give out their bank account information and allow the payer to set things up on their end than to force the payer to give out their information. Will they not allow you to send a check to a different address?

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

Which is annoying because I like earning frequent flyer miles for my bills.

Most of my bills are still no charge for using a credit card.  Gas, electric, monthly HOA assessment, quarterly sewer bill and T-Mobile* are set up for bank account debit due to fees.  For federal income tax, PayUSATax charges a 1.82% credit card fee, but I have a credit card that gives me 2% cash back so I come out a bit on the plus side there.

*At T-Mobile you save $5/month by setting up autopay from a bank account rather than a credit card account.  However, once you get the bill but before they debit your bank account, log into your T-Mobile account and make a manual online payment charging the amount to a credit card and you pay the lesser "bank account" amount so there's no additional fee for using the credit card.  For that I use the credit card that has "cell phone protection" in the event the phone is damaged or stolen.

<-- (1000 posts; only took 14 years)

[Rothman]

Having to remember to outrun the autopay every month is exhausting.

[wanderer2575]

Agreed regarding your last point. It's a lot more logical for the payee to give out their bank account information and allow the payer to set things up on their end than to force the payer to give out their information. Will they not allow you to send a check to a different address?

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

Which is annoying because I like earning frequent flyer miles for my bills.

Somebody has to pay the credit card issuer for those miles and points.  Either you lose discounts or you pay surcharges.  Merchants prefer direct debit collections because their bank fees are less than their credit card fees.

[on_wisconsin]

Walmarts in my region not accepting tap-to-pay despite having card readers capable of it.

[ZLoth]

Walmarts in my region not accepting tap-to-pay despite having card readers capable of it.

It's a corporate decision to utilize their own QR-code-based payment methods rather than a tap-to-pay method, including collecting consumer information as well as transaction fees.

[vdeane]

Walmarts in my region not accepting tap-to-pay despite having card readers capable of it.

Ugh.  Stewart's does the same thing, at least most locations do.  My local one started accepting it in the store a couple months ago, but still not at the pumps, which is annoying, because tap to pay avoids the possibility of card information being stolen by a skimmer.  Inside the store is just a minor inconvenience.  At the pump is a security issue.

[jeffandnicole]

Walmart nationwide doesn't accept tap-to-pay. I've considered trying their QR code pay, but eh...I don't think about it much until I'm actually paying, and I'm not going to take the time to do the QR code thingy then.

At least near me... Lowes recently changed their card terminals to accept tap-to-pay.  Home Depot still requires you to insert.

[SEWIGuy]

My darn medical flex card doesn't even have a chip. I still have to swipe.

At least it doesn't make me do carbon paper I guess...

[SSOWorld]

My darn medical flex card doesn't even have a chip. I still have to swipe.

At least it doesn't make me do carbon paper I guess...

Mine doesn't either - but it does do Apple Pay.

[Scott5114]

Convenience fee to pay via credit card.... ugg but understandable. Convenience fee to pay via debit card.... 

Visa/Mastercard et al. charge fees to accept their debit cards too. They're sometimes slightly less, not always. In "card not present" transactions like a rent payment is likely to be, they often are the same amount.

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

The average American consumer does not understand what a leech the credit card processing industry is on the economy. Beyond merely diverting a portion of each payment to themselves, VI/MC also sometimes dictates other companies' policies by threatening to deny access to their payment networks. Much of the "Internet censorship" that happens these days is done at VI/MC's behest, because they don't want to be associated with something their executives think is icky.

[mgk920]

Convenience fee to pay via credit card.... ugg but understandable. Convenience fee to pay via debit card.... 

Visa/Mastercard et al. charge fees to accept their debit cards too. They're sometimes slightly less, not always. In "card not present" transactions like a rent payment is likely to be, they often are the same amount.

It seems like a lot of places are trying to go to direct bank account withdrawal.  They aren't the only ones, just the most forceful.  A few months back, Verizon took away the autopay discount for people who autopay by credit card rather than bank withdrawal.  NY's "pay per toll" E-ZPass plan also requires direct bank withdrawal, not credit card billing.

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

The average American consumer does not understand what a leech the credit card processing industry is on the economy. Beyond merely diverting a portion of each payment to themselves, VI/MC also sometimes dictates other companies' policies by threatening to deny access to their payment networks. Much of the "Internet censorship" that happens these days is done at VI/MC's behest, because they don't want to be associated with something their executives think is icky.

One of my favorite haunts here in downtown Appleton now gives me an automatic discount for paying with cash.  Yep, 'swipe' fees.

Mike

[vdeane]

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

And what's really weird is that I didn't think of that.  My mind just assumed that they were trying to prevent people from reversing the charges.

[Scott5114]

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

And what's really weird is that I didn't think of that.  My mind just assumed that they were trying to prevent people from reversing the charges.

I just calculated how much my credit card processor would charge me to run my rent through them. $48.15. Multiply that by however many units and you're talking some serious money, for which the landlord gets absolutely nothing of value (it is not as though most people choose housing based on the methods of payment the landlord accepts).

[Rothman]

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

And what's really weird is that I didn't think of that.  My mind just assumed that they were trying to prevent people from reversing the charges.

I just calculated how much my credit card processor would charge me to run my rent through them. $48.15. Multiply that by however many units and you're talking some serious money, for which the landlord gets absolutely nothing of value (it is not as though most people choose housing based on the methods of payment the landlord accepts).

Not sure why the charge not leading to landlord "getting value" matters.  Financial institutions have been charging fees since time eternal.

So, I have just chosen not to pay rent with a credit card...

[jeffandnicole]

...and they want to do this because, unlike VI/MC, ACH transfers are normally free.

And what's really weird is that I didn't think of that.  My mind just assumed that they were trying to prevent people from reversing the charges.

They could stop payment with a check also.

But let's say a complex does allow CC payments as long as the fee is paid by the renter. For me, as much as I would want the rewards points, that's a hefty fee to pay. When we're talking a restaurant meal I pay it without a second thought because its often under $1...mayhe $3 at the most. But when the fee starts to get to be $5 or more, I start 2nd guessjng if I want to pay it.

The only saving grace - at least I also earn rewards points on the fee.

[mgk920]

To me that's sort of like those who crow about their income tax refunds.  "They're bribing you with your own money, very expensively, too!"
< sigh . . . >

Mike

[ZLoth]

To me that's sort of like those who crow about their income tax refunds.  "They're bribing you with your own money, very expensively, too!"

I was quite happy when I learned I owed $49 to the IRS this year.

[mgk920]

To me that's sort of like those who crow about their income tax refunds.  "They're bribing you with your own money, very expensively, too!"

I was quite happy when I learned I owed $49 to the IRS this year.

Best for you is to owe a small amount at the end of the year.

Mike