Minor things that bother you

[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

[Scott5114]

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

If you are a retail business, not accepting some form of plastic card is going to be a showstopper for most of your customer base. Pretty much all of your competitors are going to be accepting them, though, so your customers have a strong incentive to switch to avoid the perceived inconvenience of coming prepared with cash. So you are at a competitive disadvantage. The value of the credit card fee is that it grants you access to far most customers than not paying the fee does.

Landlords compete based on location, price, and quality of amenities offered in their community. They do not compete on convenience. Nobody is going to pack up all of their shit and move because their landlord doesn't take credit cards. Nobody is going to decide they don't need housing so badly after all if they can't use a credit card. And when someone signs a lease, they are contractually obligated to pay you every month until the lease expires whether it's convenient or not. So paying the credit card fee does not help a landlord in any way; they're just sacrificing fifty bucks (or whatever) per unit per month to make things easier on their tenants. And while it's a shame that being nice to customers for its own sake is something that is considered of no value in capitalism...it is a thing that is of no value in capitalism.

[hotdogPi]

The fee for debit should be nowhere near $50. Why not that?

[jeffandnicole]

The fee for debit should be nowhere near $50. Why not that?

Depends on the merchant contract. Some don't differentiate between credit and debit cards. And even if it does, if the complex has one way to pull your money out of your bank account, they probably don't want to offer a second option that does the same thing yet costs them more.

[Scott5114]

The fee for debit should be nowhere near $50. Why not that?

The fee is often the same for card-not-present transactions, since those don't use a PIN.

[roadman65]

My cousin used to own a sporting goods/ bait and tackle shop and never accepted American Express because their fee was higher than Visa or Discover.

Of course Amex didn't charge the consumer monthly interest as they ( used to) require full payment in a month as they were a charge card and not a credit card. So the merchant got to pay the extra.

[SEWIGuy]

And Amex didn't have nearly the circulation that MC and Visa did.

[jeffandnicole]

And Amex didn't have nearly the circulation that MC and Visa did.

AmEx kept their card intentionally tight, only giving it to those with business accounts, higher incomes, etc.  Only relatively recently (20 or so years) did the branch out to the masses, providing cards with cash back or point bonuses, etc. 

[1995hoo]

And Amex didn't have nearly the circulation that MC and Visa did.

AmEx kept their card intentionally tight, only giving it to those with business accounts, higher incomes, etc.  Only relatively recently (20 or so years) did the branch out to the masses, providing cards with cash back or point bonuses, etc. 

At least of the early 1980s, the green card (the base standard AmEx charge card) was the only one that was relatively straightforward to get. Back then, AmEx Gold was for "big spenders" and it required the customer to obtain a line of credit with a particular bank. I remember in August 1984 when we were on a family vacation in Quebec. My father was surprised when the waiter knew we were from Virginia until I pointed out that his AmEx Gold Card had the name of a Virginia-based bank underneath the words "American Express"—he had forgotten about it.

AmEx Platinum was introduced in 1984 and was originally invitation-only based on tenure and spending. That's more or less what the Centurion Card (popularly known as "the AmEx Black Card") is these days, although the spending requirements, initiation fee, and annual fee are far higher.

[SSOWorld]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

[ZLoth]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

Where they driving in a car with Nevada plates but had all the appearances of "tourist in a rental"?

[SSOWorld]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

Where they driving in a car with Nevada plates but had all the appearances of "tourist in a rental"?

Nope, home state plates (WI).

[mgk920]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

Where they driving in a car with Nevada plates but had all the appearances of "tourist in a rental"?

Nope, home state plates (WI).

Here (Appleton area) it is usually Ohio plates.

Remember the opening scene from 'Revenge of the Nerds'?

Mike

[kkt]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

My grandfather got a ticket once for FAILING to slow to the posted exit ramp speed limit by the time he turned off.

[CtrlAltDel]

When web sites give you an error message before you've even typed anything.

[vdeane]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

My grandfather got a ticket once for FAILING to slow to the posted exit ramp speed limit by the time he turned off.

Hopefully he contested that.  Advisory speeds aren't legally enforceable in that manner.

Not to mention that these people tend to slow down even before they get to the deceleration lane.  And do the reverse, fail to accelerate until they've merged into the travel lane.

[kkt]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

My grandfather got a ticket once for FAILING to slow to the posted exit ramp speed limit by the time he turned off.

Hopefully he contested that.  Advisory speeds aren't legally enforceable in that manner.

Not to mention that these people tend to slow down even before they get to the deceleration lane.  And do the reverse, fail to accelerate until they've merged into the travel lane.

I'm pretty sure he did not contest it.  He had a demanding schedule and spending hours of a workday at traffic court would have been a nonstarter.  Pity.

[oscar]

At least of the early 1980s, the green card (the base standard AmEx charge card) was the only one that was relatively straightforward to get. Back then, AmEx Gold was for "big spenders" and it required the customer to obtain a line of credit with a particular bank.

Back in the early 1980s, I got an AmEx Gold card. It came automatically with a bank line of credit, without my having to do anything (I don't remember which bank). At the time, I was a fairly junior Federal government lawyer, not exactly in the "big spender" category.

I eventually dropped the AmEx Gold card, in favor of a Discover card with cashback rewards, and later also Mastercard and VISA cards with cashback and other benefits.

[hotdogPi]

I'm pretty sure he did not contest it.  He had a demanding schedule and spending hours of a workday at traffic court would have been a nonstarter.  Pity.

It happened once to my mom. She had planned to contest it with the rationale that there's a way to get to that spot without passing by a speed limit 30 sign. (She doesn't know yellow signs aren't enforceable to begin with.) When she got to court, the police officer didn't even show up, so she won by default.

[Bruce]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

Depends on the ramp. If it's a blind curve, you bet your ass I'm slowing down so that I don't get rear-ended.

This particular exit on I-5 in Seattle is really worth slowing down for:

[SSOWorld]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

People who slow down to 35 mph on a freeway before turning off on the exit ramp. 

My grandfather got a ticket once for FAILING to slow to the posted exit ramp speed limit by the time he turned off.

In this case, there was no advisory speed limit.

@mgk920 Even the locals in northern WI have a serious habit of slowing down on the freeway itself - advisory speed or not.

@vdeane technically, they can if they have signs saying they do - such as in Texas for construction zones.

[1995hoo]

...

I eventually dropped the AmEx Gold card, in favor of a Discover card with cashback rewards, and later also Mastercard and VISA cards with cashback and other benefits.

Totally unrelated to switching cards or to Amex history: If you don't check the Discover app quarterly to see what the current 5% Cashback Bonus offer is, it's worth doing so. I don't know whether the offer is the same for everyone, but mine offered me 5% at grocery stores (up to an aggregate $75 for the quarter) this year from June 1 to September 30. Very easy to reach the $75 in three months of grocery shopping.

[vdeane]

I'm pretty sure he did not contest it.  He had a demanding schedule and spending hours of a workday at traffic court would have been a nonstarter.  Pity.

It happened once to my mom. She had planned to contest it with the rationale that there's a way to get to that spot without passing by a speed limit 30 sign. (She doesn't know yellow signs aren't enforceable to begin with.) When she got to court, the police officer didn't even show up, so she won by default.

MA?  I know they got slapped hard in court over the issue and ended up changing most (all?) advisory signs in the state to regulatory ones so they could keep issuing tickets.  It's the reason why speed limits in MA bounce up and down so much.

MA and ME are also the two states I've seen that post regulatory speed limits on interchange ramps, which is VERY annoying.

@vdeane technically, they can if they have signs saying they do - such as in Texas for construction zones

Aren't work zone speed limits usually regulatory and not advisory?  Or is there something weird with how Texas does things?

[hotdogPi]

I'm pretty sure he did not contest it.  He had a demanding schedule and spending hours of a workday at traffic court would have been a nonstarter.  Pity.

It happened once to my mom. She had planned to contest it with the rationale that there's a way to get to that spot without passing by a speed limit 30 sign. (She doesn't know yellow signs aren't enforceable to begin with.) When she got to court, the police officer didn't even show up, so she won by default.

MA?  I know they got slapped hard in court over the issue and ended up changing most (all?) advisory signs in the state to regulatory ones so they could keep issuing tickets.  It's the reason why speed limits in MA bounce up and down so much.

This was an exit ramp. Those haven't been switched over yet, at least that I've noticed.

[Amaury]

Depends on the ramp. If it's a blind curve, you bet your ass I'm slowing down so that I don't get rear-ended.

This particular exit on I-5 in Seattle is really worth slowing down for:

I guess it also depends on the person's comfort level. For example, while I take off the cruise control shortly before, I don't significantly slow down and brake until I'm on the off-ramp for Exit 109 on I-90 eastbound, and I get slowed down enough to take the curve comfortably:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oezMbWE7EM58hBtEA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/X5xahwSroMbFcZDo6

For Exit 165B on I-5 southbound, which I haven't personally taken myself yet, it looks like if you brake just before the concrete divider starts, where the exit gore point sign is, it's fine. I've seen that video before, too, and my guess is that for the people who crashed, they didn't even attempt to slow down until they were already in the curve.