On Fri, 5 May 2017 09:03:23 -0400, "dadiOH" wrote:


"Micky" wrote in message
.. .
OT bank notification of debit card use, continued

First, is there a newsgroup that specializes in banking, or commerce,
or business, or anything for which this would be on-topic? And
where people might know the answer to what I think is a very strange
question?

Some of you may remember that I get notifications from the bank every
time my charge card is used a) to charge more than some amount, maybe
$100, or b) to buy something outside the 50 states.

And you may remember my complaining about being charged $110 for a car
that only holds 10 gallons of gasoline, when every other gas station
charged between 50 and 57. Did I mention that the overcharge
happened twice, 110.19 and 109.74.

So today I went to the gas station and showed him a copy of the email
the bank sent me, and said, What do you think abouty that? We dont'
speak each other's language but he knows a little English and he said
"You didn't pay that". I assumed he was referring to the foreign
exchange commission, and I pointed out that no other gas station had
charged more than 57. He also got the guy who works behind the
counter, whose English was pretty good, and all he did was say the
same thing and give me the gas station chain's phone number.

But by the time I got back, it was after 5, so I called the bank in
the US.

(BTW, it used to be very hard to call an 800 number in the US, but
with Skype you can call it like any other number. You still pay the
2.3 cents a minute for Skype, but you'd have to do that anyhow and you
don't have to convert 800 to 8nn like you used to, (and in years
before that, you had to find their non-800 number) .

So the girl at the bank, who seemed a little flighty, told me that on
April 3, I hadn't paid $110.19, only $44.76, and on
April 10, I hadn't paid $109.74, only $34.36. Plus in each case
about 1.30 transaction fee.

I didnt' believe that, but I looked at the online monthly statement,
and by golly it was true. What's going on? Why are they sending me
emails saying I paid much more money than I did?

And what is the relationship?. The first one is 2.46 times the real
charge, but the second is 3.19 times the real charge!!

Now I have to go look at all the other gas station emails and compare
them with the monthly statement , and with the receipt fromn the gas
station.

For that matter, there are all the non-gas purchases I should compare,
restaurants, grocery stores, museums, and outdoor stuff like zoos.

The rentacar company keeps pinging my debit card account. For the 3rd
time they pinged it for $2400 but so far I think they've only billed
me for $650. I understand why they checked int he first place, and
maybe they put a hold on 2400 but the hold only lasts for a month?????

But the rentacar company doesn't know how long I'll keep the car or
how much damage I will do to it. The 800 extra is the maximum I have
to pay if I damage it (though I was told 550, so there may be a
fight.) But the gas station knows what the bill is 5 minutes after I
start pumping. Why not check or even put on a hold for the largest
tank any car has and then charge the actual amount 5 minutes later.

Simplify your life. Use your card to get a bunch of cash, pay in cash.
When you run out of cash, get more.

I do usually pay cash, certainly almost always in the states. But
here the maximum I can get from a cash machine is afaict about 75
dollars a day. At least that's the biggest number they offer you. At
some machines you can type in your own number if you want, ... I did
get 125 once, but I know when I tried for 200 or was it 250, it
woudln't do it. And it didn't bother to say it might work if I put
in a smaller number. It just "This service is not available to you."

And though the machine is only 4 blocks away, there's no place to
park. I've become like the locals, parking illegally for something
short like this, but I don't like it.

On 5/6/2017 6:03 PM, Micky wrote:

I do usually pay cash, certainly almost always in the states. But
here the maximum I can get from a cash machine is afaict about 75
dollars a day. At least that's the biggest number they offer you. At
some machines you can type in your own number if you want, ... I did
get 125 once, but I know when I tried for 200 or was it 250, it
woudln't do it. And it didn't bother to say it might work if I put
in a smaller number. It just "This service is not available to you."

And though the machine is only 4 blocks away, there's no place to
park. I've become like the locals, parking illegally for something
short like this, but I don't like it.


You bank may have a limit but puerhaps the machine does too. I can get
$800 a day on mine. Of course is is less in euros ur to the exchange
rate.

On Sat, 6 May 2017 21:43:15 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/6/2017 6:03 PM, Micky wrote:

I do usually pay cash, certainly almost always in the states. But
here the maximum I can get from a cash machine is afaict about 75
dollars a day. At least that's the biggest number they offer you. At
some machines you can type in your own number if you want, ... I did
get 125 once, but I know when I tried for 200 or was it 250, it
woudln't do it. And it didn't bother to say it might work if I put
in a smaller number. It just "This service is not available to you."

And though the machine is only 4 blocks away, there's no place to
park. I've become like the locals, parking illegally for something
short like this, but I don't like it.


You bank may have a limit but puerhaps the machine does too. I can get
$800 a day on mine. Of course is is less in euros ur to the exchange
rate.

Today I started high and worked down but and the most I could get was
about $125, at least at the bank 4 blocks away. And that doesn't last
long with restaurants, museums, and other admissions.

The commission is not high, about 3% on v. small amounts but 1%
above... I have to check again.

Back to the gasoline thing, why do they check if your debit or credit
card has enough to pay even for more than will go in your tank, but
if you plan to pay cash, they don't check in advance** to see if you
really have the cash?

Why would their remedy be different? They can hold your card until
they get a Yes, which seems to only take a minute because now they
give the card back to me only a minute, 2 at most, after I give it to
them. So if, after charging the gas, the electronic charge bounces,
they're in the same position they woudl be in if you were going to pay
cash and then didn't have any. **(I'm almost certain they don't
ask for the cash in advance, but I'll check. )

On 5/7/2017 3:08 PM, Micky wrote:

Back to the gasoline thing, why do they check if your debit or credit
card has enough to pay even for more than will go in your tank, but
if you plan to pay cash, they don't check in advance** to see if you
really have the cash?

They certainly do. Many stations take the money up front and set the
pump to give only what you paid for.

On Sun, 7 May 2017 19:47:40 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/7/2017 3:08 PM, Micky wrote:

Back to the gasoline thing, why do they check if your debit or credit
card has enough to pay even for more than will go in your tank, but
if you plan to pay cash, they don't check in advance** to see if you
really have the cash?

They certainly do. Many stations take the money up front and set the
pump to give only what you paid for.

I forgot about that, because in the states I use the debit card all
the time (I'll have to check if I get emails about more money than I
actually spend at US gas stations, self-service. The only place near
me with service is New Jersey, where the law requires them to give
service.)

But here, one guy told me that you don't have to pay in advance. Glad
you reminded me I might be wrong. I'll check on that some more. But
even if it's the same here, that doesn't change the fact that they
send notices and call them "transactions" when they are only holds,
they don't say either in the email or in a later email when the hold
is released (it might be 30 days in some cases and that might be why
the car rental keeps doing it again every 30 days) and it doesn't send
one specifying the actual amount charged.

On an earlier occasion, I was talking to BOA when a charge disappeared
(because he couldn't get the pump to work, but it took hours or tens
of hours to disappear), and I asked her, Why didn't I get an email.
She said, We didn't cancel it, the merchant did. This also means it
DID show up on my monthly statement -- I remember that I saw it there
-- even though it was just a hold, unless it was an actual debit that
later got reversed. Either way. That's some hing I can definitely
check out. Usually I buy gas on the way out, or in the middle of the
day, and when I come home I'm tired and I put off buying gas until the
next day. But I can buy it just before I get back here, and see if
the amount at first matches what is on the pump, or is greater.

Transaction: The act of transacting.

Transact:
verb (used with object)
1.to carry on or conduct (business, negotiations, activities, etc.) to
a conclusion or settlement. Synonyms: enact, conclude, settle,
manage, negotiate.

verb (used without object)
2. to carry on or conduct business, negotiations, etc.:
He was ordered to transact only with the highest authorities.

So I'm right. Unless you call a hold a conclusion or settlement, and
I don't, it's not a transaction.

#New Jersey "ha ha he he
Yes this are Famous words of Mr. Adolf Hitler
Known as Mein Kampf
The best way to take control over a people and control them €œUtterly€� is to
take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand,
tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way the people will not
see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which
these changes cannot be reversed.
These is in existent today you dont believe
Go and live in #NEW JERSEY
My God if there is one: How truth a full this is!!!!

"Micky" wrote in message ...

On Sun, 7 May 2017 19:47:40 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/7/2017 3:08 PM, Micky wrote:

Back to the gasoline thing, why do they check if your debit or credit
card has enough to pay even for more than will go in your tank, but
if you plan to pay cash, they don't check in advance** to see if you
really have the cash?

They certainly do. Many stations take the money up front and set the
pump to give only what you paid for.

I forgot about that, because in the states I use the debit card all
the time (I'll have to check if I get emails about more money than I
actually spend at US gas stations, self-service. The only place near
me with service is New Jersey, where the law requires them to give
service.)

But here, one guy told me that you don't have to pay in advance. Glad
you reminded me I might be wrong. I'll check on that some more. But
even if it's the same here, that doesn't change the fact that they
send notices and call them "transactions" when they are only holds,
they don't say either in the email or in a later email when the hold
is released (it might be 30 days in some cases and that might be why
the car rental keeps doing it again every 30 days) and it doesn't send
one specifying the actual amount charged.

On an earlier occasion, I was talking to BOA when a charge disappeared
(because he couldn't get the pump to work, but it took hours or tens
of hours to disappear), and I asked her, Why didn't I get an email.
She said, We didn't cancel it, the merchant did. This also means it
DID show up on my monthly statement -- I remember that I saw it there
-- even though it was just a hold, unless it was an actual debit that
later got reversed. Either way. That's some hing I can definitely
check out. Usually I buy gas on the way out, or in the middle of the
day, and when I come home I'm tired and I put off buying gas until the
next day. But I can buy it just before I get back here, and see if
the amount at first matches what is on the pump, or is greater.

Transaction: The act of transacting.

Transact:
verb (used with object)
1.to carry on or conduct (business, negotiations, activities, etc.) to
a conclusion or settlement. Synonyms: enact, conclude, settle,
manage, negotiate.

verb (used without object)
2. to carry on or conduct business, negotiations, etc.:
He was ordered to transact only with the highest authorities.

So I'm right. Unless you call a hold a conclusion or settlement, and
I don't, it's not a transaction.