Posted on 03/28/2006 10:02:22 AM PST by Abathar
PALMDALE, Calif. -- This fast food bill was a real whopper.
A man was charged more than $4,300 after placing his food order at a Burger King in California last week.
The four burgers came to $4.33. The cashier entered the charge on George Beane's debit card, then mistakenly punched in the numbers again without erasing the original ones.
That brought the bill to $4,334.33.
The electronic charge drained a checking account and left Beane and his wife wondering how they'd pay their mortgage.
But everything worked out. Burger King didn't charge the Beanes for their meal and the couple later got their money back.
That's why if you use a debit card you keep in the account only the money you are willing to spend on it, and keep the rest of your money in another account.
That is the problem with checkers who can't do decimals.
Ding fries are done
http://www.americanangst.com/dingfries.html
Something is odd here. . . most debit cards have a daily limit, typically $1000.00. . .
This kind of thing happens occasionally. I remember one incident where a cashier entered in a social security number as the value of a check. A friend of mine did have a big hassle with a bank; they gave her starter checks for a different account than she opened. All the checks bounced as her pay continued to be deposited into her real account. What amazed me though is the bank drug their feet on taking responsibility for the mix-up and paying the bounced check fees.
They must have wanted fries with that.
That's what I thought too, its why I was surprised when I read this story. My credit cards I carry only have a $500 dollar limit, the big ones I leave in my safe for emergencies. I better check my debit card limits, I don't like having a chance for a mistake that big.
Wow. Where's the beef? bwahahahahahaha!
Right. I've yet to see any reason to use a debit card rather than a credit card.
I thought this was going to be a Michael Moore goes to lunch story.
In another bank. I put $200 a week into a "grocery account", pays for groceries and such, but it can never get me into trouble. (My company's direct deposit allows puting money into up to four different accounts.)
But hey, they are just doing jobs American's won't do.....
I've had a ton of credit cards but never a debit card. I don't see the sense of them. And I don't anticipate ever having one. What advantages are there? I see none.
I think it's dumb to buy burgers on debit. Here they charge and extra $1.50 to use debit.
No, its easier than checks are, and faster. I don't carry much cash but don't like to feed VISA 2% of what I buy so they can give cards to anyone with a pulse and ruin their lives.
Advantage: A debit card does not allow you to spend money that you do not have. That is a very good thing for some people.
For many, not using a credit card IS discipline. You can't be tempted to spend more than you have if you don't have such an easy way to do so.
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