The Energon Pub

Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:47 pm

Now the credit card is obligatory or you can't buy in those places. Now I can't buy at either place. I don't like or use any credit cards. They charge too much interst. These greedy rich execs never learn. They'll end up losing more clients if they keep it up.

News Credits: 12 · Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:24 pm

Have you heard of this magical thing called a debit card? It's issued to you when you open a bank account. You'll notice that it looks a lot like a credit card. The cool nifty secret about it is that you can use it the exact same way as a credit card. You just need to have money in your bank account. You also don't need to pay interest.

I know this method works because I've used my debit for internet purchases.

Money orders are kinda annoying for big businesses. It's much more cost effective to do everything electronically and get rid of paperwork. Those paying with money orders are most likely still a very small minority. If they were large enough to put a dent into their business if they were to drop money orders then they wouldn't have dropped it.

News Credits: 150 · Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:03 pm

SpacerAM2 wrote:Now the credit card is obligatory or you can't buy in those places. Now I can't buy at either place. I don't like or use any credit cards. They charge too much interst. These greedy rich execs never learn. They'll end up losing more clients if they keep it up.

I have a question, why would you want to use a money order in the first place since there is really no recourse available in case some one screwed you over.

Secondly, if you use Money Orders regularly, why would you be worried about Credit Card interest? If you pay on time, they don't charge you any!

Also, if you use a credit card and pay it off on a monthly basis, you can earn points to get free stuff.

News Credits: 1 · Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:53 am

Ditto to GD: I've had the same credit card for ages. One, measly lousy credit card. I pay it off at the end of every month. Drives them crazy since they NEVER get to charge me all that delicious interest. I pay no annual fee. They hate me. But they still take my money, praying that this month I'll skip.

If you're worried about rates, if you get a card, pay it diligently every month, you can call them and have them lower your interest rate--every few months, just to screw with mine, I call mine: should I ever actually not pay a month, they can currently charge me 6% interest. Sweet!

Watch your credit limit: they'll start restrictively low, and then when they trust you, they'll raise it to tempt you to buy an entire planet. They jacked mine up so I could technically buy a frickin' car on my plastic. I think I could have financed Unicron if I'd asked. I had them cut it in half, which makes a ding on your credit report, but not a major one.

It's incidentally a good idea to have a positive credit rating, which one doesn't get by Money Orders or even the best Ebay star rating. I pay nothing for cell phones, I'm the only person I know who actually qualifies for those teaser rates you see in car commercials, etc.

HK's useless reco'--get a small card, be diligent. Start working up good credit. One day you may want to buy a house or a new cell phone, a college loan, or finance a motorcycle, and if you have NO record of credit, they will screw you six ways to Sunday.

HK, who has raised 'parsimonious' to a martial art.

News Credits: 9 · Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:26 am

From a different piont of view. (cause as far as CC goes, head to 7-11 and buy a set limit card for net usage, you do have options.)

I had the distinct honour...... of working as a CSR for Amazon.com a few years back. Money Orders were a hassle and a half. A credit transaction, usually took at most a couple minutes for problems. For Money Orders, we would have to wait for it to arrive, for accounting to log it, then have the bank process it, then amend the system that the payment was in their account, and hopefully at that point the item will ship.

We took numourous calls where:
-- The MO was sent yesterday, can you ship my stuff.
-- I sent the MO over a month ago!!! (Thou no MO showed being received, let alone processed)
-- So I wasn't suppose to send you the MO for a third party order???
and my personal favorite.
-- I sent the MO in for my order, but haven't seen my order yet. (they sent the MO but hadn't actually placed an order)

All in all however, the amount of transactions we would see (from our center) dealing with MO's, was so small, many of us wondered why in hell were we continuing to offer it if there were so many issues with them for so few transactions.

I am not surprised they have cut them off, I'm just surprised it took this long.

Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:37 pm

I have never been screwed over with money orders on either Ebay or Amazon. I also use postal money orders. I don't have a bank account for personal obvious reasons. This new payment policy they made recently this year stinks. I wish it went back to the way it was.

News Credits: 150 · Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:10 pm

SpacerAM2 wrote:I have never been screwed over with money orders on either Ebay or Amazon. I also use postal money orders. I don't have a bank account for personal obvious reasons. This new payment policy they made recently this year stinks. I wish it went back to the way it was.

Again, you can buy a prepaid Credit Card from 7-11. How is that not easier than the post office?

Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:49 pm

How does a pre-paid credit card work? What kind of credit card is it? American Express, Visa, MasterCard, etc? Do they ask alot of questions when I sign up for one. Will either ebay or amazon accept them? Cause I never heard of those. Do they charge interest? Cause I know all credit cards do.

News Credits: 38 · Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:42 pm

Are you like, part of a witness protection program or something?

A pre paid card is just that. The only money available on it is what you place on it. There is no interest. Most are Visa based as that is the most accepted company. It has the regular 16 number ID and you buy things with it like you would a regular credit card. It's like a debit card without having a bank account.... Which I cannot fathom how anyone can live in society without a bank/checking account in the first place.

News Credits: 12 · Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:54 pm

SpacerAM2 wrote:I have never been screwed over with money orders on either Ebay or Amazon. I also use postal money orders. I don't have a bank account for personal obvious reasons. This new payment policy they made recently this year stinks. I wish it went back to the way it was.

How can you not have a bank account for personal reasons? That doesn't make sense.

Along with pre-paid cards, you can also buy Amazona gift cards. You just need to punch in the codes on the card once activated.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:03 am

In my case if I have a bank account or credit card it would cause me problems. That is why. I have no choice. Like I've said before I have personal reasons. Thanks for all your help!

News Credits: 1 · Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:57 am

robofreak wrote:How can you not have a bank account for personal reasons? That doesn't make sense.

Possible reasons:
My ex-husband lived off cash for a while, to try to dodge his alimony payments to me, his child support payments to his skanky stripper baby mama, and his lawyer's fees.... Oh, and he decided he didn't want to pay taxes anymore so there was a huuuuuge tax lien against him (thankfully *after* the divorce). So he didn't have a bank account. Got his paychecks cashed at the Wally, I think. I sure can pick 'em, can't I?

Some people don't have bank accounts because they've floated bad checks in the past, or someone they had a joint checking account with did so and they got screwed, and legally are not *allowed* to have them.

And some people are just paranoid about the government knowing how much money they have and where. Like me.

These are the ideas I can think of why someone wouldn't want a checking account. No connection implied to why the poster said he didn't want one (let's respect his right to privacy!), just trying to answer robofreak's question. No judgment implied: okay, maybe against Captain Wonderful, my ex-husband.

HK, whose crummy job *demands* direct deposit!