(09-17-2012, 06:28 PM)LT Crow link Wrote: [ -> ][quote author=Luinbariel link=topic=3709.msg254016#msg254016 date=1347907606]
[quote author=versus link=topic=3709.msg254009#msg254009 date=1347899453]
[quote author=Luinbariel link=topic=3709.msg253994#msg253994 date=1347896089]
You might as well be writing cheques by the sound of it. Payment transactions that take several days to clear? Sounds familiar.
i've heard them called check cards
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That would make some sense.
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Yet, if you write an actual check at a walmart or similar big box store, they're run it through their magical cash register and the money is instantly removed from your account.Â
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This whole part of the thread makes me so freaking twitchy. I actually work at a Credit Union and while I don't directly handle the debit/credit cards, I work closely with those that do. That said, I lack enough specific knowledge to describe how it works. I can tell you that we have two people that only do debit/credit card disputes and get our member's money back. Hell, I once heard one of them call up Girls Gone Wild and bitch them out for a member.
Cards are perfectly safe if you're not a complete fuckwad. Most of the time, it's family who steals your shit. Frequently, we have people call us back and go "Oh, it's little Jimmy. He used it on his XBox. I'll go take it out of his hide." Other than that, it's the result of phishing and those people deserve what they get (but we still fix it for them so that they can just do it again later).
The only time my wife's card was compromised was when hackers stole information from Hannaford Bros. and then again from TJX stores. VISA was on top of that and my workplace was able to block and reorder all of the plastic.
Yes, American's dont need to sign for much of anything. I process my debit card transactions as credit just so I don't have to enter my PIN, either. I'm surprised if a cashier wants to look at my card. I don't even think I signed the back of it. But you know what? My financial institution is there for me. I can block and reorder it with little to no work if I think I need to.
Debit transaction are taken out of your account when the store processes them. If there's a delay, that means the store hasn't sent the info to their financial institution, yet. Checks take a day or two. If they don't, then they're not clearing as a check. The store is using the check's MICR line to originate an electronic transaction...which still takes a day or two. NOTHING is instantaneous. The hold (or 'authorization') may go on your account right away, but the money isn't taken out until a human being says so. This person usually works for the store in question, so they're the ones to blame.
But anyway, fuck checks. Why do people still use these? Every time you hand someone a check, you're handing them your account information. It's right there at the bottom! Please, please, please get plastic. Use your financial institution's online products. Hell, use cash. Stop writing checks. Your handwriting is terrible, anyway, and I'm the one who has to decipher it.
...
Alright, I'm ranting so hard that my head hurts. Fuck work. Our ACH file was duplicated for some reason. We didn't even do it! It was some SNAFU with our vendor and 1700 transactions were duplicated. It looked like it was our fault and we had to fix it. I wasn't even directly involved with it and I'm tired.Â
I just blame everyone who's not me. Seems to work.
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