Consumerist
saving money
Posts Tagged “
Cash
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saving money
legal tender
Paying Your Verizon Bill With Cash? That'll Be $3.99 Extra
Employees at the Verizon store in Millington, Tennessee told reader Josh it would cost an extra $3.99 to pay his bill with cash. According to the employees, the charge was to offset the cost of "new money software." More »
polls
Are You A Sucker For Using Your Credit Card?
Nationally syndicated personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary thinks you're a sucker for using your credit cards, even if you pay off your bills in full each month. More »
rejection
Apple Escorts You From The Store For Trying To Purchase An iPhone With Cash
As loyal readers already know, Apple doesn't accept cash for the iPhone — a policy they say is designed to discourage resellers from getting their grubby little hands on the precious cellphone. This policy does have a tendency to backfire every now and then when a legitimate customer wants to purchase an iPhone with cash. Meet Alex Palen— he was refused an iPhone because he doesn't have a credit or debit card and was escorted from the store when he asked another customer to accept cash in exchange for charging the phone to their card. More »
privacy
RadioShack Won't Give Refund On Cash Purchase Unless You Show Your Papers
RadioShack's whole collecting-your-personal-data nonsense is old news, but it's not just for purchases anymore. When Pete tried to take back some potentiometers he'd paid for the day before with cash, the clerk refused to give him any sort of refund—even a store credit—without Pete's physical address. More »
returns and exchanges
Target's Super Secret Return Policy
Consumer Reports tells us that Target's strict "No receipt, No return" policy has an "unadvertised" loophole — you can return items of less than $20 for store credit. The catch? You can only do this twice a year. More »
From a Digg comment on our post about a WaMu branch telling a man saying they didn't have enough money on hand to let him withdraw $4200: "funny because i had the same experience at a Wamu. My wife had trouble cashing a $5000 check and we had to drive around to three branches until finally, after insisting continuously, that they finally cashed it!"
run on the bank
WaMu: Sorry We Don't Have Your $4200 In Cash, Want A Check?
Maybe we're crazy but $4200 doesn't seem like too much money to withdraw in cash at a branch bank, especially if you give them 24 hours notice. Apparently, that large of a withdrawal leaves WaMu all tapped out. Is WaMu really that short on capital reserves? More »
speedy resolutions
Radio Shack Won't Accept Cash Without Your Home Address
Reader Tim went to Radio Shack to buy something or other and the manager refused to process his cash transaction without first learning his home address. Tim left the store and dashed off a quick email to us. He let us know he was going to contact Radio Shack about the incident, but felt certain that he'd be ignored. More »
complaints
Bank Of America Stranded Me In Japan Without Cash On My Honeymoon
Before leaving for his honeymoon, Derek called Bank of America to make sure he could rely on his debit card while he was in Japan. Bank of America assured him that he would have no problem accessing money. Yet on the third day of his honeymoon, neither he nor his wife could draw cash from their cards, stranding them with only $15 in cash. More »
contests
Do you enjoy confessing embarrassing details? Mint, the personal finance new kid on the Internet block, is offering up to $5,000 (paid directly to your credit card bill) to two people with the most horrifying personal finance disasters. The winners get free financial counseling as well. You can submit text—"sob stories"—up to 1000 words, or a video—"trainwrecks"—up to four minutes or 20 MB, whichever comes first. If you were paid to do any writing over the past year, you're ineligible (we already checked).
More »
Tell The Best Personal Finance Horror Story To Mint, Have Your Credit Card Balance Paid Off
Do you enjoy confessing embarrassing details? Mint, the personal finance new kid on the Internet block, is offering up to $5,000 (paid directly to your credit card bill) to two people with the most horrifying personal finance disasters. The winners get free financial counseling as well. You can submit text—"sob stories"—up to 1000 words, or a video—"trainwrecks"—up to four minutes or 20 MB, whichever comes first. If you were paid to do any writing over the past year, you're ineligible (we already checked).
More »
tender letdown
CompUSA Refuses To Accept Cash
A CompUSA cashier summoned her manager and a security guard when Bud tried to pay for his purchases with cash. The promise of 40% discounts drew Bud to the Boisie, Idaho store, but he settled for a 10% discount on an iMac and several accessories.I start counting out hundred dollar bills and the clerk goes nuts! "Sir, we don't accept cash for this kind of purchase! You must use a credit card!" she says at the top of her lungs. (I see her also hit a button on the phone at the same time.)More »
misleading
Chase: By Cashing This $9.25 Check You Agree To Give Us $59.99
Reader Aaron writes in to complain about a "scam" that he can't believe is legal. Many of you know about this little marketing tactic, and we've written about it before, but some of you probably do not. More »
Should you go cash only to deal with a debt addiction? It can't hurt. [The Simple Dollar]
no credit
Your Cash Isn't Good Enough For Apple's Precious iPhone
Four benjamins will no longer get you an iPhone, now that Apple is requiring credit cards for all iPhone purchases. The new policy, which is billed as an anti-piracy initiative, also prevents customers from buying more than two iPhones per visit. Apple claims the policy went into effect this Thursday, however we received the following tip more than a week ago: More »
how to
Live Without Credit Cards
The best way to escape from our mindless purchase economy is to ignore your credit cards in favor of pure, reliable cash. Credit cards undoubtedly have value - purchase protection, rewards, convenience - but only for consumers who use credit responsibly. No Credit Needed wrote a useful guide for anyone willing to live the credit-free life. More »
emergency planning
Everybody needs emergency cash reserves for the unpleasant day when your expenses unexpectedly exceed your income. By stashing your reserves in the right place, you should ideally be able to fund your life - rent, food, transportation, utilities, and any other fixed expenses - for at least three months. The Washington Post has a few tips to keep inflation from eroding the value of your pot of emergency cash.
More »
Where To Stash Your Rainy Day Fund
Everybody needs emergency cash reserves for the unpleasant day when your expenses unexpectedly exceed your income. By stashing your reserves in the right place, you should ideally be able to fund your life - rent, food, transportation, utilities, and any other fixed expenses - for at least three months. The Washington Post has a few tips to keep inflation from eroding the value of your pot of emergency cash.
More »
saving
Stash Your Cash In CDs Now
The Federal Reserve Board is expected to cut interest rates soon, and you can bet that banks will quickly follow their lead and slash rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit. By purchasing a CD now, you can lock in favorable rates ahead of the Fed's September 18 meeting. From the Chicago Tribune:"Banks usually are really fast to cut rates and slow to raise," he said.More »
