Fuel Rationing??

[clemsonfor]

We don't use a lot of cash; use credit cards instead (and pay in full each month, of course, so there's no interest to pay). And since we use the Discover Card most, there are places such as Walmart, Sam's Club, and Kroger's where you can ask for cash back when you pay. So even if I'm only buying $5 worth of groceries or something, I can get $60 cash also. That avoids ATM fees. I do sometimes wonder just exactly what kind of deals they have, but awhile back Walmart quit giving cash when you used a credit card. Sam's Club and Kroger's did not quit. Then Walmart started again, and I even got a flyer in the mail from Discover Card to use your Discover Card at Walmart and get cash at the time. Since it's about 20 miles one direction or 39 miles the other direction to one of my credit union's branch offices, I don't often go there, but it I happen to be in that neighborhood, I'll stop by and get some cash if I need it.

So you use your ATM card at walmart to get cash back and pay sometimes when not Discover card. So you have used it more than twice. Just wondering. I do the same as you and pay the CC bill each month. I get the $$ off the bill each year

 

[PoorMansCat]

we use one credit card for EVERYTHING.... its issued thru our credit union.... we zero balance it twice a month and they pay us .25 for every transaction!!!..

 

[Bird]

So you use your ATM card at walmart to get cash back and pay sometimes when not Discover card. So you have used it more than twice. Just wondering. I do the same as you and pay the CC bill each month. I get the $$ off the bill each year

No, no, no. I apparently wasn't clear on that. We use the Discover Card to pay and get cash at the same time. It just goes on our Discover Card bill. The debit card is not used at all, and has not been used at all for quite some time, although in the past it has been used a few times in ATMs, but never for anything else.

The Discover Card does have a little "cash back" program so they'll send you a check or you can buy certain items . . . OR . . . you can do as I do and just use that as a credit/payment on the bill. Two weeks ago, it had built up to more than $50 so I just had them credit $50 to the bill.

 

[clemsonfor]

No, no, no. I apparently wasn't clear on that. We use the Discover Card to pay and get cash at the same time. It just goes on our Discover Card bill. The debit card is not used at all, and has not been used at all for quite some time, although in the past it has been used a few times in ATMs, but never for anything else.

The Discover Card does have a little "cash back" program so they'll send you a check or you can buy certain items . . . OR . . . you can do as I do and just use that as a credit/payment on the bill. Two weeks ago, it had built up to more than $50 so I just had them credit $50 to the bill.

Understand now. Not sure if my mastercard at wal mart works that way. I got my "rewards" credited to the january bill each year and had something like $250ish dollars at they only pay 1% Unless you click through the USAA webpage or get something from some special deal though a partner store and you can get up to like 5% but most is at the 1%level.

 

[ultrarunner]

The new trend here is two prices... one for cash and one for credit.

I needed to fill the service truck yesterday and pulled into one of the discount for cash stations figuring on about $120 or 89 octane.

Walked up to the cashier and and pulled out 3 $50 bills... he apologized and said no bills over $20 accepted due to counterfeit problems...

Sometimes it does seem like we are becoming a third world country.

 

[schoolsout]

Sometimes it does seem like we are becoming a third world country.

It's because....slowly.....we are.

Our government is intent on looking like one from a banana republic...

 

[Scooby074]

The new trend here is two prices... one for cash and one for credit.

I needed to fill the service truck yesterday and pulled into one of the discount for cash stations figuring on about $120 or 89 octane.

Walked up to the cashier and and pulled out 3 $50 bills... he apologized and said no bills over $20 accepted due to counterfeit problems...

Sometimes it does seem like we are becoming a third world country.

Curious about that. Isnt cash legal tender for all debts? How can a gas station (or any business) refuse cash?

I know ive seen the signs before myself... just curious about the legality of it all.

 

[Bird]

The new trend here is two prices... one for cash and one for credit.

I found that at quite a number of stations in 1974, especially going through Tennessee. Maybe some others will remember better, but I think the Exxon stations did that. And in 1993, I was delivering a diesel powered motorhome from Texas to Virginia and a big truck stop in eastern Arkansas charged a nickel a gallon more for using a credit card.

 

[dave1949]

Curious about that. Isnt cash legal tender for all debts? How can a gas station (or any business) refuse cash?

I know ive seen the signs before myself... just curious about the legality of it all.

I have wondered about that too. Suppose you had a bill for 60$, paid with a $50 and a $10. If they complain about the $50, couldn't you just say 'take it or leave it'?

Gas stations and convenience stores all have those special pens that the ink turns the wrong color with counterfeit bills anyways.

BTW, I just read in the news that Canada is going to issue $100 bills made of a polymer material with a transparent window in the shape of a maple leaf. Wonder if they will have any static cling problems
Dave.

 

[2manyrocks]

Just finished reading through this whole thread. I was curious because I just went to a gas station where the person before he had pumped $187.00 of gas at $3.449 a gallon, and I wondered how they paid. I was just glad mine wasn't that much, but if this keeps on, everybody can kiss their savings good bye.

 

[Scooby074]

I have wondered about that too. Suppose you had a bill for 60$, paid with a $50 and a $10. If they complain about the $50, couldn't you just say 'take it or leave it'?

Dave.

Thats what im wondering about.. What are you to do if you only have a 50? I understand they can refuse credit cards, as they arent legal tender.

Im not a lawyer, but i think youd be legally protected if you had a 50 and said take it or leave it... just dont want to go there.

On the bills, the new 20's 5's and 10's (i think), all have an insert of "plastic" running through them. Some countries have adopted plastic bills where there is no paper at all. Ive read there very durable... not sure about the static

 

[aczlan]

Some countries have adopted plastic bills where there is no paper at all. Ive read there very durable... not sure about the static

In Argentina, many of the bills have a holographic strip with the amount of the bill written on it. That way you cannot re-dye it and make a larger bill from a small one.

Aaron Z

 

[Scooby074]

In Argentina, many of the bills have a holographic strip with the amount of the bill written on it. That way you cannot re-dye it and make a larger bill from a small one.

Aaron Z

Our bills already have it. Heres a current $20. Notice the hologram strip on the left with the denomination (the "plastic" strip in the above post) and the strip on the right hand side that looks like the tear strip on a pack of cigarettes.

Heres the new design that Dave alluded to. Personally i dont like it.. too much "plastic". Apparently the entire bill is "plastic" with clear windows. No more paper.

 

[clemsonfor]

Different CC prices from cash is supposedly illegal, or at least it was before the CARD bill was passed, from what i understand. That dosent mean it did not happen. There is a business i use from time to time that always gives a "cash" discount. If you know what i mean.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I always thought that US cash was good "for all debts, public and private". Maybe things have changed in the twenty-four years I've been in Canada, though.

Anti-theft vigilance of credit card companies is a good thing, most of the time, but it can be a hassle when you are travelling...like the time the CC company at having me buy gas in four different provinces in the same day.

By the way (for those of you uncomfortable with how the government is handling its finances), I just saw this short article in today's (Toronto) Globe and Mail, with some good, if not very cheering, stats about public and private indebtedness in US and Canada: A debt disaster by whatever measure you use - The Globe and Mail

BOB

 

[Bird]

Different CC prices from cash is supposedly illegal, or at least it was before the CARD bill was passed, from what i understand. That dosent mean it did not happen. There is a business i use from time to time that always gives a "cash" discount. If you know what i mean.

I don't know of any law making it illegal, but I do know there was a time when at least some credit card companies' contracts required merchants to agree to not charge more for using the credit card. But if a price was established, they were not prohibited from offering a "cash" discount. And if that wording sounds like it was written by lawyers . . .:laughing:

 

[clemsonfor]

I don't know of any law making it illegal, but I do know there was a time when at least some credit card companies' contracts required merchants to agree to not charge more for using the credit card. But if a price was established, they were not prohibited from offering a "cash" discount. And if that wording sounds like it was written by lawyers . . .:laughing:

It had something to do with being unfair to CC companies with them being penalized at a higher price. I heard in on NPR which about half the population takes for the gospel so you know it must be true.

 

[dmccarty]

I don't know of any law making it illegal, but I do know there was a time when at least some credit card companies' contracts required merchants to agree to not charge more for using the credit card. But if a price was established, they were not prohibited from offering a "cash" discount. And if that wording sounds like it was written by lawyers . . .:laughing:

I remember when most gas stations had a low price for cash and a higher price for CCs.

The WSJ had a story last night about the fees charged by the CC companies to retailers. One thing they mentioned was that the contract with the CC company prevented the retailer from having different prices for cash and credit payments.

Course, many companies have two prices. It is up to the CC company to enforce the contract.

Another part of the report was that the recently passed law was lowering fees charged by the CC, to the retailer, for cash advances. As a result, the CC companies will be lowering the amount of cash back at checkout.

It has been a few years, ok decades, since I have read the law on taking cash, but paper money is legal tender and the merchant HAS to take it. The exception was for coins. There was some small amount, less than a dollar, that the merchant did NOT have to take as payment. Seemed silly to me, but it was in the law way back when.

The store can say they do not want a $50 bill, but if they refuse to take the payment for the gas in the tank, that is their problem. Resolving said dispute could be interesting.

Later,
Dan

 

[ultrarunner]

It actually happens... Apple Computer refused to take cash for the I phone and not uncommon for car rental companies to decline cash as Airlines in some cases...

My biggest problem came when I was closing on my Home... the Title Company refused to take Cash...

Oddly-enough, there is NO U.S. Federal law that mandates a person, organization or merchant (which would include a retailer or collection agency) accept coins (rolled or otherwise), as payment for goods and services, even though coins are considered 'legal tender' as stated in the Coinage Act of 1965.

How is this possible?

Simple. Though it seems strange, the dollars and coins struck and printed by the U.S. Treasury are for the FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM. The Federal Reserve System MUST HONOR US currency and coins...however, not necessarily anyone else.


Link to U.S. Treasury FAQ's:


http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.html#q1




Can Businesses Refuse to Accept Cash? : Legal Lad :: Quick and Dirty Tips

 

[aczlan]

It actually happens... Apple Computer refused to take cash for the I phone and not uncommon for car rental companies to decline cash as Airlines in some cases...

I work for a hotel and we do not accept cash unless there is a credit card on file for the room or we know the guest well. Why? That way if someone trashes the room, smokes in it or has a pet in there, we can get our cleaning fee.

Aaron Z