Innocuous things that make you irrationally angry (a list thread)

The needlessly complicated system of the Chicago Transit Authority's/Regional Transit Authority's employee transit tax savings is kind of amazing. I'm the administrator and a participant. Why do I have to fax or email a form rather than submit info online like w/ all other parts of the CTA? Why are their enrollment windows so fucking weird? Why do the CTA and RTA each have their own systems, when ultimately, both do EXACTLY the same thing? And finally: Why oh WHY do they not accept credit cards?????

WHY DO THEY NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS

I still walk to the water company's office every month to pay the bill because their website tacks on an extra $5 for any cc charge.

$5???? i feel like that's a crazy fee for cc use...

I agree. I need the exercise anyway.

People saying credit cards when they mean debit cards.

people here at work keep just leaving things in the sink. they might wash their dishes, but cups and flatware just pile up. we put a sign up saying for people to wash even the flatware they use, and it worked perfectly. but as soon as the sign was taken down (b/c it seemed like ppl were doing it!), cups and flatware started appearing in the sink again. wtf??

when you are seated on the side of an airplane, with just the two seats, and the person next to you hogs the center armrest the entire flight...where do they get off?

wherever the plane lands

i've had to sit in the center seat with both people on both sides of me using the armrest.

that calls for a double elbow thwack into each of their noses....god i wanted to beat this armrest hog down

When I'm writing business emails that require a note of semi-personalization, I've boiled it down to six words:

"How are you? Hope all's well."

Then on to business.

Com Ed uses a third party billing service that is free, but really annoying and but if you pay over the computerized phone system, it costs $3.95. Bleh.

People saying credit cards when they mean debit cards.

I've thought of what to call plastic besides "plastic," and I can't think of any alternatives. And "plastic" is kind of silly sounding.

Xp "How are you? Hope all's well." is brilliantly simple.

My card can be either. It's magic.

Oh, and what's confounding about the CTA/RTA's transit benefits site not taking plastic is that their regular websites do. And their forms are all submitted online.

People saying credit cards when they mean debit cards.

― kinder, Thursday, June 14, 2012 4:52 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was so confused when I went to the states for the first time as an adult - wanted to pay for shoes using my debit card and they kept calling it a credit card and then it didn't work and I kept trying to tell them it was a *card that accesses the money in my bank account, not credit* but they would only key it in as credit and eventually I had to go to a bank machine and take money out! FFS!

How long ago was that? I've found they are pretty interchangeable. Clerks will ask me "Credit or debit?" and I'll say debit, usually, since then I don't have to sign anything, but either way it's the same card. And sometimes it runs through as a credit card and I have to sign something, but it's still taking money directly out of my account.

IA: the state MCLE board sending me an email reminding me that I haven't reported my compliance with CLE requirements, which is fine because I haven't because I have to take a couple of professional responsibility credit WEBINARS (<-- IA FOREVER) this weekend, and I appreciate the reminder, but it's not just a reminder. It's a long, hectoring email talking about "You haven't reported yet, and maybe you don't realize it's almost June 30, and it doesn't look like you're registered as inactive, so you know you have to report by June 30." I don't know. MCLE makes me angry because it's a complete racket, and I don't like to be lectured by passive aggressive professional regulatory bodies.

there are 417 mentions of the word "phone" in this thread btw

i'm going to just agree vehemently with this from last week because it pissed me off yesterday:

Oh gosh yes I am like that about phonecalls too. I'm like "ffs I cant listen to two people at once". Esp hard thanks to hearing loss in one ear.

wtf is wrong with people. would you do this to someone if they were having a separate conversation with someone in the room? just walk up to them while the other person is talking and start a new conversation? do you think the other person doesn't exist if you can't see them? i'm not trying to fool you! but i just went from understanding one conversation fully to understanding absolutely nothing about anything anyone is saying. wtf wtf wtf

How long ago was that? I've found they are pretty interchangeable. Clerks will ask me "Credit or debit?" and I'll say debit, usually, since then I don't have to sign anything, but either way it's the same card. And sometimes it runs through as a credit card and I have to sign something, but it's still taking money directly out of my account.

― carl agatha, Thursday, June 14, 2012 2:44 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i always say credit because in my head someone told me something about how there's some kind of fee if you pay with debit but not with credit? or maybe it costs the store less to process? obviously i don't know why i always run as credit but i do.

CarlA: About... 2007 I think? Strip mall in Illinois.. *shrug* It confused me a lot! I have a debit card linked to my bank that takes my *real* money out, and a credit card that I take my imaginary money (credit) out with. But I guess y'all have one single card with two functions. I guess I'm still confused :)

detailed answer here http://www.wisebread.com/debit-or-credit-which-one-should-you-choose-at-the-checkout

short version - credit is better for you but worse for the store

So if you have a credit card and go into the red, is the implication your bank account is always in the red too? Sorry I shouldn't clog up this thread trying to wrap my head around this.. feel free to ignore..

It being a credit card creates a middleman - Visa or Mastercard or whoever - to stand between you and the merchant.

If you default because you don't have the funds, the merchant still gets paid from the credit card company (who will then come after you.)

If you get ripped off somehow, the credit card company will be better able to protect your loss.

The main thing is that if you don't have a "real" credit card, you can still go plastic when shopping. The merchant might not take a check from First United Coopeative Bank of Nine Elms, but they'll take your card with the Visa logo on it.

do you guys have Interac? That's the thing that powers our debit cards (allows plastic card to transfer money from bank account.) Perhaps that's why I'm so confused about this! I should do some googling to sort this out in my head.

I have a card connected to my checking acct that a
store can run as a debit or credit card that takes my real money (well as real as money is these days) regardless of which way they run it, and a different traditional credit card that I have to pay off later with real money.

Hmmm maybe I will use credit then unless it is a small store and I really like it.

I dont' think so. Every once in awhile, you'll see logos for EBT or some other strange debit services, but you don't even have to look twice for a Visa or Mastercard logo.

Yeah, credit costs the store more money. I still see gas stations that offer different cash and credit prices.

Oh and I think that a credit transaction using the card connected to my checking account will get declined if I don't have sufficient funds. Used to be banks would let the transaction go through and then charge a convenience fee and an overdraft fee. Now they can only do that if you agree to let them.

My regular credit card gets declined if I'm over my credit limit or in arrears by however many months.

when you are seated on the side of an airplane, with just the two seats, and the person next to you hogs the center armrest the entire flight...where do they get off?

This kind of connects to a childhood IA of mine, when on the bus right the passenger in the seat in front of you has their arms all over the back of your seat, so you have to sit and look at their display of territorialsm or something.

xp Okay, this all makes more sense. I thought you guys *only* had one card for credit/debit, but I see you have a debit/credit card and a 'traditional'(?) credit card! Thank you all for being patient!

Well some people only have a card connected to their checking account but I have both.

xp On our trains, The standing passenger handles are on the backs of the seats and it's really creepy when you are holding on and someone keeps putting their long hair over the handle or just leaning back and brushing their hair against my hand. It makes me think if The Ring.

yeah being asked credit or debit really confused me as I only had a basic debit card (no way of being given credit having just moved there)and they would be separate accounts in the UK. Never mind, i'm back home now where everything is NORMAL

When I'm in the US I find I have to say credit when I'm paying by debit card or it won't go through for some reason. Every now and again I forget and say debit and then have it declined. Not sure why, as it definitely isn't a credit card, I don't even have a credit card with that bank.

I say debit and them get offended because the person dared ask.

I bet it has something to do with the network the transaction is processed on. Per the article n/a linked, credit transactions are processed through Visa's network (if you have a Visa logo on your card) and debit transactions are processed through an electronic funds transfer network and maybe one works with foreign banks and one doesn't. I am totally talking out of my butthole here, but that makes enough sense to me that I will pretend that is why.

That makes sense actually, it is a Visa card.

"Credit" in "Debit or credit" does not actually literally mean credit when the cashier asks you how you would like your debit card run. It means non-PIN transaction.

Debit = Enter your PIN
"Credit" = sign the receipt

Also they use different networks.

I am not concerned with networks. I'm just trying to explain to the subjects of the queen what "credit" means, versus actual credit.

By the way, Australians are British to me.

My card has a PIN and that's how I would normally do it (after bowing to Her Majesty of course), but I guess for some reason the PIN won't work in the US.

Wait, is what you guys calldebit cards what we call EFTPOS?

We have seperate cards for EFTPOS - ie yr own money, a PIN, versus "lol this am the banks money not mine" Visa/Mastercard cards. Except sometimes you CAN also have a "debit" card that can function as a "credit card" as far as say a website is concerned but thats slightlydiff.

Also:

Debit = Enter your PIN
"Credit" = sign the receipt

This also doesnt work so much anymore thanks to chip and pin credit (ie Visa/mastercard/amex) cards with PINs!

I think I can hear Jesse's brain popping from over here.

Wait, is what you guys calldebit cards what we call EFTPOS?

sounds like it, yeah

(i had to learn about EFTPOS for a-level computer studies assignment in 1985-6 back before it was common. Electronic Funds Transfer, Point Of Sale. in england we just called it 'Switch')

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch_%28debit_card%29 - started 1988 according to this

Wait, is what you guys calldebit cards what we call EFTPOS?

Yes! If you select "debit," you put in a pin and use an EFT network to process the transaction. If you say "credit," you use the Visa network to process the transaction and sign a slip. But either way, when you're using the card connected to your checking account, the money comes out of your checking account in the same fashion. (This same card works for cash withdrawals at cash machines.)

Honestly, in my experience, people call their creditdebit cards "debit cards" or maybe "check cards" or just "cards." When people say "credit card," they usually mean actual credit cards in the traditional sense of being a card that accesses a line of credit from the bank that you have to repay later. HOWEVER when a merchant asks if you'll be paying by credit card, and the customer says yes, it's just as likely they're planning to pay with a debit card.

I guess it's confusing but the takeaway lesson here for non-USA people is this: you can use your debit/EFTPOS/check card to pay for things in the USA as long as the card has a Visa logo on it. Just say "credit" when asked "Debit or credit?" and the money will still come out of your checking account.

Now we know. Why they don't just ask "PIN or signature?" instead is one of life's mysteries.