I had an interesting experience to post about today. I went to go pay my cell phone bill today at an AT&T store. Its due in a couple of days and I'd rather not have it cut off to pay an additional $30 dollars to reconnect and being that I work near a major mall it wouldn't be an issue to stop in and pay it as i've done with other service providers.

When I went to the mall (this is a major mall) the parking lot was fairly empty. I said, hey great for me, parking near the enterance. Upon walking into the mall it looked like a ghost town. When I got to theat&t store, its empty just like the mall. Hardly any stock of phones, no employees, and no accesories which anyone that has ever worked retail knows that the majority of profit is made on accessories.

After speaking to the Customer Service employee and explaining to her that I was there to pay my bill she was more then happy to assist. She pulled my account and let me know how much I owed. When asked for payment method she asked me for my drivers license because upon verification, they could just charge the card I used last month. I said no thats ok, i'll pay in cash. At that very moment, it was like silence was on a volume control and someone cranked it up. If I was paying attention I'm sure I would've seen a tumbleweed go by. She replied to me 'IN CASH?' like I was crazy. I said yes, and proceeded to pull out the $180 dollars that I owed for my family plan. She immidiatly got on the phone and told me afterwards, i'm sorry but in order to pay in cash there's a $5 dollar surcharge. I honestly was astounded and infuriated. No longer are the days when you could barter or haggle because you're paying in cash. I used to work retail, so I asked her why, she said its policy and she appologizes, it would just be easier for both of us if I used a card. So i walked out of the store, went and bought a pre-paid credit card for a dollar, and used that to pay instead and received NO hassle about it. Who would've thought they would've been more likely to take a card without a legitamate name on it then actual money.

This is a very sad state for the US dollar. Its almost as if they're paving the way for the RFID or Amero currency as the dollar is really hurting.

Wow, never heard of such a thing. Did you ask her to show you the policy in writing? Maybe she was just looking to get some $$ for lunch?

I'm familiar with service charges applied to credit purchases. If what you say is true than the dollar right there in your hand is worth less than the promise that imaginary worth (credit) will come through.

Crazy.

It seems like credit is the way the government wants us to go but look what has happened because of it. We really need to get back to basics here in the United Socialist Of America. Here's something interesting about liquid assets.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today. If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today. If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received a $214.00. Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg. A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year .Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you proud to be an American!

Looks like I'm going home today and drinking an ice cold brew.

The lesser reason is because most of their workers are so "short term" that the company runs a real risk of their representative stealing from the till. If they run a cashless shop, employee theft is reduced. And they treat their workers so poorly that its a serious concern for them, "trusting" their own workers with cash.


The greater reason they want your credit card is that next month, when you don't pay, they plan to "auto-bill" your credit card, without your permission. When you use a credit card, they get information regarding WHO you are and what other ACCOUNTS you maintain.

That way, when you get behind, they will demand an "electronic bank draft" on the account you last paid from. They will even send it through without your consent. That's the plan.

"The right relationship is everything."

Iam also forced to wonder if this policy, which i have heard of previously and not only from AT&T, also amounts to a " poor tax " or "lack of credit fee " for lack of better terms...

In essense financially punishing those amoung us whom attempt to not use credit unless absolutely necessary or those without credit.

More and more US employers are not issuing paper pay checks anymore. They give the employee a "debit card" that has their payroll direct deposited on it.

People really do look at you funny these days if you use cash for anything over $20.

I believe they are conditioning us to more easily accept a cashless society. Looks like they (Bankers) want to initiate it on a world wide basis.

Why else would you punish someone for using cash?

Im going to do a little research on this, but if I remember right they are doing this illegaly. US currency cannot be refused, and the debtor can not charge you for payment in cash if I remember correctly. It has something to do with the statement "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private". If anyone has legal knowlege of this please add it, until then I will look around and see what I can dig up.

I'm afraid I can;t be as apologetic about the incident as many would be.

I believe what this means is something much larger.

These companies, for the most part, are owned ultimately by the same corporate conglomerates that derive the bulk of their revenue from credit services. Therefore it behooves them to discourage the use of anything other than money for which they get a transactional bonus.

It also does make sense that insuring a business operation would cost much less if it were cashless. But then... I'm becoming a pessimistic cynic about business behavior like this.

I actually thought there was a law or regulation that stated in this country no one can refuse US legal tender in exchange for goods and services. But then, that's probably on that "G-damned piece of paper".

I don't use credit cards, either, but I do have a Visa debit card, which I think is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I almost never carry cash and if I do it's almost never more than twenty dollars.

I don't think that the issue at hand here has anything whatsoever to do with the value of the US dollar, since no matter how you pay, you are still paying in US dollars.

[edit on 2008/10/7 by GradyPhilpott]