Commerce Bank I purchased a $100. VISA gift card. I was told they are as good as any debit card. There were no restrictions or rules mentioned when I made this purchase. My eldest charged $17 in groceries and $10 in Gasoline against it. (do the math- there should have been $73. left for her to spend.) The card was refused after that. ripoff Springfield New Jersey

Paul,

I have a checking account with Bank of America and I don't pay any fees. No monthly fee as I have direct deposit, and I do not have to keep a minimum balance. And, I pay no ATM fees as I only use BofA ATM's, or get cash back on a debit purchase. And, I never pay NSF fees since I keep an accurate register. I can even get one box of basic checks per year free with my account. And, free online banking.

Actually, having a BofA checking account saves me money, as I pay all bills online for free which saves me about 15 39cent stamps per month. Thats at least $5.85 a month back in my pocket.

They are paying me to have the account, really.

What does it cost you to run around town in your car and pay bills, and to buy money orders?

So, exactly, what fees were you talking about?

Paul,

I have a checking account with Bank of America and I don't pay any fees. No monthly fee as I have direct deposit, and I do not have to keep a minimum balance. And, I pay no ATM fees as I only use BofA ATM's, or get cash back on a debit purchase. And, I never pay NSF fees since I keep an accurate register. I can even get one box of basic checks per year free with my account. And, free online banking.

Actually, having a BofA checking account saves me money, as I pay all bills online for free which saves me about 15 39cent stamps per month. Thats at least $5.85 a month back in my pocket.

They are paying me to have the account, really.

What does it cost you to run around town in your car and pay bills, and to buy money orders?

So, exactly, what fees were you talking about?

Paul,

I have a checking account with Bank of America and I don't pay any fees. No monthly fee as I have direct deposit, and I do not have to keep a minimum balance. And, I pay no ATM fees as I only use BofA ATM's, or get cash back on a debit purchase. And, I never pay NSF fees since I keep an accurate register. I can even get one box of basic checks per year free with my account. And, free online banking.

Actually, having a BofA checking account saves me money, as I pay all bills online for free which saves me about 15 39cent stamps per month. Thats at least $5.85 a month back in my pocket.

They are paying me to have the account, really.

What does it cost you to run around town in your car and pay bills, and to buy money orders?

So, exactly, what fees were you talking about?

Paul,

I have a checking account with Bank of America and I don't pay any fees. No monthly fee as I have direct deposit, and I do not have to keep a minimum balance. And, I pay no ATM fees as I only use BofA ATM's, or get cash back on a debit purchase. And, I never pay NSF fees since I keep an accurate register. I can even get one box of basic checks per year free with my account. And, free online banking.

Actually, having a BofA checking account saves me money, as I pay all bills online for free which saves me about 15 39cent stamps per month. Thats at least $5.85 a month back in my pocket.

They are paying me to have the account, really.

What does it cost you to run around town in your car and pay bills, and to buy money orders?

So, exactly, what fees were you talking about?

Paul, how is using a prepaid debit/credit card costing money, uless you pay a fee for the card? How does it differ from using cash? Seriously, please tell me what you and four others have figured out.

A benefit to using a prepaid cash card (as long as it is issued at no charge) is that if you lose the card and have the card number, you can hopefully notify the issuer and have the card cancelled before someone else uses it. Try doing that when you accidentally drop a $20 bill.

A benefit to using an actual credit card is that using that card can earn you money. If I pay my monthly bills and purchases on my credit card, I receive a percentage of my charges as a credit, or cash back. So, if that percentage is 1%, and I charge $2000 in a month, I will make $20 by using my credit card, as long as I pay off the amount I charged before interest is charged. If you paid cash for all your bills and purchases of $2000, you are $20 behind me.

Granted, some people get into debt because they do not know how to manage their credit cards. But even you, Paul, could come out ahead, as long as you only charge to your card what you can pay off when the bill comes in. And you seem like someone fiscally savvy enough to not spend over your head. As long as you have the willpower to not purchase what you cannot immediately afford, yo would be better off using a credit card and paying it off monthly.

The only cost you might incur would be the stamp to mail in your payment and the check or money order you write to the credit card company. Of course, you could also pay online if you have a bank account, and almost all banks give you electronic bill pay at no cost (and my credit union has absolutely no fees, so don't tell me I am paying for banking fees).

As far as Elissa's complaint, it is the gas station that is responsible. In this day and age, with all of the technology and connectiveness available, it is ridiculous for a company to retain a hold on your funds once you actually complete the purchase. As soon as you finish pumping the gas, the charge should be made against your payment method for X amount, immediately replacing any hold on the funds. But again, the issue is not with Commerce Bank, it is with whatever store the gasoline was purchased from.

Sincerely your friendly neighborhood genius,

Mr. von Ripp

In agreement to dave's comments. And adding to it. Before giving these cards out to the recipients, you should've checked the card holder purchase agreement. Wells Fargo sells the Visa Gift Cards, and there is a brochure inside that outlines certain situations like what you described with the gas. I would hope Commerce gave you an agreement as well

The part that is stinging me with your post. The seven day hold. Seven days??? Even hotels that a person books with a debit card don't do a seven day hold. In my two years w/ Wells I have never seen a SEVEN day hold to a debit card for any restaurant or gasoline purchase. Most merchants batch the full transaction long before the seven days.

The machinery where your children used the gift cards...The only thing that system will recognize is the Visa logo. Whether debit, credit, or gift card, it's going to run as a Visa transaction.

I know the principle that you are pointing out is that the cards were paid for, and that the value on the cards was real, I grant you that.

I don't care what your form of payment is. When you refuse to use cash, you LOSE money.

Checking accounts come with bank fees. Boy, do they come with fees! Just read some of the rip-offs that people write in with.

Credit cards cost big bucks. It's the same thing. Read all the complaints here.

So far, it's only me and 4 other people who understand this. We're the only ones who use cash and get our money's worth.

The rest of the world is stuck paying endless fees to spend their OWN money.

Whatever, if you use anything but cash, you clearly have the extra money to throw away, or else you wouldn't be doing this in the first place. I guess everybody but me and the other 4 people must have hit the lottery, so money no longer matters.

You really have to stop trusting what these gift card commercials are telling you. You could have done much better by enclosing a $100 bill inside a hallmark card. You could have added your own sentiment.

Elissa

The place where your son bought gas was the culprit. If he had gone inside the store to purchase the gas, there wouldn't have been a hold, but since he paid at the pump, they probably put something like a $50 hold on it. The grocery stores don't put holds on credit/debit cards.

Also, if the bank had issued a pin number with these cards, then your son could've used this as a debit transaction instead of a credit transaction, and no hold would've been placed on the card.

Elissa

The place where your son bought gas was the culprit. If he had gone inside the store to purchase the gas, there wouldn't have been a hold, but since he paid at the pump, they probably put something like a $50 hold on it. The grocery stores don't put holds on credit/debit cards.

Also, if the bank had issued a pin number with these cards, then your son could've used this as a debit transaction instead of a credit transaction, and no hold would've been placed on the card.

Elissa

The place where your son bought gas was the culprit. If he had gone inside the store to purchase the gas, there wouldn't have been a hold, but since he paid at the pump, they probably put something like a $50 hold on it. The grocery stores don't put holds on credit/debit cards.

Also, if the bank had issued a pin number with these cards, then your son could've used this as a debit transaction instead of a credit transaction, and no hold would've been placed on the card.

Elissa

The place where your son bought gas was the culprit. If he had gone inside the store to purchase the gas, there wouldn't have been a hold, but since he paid at the pump, they probably put something like a $50 hold on it. The grocery stores don't put holds on credit/debit cards.

Also, if the bank had issued a pin number with these cards, then your son could've used this as a debit transaction instead of a credit transaction, and no hold would've been placed on the card.