OMG! I've been robbed! AGAIN!!!

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Just to correct a misconception, banks make BIG bucks by not disallowing debit card transactions.  They are quite likely to allow that gallon of milk and loaf of bread because those items then COST you the extra $37 or so in overdraft fees......

 
Sad and pathetic, but true.  I've had to explain this over and over to the boys, both the young'uns and those old enough to know better.  A lot of people mistakenly think that if they don't have enough money in the bank to complete their transaction, the bank won't let it go through.  WRONG!!  The bank is only too happy to let you put more on your debit card than you have in your account - then as Glenda just said, they zap you with a $37 overdraft fee. If you don't check your bank account daily on-line, you won't realize you have these fees until you actually get your bank statement.  Then, when you make your next deposit, a hefty chunk will not  be available to you because it's going back to the bank to cover those overdrafts. That means that you might not have the money to pay your bills and you will sink a little deeper into overdraft he**.  THE BANK IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.  Be careful. []
 
Joyce

I keep reading over and over...if your going to use plastic,,,use credit cards...not debit. There is nothing to protect you with a debit card.
Personally, I like cash.  I dont' buy anything THAT expensive for the most part on an every day basis...but if I were to I would use a credit card.

I hardly ever have cash with me, so I use my debit cards for things like gas, groceries, trips to Home Depot, etc.  - all the things I used to write checks for until the invention of the check/debit card when pretty much everyone stopped taking checks unless they knew you for 30 years.  Unless you live in a really small "everybody knows everybody" kind of town, it's hard to get merchants to take checks.  My major credit cards have been all paid off for a long time.  I had to use one when when I took both DGSs to the Apple Store for new laptops, but I wrote one big check to pay it off when the bill came. The main reason I even keep them is because having all that available credit (and not owing anything) looks real good on a credit report.
 
Joyce

dyan actually there are protections with debit cards.  It varies from state to state and bank to bank.  There is though a little less protection and you really need to act quicker, but there still is protection. 

Yeah our bank started a new "benefit" of overdraft protection.  Um, what if I don't want it?  I liked when it wasn't allowed if I didn't have the money.  The crappy thing is that some merchants (gas stores for one) will put a certain amount of money on hold when you swipe it.  So if you know you have $40 in the bank and plan to put $10 in the tank, well the gas station "holds" $50 or however much, so BOOM overdraft.  Had that happen once.  I KNEW I had enough  money but because of that hold business.. ... grrrr.... 

So I sit down once a week and figure out how much money I have for the week until next paycheck.  I use debit almost exclusively except for bills where I mail a check.  I hardly ever have cash on me.  But I keep all receipts and if I don't think I have enough in the bank to cover a charge, I'll use my credit card, then go home and pay it off online.

our bank is great & DH is compulsive about ck'ng bank balance daily (online) - we bought pizza from Pizza Hut, gave them the card info over the phone , when the guy got to house he said he had to make an imprint of the card, did it the "hard way" (pencil rubbing) because "his machine was broke" - the store had told us this may might be needed so DH thought nothing of it - the next day we had almost $900 in pizza charges , called the bank they faxed him the forms, said they would replace the day they got the forms back (remeber DH is compulsive) they got faxed back that day (the bank did as they promised); the next day was $1500 worth of porno tapes charged, again the bank faxed forms and again DH faxed them back, money back in our account, that day there were 2 hits another $1200 in porno, and an odd amount near $900 in food and drink items (bachlor party?) - the bank faxed different forms did we wish to press charges YES, the bank & police knew had done this, all money was refunded to us (thank you Bank Of America) the guy was the pizza driver/delivery with the phone guy for them involved, they were both "sentenced"
 
we do not do business with Pizza Hut by phone

Using the cards in a restaurant really is "iffy" in that when you just buy something in a store, the transaction is completed right in front of you.  The card is swiped, given right back and you sign.  In a restaurant, someone takes the card away and sometimes it's gone for anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Lord only know who's doing what with it while it's out of your sight.
 
Joyce

Well just when you thought things couldn't get worse! Saturday DH goes to the garden shed, comes out and asks "Where's Spencer's bike?" Hmm, did you look in the basement? Not there. How about his room? No. I knew he had it out a few days ago, so I figured (hoped) he had left it at a friends and got a ride home after dark. So when Spencer came home later I asked him. He said it was in the shed. So there is an $800 bike - gone! I'm feeling really lousy now, with my money and evrything. I then went out to water my New garden I had just spent 2 wks of hard labour redoing and I notice a hole in the middle. At first I thought maybe the fresh earth had just collapsed or something. I stood there scratching my head for a minute and I realized OMG someone has ripped off a plant right out of my garden! Can you believe it? The good thing is the stolen items seem to be getting smaller.

OMG someone has ripped off a plant right out of my garden! Can you believe it?

 
Yikes - where do you live???  That's just crazy and I'd be starting to feel a bit paranoid.  Sorry you're having such a rough time. 

Someone stole your plant???  That's just pathetic.  Did you contact the police about the stolen bike?  We had one of our bikes stolen when we were in the process of moving.  We knew who took it but the cops said that all they could do was file a report and if the bike turned up, they would call us.  It's sad that everything has to be kept locked up because so many criminals live in our midst.

Can you believe it?

OMG:@][]

I overdrafted last summer, because Symantec renewed my subscription to their obsessive anti-virus software package, even though I had uninstalled it.  I'd apparently agreed to automatic renewal with my debit card when I agreed to the terms and conditions -- it's a good idea to actually read that crap, I learned.  My bank slapped me with the overdraft fee (I'm typically broke as a joke).  After much bitching and moaning with non-American Symantec CSR, I was given a refund, but the overdraft fee wasn't returned.  I felt robbed then, and I have a long-lasting hatred of Symantec.  The whole thing was my fauly for not reading the terms and conditions, but it was still sneaky and an out-of-the-blue deduction.

In other robbing news, someone broke into my car and stole the faceplate of my CD player.  The moron left the unit intact, but the faceplace was history.  How stupid.  Since the unit could not be removed, I don't know why they had to screw me over and keep the faceplate.  It is rendered unusuable and will become garbage.  That's infuriating in and of itself, but my favorite CD was in the unit. [:@]  People really tick me off. 

ETA: I keep forgetting that "m-oron" is a bad word, yet I can type "bitching."  Hmmm ...

What horrible luck! [] I would definitely call the police. And the local bike shops (I used to work at one... sometimes people would try to trade in stolen bikes.)

ORIGINAL: Roxie865

In other robbing news, someone broke into my car and stole the faceplate of my CD player.  The moron left the unit intact, but the faceplace was history.  How stupid.  Since the unit could not be removed, I don't know why they had to screw me over and keep the faceplate.  It is rendered unusuable and will become garbage.  That's infuriating in and of itself, but my favorite CD was in the unit. [:@]  People really tick me off. 

If it's unuseable, there is no reason to not destroy it to get the cd back.  The cd isn't in the faceplate, it's still in the unit.  So technically you might be able to retrieve it. 

--Mia

Holy cow... that's some bad luck.  Hopefully, this is the worst of it (thinking it has to get better from here!)  My cousin had her checkbook, cards, etc stolen when she dropped off her girls for gymnastics and the money was used at a grocery store... I thought, how sad that someone is in that much need that they resort to stealing. 
 
As for someone walking into your yard taking things... at our first house, someone came right into our driveway while we were asleep, stole the spare tire from the truck and the NEIGHBORS SAW IT while it was happening but didn't tell us until the next morning.  Not long after, someone had stolen a bunch of lawn mowers, etc. so we checked the shed... ours was gone too.  I hate not feeling safe at home.  Whoever has done this to you has a lot of bad karma coming their way.