financial reflections

I use my debit card (instead of a credit card) now but, I’m always a little leery about it.  The money comes straight out of my checking account.  If there’s an error, then there’s at least going to be a temporary problem.  I recently came across two stories that illustrate the problems with debit cards:

Get Overcharged - Then Wait
The Washington Post just ran a story about a man who was charged $4300 dollars for four burgers.  Turns out that the cashier entered the $4.33 charge twice, resulting in $4334.33 coming from the man’s account.  He had to wait three days for the charges to be reversed, all while having to pay the mortgage.  I really don’t like the fact that it took so long to reverse an obvious error.

Watch Out At The Pump
If that isn’t bad enough, MoneyCentral ran a story about what to avoid at the gas pump.  I love paying at the pump, but I’m now afraid my cash will get locked if I use it without a pin.  I also stayed at a hotel recently that warned those using a debit card that a $300 hold would be placed on their card.  What kind of customer service is that?

I wish card companies could come up with a better way to manage debit card issues like these.  I’d be more inclined to use my card (and make them money) if I wasn’t afraid of problems like those above.  In the mean time, I might use cash more often.

Another buffer is to have an emergency fund on hand - and I do.  Granted, that could give me a backup if I have my checking account funds frozen.  But that puts the responsibility on me, rather than the banks, who I think should be able to handle financial transactions better than they currently are with debit cards.