Sody Pop

[MrSmiley]

They put Paypass thingies on the drink vending machines. The intent is so that people without change can fall into the temptation of soda pop and buy the item using their credit card or debit. no problem there. Swiping the card past it does a $2.00 preauthorization on the aforementioned card. The problem is that everything on these particular machines is priced at $2.50. So even if you do use your credit card, you still need $0.50 in some kind of change.

[Legal Eagle]

wow










just wow (you can't say anything else to that kind of stupidity)

[fma_fanatic]

Weird. We have that at one of the vending machines in our building's lobby, but I've never seen a $2.00 pre authorization show up on my debit card. Everything we have is priced between 75 cents and 1.25.

[chainedbarista]

i've seen these, and now i'm doubly glad i resisted the temptation.

[bhskittykatt]

That's a pretty dumb set-up. Someone wasn't thinking.

We had one of those at work, but no one used it and it was costing more to maintain it that the revenue it generated, so it went bye-bye.
At Hub's new job, he uses one there frequently. I manage his credit card payments, and have to keep reminding him that $2-4 a day being spent absentmindedly adds up over time...he's been getting pretty good lately at resisting it.

[PepperElf]

sounds a lot like the train station vending machines in japan - and some of the little shops there as well. if you don't have cash on you, you can wave your prepaid train card to pay for the items. and you can use your cell the same way, if you set up the feature... the price of the item is added to your cell bill.

[Gawdzillers]

$2.50 for a drink?

I hope it gives you superpowers for that price.

[Pagan]

Completely off-topic

"Sody pop" was what my grandfather used to call soda. I've never heard anyone else use the term before!

[MrSmiley]

Weird. We have that at one of the vending machines in our building's lobby, but I've never seen a $2.00 pre authorization show up on my debit card. Everything we have is priced between 75 cents and 1.25.

As far as I know, the pre-authorization is an "OK, you can take this money" hold on the funds on the card that's being used... but it needs the actual transaction to complete before it can take the money. If it's aborted or not followed through, the pre-authorization will expire on it's own.

So... there's no charge until the transaction is actually processed. At the same time, if you had $200 in your account and did a $200 pre-authorization, the bank wouldn't let you process any more transactions (or maybe they would... that's overdraft territory!) on it because that money is being "held" until the pre-auth expires or is processed.

[Andara Bledin]

At Hub's new job, he uses one there frequently. I manage his credit card payments, and have to keep reminding him that $2-4 a day being spent absentmindedly adds up over time...he's been getting pretty good lately at resisting it.

Make him keep a charge register. A few weeks of that, and he'll be vitally aware of how easy it is to spend money.

^-.-^

[Dreamstalker]

if you don't have cash on you, you can wave your prepaid train card to pay for the items.

When the MBTA unveiled their RFID card system, there was talk of that happening...I kinda wish it had gone through.

[Kitten in the box]

They put Paypass thingies on the drink vending machines. The intent is so that people without change can fall into the temptation of soda pop and buy the item using their credit card or debit. no problem there. Swiping the card past it does a $2.00 preauthorization on the aforementioned card. The problem is that everything on these particular machines is priced at $2.50. So even if you do use your credit card, you still need $0.50 in some kind of change.

so basically it charges you $4.50 for ONE soda? ($2.00 to "authorize" the card and $2.50 for the soda itself?) Hell...NO!! If I were to buy a soda like that it damn well better give me super powers!! But then again..I would never spend that much for a soda.

[Andara Bledin]

so basically it charges you $4.50 for ONE soda? ($2.00 to "authorize" the card and $2.50 for the soda itself?)

No. Whoever set the preauthorization and whoever set the price didn't talk to each other at all, so it only preauthorizes for $2 when the sodas are $2.50, so even when your card goes through, you still owe $0.50.

^-.-^