Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Money Matters

Here's something that really burns me: Last Wednesday, we sent in a pretty big credit card payment. We figured the check couldn't possibly arrive before Friday, or maybe Saturday. When I checked my bank account yesterday, the money was already gone. So five days after I mailed the check, the money was transferred from my bank account to good old Mastercard.

Today I took a royalty check to the bank and deposited it. The nice teller said, "I have to remind you, Mr. Crider, that there's a hold on the check for five business days."

Why is it that when I deposit a check, there's a hold on it, but when Mastercard gets my check, the money disappears from my account instantly? Doesn't seem fair, somehow.

2 comments:

James Reasoner said...

My bank used to do the same thing, until I pointed out to them that the checks were from huge, multi-national corporations and that I'd been depositing them there for years and years without any of them ever bouncing. They decided they didn't need to hold the checks after all. Every so often I'll get a new teller who starts in on the spiel, but I just tell her to ask one of the others who know me, and they always say, "Nah, we don't bother putting a hold on his checks."

In other words, I bitched until they quit doing it.

Unknown said...

My admiration for you increases daily.