h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A ferry with 1400 people on board has sunk in the Red Sea:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4676916.stm

Oh dear, doesn't look good if they have only managed to pull a few people out in the hours since it happened

Another sombre day

Sorry to hear about L's grandfather.

We can sign up for a level pay plan with the gas company. But it doesn't have to be a direct debit from your checking account. A lot of people on fixed incomes use it so there won't be any surprises. the electric company probably does it as well.


I don't like direct debits. I was considering it once for my mortgage payment, so I asked the bank how exactly it works. I specifically wanted to know how to cancel it out if I decided I didn't like doing things that way. I was told that I couldn't stop it. The company withdrawing the money has to voluntarily stop. How insane is that? So if whoever it is refuses to stop the withdrawals when you ask, you have to do a stop payment, which costs $25 a pop at my bank. At this point I also learned that you can't stop payment to a certain company - only for a certain amount. So, if you want to stop payment on a $100 check to one company, every other $100 check you write will also be flagged. Then.......get this, this is legal....the company could submit a request for $99.99 and another one for a penny (or any combination that totaled $100) and the bank would pay them. And once a company has your account number they can withdraw amounts on any date for any amount. You cold have debits you're not even aware of. A little computer glitch could cause you major headaches and hours and hours of hassle getting things straightened out.

I hope the banking laws are more sensible in other countries. The lady at my bank told me that the worst offenders are the collection agencies. She said that they pressure people into doing direct debits then keep withdrawing money after the bills have been paid. She said that she personally had this situation and had to get a lawyer to get her money back - which took over a year and cost more than if she had just let them keep her money. She said she closed her account finally to stop the withdrawals. And the court didn't do anytinng to the collection agency because they claimed it was a computer error and they regreted the mistake.

Morning all.

for Z & L.

The only direct debit I have is for my mortgage, which is with the same bank as my checking account. I get a discounted rate on the loan for having direct debit. I can alter or discontinue the payment with a simple letter. And I used to work there, so I know how they operate and I trust them.

Other than that, I dislike direct debits for the same reasons as Hyp. I have a couple of payments set up to charge directly to one of my credit cards. This way, I get the convenience, I get the 'reward points' accumulated to my account, and if I have a dispute, the credit card company will reverse the charge immediately. And I pay off balance every month, so I don't have interest payments

It is pretty easy to stop direct debits here, and there is no charge for it with most banks. Not taking the direct debit option for most bills results in irregular large payments instead of regular monthly ones and means having to spend several lunchbreaks a month queueing up in the post office to pay the bill. DD is (usually) much easier aside from when they start taking large amounts of money off of you and won't be dissuaded from this...

Kelli, I find paying most of my bills with internet banking a much better use of my time than queueing up in a bank branch at a lunchtime.

Actually, I do that with most of the ones I don't DD these days but you still have to *remember* to pay them, and they have the cheek to send stroppy letters if you don't!

Z

my brother owns pitbulls, has for years. a few of his have been rather territorial but i think that's all on the dog - even my little Cooper is quite possesive. the limits to their behavior would be to other dogs they didn't know. if a dog entered their house they were fine with it, but if they saw another on a walk they would get defensive. also, i remember one of his dogs was a cat chaser - another stereotype that is true.

his current pitbulls, well. they're sweeties. he has two females, cracker and jezebel and... 3 "puppies"

yes. 3 of 'em and they're over 6 months old by now. one is deaf, the other two are just rambunctious. i don't know how he manages them all, but he does. and he is a very good owner.

personally, i have always had a bit of a big dog phobia and at times i am a bit nervous if i go to give them a treat, but that's a personal phobia.

I forgot to confirm to FG that yes, indeed, someone came into the library and checked the catalogue dressed as Scooby Doo. They didn't have a collection bucket, so he probably wasn't doing it for charity.

I am paying more and more of my bills online, which I think is an improvement on direct debit because I control when the money is paid. I hate the inevitability of standing orders and there are a couple of times when I've almost missed an SO because a check was late coming in.

I have 25 watercolors to scan and proof this weekend and I still haven't tried Excel, but how hard can ~that~ be?

Are we talking about Microsoft Excel? It's not easy to do the more advanced stuff, but the beginners stuff has a pretty nice learning curve.

Wait, "Drivethru Churches"? How...how does that even *work*?

I guess I could see a Drive-IN church working, but...man.

I mean, I've literally been in skits and videos making fun of the concept of Drive-Thru Churches ("I'll have a late-morning worship, with a sermon from...mmm, from Matthew, please. Oh, and do you still give away those little memory-verse keychains?"), so it's kind of a shock to hear of one actually existing.

And speaking of crazy driving, last night I think I committed my first blatant traffic violation ever. They recently installed a stop-sign at a highway intersection that had previously not been a stop-sign. Having driven straight through it for over four years now, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to just barrel straight through the intersection without realizing it.

Fortunately, no law officers were around to inform me of what I had done, and I quickly pieced it together for myself a few moments later. To make up for it, I stopped in the middle of the road about fifty feet down the highway, much to the confusion of the oncoming traffic.

I don't like either direct debit or direct deposit. The idea of people other than my bank (and I don't like all *their* "service fees") messing about in my accounts makes me paranoid.

Oh, I don't mind at all when someone wants to put money into my account. I try to avoid the bank at all costs, so direct deposit is my friend, as are no-fee ATMs.

my check is direct deposited, i pay all my bills but one online. i don't even open up the paper paystub that my company sends me - if i go online and the total isn't what it should be, then i might look.

there are no fees for my online banking, none of the people i pay bills with charge a fee either. i find it much easier than balancing a checkbook, keeping track of paystubs, etc. as my online banking is updated the the moment i spend money with my atm card or it's processed by my creditors.

in short, i online banking and direct deposit.

I don't like Direct Debits either. The only one I have is with the Student Loans Company and that was compulsory. It's been a pain - first of all they took money they shouldn't have, though I admit partial fault in that case, and then they didn't take money they should have. Then they sent me a letter complaining that I hadn't paid and threatened me with unspecified "further action".

Much sympathy for both Z and L.

L & Z

[GDZ]

I've got a Direct Deposit system. I do admit that since most of my purchases are with a debit card, it's not *much* of a hassle. Still, I wish I didn't have to go to my bank to remove ten bucks for church offerings or other stuff that doesn't take cards/checks (some really great local restaurants are cash only, somehow).

The only other pain is that sometimes direct deposit means knowing that money is *there*, but not knowing how much I can spend.