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#141442 - 07/25/08 11:09 PM CASH TALKS BS WALKS
ponder Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 367
Loc: American Redoubt
Currently the US credit card system is down. It has been down for 45 minutes. No one without cash can purchase gas, food or any other necessities.

95% of our customers in the last hour have not had cash.

Gun sales - 0
Ammunition sales - 0

Just remember in the future - CARRY CASH!

UPDATE !!!!!!!!!!!!18:32 HRS
85% of the US visa is down.
40,000 transactions/minute are not going thru.

UPDATE - 20:10 HRS
VISA is still down.


Edited by ponder (07/26/08 01:11 AM)
_________________________
Cliff Harrison
PonderosaSports.com
Horseshoe Bend, ID
American Redoubt
N43.9668 W116.1888

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#141443 - 07/25/08 11:11 PM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: ponder]
CityBoyGoneCountry Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 11/04/07
Posts: 369
I always carry at least some cash. Burger King doesn't take ATM cards. Neither do vending machines.

But there's a limit to what I'll carry. I'm not going to walk around all the time with enough cash to buy a gun.

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#141445 - 07/25/08 11:48 PM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: CityBoyGoneCountry]
KenK Offline
"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2208
Loc: NE Wisconsin
Think of it as pent-up demand ... that is what the automotive business is hoping is happening right now - though of course the vehicles will likely be a bit smaller.

Seriously, as a business-owner that has got to be VERY frustrating.

I just heard about a new credit card scam being pulled on gas stations around here.

Credit card thieves climb on the roof of a gas station, use aluminum foil to cover an antenna used to send/receive credit card info, the credit card readers stop working, gas stations start doing manual credit card transactions which allow thieves to use stolen cards without being discovered, and by the time a repair person arrives and finds the foil-covered antenna the thieves are long gone with cars full of gas.

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#141446 - 07/25/08 11:53 PM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: KenK]
Art_in_FL Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
One of the first jobs I had I used to get a ride into work with a coworker who always carried $2000 to $3000 in cash on him or locked in his car. This was back when minimum wage was a bit more than $2 an hour. His claim, borne out by his successes, was that if you came across across a deal you had leverage if you could act right then, in cash, and dazzle the seller with a fan of dead presidents.

One day coming back from work we saw a boat for sale. He asked I minded a short detour. Figuring I could learn something I agreed to a stop. We stopped, looked over the boat and carefully read the sign. Emphasizing the cash-and-carry nature of the deal, a deal that could be concluded -cash in hand- in the next five minutes gave him a lot of leverage. When he fanned the fist full of crisp, new dollars the owners eyes bugged out.

The owner wanted $1500 but after seeing the cash and understanding the boat would be gone immediately he settled for $1000. Writing a check and having to delay the conclusion of the deal wouldn't preclude bargaining. But I doubt it would have had so much impact. The deal-no deal, make the call now nature of the deal favored cash and gave him tremendous leverage.

Five minutes later we backed up the car and dragged off the boat. This boat was sold a week later for $1800. A quick $800 profit back when $800 was better than two weeks wage at a good job.

He made a good bit of extra cash buying boats and guns and tools and vehicles. Always making a good profit by using the leverage and power of cash money and the offer of a deal concluded Now.

Money talks. People listen.

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#141449 - 07/26/08 12:06 AM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: ponder]
Sherpadog
Unregistered


Originally Posted By: ponder
Currently the US credit card system is down. It has been down for 45 minutes. No one without cash can purchase gas, food or any other necessities.

95% of our customers in the last hour have not had cash.

Gun sales - 0
Ammunition sales - 0

Just remember in the future - CARRY CASH!

UPDATE !!!!!!!!!!!!18:32 HRS
85% of the US visa is down.
40,000 transactions/minute are not going thru.


The whole US credit card system is NOT down...

My work is closely tied to the cc industry and I can tell you right now that it depends on where you are located and who you as a business are relying on as your cc processor.

40,000 transactions per minute is a literal drop in the bucket and many of these transactions are duplicates as people keep retrying to auth the same card.

If you are using First Data services which processes Envoy, Nabanco, CES and a couple of others, yes their system is down and should be back online shortly.

All other cc processors are online and working fine......

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#141459 - 07/26/08 01:01 AM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: ]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
But WHY was it down?

Sue

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#141464 - 07/26/08 01:50 AM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: Susan]
Nishnabotna Offline
Icon of Sin
Addict

Registered: 12/31/07
Posts: 512
Loc: Nebraska
Sorry guys, guess I should have been more careful.

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#141489 - 07/26/08 11:18 AM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: Susan]
ironraven Offline
Cranky Geek
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 4642
Loc: Vermont
I'm willing to bet he can't answer that any more than I can say why the systems I support go down. Privilaged information, half the time it comes back up without explination of what happened from up top.

That being said, a dollar per mile to get home, in small bills, is always with me. A second such packet is hidden in my car.
_________________________
-IronRaven

When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.

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#141505 - 07/26/08 02:00 PM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: Art_in_FL]
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
I used to work with a guy who kindasorta did the same thing. He would find someone who ran out of gas and had no funds, but did have a Coleman stove or something that would be swapped for some cash for gas. Old Ben got a lot of good gear cheap that way.

I always have a couple of hundreds tucked away in my wallet, I have been there done that where a credit card just wouldn't work...
_________________________
OBG

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#141508 - 07/26/08 02:12 PM Re: CASH TALKS BS WALKS [Re: ponder]
ponder Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 12/18/06
Posts: 367
Loc: American Redoubt
The system came back up late last night. Many travelers were stranded without gas or food.

The last time this happened a few months ago it was the 800 lines going down.

The customers who use credit cards not only pay a higher price for their products, they are also running a risk.

It is just a heads up on the value of cash.
_________________________
Cliff Harrison
PonderosaSports.com
Horseshoe Bend, ID
American Redoubt
N43.9668 W116.1888

Top
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