Thursday, July 16, 2009

You Can Do This?

At first I just assumed this was part of cap-and-trade since it happened at a gas station:

A New Hampshire man says he swiped his debit card at a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes and was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars.


Hey, defending the planet isn't cheap, I figured. PAYGO is pretty strict, apparently.

As it turns out, it was a bank error.

But what really got me was this:

Muszynski says he spent two hours on the phone with Bank of America trying to sort out the string of numbers and the $15 overdraft fee.


One, what's the point of haggling over the $15 overdraft fee when you're talking a 23 quadrillion dollar debit?

And two, you mean that I could buy a 23 quadrillion dollar item, pay for it on my debit card, head for some place with no extradition treaty, and face only a $15 overdraft fee?

I know, I know. Just how in the world did our banks get in financial trouble last fall with policies like that?