I recently aquired a cell phone, being the last one in my family to get one. The particular model I chose does not seem to be a popular one. For one thing, I found that the model I have can only be purchased from TracFone©. Also, I wanted to buy a better battery for it; one that lasts longer and has the vibrator in it. I found that no one carries any kind of batteries for my particular phone. I had to go to the company's web site, which had the battery I wanted. I guess the price is reasonable, since I had nothing to compare it with. The clencher is that I still like the phone and I'm glad I chose this one.
Do you realize how hard it is to cash a check without your bank? I'm living in Alabama for the summer and the bank I use does not exist here. That means that all the ATM's here will charge me that $1.50 for me to use them, and I can only make withdraws and balance inquiries. Even those get charged. I went to a check-chashing store to deal with the problem. Things were fine with my first paycheck, because it was under $500. But then the next time was hell. They had to call back to verify that the total was correct on the check. Standard policy. Even though it's printed clearly in ink. Since the checks are coming from my college and they close their office early, the store can't verify and thus they can't cash my check.
Next I go to Wal-Mart, which is a problem in itself because they don't cash checks unless you spend 20% of it in the store. I decided to use that bit of information to my advantage. I found a CD-RW drive for my computer that was priced at exacty 20% of the amount of my check. It was perfect, or so I thought. I attemped to pay for the drive and cash the check at the same time. The problem was the store did not have enough money set aside to give me the "change." Also, they had this issue with my ID being from Florida, the check coming from Atlanta, Georgia, and that I was in Alabama. Now I'm 0 for 2. And I was excited about getting a CD burner, too!
My final option, find the bank the college used for their checking account. They can cash the check. I end up at a bank with a similar name as the actual bank (Note: No matter how much you want it to, a similar name means nothing). They explain that they cannot simply just cash it, but if I open an account, I can deposit it. I have failed to mention that they told me the closest correct bank was an hour out of town. I decide to open the account. This way I will be able to deposit future checks right away and get my money. The only stumbling block now is that all but $100 is being placed under hold. In other words, most of my money will not become available to me for another week. That's the best I can do, and so ends that adventure.
Written 6/18/2001 by Chris Taylor