enthalpy

Saturday, March 14, 2009


No one's going to get a medal for screwing over the unemployed, but there's something to be said for reading the fine print.
But looking at the fine print that came with his new unemployment debit card, he became livid.

"A $1.50 [fee] here, a $1.50 there," he said. "Forty cents for a balance inquiry. Fifty cents to have your card denied. Thirty-five cents to have your account accessed by telephone."

He was quoting fees listed in a brochure that goes out to every unemployed person in Pennsylvania who chooses to receive benefits via debit card. He was given the option when he filed for jobless payments: Wait 10 days for a check or get the card immediately. Like most of the 925,000 state residents who received unemployment benefits in February in Pennsylvania, he chose the debit card and only then, he says, did he learn about the fees.
So who gets the fees? Do they go back to the state's unemployment fund? If so, then brilliant! If the merchants get them, then it's a total scam.

I guess you should have waited for the check. Convenience isn't free.



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