Hurricane Sandy hit the credit cards. $$

[Brian_Trying_700]

I live in New Jersey. Hope everyone is well. Ran a $1000 + to prepare. Costco was only accepting Amex or debit. 2 hour lines for gas. I didn't have to go as I have 5 cars and 30 gallons of gas along with a generator on hand. We have never been hit so hard. Ranked #3  in hurricanes so far reported. My work load will be really busy though the next week to a year or more to come. Please tell me your experience on the east coast.

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[jm00ser]

Glad you are safe, hope all our Atlantic Coast members are ok as well. Have some fam on Long Island and they are ok, no power and powerlines everywhere!

[distantarray]

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@Brian_Trying_700 wrote:

I live in New Jersey. Hope everyone is well. Ran a $1000 + to prepare. Costco was only accepting Amex or debit. 2 hour lines for gas. I didn't have to go as I have 5 cars and 30 gallons of gas along with a generator on hand. We have never been hit so hard. Ranked #3  in hurricanes so far reported. My work load will be really busy though the next week to a year or more to come. Please tell me your experience on the east coast.

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you know Costco only accepts Amex or debit everyday right? =) 

they don't take Visa Mastercard or Discover or anything else, just debit card or Amex everyday of the year even before Sandy

[Jutz]

Glad you're ok, looks like Jersey took the brunt of it, NYC looks pretty shocking too.  I live in New England, but didn't get hit too hard.  Good luck with everything!

[TheConductor]

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@distantarray wrote:

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@Brian_Trying_700 wrote:

I live in New Jersey. Hope everyone is well. Ran a $1000 + to prepare. Costco was only accepting Amex or debit. 2 hour lines for gas. I didn't have to go as I have 5 cars and 30 gallons of gas along with a generator on hand. We have never been hit so hard. Ranked #3  in hurricanes so far reported. My work load will be really busy though the next week to a year or more to come. Please tell me your experience on the east coast.

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you know Costco only accepts Amex or debit everyday right? =) 

they don't take Visa Mastercard or Discover or anything else, just debit card or Amex everyday of the year even before Sandy

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Pretty sure OP just meant that Costco was NOT taking cash. Which makes sense...you don't want to pile up tons of cash when you might have no open bank to deposit it to.

[ryanbush]

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@TheConductor wrote:

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@distantarray wrote:

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@Brian_Trying_700 wrote:

I live in New Jersey. Hope everyone is well. Ran a $1000 + to prepare. Costco was only accepting Amex or debit. 2 hour lines for gas. I didn't have to go as I have 5 cars and 30 gallons of gas along with a generator on hand. We have never been hit so hard. Ranked #3  in hurricanes so far reported. My work load will be really busy though the next week to a year or more to come. Please tell me your experience on the east coast.

\

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you know Costco only accepts Amex or debit everyday right? =) 

they don't take Visa Mastercard or Discover or anything else, just debit card or Amex everyday of the year even before Sandy

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Pretty sure OP just meant that Costco was NOT taking cash. Which makes sense...you don't want to pile up tons of cash when you might have no open bank to deposit it to.

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isn't it illegal to not accept cash as a form of payment in the US?

[TheConductor]

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@ryanbush wrote:

isn't it illegal to not accept cash as a form of payment in the US?

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No, it's illegal not to accept dollars.  It's an important distinction.

They are free to refuse any particular form of payment you wish to use to deliver dollars to them. However, they cannot refuse to accept dollars in the satisfaction of a debt.

So, if for example your local Irish pub were run by a genuine Irish family who wanted some cash for their impending vacation in the homeland, it would be illegal for them to insist on payment in Euros.

However, it would be perfectly legal for them to say "Our pub only takes credit and debit cards...no cash!"

Edited to add, from the horse's mouth:  http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx

[distantarray]

i dunno i can't see a big company like Costco not to accept cash i really doubt that's the case.

[ryanbush]

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@TheConductor wrote:

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@ryanbush wrote:

isn't it illegal to not accept cash as a form of payment in the US?

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No, it's illegal not to accept dollars.  It's an important distinction.

They are free to refuse any particular form of payment you wish to use to deliver dollars to them. However, they cannot refuse to accept dollars in the satisfaction of a debt.

So, if for example your local Irish pub were run by a genuine Irish family who wanted some cash for their impending vacation in the homeland, it would be illegal for them to insist on payment in Euros.

However, it would be perfectly legal for them to say "Our pub only takes credit and debit cards...no cash!"

Edited to add, from the horse's mouth:  http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx

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Great info, thanks for the reply!

[john398]

Does this costco gas station run unattendeed? Ie just pay at the pump? if so they have no way to accept cash