Reply #25: Doesn't make any difference to the card holder, if they have no access

[ebayfool]

to their funds for 2 weeks it has the same effect as if it was taken out. On a tight budget, that can be a rather fine hair to split!

Most debit cards are 'attached' to checking accounts, not savings accounts, so the consumer isn't likely to be scoring interest while they are waiting for the hold to be lifted. Most checking accounts that DO offer interest tend to be largish minimums required to qualify - those who can get them don't tend to be the people that find themselves unexpectedly w/out grocery funds for the interim.

It's not alarmist for these kinds of threads to come on DU ... that's how I first heard of this practice & learned to be wary of the merchant policies where I live. I'm one of those people that were unaware of this practice (till seeing it discussed on DU) & after checking it out locally found quite a few merchants do it.

I'm also one of those folks that would have been having a major public meltdown if I had this happen w/out being aware of the policy. I'm one of those that would have had to go sell plasma to feed the family if the budget was cut by $50 unexpectedly. Trust me, selling your body fluids sucks. Big time.