Debit Card Daily Limits Suck!

07 Dec 2005

Last night I finally broke down and decided to purchase a new aptly titled big ass TV.

I don’t particularily need a new tv, my existing 27″ crt is still kicking just fine, but that’s besides the point.

After some debate I finally decided on a 42″ plasma from Costco. I also threw one of those new DVD recorder/players on the cart. All along I was hoping that this massive box would actually be able to fit in a VW golf.

So I wheeled my order up to the counter and took out my costco card (I just upgraded to the executive membership that offers 2% cashback knowing that this purchase would earn more than the cost of the upgrade). Costco doesn’t take credit cards unfortunately so I had to put it on my debit card.

That’s where the fun begins. I thought it would be pretty unlikely that I could put $3k+ on my debit card in a single transaction but I tried nonetheless. It failed with a daily limit exceeded message but the cashier suggested I try the actual bank machine across the store. Strange suggestion because I wouldn’t imagine a bank machine would allow you to withdrawl more cash than a point of sale transaction would. Sure enough, the Costco bank machine would only allow a withdrawl of $1k so no go.

Unfortunately the story ends there. I didn’t get to buy the tv and my motivation for buying has since diminished. I did put a cheque in my pocket before I went to work today but couldn’t bring myself to go try again. Maybe next week.