Buying things with your own money appears to be considered 'suspicious activity' now.

[Snotnarok]

Well I guess everyone better start working up their credit! ...Unless that is you're okay with being a terrorist. Shame on you for using monetary notes!

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

I'm pretty sure paying for WEEKS of stay at a hotel in cash actually is pretty goddamn suspicious.

Huh, I was going to go around quoting everyone who said the same, just to make sure more people read it. (It's what I usually do in topics like this, where the OP stretches the truth to get people angry over nothing) but it turns out that the logical opinion is actually the consensus in this thread. Huh. Escapist, you surprise me more and more every day. Unless things have changed since that second page I haven't read yet.

EDIT: Oh, son of a *****.

 

[Cheesus333]

Weirdly enough, I generally end up trying to do the reverse and pay in cash where possible cause paying for a can of Coke and a Dairy Milk with my debit card always feels pretty retarded.

 

[Seanfall]

I don't own any credit cards either....of course I don't stay in hotels much either. Now if he doesn't have a bank card and still has that much cash then yeah...something doesn't smell right. But not having or not using a credit card ain't odd at least to me.

 

[Damien Granz]

Using a motel creates a paper trail now, at least it does legally (obviously I can't vouch that every motel stays above the law...). Using a motel as a way to hide from the law was pretty popular a few decades back, so most motels won't rent to you unless you have a credit card or similar verifiable ID, even if you pay in cash.

Whether nor not that paper trail is admissible as evidence in a civil court case involving infidelity, I ain't sure (but I wouldn't be surprised if it was, as even 'private' emails and cell phone calls can be), but it sure as hell can and would be used in a criminal court case.

But there are places that don't, and there always will be a market for hotels who don't. I've been to places and paid cash with no credit card. And wouldn't anyone who cares just go to one of those places.?

I ain't entirely sure, I'm going by what I've heard, so if that ain't the case so much, I'm just gonna shut up. But any I've seen require a credit card or ID of some sort, even if you don't pay with credit, so that if you explode the room they can charge you for it (at the very least).

I guess I'm not sure where you are, or if you're referring to something like an 'hourly' 'love' hotel.

 

[Mariakko]

What the dragon is wrong with paying in cash? Is everyone meant to have a credit card now a days or something? I only pay for stuff with money I have.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Heh.

I guess I'm used to countries where it is actually insanely difficult to get a credit card in the first place.
Sure paying several thousand in cash is odd.

But not having a credit card would by no means be considered strange in Europe.
(Depends on the country of course. in the UK credit cards are fairly common. In Germany, you'd be considered somewhat odd for even having one...)

But I guess that's how this goes.

 

[Vausch]

I don't have a credit card and I'm doing everything in my power to avoid every getting one. Sure, I have a DEBIT card but I like using cash.

 

[HardkorSB]

So, I just found this brilliant piece of fear-mongering <youtube=lolnRc1_3Hk&context=C3c6da2bADOEgsToPDskLtr2DTcPJCticR0iw0f1lL>
and I just have no idea what to say.
Are people seriously this paranoid?

Well, I suppose that staying for A FEW WEEKS in a hotel will cost a few thousand $. How often do you carry around a few thousand $ in cash these days?
Aside from that, there's 2 reasons why this commercial might be here (slightly conspiracy theory-ish but anyway):
1. Every time you use a credit card, your bank charges you for it. Imagine all the money the banks would lose if everyone stopped using credit cards.
2. If the fear of terrorists goes down enough, the citizens might want the government to lower the defense budget. If not for these commercials and other propaganda, would you even remember 9/11? The terrorists did their thing - they've changed a rich and powerful country into a pants-shitting baby.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

It would be odd to stay that long and pay cash, but it shouldn't be seen as suspect. Maybe they just are loaded and have the money to spend and don't like using plastic. It's a pretty ridiculous video overall.

 

[Treblaine]

So, I just found this brilliant piece of fear-mongering
and I just have no idea what to say.
Are people seriously this paranoid?

That's not fear-mongering. I don't think you know what that term means.

Fear-mongering is stuff like "Hurr! Xbox is gunna turn your daughter into a lesbian communist!"

This video was more "caution-mongering" it encourages the staff to act calm, professional and inquisitive? They let him stay, but it IS weird to carry around that much in cash. I mean what if they got mugged, they'd lose a vast sum of money and absolutely zero chance of getting it back (Credit cards are insured against fraud/theft). What if he bought/made a load of counterfeit money and is to afraid to put it in a bank where they will link him to an address, so he ranks up a huge hotel bill and make off before they find out.

Hotels like to know who they have in their hotel, it's pretty bad for business if they are criminals and malefactors using their facilities. Also they have a certain amount of responsibility to go to some effort to check out who they are harbouring.

If you were kind enough to charitably invite a stranger into your home to stay, wouldn't you like some issue of accountability or guarantee they aren't a fugitive on the run? You wouldn't ask them a few questions or want to check them out in some way? Hotels have always been about privacy but what you fail to realise is this means they have ALWAYS CHECKED THEIR CUSTOMERS ID! Ever since the 19th century when con-men would write fake cheques to pay off huge bills the Hotels have never taken a guest without making sure they could be held accountable in some way.

I mean, how do you think police manhunts work? It is relatively easy to get a hold of cash (mugging, beg from confederate, or counterfeit) then check into a hotel to lay low, but with a credit cards (again, stolen, lent from known associate or ripped off) and check into a hotel and the cops are on your ass within minutes.

This is law-enforcement 101. US Marshals get court orders to monitor the financial activity of a fugitive's associates and stolen cards and so on.

And yes, he'd BETTER pay in advance if he is using only cash, or he could check in, rack up a huge bill then walk out the door. Remember, room service isn't charged per item, it is put on a tab and if you have zero accountability like linking back to an credit card or verifiable address then these hotels can be ripped off blind.

It GENUINELY is odd to not have a credit card, you cannot hire a car nor buy so many things without a credit card and that is not for ease of accounting, it is a matter of personal accountability. They don't want to give someone a $10'000 car for a rent of $200 only to never see that car again!

You know what OP, welcome to the REAL WORLD of commerce and paying for stuff. Credit cards are part of the trust equation, and hotels trust you SO MUCH when they invite you to stay with them. Without a credit card for accountability there is a huge unbalance of trust.

 

[DaJoW]

Are people seriously this paranoid?

Well, to be fair, they were compounding the situation with other things, such as refusing to show an ID.

He did show an ID, she just thought it "didn't feel right". Maybe it was sticky.

OT: Not too surprising, apparantly having too much food at home is suspicious behavior.

Spoiler: Just listen to this

 

[Micalas]

Any normal finance adviser will tell you to NOT use a credit card unless you really have to.
When using a card, you don't have the same feeling as when using real money. You will spend more money because of it. You give a plastic card, they give you the card back. You didn't lose anything. But when you give 50% of the cash you have with you, you will think if it's worth it or if you need it.

Those finance advisors are talking out of their ass. Any advisor who tells you to only use it in emergencies is a moron.

You need to build a credit history and that requires you do something but let the damn thing sit there doing nothing. Pay that shit in full every month. In fact, depending on your creditworthiness it can be better to pay with everything with a credit card. The gold card I have from my credit union pay 1% back on every purchase. I pay for everything with my credit card and get back about $20 every month. I'm sitting at an 830 credit score and the only debt I have is a car loan.

 

[SD-Fiend]

when was this clip made? if recently then the Garfield and friends show was an early warning

 

[Treblaine]

TBF I would find this suspicious. Its very rare people spend that much money in cash, especially on something like a hotel room.

I work retail and there are many people who buy things with cash, not even debit. These aren't even cheap things, they're spending like $600+ cash. It's kind of odd to have that much money on you. I used to work trades work, and some jobs paid cash so that we could avoid processing the paperwork and such. Pretty much, they would save like $60 on a $3,000 install, and at the end of the week, I would get paid that portion in cash, sometimes up to a grand in cash if there were enough cash jobs. It was honest work and I was in the situation of sometimes having a lot of cash, so I'm not saying at all that any of these people are likely to be drug dealers or who knows what. That being said, it's still a weird experience to have them spend $700 and pay you in cash.

With a hotel room for a week, the cheapest ones I found when looking to take a trip once were about $40, if I wanted one that was pretty clean, maybe $60 or so. Times 7 days, that's a lot of money, and a lot to only have cash for. I think this is obviously a biased video for maybe hotel people to watch, but it's not completely out of the question to feel odd about people that pull out a huuuuge wad of cash and pay cash.

Retail is different from inviting people to stay on your property where they can rack up a huge bill or simply property damage or theft. And hotels bear a certain amount of responsibility to ensure that crimes are not committed in their realm of responsibility, they can't spy on customers but they can show discretion on admission.

Retail is so different as If you sell someone something (lets say furniture) and they pay cash... what can go wrong?

They could chop up the furniture and burn it as fire wood for all anyone cares, they certainly couldn't reasonably harm anyone with it (like selling high-explosives). It's not like renting someone something where they could disappear forever with something they only rented for a week.

The major problem is not if its drug money, but if it is counterfeit money. US Currency is one of the easiest type to counterfeit (for many factors, and I'm assuming you are American ) and if you are paid with fake bills you have a hard time and the bank detects them (no layman could detect the difference) then you'll get into a lot of trouble proving you were given the money for goods/services not that you bought it from some North Korean agent (yep, they are the main source). And of course, you won't be reimbursed.

But you said you were installing stuff so you know where they live? That shouldn't be a problem, not like they can easily move home after every con.

(Drug money is still money. I don't think any US state law extends far enough to seize money that the drug dealers have already spent, generally however the drug-enforcement laws allow authorities to seize the items FROM the dealer when they bought them WITH the drugs money! So if you sold a ferrarri to a drug dealer you'd have no fear tipping off the cops as the cops will seize the drug-dealer's Ferarri (cops own Ferarri WOO!) and you'd keep the money as you sold it fair and square. Drug dealer doesn't profit from dealing, money they earned from dealing is confiscated, as are the items they bought with drug money, but it would be double-jeopardy to take money from car dealerships as well! Also not really fair.)

Also, I hope you have good security arrangements if you are (were?) carrying hundreds or thousands of dollars around in cash, that makes you a prime target for armed criminals who not only will have easy untraceable money but you also have no guarantees of having your money returned(unlike if you had your cash card stolen or forced to withdraw). Police will just say "shucks, you lost a lot of money, no one can reimburse you".

 

[Pyramid Head]

What's that? A person wants to pay with cash rather than being fucked up the ass by a bank with labyrinthine credit card costs and contracts? THAT'S SUSPICIOUS!

My ass. I prefer to use cash whenever possible because i fucking hate Visa. Does that make me suspicious? No!

 

[Grospoliner]

This isn't just paranoia. This is social programming. Banking is major business and banks make money off of credit cards. Naturally the banks are going to get behind anything that makes regular cash look bad or suspect.

That said, f everything about the people who made this video.

 

[thedeathscythe]

I used to work trades work, and some jobs paid cash so that we could avoid processing the paperwork and such. Pretty much, they would save like $60 on a $3,000 install, and at the end of the week, I would get paid that portion in cash, sometimes up to a grand in cash if there were enough cash jobs. It was honest work and I was in the situation of sometimes having a lot of cash, so I'm not saying at all that any of these people are likely to be drug dealers or who knows what. That being said, it's still a weird experience to have them spend $700 and pay you in cash.

No offense, but, honestly the situation you're describing sounds like it's kind of sketchy as well. Given that some of that paperwork is necessary for tax purposes and the like. I mean, if you're reporting it, then you're doing your part, but if the business isn't reporting it, that's a serious issue.

LOL, as I was typing it I realized how sketchy it sounded. It's my dads business and it's legit. I think it has to do with bookkeeping and possibly for the wholesale side as well? Keep in mind I'm Canadian and we have two taxes, GST and PST, Provincial Sales Tax and Gross Sales Tax, and in a lot of cases, you can save PST (if you are 14 or under, you don't pay PST on clothing for instance). So it had something to do with saving PST, and that's probably do to with not processing a cheque through our bookkeeper, but I'm not entirely sure.