European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 21, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Buying a pm Tome Urinko via your in Dot card can Lead to an incredible Bill. Bar hopping i to a plastic disaster by Marynett consumer editor t s safer to carry a plastic credit card than a wad of Cash most of the military attorneys warn however that plastic Money can add up to disaster if you Are planning a Ghl on the Lown. Some of those who have taken credit cards along to bars and discos have had something to remember Long after the evening of fun out of the Blue they have received court orders demanding payments in the thousands of dollars. I As Lar Back As i982. Jerry Shiles an Morney Wilh flee office of the staff judge advocate Al the 21 is Ssu com in Kaiserslautern reported a number of complaints of such payment demands from discos in. That area -. He called it the old fish bar gimmick. A a customer sits Down and a girl comes up to join Itti irn. Nest he finds himself buying her a couple of drinks. During the evening he s asked to sign a running 8 bar Tau. The Bill he receives later shows the drinks Rante Maryland and . Confirmed that sovran charges interest from the due Date unless the Check has reached them. Baldet credit cards there Are charge cards. Charge cards Are offered Lor an annual membership fee untie Bank credit cards there Are no finance charges but Lull payment is to be made on receipt of 1 the Bill. Most credit cards have preset spending limits and charge interest on your unpaid balance. The usual rate is 1fl percent which amounts to $45 a year on a balance of $250. Creditors must Tell you when finance charge begin on your credit account so you know How much time you have to pay your Bills Belore a finance charge is added some creditors Lor example give you a 30-Day anywhere from 400 to 900 Marks. $200 to $450 Shiles sees it As a variation of reeling in a sucker by having him Jot his name on a credit card charge. One american tourist Lor example received a credit card Bill for $1,655.70 for drinks charged at a Frankfurt bar. The bar owner said he had bought 12 bodies of Champagne in the 12 hours he had been in the establishment. The tourist sword he had been in the bar or Only an hour and had believed he had signed Only for three cognacs at 9,50 Marks each. No matter. The fact is he had signed the charge slips and was legally liable. Take Shiles advice if you Are headed out Lor a night on the Lown. Leave your credit card at Home. Don t sign bar tabs and do demand to pay for drinks at the time they Era served. In fran Murl. A businessman says that 1he word is already out in the City s red tight District that More servicemen Are carrying credit cards. According to his information the old Brush Oil of pleading no Cash does t work with the girls these Days. They answer that credit cards Are Fine. Free ride to pay your balance in full before imposing a finance charge. The Law does not set rates or Lell the creditor How to make interest calculations it Only requires that the creditor Tell the method that will be used. You have the right to ask for an explanation of any terms you Don t understand. It pays to shop around Lor credit and credit cards. Credit card interest varies from Bank to Bank. Six out of 10 americans Don t understand this according to a Survey by the Bank credit card observer. The interest on some visa cards can fun As High As 22 percent Lor example. Cafes deferred payment plan charges 12 percent. A Lisl of credit card interest rates is available Lor $1 by writing to the bankcard holders of America 333 Pennsylvania ave., a Washington do. 20003, seek financial counselling before it too late by Marynett consumer editor if your total deals add up to 15 percent of Morel your income you Are in deep . Don t charge any says Rene Walters financial services director at acs i Mannheim Germany since cafes has started accepting credit cards people who already have financial problems will have even More. Wallers advises anyone Wilh debt problems to seek financial counselling before it is Loo late. She estimates thai about 5 percent of those who come to see her have waited too Long they Are so far behind Hal Here is noway they can catch thai can Lead to the end of a military career if the situation leads to a bad Check bad things will automatically follow. Firs you will go on the bad Check list and your id card will be Over stamped. If you have written two or three bad checks. There will be a reprimand from your commander and a two year suspension of your chock writing privileges. This could mean that it will be unlikely that you will be Able to while another Check Lor the duration of your Lour in Europe. Things can get worse. A Rry Shelles an attorney with the office of me staff judge advocate. 21st sup com in Kaiserslautern. Gave an example. We had a Case in which an e-5 wrote 11 bad checks and received a Feltt Grade article 15. Was demoted to e-4. Was restricted Tor 4s Days and Given 45 Days extra duly and had to forfeit iwo thirds of his though the military member was not forced out of the service it was pretty severe others have suffered courts can happen when bad checks Are written in excess of $500 and it appears there was intent to defraud. In one Case the person was about ready to leave the military and return to tha United states. He apparently had the idea that he could write the checks and be gone before to was caught fortunately unfortunately for him two or Threa of the checks hit the Bank rather quickly and someone no Lilied his determined that he was a templing to defraud he was court Marli aled just a Short time before he would have been released from the service. We had another says Shiles in which a Soldier wrote checks exceeding $11,000. He also was court Martiale and sentenced to two years in the maximum sentence for a bad Check of More than $100 can be live years. The Lima in jail does nol eliminate the debt says Shiles. If tha Debl is owed the government the Money can be taken out of wages or by total forfeiture of pay. 11 Money is still owed alter prison release the Case is turned Over to the . Attorney s office in the person 3 Home state. It then initiates collection through the Federal courts. If a debt is owed to a private entity such As american express it is turned Over to their co Flection Agency. If they can1 collect the Case will Ihen be turned Over to a private attorney who will bring suit according 1o Shiles. In any Case no matter tha amount a bad Check win have a detrimental effect. It generally Means being stricken from a promotion list the risk of loss of privileges like shopping Al cafes and the commissary. The information also always is turned Over to a Centra credit Bureau in the United this can mean that the person will have great difficulty in establishing credit when he or she returns Home. Shiles Points out that the same occurs when an cafes deferred payment plan App is misused. App credit reports Are a source of information to future creditors. Account reports now include when the account was established if it was a revolving or an instalment contract the credit limit the average monthly payment and if the customer met his credit obligation. The stars and stripes Page 15 psr-v-v., of a i pm. V
