I refuse to have them do the recurring payments because I have been charged for meals my child never ordered for he last two years and it took most of the summer both times to resolve the issues. We were charged over $30 one year and $20 the next. The system isn't good enough for me to trust them to have access to my credit cards (or heaven help you, a debit card). You have to watch them closely.

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else have to look up "usurious" for its actual meaning?

admittedly, yes. damn you, expensive college education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class action lawyer here. Just out of curiosity, would you say the fees are prominently and clearly displayed on the website?

Absolutely not but please don't sue DCPS!

Would sue the private company, not DCPS...

Yes they are if it is my school bucks. I am logged into my account now. They clearly advocate for a membership if you are making several deposits a month.
So rather than paying $8 a month OP can spend just over $1.

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A $2.00 service fee will be charged per transaction, unless you enroll in one of the Membership Options.
Payments may not be made for meal money and program services in a single transaction.

Membership

MYSCHOOLBUCKS OFFERS THE FOLLOWING PAYMENT OPTIONS.

Pay-As-You-Go
With the Pay-As-You-Go option we will add a program fee of $2.00 with each online payment transaction.
OR
Membership Option
As a member, no program fees are added regardless of the number of transactions/payments you make or the dollar amount. Memberships are available for a period of between 3 and 12 months. Select this option and press Continue to view the Membership Fees.

To determine whether the Membership Option is more cost effective for you, consider how many times you will make a payment using the service during the year.

For example: if you have multiple children and are making payments frequently, then the Membership Option might be more cost effective.

OK so if it my school bucks here you go

Membership

PLEASE SELECT THE TERM LENGTH OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP

Memberships longer than 3 months are automatically billed to your credit card .
3 months - expires Dec 14, 2015 (1 payment of $4.95)
6 months - expires Mar 14, 2016 (2 payments of $4.95 billed every 3 months)
9 months - expires Jun 14, 2016 (3 payments of $4.30 billed every 3 months)
12 months - expires Sep 14, 2016 (4 payments of $3.70 billed every 3 months)

Anonymous wrote:For APS, I sign up for some kind of "membership" that is I think $12 per year. Then I just reload money as needed. I also use it to pay for before care. No other fees.

Look into this OP. I think you can even divide the $12 up to quarterly payments in APS. Perhaps they have the same in DC.

Their is no cash option for my school. If their is one they sure don't advertise it. I think the fee is bogus in my opinion. Parents should have the option to use it or not to use it. It seems like my school forces this option on you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As usual, the poor are at a disadvantage. The ones just above the free meals range who can't pay large sums into the system.

Last I heard you can use cash. I assume you want a free loan.

How is this a free loan? You're depositing money into an account. Nobody's advancing you anything.

A company called "myschoolbucks" raises so, so many red flags with me. I looked into them a while back. They're based in Indiana and seem remarkably sketchy. Sure, they "have to eat," but a payment system with accounts for each school, and within it, each child, are not that complex. Of course their fee structure is predatory--and of course, that is by design. I bet they have a very complicated procedure for getting any funds Back if not used too.

I actually wrote them a letter asking why they couldn't at least have their marketing department come up with a name that didn't sound like they also offered payday loans and bought gold and cars too.

They did not respond.

Anonymous wrote:Class action lawyer here. Just out of curiosity, would you say the fees are prominently and clearly displayed on the website?

Yes, they are prominently displayed. And, parents have other options. For ES and MS, parents can send checks to the school for deposit into the lunch account. For HS, parents also have the option of sending cash with their kids. Of course, parents can also send packed lunches as well.

I feel for people with the fees, especially those that can't afford to put higher amounts into the account. It used to be that you could put $200 or more into the account at once so that you only paid a couple of transaction fees per year. Now, the dollar threshold is lower. But, there is an advantage of using these accounts. If your child changes schools, it is easy to get your money transferred. The same is not true if you use the cash or check option to fund the school lunch account.

Credit card processors have to eat, too. Making $10 transactions is unrealistic and they price it that. If you can't do at least $30, go to the school and try to use cash.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class action lawyer here. Just out of curiosity, would you say the fees are prominently and clearly displayed on the website?

Absolutely not but please don't sue DCPS!

Would sue the private company, not DCPS...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else have to look up "usurious" for its actual meaning?

And why would OP use usurious and then cray cray, which must be the dumbest phrase ever.

That's just the way I perambulate, yo!

Perambulate on, parsimonious dude!

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else have to look up "usurious" for its actual meaning?

no

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else have to look up "usurious" for its actual meaning?

And why would OP use usurious and then cray cray, which must be the dumbest phrase ever.

That's just the way I perambulate, yo!