SHORT POP FROM MSNBC

Paying cash? That'll cost extra
Posted: Friday, April 25 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan

Rhonda Payne went to an AT&T Wireless store in Calhoun, Ga., recently to pay her phone bill in cash. She'd been hit by ID theft and was forced to close her checking account, so she was worried she wouldn’t be able to mail a check on time. But when she arrived at the store, she was in for a surprise.

Paying in person, she was told, costs extra -- $2 extra.

Payne objected to the "administrative charge" that was added to her bill but got no sympathy. Instead, she said, she was told she should consider herself lucky because the fee was about to go up to $5.

"I was told that it was a courtesy to take cash,” she said. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?'”