OhNOes! EBT meets the blue screen of death!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/12/20938647-no-groceries-for-people-in-17-states-when-food-stamp-debit-card-system-fails?lite


No groceries for people in 17 states when food stamp debit card system fails


By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

People across 17 states Saturday were unable to use their food stamp debit cards after a computer failure at the company that powers the system.

Ohio, Michigan and Illinois were a few of the states where people reported having trouble using their electronic benefits transfer cards, which are managed by vendor Xerox Corp.

A company spokeswoman confirmed Saturday that the system was experiencing connectivity issues.

"During a routine test of our back-up systems Saturday morning, Xerox's Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system experienced a temporary shutdown. While the system is now up and running, beneficiaries in the 17 affected states continue to experience connectivity issues to access their benefits," spokeswoman Karen Arena said in a statement.

Technical staff was addressing the issue and expected the system to be restored soon, Arena added.

Officials advised beneficiaries to use the manual system in the meantime, which means SNAP customers can spend up to $50 until the system is back online.

Eliza Shook, a cashier in Clarksdale, Miss., one of the country's poorest states, told The Associated Press dozens of customers at the grocery store where she works had to put back the groceries when their cards didn't work because they couldn't pay for their purchases otherwise.

"It's been terrible," Shook told the AP. "It's just been some angry folks. That's what a lot of folks depend on."


rest at link





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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

We all here are saying yaaaaay!

But Coca Cola and Pepsi stockholders will lose a lot of money over this.

NO WONDER! the stores were so EMPTY!

YAAAAY is RIGHT!

"Back up soon"? How soon? Hell with it - I'll be back out shopping tomorrow to STOCK UP! while free from the unwashed masses!

WAHOO!!!!

No wonder - I was at this one place today - it was practically EMPTY!

Here's another story, I was trying to see how long it's going to be down -

http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/Link-System-Down-Due-to-Power-Outage-227524291.html

STAY DOWN SUNDAY!

Boo fucking hoo, the leaches can't get their bennies today!:bawl

Are we seriously supposed to feel sorry for all of the moos and duhs who shat out umpteen friggin' kyds they can't support on their own dime? I think not! Let em' sweat!

While I do feel sorry for people who actually need benefits, such as, retirees' on a fixed income, the honestly disabled, and honest people who fell on hard times and have no other option, I feel nothing for the moochers. The assholes who milk the system are the whole reason that people like us are celebrating this event in the first place.

I totally agree with you guys about hoping it stays down all day tomorrow. I really need to get my ass to the store to pick up some food and other odds and ends, and I was dreading having to do it on a Sunday! I would love nothing more than to be able to shop quietly with no breeders in sight! :jump

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Officials advised beneficiaries to use the manual system in the meantime, which means SNAP customers can spend up to $50 until the system is back online.

That's either shoddy writing or an interesting way of looking at it. They are 'store customers who use SNAP' or 'SNAP consumers' but they are certainly not 'SNAP customers'.

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simplyshortz
I totally agree with you guys about hoping it stays down all day tomorrow. I really need to get my ass to the store to pick up some food and other odds and ends, and I was dreading having to do it on a Sunday! I would love nothing more than to be able to shop quietly with no breeders in sight! :jump

I wish that would have been the case with me today...I went shopping today, and it was breeders galore! (Of course, I haven't heard anything about EBT taking the shit here in Minnesota, though.)

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Why live in a fishbowl, when you could be swimming in the ocean?

"She, and all other rabid breeders, are like crabs in a bucket headed to Red Lobster. When they see a smarter crab escaping, they try to pull it back in." - Miss Hannigan

"Yeah, that's what family is about - guilt tripping people into cleaning up someone else's mess." - mrs. chinaski

(Shameless blog promotion: http://popcornculturejunkie.wordpress.com/)

(Cornucopia of visual rantage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD78oSD27mzAlVzsB0q2ibA)

And on the flip side:

http://news.msn.com/us/wal-mart-xerox-blame-each-other-for-food-stamps-spree

Wal-Mart, Xerox blame each other for food stamps spree


Throngs of shoppers flooded Wal-Mart stores in Louisiana on Saturday, buying groceries using electronic benefit cards that contained no credit limits.


NEW ORLEANS — Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Xerox Corp blamed each other on Monday after Louisiana food stamp recipients stripped bare the shelves of some Walmart stores when a computer glitch left their debit cards with no limits.

Managers of Wal-Mart stores in the small, north Louisiana towns of Springhill and Mansfield alerted police on Saturday night that throngs of shoppers had flooded into the stores and were buying groceries using electronic benefit cards that contained no credit limits.

EBT cards are debit-type cards issued under the state's food stamp program and coded to show the amount of money available for individuals to spend. Food stamps are a federal government subsidy program for low-income people that is administered by the states.

When word got out Saturday that the EBT cards were showing no limits, card holders rushed to area Wal-Marts to take advantage.

"Some people had eight or 10 shopping carts full of groceries," Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd said on Monday.

rest at link.

Much as I hate to see the leeches get away with anything seeing the Borg and the Dominion get theirs amuses me.

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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

Probably take more coding, but once things straighten out, the food stamp administrators can look at how much each recipient spent over their limit and dock the coming months from their allotment. Or they should. Probably won't. From the article

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He said emergency procedures in place with Xerox allow retailers to call a phone number and receive authorization for purchases any time the EBT system is down. "Some retailers chose not to follow the process," he said. "Those businesses are only being reimbursed for the (maximum) amounts on individual cards," he said.

Hah. The Walmart poobahs said to let the cards go, now they're going to have to eat it. I imagine the welfare folks don't want to go after the recipients for fear of rioting when the pigs run out of junk food and expect to buy more with next month's balance.

Really pisses me off. Dh goofed when he signed up for Social Security. His birthday is in November, so he signed up to start receiving checks in December. Only we forgot to take into account that he had earned income for that year that should have counted against any checks he received. It took SS like .... 8 months to notice the error. When they did, we were told that (however they calculated it) he would be docked one month to cover the over-pay. I called the SS Administration and waited an hour to talk to someone. They gave me such a confabulated explanation that I said "fine. whatever. as long as he only loses one month" and let it go. Compared to the welfare recipients, Dh's SS comes from money that we've paid into the system, but we just chalked it up to "shit happens" and moved on. Considering what those greedy gluts did with the EBT card, maybe I should have indulged in a brief shit storm, just for the sake of feeling good about it.

Um, wait, the article said the CUSTOMERS had to put back groceries??? no way. I have a friend who works at a supermarket and she had to help put away CART after CART of stuff becuase it was just LEFT at the register. Do you really think a pissed off EBT customer would put their own crap away. You must be joking.

That is why they should have a big ass warehouse filled with boxes of food marked "Welfare Leech" so that these creatures can always have their food on time every month. And it should only be open one day a month so they can all stand in line. Outside.

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crazycatlady
Um, wait, the article said the CUSTOMERS had to put back groceries??? no way. I have a friend who works at a supermarket and she had to help put away CART after CART of stuff becuase it was just LEFT at the register. Do you really think a pissed off EBT customer would put their own crap away. You must be joking.

larious

I work at a grocery store too, and what I learned over the years is that many customers are little entitled assholes. Moos are the worst. I agree, they would not put the damn groceries back. The only time a breeder puts an item back where it belongs, is when the item is full of drool and boogers.

I feel sick to my stomach every time I see a WIC card take off an amount, and then the moobeast swipes her damn food stamp card and it takes 300+ dollars off.

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kookiecrisp

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crazycatlady
Um, wait, the article said the CUSTOMERS had to put back groceries??? no way. I have a friend who works at a supermarket and she had to help put away CART after CART of stuff becuase it was just LEFT at the register. Do you really think a pissed off EBT customer would put their own crap away. You must be joking.

larious

I work at a grocery store too, and what I learned over the years is that many customers are little entitled assholes. Moos are the worst. ......

I feel sick to my stomach every time I see a WIC card take off an amount, and then the moobeast swipes her damn food stamp card and it takes 300+ dollars off.

This, unfortunately. It's why I hate being cashier, you get to see and be on the brunt end of their piggishness.

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mistress rotwang
That is why they should have a big ass warehouse filled with boxes of food marked "Welfare Leech" so that these creatures can always have their food on time every month. And it should only be open one day a month so they can all stand in line. Outside.

I maintain that if mess halls are good enough for soldiers and students, they're good enough for Moo and brood. Moo can waddle her worthless welfare ass down to the mess tent at chow time if she's hungry enough.

I read someplace that the WalMarts are going to have to eat it and pony up the cash for letting them get away with it. This strikes me as hilarious.

And one of the best comments I heard about the blue screen of death: Well, now the welfare leeches know how the rest of us taxpayers feel when we run out of money. Suck it up.

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From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."