PSA: Jail tablet kiosks are a total scam for families trying to send money

My cousin got locked up in Cook County last month and I tried to put $50 on his commissary through one of those kiosk tablets in the visiting area. The thing charged me a $6.95 processing fee and then the transaction just timed out and never went through. Lost that money completely and the jail staff said they can't do anything about it, it's a vendor issue. Ended up having to mail a money order through the mail system which took 11 days to actually get to him. Have any of you found a way around these garbage kiosk fees or is snail mail the only option that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonf351mo ago

Bought a half gallon of milk at a gas station once and the card reader added a $1.75 fee, then crashed before the transaction went through. Still waiting on that chargeback three months later. Think these janky payment systems are just a way to squeeze a few extra bucks out of people who aren't paying attention.

the_terry1mo agoMost Upvoted

Did you ever get that chargeback to go through? I used to defend these kiosks but not anymore.

the_rowan1mo ago

...and then my bank hit me with a $35 overdraft fee because the $6.95 kept trying to go through for three days before they finally rejected it. Now I just send cash in an envelope with a tracking number.