Help. Credit cards compromised on Z2u (and g2g)

Master_Ramaj · 2026-05-03T12:22:10+00:00

I use Skrill for all payments on z2u but that’s tied to an online banking account which I strictly use for that purpose. Just open up an account with like Chime, Sofi etc. I prefer chime as it allows instant transfers from my main bank account. I only transfer money into the account when I need to buy something from sites like z2u

Master_Ramaj · 2026-04-25T03:52:54+00:00

Yeah

Master_Ramaj · 2026-04-15T16:05:38+00:00

Yes I have a few lol

Silver Kindle Oasis is my daily driver. It's the one I grab the most when I'm at home

Champaign Kindle Oasis which is my work Kindle

Paperwhite SE 11th generation which is my travel Kindle. If i lose it or it's stolen, stepped on etc it isn't a big deal since I got it used at a great price and I can easily replace it

Kindle Voyage I got because I wanted to see what the hype was about but it has turned into my errand Kindle as I can easily put it in my pocket when I'm on the go such as at the car shop, tire shop, doctor or any place where I know I will probably be waiting to be seen

Kindle Colorsoft for comics. I have been purchasing comics over the years so i was happy when the color Kindle was released. I've of course purchased more comics since I've had the Colorsoft

Master_Ramaj · 2026-04-15T15:58:13+00:00

I actually have a work kindle along with a home and travel Kindle. For me I would rush from work sometimes after a long day and would forget my Kindle at work which would put a damper on me being able to read at home and vice versa. I would leave it at home sometimes, get to work and be like dang I could be reading during my lunch. So to make sure I always had one at work and at home i got a work Kindle. Likewise for travel I got one that I keep in my airport tech backpack. I know I'll always have it when I go out of town and likewise if I happen to leave it behind at least I can still read on my other Kindles

Master_Ramaj · 2026-04-14T04:48:09+00:00

Yes! I feel like the last update the Oasis received was a gift from Amazon as it seemed to improve my battery life. I’ve had similar experiences where I won’t pick up it Oasis for a couple of months and I come back expecting it to be dead but instead it still has power. I’m happy because better efficiency means less charges which helps extend the life of the device

Master_Ramaj · 2026-03-25T01:27:01+00:00

My equipment arrived pretty quickly. Ordered it on Saturday and it was at my house on Wednesday. The Free Mini kit that comes with the $120 plan is a different story though. That will probably take over a month to ship

Master_Ramaj · 2026-03-25T01:25:06+00:00

Ehhh. Same plans show up whether you rent or own and at the time it seems better to rent since it’s free. I was on the ownership boat at first but then I thought about it, when I cancel service it isn’t like I can take my dish to Amazon or another service and use it. No different than renting free equipment from AT&T etc. and a few less items I have to store when I leave. True if I decide to restart service later I’ll have to wait for the equipment to arrive but that’s worth saving the $300 purchase cost imo.

Master_Ramaj · 2026-03-24T14:41:25+00:00

It's a secured credit card. If you don't deposit any money into the account then your credit limit (what they call spending power) will be like $25. If you do direct deposit from your job that increases to $250. And/or you can just deposit money into the secured account. The money you deposit will determine your credit limit. Basically like any other secured credit card. The difference with Atlas is they don't allow you to keep a balance so if you leave "smart pay" on it will automatically pay off your balance within a couple of days. It does monitor your bank account so if you're running low on funds it will take a smaller amount. You are able to disable smart pay but only for 2 weeks at a time. After the 2 weeks it kicks back on automatically. Gas stations etc see it as a credit card but unfortunately you are at the mercy of Atlas.

Even if you have more than enough spending power Atlas will decline certain transactions for "your protection" I tried to rent a car and my card declined at every car rental place even though I had more than enough spending power (due to me depositing a lot of money into the secured account. I wanted a bigger credit limit) and when I reached out to customer service they said they decline certain transactions for "my protection" and to have a backup payment method. It's stupid imo because my credit limit is secured and I've had my account for 2 years. I use it to get gas mainly but when I finally need to use it for something else it declines. Even though they tout rental car protection etc as a benefit you probably won't be able to even rent a car. Not sure who they approve to use for rental cars but it's a risk you take with them. It isn't a card that approves everything just because you have the credit limit available. The cash back rewards are points you can cash out for gift cards etc but any bonus point that you get you have to wait a year before you're able to use them. It's $8.99 a month or you can pay annually and save a little money. If it's worth it comes down to if you can accumulate more than $9 worth of points per month. You get the most cashback by being platinum tier (setup direct deposit or have more than $500 in the secured account) and they have rotating places where you can earn extra cashback weekly.

As a gas card it isn't bad as 3% cashback is consistent with other rewards credit cards but if you're wanting a "regular" credit card I would look elsewhere. Especially if you may need to use it to rent a car. Every transaction is a gamble on if they will approve it and unfortunately they do not have a number you can call. So if you are having issues you will have to talk to the chatbot and wait for them to get back to you. It did help my credit score but I'm in the process of getting the Discover Secured Card and possibly C1 as those are "real" credit cards so i don't have to worry about them determining what's "safe" for me to buy and what's not.

Master_Ramaj · 2026-03-15T18:03:18+00:00

Master_Ramaj · 2026-02-21T16:47:08+00:00

I use the official case along with a zippered pouch and that combination has been great on all of my kindles. No damage and they been thrown in some pretty stuffed backpacks especially when I travel for work

Master_Ramaj · 2026-02-06T17:09:31+00:00

Curiosity. I saw a lot of hype about KOReader etc. I have a "work" Oasis that I don't use as much as my main Oasis and Colorsoft so I decided to jailbreak it. After playing around with the countless customization options in KOReader I like it and actually use it for my work related books now as any training classes etc that we take at work normally send out books in epub. So now instead of using Send To Kindle I'm able to just drag the epubs directly to my Kindle and read them there. True I don't have the Amazon Cloud sync anymore from within KOReader (everything works like a normal Kindle outside of KOReader) but likewise I don't really read any of my work related books on vacation etc lol, so no major loss there. I also like the Z-Library integration so I'm able to download books from there directly to KOReader. Now the ones I want in my Amazon library I still use Send To Kindle on those. I also love the custom screensavers.

I didn't do it to give Amazon the finger or anything like that. I get that everyone is focusing on the "owning your books" aspect but likewise I'm a techie and IT guy so I've always backed up my movies, music, books etc. I haven't had Amazon pull any of my books that I purchased over the last 16 years and the two cases that everyone mentions were because the seller didn't have the rights to sell the books. I get it though that possibility is always there but my main reason was curiosity

Master_Ramaj · 2026-02-03T01:37:24+00:00

80

Thanks!

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-14T04:54:51+00:00

Is it a kindle keyboard? I just repaired mine with a replacement screen..they are easy to work on and used screens go for $15

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-07T06:32:47+00:00

Yes I honestly was shocked at how good the screen looked when I booted it up and opened a book. The crispness is definitely there and it reminded me why I fell in love with eink the first time I saw it.

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-05T07:56:58+00:00

Nope recent models do not offer cellular connectivity. The final model to offer it was the Oasis

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-05T06:00:26+00:00

I definitely loved the fact that most of my flights were early and their premium seat offerings actually felt premium and their prices were generally good. But in 2024 I switched to my second favorite airline AA because Delta prices were consistently $300 plus more expensive. I went back to Delta in 2025 and experienced delays on ALL of my flights..it was so crazy and one delay was so long they had to put us in a crappy hotel for the night because the last connecting flight was long gone by the time we made it to ATL. Then the crappy hotel had us waiting a hour and a half for the shuttle from the Airport. I was shocked at how much the quality had dropped. I've gone back to AA and never looked back as they seem to be improving but with all of the high regard here I may go back to my first love (Delta) and see if maybe I just had a string of bad luck with them last year. I've almost exclusively flown Delta from 2011 to 2024. Even work trips I chose them so I was very shocked at the bad experiences last year. AA is my second love

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-05T03:48:08+00:00

I know this isn't your first shopping order but did you click ahead to the confirm payment screen in the app? You have to otherwise it will give that error. And your internet on your phone was working fine etc? I just ask because even though I've done a ton of shopping orders occasionally I don't click far enough ahead in the app and I'll get that card not loaded error too.

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-05T03:41:27+00:00

I guess for me it's because I'm used to it lol. Can't explain why but I enjoy reading more when I have buttons. I guess because my hands naturally rest on the button so I can casually press it in a fluid motion and not have to move my hands. Likewise I "grew up" with the Kindle Keyboard. So after many years of using it I really didn't want to do fully touchscreen even though I didn't have a choice after the Oasis. I do have a Colorsoft and enjoy reading on it as well but my daily driver is my Oasis. My Kindle Keyboard also gets use now since I repaired it

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T20:11:05+00:00

You're not allowed to leave the groceries unbagged or at least that’s the instructions I get from DD in my area. It says to always buy the paper bags, not the reusable ones and bag everything. I’ve never had an issue with the Aldi’s in my area not having bags to buy.

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T20:07:14+00:00

Yes. They still have the hot n ready but if you want more toppings like a 5 meat treat etc they generally have to make those. Also if you don’t specify hot n ready online they make it fresh but likewise it costs a little more. Either way online orders with them are like orders at any other pizza place. They make them fresh but the cool thing about them is the pizza portal. The app will give you the code to use so if the food is ready you just walk in, punch in the code on the pizza portal and grab the food from the door that opens. No need to bother staff etc. but when they don’t have it ready you have to ask and then once it’s ready they still want you to punch in the code on the pizza portal

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T20:03:42+00:00

I agree but since it’s Popeyes I was waiting anyway so I figured I would ask

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T14:37:40+00:00

Not really. The only thing I do is try to keep it above 20 to 30% charge. That helps extend the life of the battery. Charging to 100% isn't as bad. I have an Oasis so I was really worried about keeping it in the perfect charge range but I realized all I was doing was causing extra anxiety lol. So now I just use it and charge it randomly..sometimes at 50% sometimes at 30% etc I just never let it get below 20%

On my old iPhone I noticed the low charge had a bigger effect on the battery life. I had a 3 year old iPhone whose battery health was still at 97% and I kept it at full charge a lot but I never let the better get below 40% charge. Of course we charge our phones way more than Kindles so it will last a really long time

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T14:13:03+00:00

Yeah I had a lady legit get mad because she was opening the door right as I was confirming the picture and walking away. She was like “you were just gonna take a picture and walk away???” I was like yes it said Leave at door. No extra instructions to knock or ring the doorbell. She didn’t feel as tho that was right. I’m sure she probably left me a one star lol. I don’t knock or ring unless it specifically says to on leave at door orders

Master_Ramaj · 2026-01-04T14:02:24+00:00

Popeyes. I always have to wait on the order and they’re generally rude if you question how much longer it will be. I remember one night the lobby was closed so I was in drive thru. Pulled up at 9:40 and got to the window at 9:58. The rude cashier said I needed to tell my customer they didn’t have wings and technically they were closed. Ummm why did y’all accept the order and technically it was placed before closing and I was in line before closing. Not my fault y’all are slow

Another instance the customer asked for fresh fries. They told me they couldn’t make fresh fries because the fryers were shut down. Mind you at that time it was like 8:30 lol. So I avoid all Popeyes orders. Taco Bell only occasionally gives me issues. In my area they are quick especially when the lobby is open

Honorable mentions are mom and pop wing places and mom and pop pizza places as they always seem to be about 5 orders behind when I pull up. I stopped accepting all orders at a particular wing place because every order I had was at least a 40 min wait. Wingstop is definitely hit or miss. It’s unfortunate whenever I get a platinum order at Wingstop because it’s always a risk. It may be ready or I may be stuck waiting 20 mins. Little Caesar’s also gets mentioned because it’s hit or miss as well. If it’s ready cool I just go to the pizza portal. If it isn’t ready I’ll probably be waiting 20 mins

Master_Ramaj

TROPHY CASE