Something weird happened to me today

[AwakeAtLast]

My 20th high school reunion is Saturday, and I have been getting ready for it (hair color, cut, outfit, etc.)

So today I went to get a pedicure which I do every so often as a treat for myself. I was very happy with the results - the lady did a nice job and I had been to this place before. HOWEVER, when I went to pay, I pulled out my credit card (comes out of my checking account). All of a sudden she says, "Do you have cash or check instead?" I looked around and did not see any signs saying "Cash/Check only" and there was a Visa sign on the door. I told her I did not. She took my card and said, "Next time you come back, pay with cash or check!" From the way she said it, I would not have been suprised if she had been shaking her finger at me. She said something about the amount she gets charged to process a credit transaction.

I was absolutely dumbfounded. I told her that I didn't carry much cash as a safety factor and that I haven't ordered checks since I moved, but I was kind of offended. I totally understand that small business owners have a lot of expenses, but I don't think you should single out a customer because they choose a form of payment that you accept but you don't like as well.

Would you have been offended if this happened to you?

[two gun sid]

1. I'd be pissed

and I would contact Visa and make them aware of what this merchant is doing.

[PeaceNikki]

2. Yeah, that's shitty and poor business practice.

If she doesn't want fees, she should not be a merchant of Visa/MC. If she is a merchant, she should accept that's part of her cost doing business.

[redqueen]

3. No.

I can kinda see her point.

It's not nice that she was rude about it... and she should take down the Visa sign if she's going to do business that way, and I'd have told her so.

But I wouldn't be offended... apparently those companies are jacking up fees on merchants due to the credit crunch. Or something.

[PeaceNikki]

4. They have contracted rates.

If she doesn't like the fee scructure, she should stop accepting altogether.

[redqueen]

5. I don't think that's the case at all.

In fact, IIRC Conyers introduced a bill recently to try to force these companies to change the way they do things, so that these fees / increases aren't so unfair.

[PeaceNikki]

6. I work in retail.

And I can tell you that it is the case for a fact. We have negotiated contracts for several hundred stores.

Conyers Bill was trying to lower them as a whole as the contracted rates are determined unilaterally by credit card companies and the banks, but each merchant gets contracted rates for a set period of time. They can't change these fees outside of contract. The merchant can shop for different processors and negotiate better rates, although a small mom and pop shop with fewer transactions will not get the best deals. Fees average under 2% right now.

[redqueen]

8. The way they were talking about that bill..

it seemed as if they were saying that as of now, merchants can't even tell what they're being charged...

:shrug:

[PeaceNikki]

9. See, as I read that, it's a bit misleading. They refer to it as "hidden fees"

and it's "hidden" to the consumer because merchants raise the price of goods to accomodate their service fees. The merchant knows what they pay per transaction and it's contracted through their processer. Now they can and do increase these fees on contract renewal.

http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com/site/press/merchants_welcome_house_scrutiny_of_hidden_fees_and_other_abusive_credit_ca

"Interchange is the biggest fee you've never heard of, costing American consumers more than $36 billion a year. But unlike other credit card fees, interchange never shows up on your monthly statement. And credit card companies make it virtually impossible for merchants to tell their customers how much they are paying in interchange fees, even though these fees increase the price of everything we buy," Duncan added.

[redqueen]

10. Bah... fucking news.

I saw a thing about this recently and they completely turned that around*, making it sound as if it was the merchants being charged these mysterious fees.

Just another greedy, rude lady then... no sympathy required.





* Yes, this means there is no chance that it was I who heard it wrong. It's all their fault. Trust me.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. I wish Conyers well with that bill

meanwhile, most gas stations around me charge 6 or 8 cents a gallon to use a credit card.

Big PITA.

But somehow, I don't see Bush signing that bill.

:hi: