Carry CASH

[VenomX]

Nothing pisses me off more than people who violate the terms of VISA which are that you CAN'T have a surcharge. Which is why I like VISA, I know that some of the other companies allow the merchant to pass fees to the customer. but that doesn't mean I havn't been charged by your stereotypical foreign owned gas station because I didn't know about their rules. Yes I will be that sucky customer at your establishment because if you advertise you take visa but try and make me pay extra to do it. I really don't care what it costs a merchant, if they don't like the fees they should just stop taking the cards. (I know that won't happen)

And this is why prices keep going up and up and mom and pops go under.

[Dreamstalker]

As far as I knew stores weren't charged a fee for using debit, it's just on credit card transactions.

According to Game Store owner, he was charged a fee for running debit either over or under a certain amount. I never could determine the truth of that statement...or what the magic amount was.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Nothing pisses me off more than people who violate the terms of VISA which are that you CAN'T have a surcharge. Which is why I like VISA, I know that some of the other companies allow the merchant to pass fees to the customer. but that doesn't mean I havn't been charged by your stereotypical foreign owned gas station because I didn't know about their rules. Yes I will be that sucky customer at your establishment because if you advertise you take visa but try and make me pay extra to do it. I really don't care what it costs a merchant, if they don't like the fees they should just stop taking the cards. (I know that won't happen)

Some shops get around the rule by offering it as a discount for using cash instead of a fee for using cards. Yes it's tomato, to-ma-to but it's legal as far as I know.

[BlaqueKatt]

I don't know how check-processing fees compare to debit/credit fees, but I'll bet it cost us a decent percentage of the amount to take that check.

nope check fees go to the person writing the check, not the company accepting it-my bank charges like .10 for every check over 5, and after 20 it goes up to a quarter-that's during a one month cycle though-my checks are for paying rent and that's all....

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Had a guy last night that wanted to use debit for $0.80! If we did take plastic we would have lost on that transaction....

I'm not a fan of carrying cash these days myself . . . and I've been known to run my debit card through for $0.74 for a cup of coffee at work if I don't have enough change in my wallet.

At least with debit, I can get a new card if mine gets lost or stolen.

[VenomX]

I'm not a fan of carrying cash these days myself . . . and I've been known to run my debit card through for $0.74 for a cup of coffee at work if I don't have enough change in my wallet.

At least with debit, I can get a new card if mine gets lost or stolen.

Yeah you can get a new card but the store made $0.30 to $0.35 for that $0.74 coffee before they even paid for the coffe, water, electric, and employees..etc...

Maybe if everyone paid cash for stuff that $0.74 coffee would be half that price or less.

[BossLady]

nope check fees go to the person writing the check, not the company accepting it-my bank charges like .10 for every check over 5, and after 20 it goes up to a quarter-that's during a one month cycle though-my checks are for paying rent and that's all....

The last company I worked for (that I had to deal with this type of transactions) had to pay about .75 for every check we deposited into our account.

[Magpie]

Maybe if everyone paid cash for stuff that $0.74 coffee would be half that price or less.

CBC's piece on credit cards was making an argument that, at lot of larger places, it's not worth it for the business to avoid the transaction fees, at least not on large purchases. If an employee has to be paid to count the cash and to take it to the bank it apparently can eat the difference.

Our 50c coffee is cash only. And the shop is volunteer-run, and they charge extra for cups. Amusingly, the coffee and doughnut shop is not-for-profit (run by the student society). They lowered the price of coffee because they were starting to make a profit, and found that profits went up. And this is without payroll.


Hmmmm... where is this 74 cent coffee? I want your cost of living.

[siead_lietrathua]

i will admit, i am one of those card-only people. but i also have the curse of "if i see it i spend it" when it comes to carrying cash.
that said, i will always see if a store takes cards before shopping so i can go to an ATM if needed.

[Kristev]

See me, I love my debit card. But it's one of those pre-paid, reloadable Visa cards, you know.

I also rather make it a habit of trying to keep an emergency 20 in my bag. I spent ten years in California. One day we were shopping, and an earthquake knocked out the power. Most people got pissed off because they couldn't buy what the wanted. But Mother could (I was a kid then.) She'd bothered to bring a couple of twenty dollar bills with her before we went shopping, so we could get what we needed while everyone else had to look for money or go home.

[SG15Z]

But I have to say, that's not as bad as the guy who was in line in front of me that tried to pay for his meal with traveler's checks. Really, what restaurant takes traveler's checks, or any checks for that matter?

Grocery stores still do. I get traveler's checks every once in a blue moon. I love the look on a new cashiers face when they're given one.

I'm one of those people. Reason being: keeping plastic is more secure. I'm much more okay with losing my wallet with my debit card and credit card in it than if I lost it with money inside.

I try to keep a couple of bucks, but usually I just end up not having anything but plastic. I rarely do run into a place that doesn't accept it.

Same here, I have all my cards phone numbers programed in my phone and written down at home in case that happens so that I can call right away and hopefully avoid fraudulent charges. Any cash in there though and I'm SOL on that.

As far as I knew stores weren't charged a fee for using debit, it's just on credit card transactions.

Usually yes. It depends on the bank and/or card issuer. Most of the time there is no fee.

nope check fees go to the person writing the check, not the company accepting it-my bank charges like .10 for every check over 5, and after 20 it goes up to a quarter-that's during a one month cycle though-my checks are for paying rent and that's all....

Again depends on the bank. Some banks don't charge customers fees for checks (OMG free checking!!) and instead pass the fee to the merchant.

[Andara Bledin]

As far as I knew stores weren't charged a fee for using debit, it's just on credit card transactions.

Oh, no, stores are charged for debit. That's why if you buy gas at Arco/BP, it asks you about the additional fee to use your card before it goes through.

And this is why prices keep going up and up and mom and pops go under.

No, mom & pops go under because they're too lazy/stupid/etc to know how to use the rules to their advantage.

If you want to charge more to accept credit card transactions, you raise all of your prices, and then offer a discount for payments in cash. It's just that easy.

Some shops get around the rule by offering it as a discount for using cash instead of a fee for using cards. Yes it's tomato, to-ma-to but it's legal as far as I know.

How you do it is the difference between against the TOS and against the law in many states and being perfectly unassailable.

Anyone doing business should know the relevant laws.

nope check fees go to the person writing the check, not the company accepting it-my bank charges like .10 for every check over 5, and after 20 it goes up to a quarter-that's during a one month cycle though-my checks are for paying rent and that's all....

Nope, business accounts are charged for depositing checks as well as for writing them. However, in the case of the bank the company I work for uses, it's a flat fee per check, regardless of the value.

I, as a personal account-holder, pay no fees to write checks.

*****
As for those discussing the costs of accepting credit cards, the best response is to not charge more and make it up on the increased volume.

I know for a fact that the place I work for does a notably higher number of sales because we take plastic.

Plus, it's in the bank faster (2-3 business days vs minimum of 2 weeks for shipped COD), almost never bounces (we got yet another bounced COD check just yesterday), you don't have to spend any time calling for past due accounts, and in some cases, the costs aren't actually much higher than taking a check.

It's different for retail, of course, but if you're a shop and you're not making at least a good portion of it up in volume, then there's something out of whack somewhere.

^-.-^

[Dips]

This thread is in the "Sucky Customers" not the "How Businesses Should Work" forum.

You want to discuss the merits of transaction fees and how business may or may not cover them?

Fratching.

www.fratching.com

Let's get back the sucky customer.