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  • Fun with Franchise

    So there's this one McDonalds in northern Utah that I have on my boycott list (not that I have to worry anymore, having moved back to the East Coast). Just one McDonalds, and with, what I think, is good reason.

    In the process of helping a friend (Chris) move from one city to another last year, I ended up with said friend riding home in the Jeep with me (hubby and friend's wife were elsewhere taking care of a few last-minute things). Chris and I were both feeling rather hungry after a 1-hour drive to the new apartment, 1 hour setting stuff up, and another 1-hour drive back to the first city. So we decide to swing by McDonalds because there was a conveniently-placed one and I'd been wanting some of their fries lately. Now, the way things were laid out, this McDonalds was right off the highway in the first town, next to a Wal-Mart Supercenter (which, incidentally, had its own McDonalds as the in-store restaurant).

    We get to McD's and decide that since we're both paying with plastic, we'll just go inside and order at the counter instead of trying to go through the drive-through with two separate credit card purchases. So we go inside, and there's a very small line, if any. I decide on what I want first, and Chris lets me go ahead of him. So I order my meal (a few things off the dollar menu, I believe), and pull out my debit card, which I usually run as a credit card so I can just sign and not bother with my PIN number.

    Cashier: There's a $.50 charge on debit transactions, Ma'am.
    Me: Can't you just run it as a credit card?
    Cashier: No. We don't take credit cards.
    Me: Why not?
    Cashier: McDonalds doesn't accept credit cards.
    Me: (looks down at the card reader, with its "credit" button, then at the Redbox DVD rental signs, which say you can pay with debit or credit) McDonalds doesn't take credit cards?
    Cashier: Nope. No McDonalds takes credit cards anymore.
    Me: (thinking: what a load of BS) Well, I don't have cash or check on me, so just run it I guess.

    So I pay an extra $.50 on my $2.14 bill just so I can eat. If I'd thought about it at the time, I'd have raised a stink or pointed out the signs or something, or gone to the McD's inside Wal-Mart, but I was tired and Chris was still waiting to order.

    Speaking of which, he found out that, in addition to having to also pay $.50 to eat because he only had debit, he also had to pay $.16 for an empty cup for water. Every other McD's location I've been at has had plain styrofoam cups for water, which were free. ::eyeroll::

    What gets me most was the cashier's insistence that no McDonalds would accept my card as credit. Not a week previously, the McD's inside Wal-Mart did it, and they've done it several times since. ::mutter::
    "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
    - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

  • #2
    That's kind of interesting and I think fast food places just recently accept plastic as payment. Oh, well, I always pay with cash at these places so I wouldn't know.
    Yours truly, Robyn unless your an SC
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    • #3
      No McD's here accepts credit cards ("here" being my city, I don't speak for the country).

      You're seriously boycotting them because they say they don't take credit? Maybe they don't. Maybe they're different, if others are doing it. Maybe he was wrong. <shrug> At least you didn't go all SC and take it out on the staff.

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      • #4
        Quoth One-Fang
        You're seriously boycotting them because they say they don't take credit? Maybe they don't. Maybe they're different, if others are doing it. Maybe he was wrong. <shrug> At least you didn't go all SC and take it out on the staff.
        I'm more boycotting them because they had the system for accepting debit cards, but not credit; they'd previously taken credit cards from friends of mine (should've specified that before); they accepted credit cards for their Redbox rentals; and they tried to tell me that no McD's anywhere accepted credit cards. And it's really a personal boycott. And I make it a point not to take stuff like that out on staff, since I've been on the receiving end before.
        "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
        - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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        • #5
          It was stupid of the person to say no McDonalds take credit, because I have used my Visa at a couple, but by the same token, I've also run across one IN a Wal-Mart that wouldn't take it. I was really annoyed because I was on my way to work the day before payday, so I had no cash on me, and only $5 in my account.
          Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

          http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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          • #6
            The McD's near me doesn't accept credit cards under £5 and any cheques; doesn't really bother me as I only go there during PMS time and only pay by cash.
            People who don't like cats were probably mice in an earlier life.
            My DeviantArt.

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            • #7
              I have a story kind of like that, but it's a bit stranger and stupider.

              I had wanted to preserve the little bit of cash I had but I was hungry, so I went into McDonalds to see if they took credit cards.

              Big signs..."Use your *pictures of various credit cards* here!" (Mine is a Visa and Visa was the second picture, next to Mastercard)

              Those credit/debit machines on the counters.

              Pictures of the various credit cards (including Visa) on the machine, which had a credit button.

              Now, my card is a Capital One and they let you pick from a bunch of different designs for your card, and mine is a transparent pink color with purple stripes and blue lettering...a very pretty card. The girl at the video game store even mentioned getting herself one since it was such a pretty card

              So, having read the signs and observed the evidence, I decide that this store does, in fact, take credit cards, and head up to take my order. All is well until I try to pay, and take out my girly masterpiece.

              Cashier: "Oh, you're wanting to do debit? Okay..."
              Me: "Uh, no, I'm doing credit."
              Cashier: *long pause* "Credit?"
              Me: "Yeah."
              Cashier: *second long pause* "That's...not a credit card."
              Me: "Uh...yeah it is."
              Cashier: "Uh, no ma'am, I'm sorry, it's not."
              Me: *slightly annoyed but keeping it together* "Yeah. It is."
              Cashier: "It doesn't look like a credit card."
              Me: *sticks it under his nose* "See the little picture that says 'Visa' right there?"
              Cashier: *also getting annoyed, not even looking at the card* "No. That's not a credit card."
              Me: "Dude, I used this thing as a credit card at Wal-Mart not two days ago."
              Cashier: "It's not-,"
              Me: "Bought jeans, some cameras, pushed the credit button, signed the little slip and everything. Worked great."
              Cashier: "That looks like a debit card, ma'am."
              Me: "How can I have a debit card when I don't even have a freaking bank account? This is a CREDIT. CARD."
              Cashier: "That is not a credit card."
              Me: "...can I talk to your manager?"
              Cashier: *puffing up, getting mad* "There's no manager here."
              Me: *pointing to a lady in the back with the familiar managerial brown shirt...I've worked at my share of McDonalds* "What about her?"
              Cashier: "There's no manager here."
              Me: "Fine." *yells to the lady in the back* "Excuse me, miss?"
              Cashier: *raising his voice to yell over me as the manager approached* "IT'S NOT A CREDIT CARD!!"

              ...needless to say, I got a free meal, although from another cashier since the first mysteriously vanished halfway through my conversation with the manager. I mean, seriously, just LOOK at the damn thing! Haven't people seen the TV commercials for custom credit cards?? I don't usually like to even talk to managers, especially not at McDonalds when they have a "fire now, fire later, fire some more and then hire younger kids for less" policy, but this kid needed his attitude seriously adjusted.
              "Maybe the problem just went away...maybe it was the magical sniper fairy that comes and gives silenced hollow point rounds to people who don't eat their vegetables."

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              • #8
                I believe it's a franchise owner thing. Most MickyD, where I live, will take any credit or debit with no surcharge. I will probably bet that that one MickyD is own by one owner and it's his only restaurant, which means he'll cut cost as much as possible by passing as much of the cost to the customer as possible.
                I've lost my mind ages ago. If you find it, please hide it.

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                • #9
                  Ok, Mysty wins.

                  Yeah, I understand the franchise thing. A friend of mine had a problem with franchise management/owners with some Arby's coupons for a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Management refused to read the coupon's fine print and accept that what my friend wanted was perfectly valid, rather insisting that corporate had printed the coupons and signs all wrong. I've also noticed that a few McD's and BK's in highway service areas leave out the dollar menu (or equivalent) and double the price of everything else. ::gag::

                  I liked the Wal-Mart McD's better anyway. They gave me nicer service no matter what I was ordering or who was running the register, and they even had a complete menu, I believe.
                  "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
                  - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Kogarashi
                    Cashier: There's a $.50 charge on debit transactions, Ma'am.
                    Me: Can't you just run it as a credit card?
                    Cashier: No. We don't take credit cards.
                    Me: Why not?
                    Cashier: McDonalds doesn't accept credit cards.
                    Me: (looks down at the card reader, with its "credit" button, then at the Redbox DVD rental signs, which say you can pay with debit or credit) McDonalds doesn't take credit cards?
                    Cashier: Nope. No McDonalds takes credit cards anymore.
                    Me: (thinking: what a load of BS) Well, I don't have cash or check on me, so just run it I guess.

                    So I pay an extra $.50 on my $2.14 bill just so I can eat. If I'd thought about it at the time, I'd have raised a stink or pointed out the signs or something, or gone to the McD's inside Wal-Mart, but I was tired and Chris was still waiting to order.

                    Credit card companies charge a processing fee for every transaction; for a lot of places that only do small-value transactions (like fast food), that fee will cut into profits a hell of a lot. Most hardware for debit transactions is made to handle both if the company in question has signed up for credit card service. In this case, they obviously didn't.

                    I hate to say this, but in this case, you were the SC.
                    "Boy, you sure must be in pretty bad shape. You ought to go home."
                    "They won't let me," Yossarian answered with averted eyes, and crept away.

                    -Joseph Heller, Catch-22

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                    • #11
                      I've eaten at McDonald's (looks down at gut) more times than I really needed to, but I've never been charged a fee for using either credit cards or debit cards.

                      Quoth Kogarashi
                      I liked the Wal-Mart McD's better anyway. They gave me nicer service no matter what I was ordering or who was running the register, and they even had a complete menu, I believe.
                      Plus, since the Wal-Mart McDonalds are not as busy, they don't pre-make burgers to cut down wait times, meaning that I get a fresher, tastier Big Mac. Mmmmm, Big Mac... *Drools on keyboard*
                      I pray for the strength to change what I can, the inability to change what I can't, and the incapacity to tell the difference -Calvin, Calvin & Hobbes

                      Being a pessimist and cynical wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't right so often!

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                      • #12
                        on the old boards didnt someone post a war-storyesque mc donalds adventure

                        they asked for "no thousand island dressing" and both the cashier and the manager insisted they ask for "special sauce" instead?

                        anyone else remember this one?
                        I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

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                        • #13
                          I remember that one!

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Yossarian
                            Credit card companies charge a processing fee for every transaction; for a lot of places that only do small-value transactions (like fast food), that fee will cut into profits a hell of a lot. Most hardware for debit transactions is made to handle both if the company in question has signed up for credit card service. In this case, they obviously didn't.

                            I hate to say this, but in this case, you were the SC.
                            Oh, I'm quite aware of credit card processing fees. Paypal charges them if you upgrade your account to accept credit payments, and the craft store I worked at also dealt with that (though they never told a customer that, nor did they charge an additional fee for purchases under $5, which is what a lot of other companies will do to mitigate the problem). I would've understood any explanation to that regard, if it was the fee that kept this franchise owner from taking credit cards. But the only reason I got was "No McDonalds anywhere accepts credit cards anymore." That was it. And I don't recall ever seeing a debit processing fee anywhere, but I was charged one.

                            Just how was I the SC?
                            "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
                            - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Kogarashi
                              Oh, I'm quite aware of credit card processing fees. Paypal charges them if you upgrade your account to accept credit payments, and the craft store I worked at also dealt with that (though they never told a customer that, nor did they charge an additional fee for purchases under $5, which is what a lot of other companies will do to mitigate the problem). I would've understood any explanation to that regard, if it was the fee that kept this franchise owner from taking credit cards. But the only reason I got was "No McDonalds anywhere accepts credit cards anymore." That was it. And I don't recall ever seeing a debit processing fee anywhere, but I was charged one.

                              Just how was I the SC?
                              The cashier probably didn't know why they didn't take credit, as we all know how often management likes to explain their reasons to us grunts on the front line.

                              As for the "No McDonalds take cards", the cashier probably just made an honest mistake. I know that there have been times that I've mistaken branch policy for corporate, and vice versa. I agree that there probably should have been signs posted regarding the fee, but at least she told you before you were charged. (Although charging for water is a pretty stupid thing).

                              I don't mean to be argumentative, but your attitude just reminds me of some of the stories we hear here from the other side (e.g. "Well, Everywhere Else takes credit cards.") I can understand your frustration, but it was policy and that person was following it. It seems like kind of a silly reason not to go somewhere.
                              "Boy, you sure must be in pretty bad shape. You ought to go home."
                              "They won't let me," Yossarian answered with averted eyes, and crept away.

                              -Joseph Heller, Catch-22

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