RAGE ON THE SUBWAY! (EAT FIST!)

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Interest rate, processing fees, "insurance", stuff like that.

Only if you abuse them and let the CC company run the show. You have to tell them who's in charge and not sign up for the high-rate cards with insane secondary products like insurance and currency conversion and all that nonsense.

Bingo. As I passed on the frills and pay my bill in full every month, my card doesn't cost me a cent.

It's not them that rip you off. The stores get charged a major fee based on percentage. Many smaller stores, depending on how small won't carry credit cards due to this issue or they have a small cap. 10 dollars or more on a credit card.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Many smaller stores, depending on how small won't carry credit cards due to this issue or they have a small cap. 10 dollars or more on a credit card.

Stores have the right not to carry cards at all, but if they do, they must accept them for ANY amount - no matter how small. They are not allowed to impose minimums. To do so is a violation of their agreement with the banks.

 

[trampledamage]

I rarely use cash these days, mainly because I can use a debit card with one hand while stopping young master trampledamage from permanently re-arranging the shop's displays with the other. Cash is too fiddly!

 

[Aurian]

^Practical stuff first

 

[Triskelion]

I used one of those Walmart visa prepaid cards on my last trip home, and it was super. Swipe and take the receipt. Sure beats beaver pelts.

Am I the only one who thinks that the Subway which would rather throw the sandwiches away than give them to the customer they've inconvenienced has its priorities wonky?

All she had to do was hand over the sammiches, make someone's day, keep that customer satisfied and increase the chances of a return visit, then go paste a $%@$ sign on the door to prevent it from happening to the next customer. And for goodness' sake, why deny the customer the sandwiches and throw them in the garbage instead? It's not as if they planned a caper; because if a customer knew the credit machine was out, that means it had happened previously, and one should have already solve the problem.

Um, why didn't you put out the fire?
It's not my station.


This is why I'll never understand the human race despite my taking on its form.

 

[Skywalker]

All she had to do was hand over the sammiches, make someone's day, keep that customer satisfied and increase the chances of a return visit, then go paste a $%@$ sign on the door to prevent it from happening to the next customer.

That's exactly what I would have done, had I been in her position. I would have apologized for not mentioning sooner that I could only take cash, and given him the sandwiches. It's better than letting them all go to waste, and it keeps the customer happyish.

But, then again, it's possible that the manager at that Subway is a total douche who would have flipped out at the poor girl for something so trivial. Given the fact that he/she doesn't seem to want to bother with fixing or replacing the card machine, it seems pretty likely.

 

[captcalhoun]

i get people paying for stuff that's not even a quid in my shop. before we had a zero-min-spend on cards, people used to get pissy when we turned them away for wanting to put a 40p newspaper on their card. frequently they'd moan they don't carry cash. and i'd be thinking, 'who the fuck are you, the queen? don't carry cash, jeez?!'

and yeah, cash is a damn sight quicker than

punch in the amount, press 'card' stick card in reader, wait for reader to register card and validate it, press 'no' for cashback, wait for PIN to be entered, wait for connection and acceptance, receipt to be printed and customer to get out of the way.

we've got new tills and we've had trouble with the pin readers on them and people would get assy when we told them they had to wait for the other till to use a card, even though there's a note on the reader saying 'cash only this till'.

people are so fucking impatient. like this woman yesterday who tried to dump 20p on the counter for her local paper cuz there was a queue. i told her i had to scan it and made her wait while i served the 2 eight year old girls she pushed in front of and then served her.


and what's 'Jack' on your sammichs?

 

[Australis]

I'm guessing Monterey Jack, a cheese.

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, that's rude of you.

Well it's rude of you [general] to take your sweet time on when to pull out the check and fill out it, esp. if people are waiting behind you.

I don't understand why people can't fill parts of it out ahead of time, but no, many wait until they have the total and THEN they pull the thing out, start filling it out, and they balance the checkbook all the while people are in line behind them waiting to get checked out too.

 

[RobertVA]

Well, that's rude of you.

Well it's rude of you [general] to take your sweet time on when to pull out the check and fill out it, esp. if people are waiting behind you.

I don't understand why people can't fill parts of it out ahead of time, but no, many wait until they have the total and THEN they pull the thing out, start filling it out, and they balance the checkbook all the while people are in line behind them waiting to get checked out too.

It doesn't help that many stores have so much merchandise blocking the counter (hoping for that last second impulse purchase) there's barely enough room to place the merchandise on the counter for the clerk to scan it. What little space remains is usually only within reach of the customer that has reached the front of the line.

Do you expect people to fill their checks in while balancing the checkbook on top of those pylons that hold the que tapes up? Should they risk burning their hands leaning against that convenience store machine that gives hot dogs an all day ride on those rollers? Where should they put things like purses, merchandise they bought earlier in other stores or even the merchandise they are about to purchase?

Some of the supermarkets are even placing wicker baskets of merchandise on that metal panel that covers the end of the conveyor belt! It's hard to reach things in the front of a standard size grocery cart when the impulse sale displays are so close it feels lake a cattle chute.

As much as banks are charging for overdrafts, people that don't have a large cushion might need to make their register entries immediately so that they don't risk forgetting.

Anybody bothered by such minor delays really needs to find some way to not be in such a rush!

Anyone who doesn't have enough cash to buy a few days worth of meals better have some food handy for the couple of days it will take to get a replacement for a lost or stolen card. There will also be a delay when the old card is useless if someone makes illegitimate use of the account number. Paying with cash reduces the opportunitys for a resturaunt server or store clerk to be tempted.

 

[Messianni]

Secondly...GRRRR Why do so many women, or people in gender...

Yeah, those people with gender suck.

Many smaller stores, depending on how small won't carry credit cards due to this issue or they have a small cap. 10 dollars or more on a credit card.

Stores have the right not to carry cards at all, but if they do, they must accept them for ANY amount - no matter how small. They are not allowed to impose minimums. To do so is a violation of their agreement with the banks.

Really? Interesting, I never knew that. I know a convenience store and a coffee house that impose a $3/$5 minimum purchase to use a card, respectively.

 

[Timby]

Really? Interesting, I never knew that. I know a convenience store and a coffee house that impose a $3/$5 minimum purchase to use a card, respectively.

It's a violation of the merchant agreement for VISA and MasterCard, though I'm not sure about Discover and American Express. (I do know that American Express charges absurdly high per-transaction fees, though, which is why it's less accepted than other cards.)

In any event, while it is a violation to impose a minimum purchase limit (or, in the case of some small stores in my area, imposing a $1 or so "transaction fee"), it's not exactly hard to get away with such a thing. A customer would need to actually file a formal complaint with the issuer, which would then necessitate an investigation of the merchant (during which time it's rather easy to take down any signage and start accepting low-amount card purchases until the storm clears).

The card fees do suck for a merchant, though, when dealing with high amounts. My company just recently signed the local electric utility for a Web site sponsorship to the tune of $15,000 ... and the utility wanted to pay with its credit card. Our per-transaction rate, because we process so few credit cards (about 97 percent of our advertising revenue comes in through checks), is 11 percent.

11 percent. Of 15 grand.

(We were able to talk to our bank and whittle them down to a 6 percent fee for this one particular transaction, but, still. Guh.)

 

[Mallory]

My doctor, oncologist and dentist all pass those transaction fees right back to the card user. You can make a $20 copay using cash or a check, but if you use a card they'll charge it for the $20 plus the fee.

 

[SeerSGB]

My doctor, oncologist and dentist all pass those transaction fees right back to the card user. You can make a $20 copay using cash or a check, but if you use a card they'll charge it for the $20 plus the fee.

Same with my general-prac. and at least 1 gas station that I know of.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The only establishments I know of that tack on an additional fee for using a card here are gas stations. It's usually something like 15-20 cents more a gallon to use your card.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only establishments I know of that tack on an additional fee for using a card here are gas stations. It's usually something like 15-20 cents more a gallon to use your card.

They're not allowed to do that either.

The way they get around that, though, is to claim that they offer a *discount* for cash...

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Really? Interesting, I never knew that. I know a convenience store and a coffee house that impose a $3/$5 minimum purchase to use a card, respectively.

It's a violation of the merchant agreement for VISA and MasterCard, though I'm not sure about Discover and American Express. (I do know that American Express charges absurdly high per-transaction fees, though, which is why it's less accepted than other cards.)

In any event, while it is a violation to impose a minimum purchase limit (or, in the case of some small stores in my area, imposing a $1 or so "transaction fee"), it's not exactly hard to get away with such a thing. A customer would need to actually file a formal complaint with the issuer, which would then necessitate an investigation of the merchant (during which time it's rather easy to take down any signage and start accepting low-amount card purchases until the storm clears).

The card fees do suck for a merchant, though, when dealing with high amounts. My company just recently signed the local electric utility for a Web site sponsorship to the tune of $15,000 ... and the utility wanted to pay with its credit card. Our per-transaction rate, because we process so few credit cards (about 97 percent of our advertising revenue comes in through checks), is 11 percent.

11 percent. Of 15 grand.

(We were able to talk to our bank and whittle them down to a 6 percent fee for this one particular transaction, but, still. Guh.)

Exactly. It sucks for smaller stores because they can't do anything. They hold smaller stores for ransom. Not only do they have to pay for the processing fee, but I believe a percentage of what they take in as well. It sucks.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I always carry around $25 of cash with about $0.50 worth of change. It just seems like common sense.

Absolutely.

Well, I fail to see how credit cards "take longer" in my experience they can be quicker than cash but it mostly depends on the processing/transaction speed ot the establishment's machines.

Most of the time for me it's swipe and go as many places anymore don't make you sign for transactions under $20 or $25.

Besides, I'd rather be behind a person with a credit card than a woman with a checkbook. When I see that get pulled out I just sigh and roll my eyes.

First of all, who the hell uses checks anymore?

i get people paying for stuff that's not even a quid in my shop. before we had a zero-min-spend on cards, people used to get pissy when we turned them away for wanting to put a 40p newspaper on their card. frequently they'd moan they don't carry cash. and i'd be thinking, 'who the fuck are you, the queen? don't carry cash, jeez?!'

and yeah, cash is a damn sight quicker than

punch in the amount, press 'card' stick card in reader, wait for reader to register card and validate it, press 'no' for cashback, wait for PIN to be entered, wait for connection and acceptance, receipt to be printed and customer to get out of the way.

I think you're talking about the pre-paid cards which we don't have over here yet.
As for cheques very few shops over here take them now. Not supermarkets ~ you may be able to make a personal one to your newsagent but that's about it.

And as captcalhoun says ~ using a card does take much longer than handing over £3.10 in cash.