If you want to have minimums for your CC charges, you need to put that on the big VISA/MC/AMEX sticker that’s on your front door so I know your policy when I walk in. It’s usually the case that it’s written on a post-it on the cash register that there’s a minimum charge. I see that after I’ve done my business in the store and am ready to pay.
And again, the businesses that do this are being short-sighted. They are so concerned about not losing money on a given sale that they risk losing all future business from that customer. Maybe today I’m just buying a $1.50 cable, but next month I’ll buy a $800 computer. If you reject my initial $1.50 sale, I’ll likely never return.
The issue is that they have the CC sticker on the front door but they’re not honoring the expectations that the customer has. When I see the VISA sticker on the door, I assume I can buy whatever I want and put it on my card. If the business doesn’t want meet that expectation, then don’t take VISA.
Thanks for the response. I’m all for supporting small/local businesses when they can provide better or more personal service than a chain, which is often. I prefer stores that accept credit cards, because that’s what I prefer to use, but if they don’t, I don’t hold it against them. The minimum purchase requirement steams me because it’s like a bait-and-switch. When I enter a store with the Visa logo on the window, I expect to be able to pay with my Visa card. Seeing that sticker may even have been part of the reason I chose to go into this store instead of a different one. Then, when I try to make my purchase, I get the run-around. Sorry, no. If you want to honestly advertise that you accept credit cards, then accept them, period.
Seems to me that you guys are all more angry about merchants breaking their contract with Visa than Visa itself is. Think about that for a moment and decide whether or not the merchant is really the problem in this situation.
For fuck’s sake. Do you honestly think that a small store owner is running on some different principle than that? Do you think they get into the business for their love of micro-managing?
I don’t care what Visa thinks. I care about my experience. I care that my time is wasted when I try to make a purchase, and the merchant refuses to accept my legitimate payment.
Once again, your indignation seems misplaced. Why do you suppose the CC companies have little or no intention of forcing that detail of the agreement upon the merchant? It’s money, and they don’t give a dam about the consumers convince or enforcing the details of the agreement.
We’ve had discussions here about merchants asking for ID as well and if I followed the agreement to the letter in that area then the same whiners in this thread now would be calling me a fucking asshole for inconveniencing them rather than waiting patiently with respect for the fact that “Hey, I’m only following the contract as written”
To YOU ,which is my point.
A load of irrelevant crap. So you comply exactly to the letter? You never stop and chat for a few minutes with a coworker on company time because you diligently want to make sure they get every dimes worth from you that they are paying for?
bullshit. My guess is the same whiners in this thread would be willing to see the strict letter of certain contracts overlooked if it benefits them in some way and if they can get away with it without a lot of shit coming down. Get off your unrealistic high horse. The details are only as enforceable as is practical for all parties involved. If the CC companies strictly enforced this detail we wouldn’t have this thread. They don’t and we know why.
Nobody made any such comparison except you jerk. This whole focus on how dishonest merchants are for not going strictly by the letter of the contract is a nit pickin POS. They are looking for a compromise that helps their business survive and the fact that the CC companies don’t really enforce that detail means they’ve accepted the compromise. I don’t see anyone here ready to cut their cards in half and send them back out of outrage about the CC company not enforcing their inalienable right for shopping to be convenient. I wonder why.
It is totally not your responsibility to be considerate of your local merchants. It’s your inalienable right to be inconsiderate of your neighbors in favor of somebody someplace else. There’s no give a shit about others law in place. You’re safe.
btw, your total misrepresentation of the points being argued here by going to extremes is just one more load of crap. Nobody is asking anyone to put up with rudeness such as the thrown out of the bar story. Merchants are trying to find a reasonable compromise that causes at most a very minor inconvenience to some customers but still we get folks in here bitching about it as if someone kicked their dog. I stand by my position. It’s whiny petty inconsiderate BS.
Do you truly not see any connection or are you just arguing for the fun of being an asshole?
Here’s an example that might sink in.
My sister and her husband were long time employees of Dexter Shoe Co. in Dexter Maine. Eventually Dexter succumbed to price wars with imports and closed it’s factory there putting thousands out of work. About a year later I was having a discussion like one with my brother in law and he said “Hey if I can save a couple of bucks by purchasing at Wal Mart then why shouldn’t I” I was dumbfounded. The very person who lost his job because of that kind of short sightedness couldn’t make the connection.
Believe me I know it’s hard to make ends meet. I’m just saying we should be aware that it’s not impersonal and our decisions do affect other real people like theirs affect me. We can go through life saying “It’s not my responsibility or my problem” or we can try to find an acceptable compromise where we show others a little consideration.
Venomous disdain huh? Who exactly did they express that to? The customers who were saying , fuck you and your profitability neighbor. You dishonest motherfuckers need to do what’s easy for me me me.
That thrown out of the bar thing is one extreme example and not relevant to the point at hand. That bartender was wrong and pretty much admitted it when he had to lie to everyone to cover his ass.
All I’m suggesting is a modicum of consideration for the real people on the other side of the counter.
If someone said to me that they understand my trying to make a profit but they were in a spot and would appreciate it if I let them slide this one I’d do it with a big smile on my face and thank them sincerely for their understanding and their business. That’s the human relationship side of being in business. If a customer shows me repeatedly that they don’t give a rat’s ass about me as a person or my business then I can gauge my response to them accordingly.
How about if I abide by the strict letter of the agreement but go extra slow when processing CC purchases under $10. “Whoops dropped my pen, hmmm it’s around here somewhere. Be right with ya” I wouldn’t be dishonest about the contract but I’d bet they’d be just as mad and whiny.
My point is that regardless of the details of the agreement both parties involved {you know, the human beings} ought to show the other a little consideration. Sales are about money but also about a relationship that works for both parties. A good customer isn’t just one that comes in frequently but one who understands and respects the fact that we’re in it for profit and we have to make money to continue to provide the service we do. Most of my customers understand that and that mutual respect and consideration means I’ll go the extra mile for them when they need me to and they won’t begrudge me making a buck and get all pissy over a minor inconvenience.
Or if I declined to tip at a restaurant because it wasn’t strictly required? I would be a huge jerk in either case. I get your point that just because something is technically within the rules, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. I guess we just draw that line in different places. For me, paying for a car with pennies = unacceptable, expecting to be able to make any size purchase with the payment method of my choice = acceptable. If you don’t agree, well, I guess you don’t want my business, so you aren’t going to get it.
Cannabis is actually illegal there. The rules are ignored because people appreciate the benefits of ignoring the rules to their society. I think the same arguement can be made for CC micropayments.
You’re absolutely right, I don’t want someone paying me under ten pounds on a credit card!
They appear to be ‘examining’ each transaction and deciding their business will collapse if each and every one of those transaction is not a positive one. You’re only a loser if all the transactions add up as a loss.
Offering use of the plastic is supposed to attract more customers. If that’s not the case, the merchant shouldn’t bother offering the service, since they say they lose money on the smaller transactions.
Those businesses with minimum charges have lost sight of Total Profit = Total Revenues - Total Expenses. Those businesses are instead operating in a business model of Total Profit = Sum of Profits From Each Sale.
Would a business rather have 1000 sales a week where 100 sales were not profitable or have 800 sales a week where every sale was profitable? The answer depends on the total numbers. Some businesses are illogically focused on the latter case (800 profitable sales) when they might make more profit with the former case (1000 sales/100 not profitable).
Those businesses are assuming that a customer is a customer for life and that they can force the customer to jump through hoops to complete the transaction. But customers will go to businesses which offer the best overall value. Hassling a customer about a minimum charge will lower the value the customer gets from the business and make it more likely they switch to another provider.
I have no problem going to businesses which don’t accept credit cards. But with them, I know that going in and I make sure to bring cash or my checkbook. Or I go to another vendor if I only have my CC with me. A business with a CC minimum better provide a lot of value to not lose my business for dealing with that hassle.
Well, your first bit is simply silly. Any decent shop owner is going to look at the whole picture. Maybe look up the concept of a “loss leader”, which every corner store is going to know about.
Different businesses are going to get different benefits from accepting a card. An electronics store can probably expect larger or more impulsive purchases, but a local corner store not so much. However, with the way society is moving towards cashless, lots of consumers expect every store to accept cards. Minimum charges is how little stores try to split the difference.
If the Visa merchant agreement specifically allowed a minimum required charge, would you still be angry with the merchant? Or, would you be upset at Visa for making their card less convenient?
