No offense intended. Mind you, while I understand perfectly well why some small merchants don’t take credit cards below a certain threshold, the place where I work isn’t one of them. I’ve had people pay for 2 Euro of internet time with a card. Did we lose money on that one? Sure. Thing is, if we didn’t take cards, we wouldn’t sell nearly as many 700 Euro laptops. It’s just a cost of business. So overall, meh.
ETA: I don’t want this to come across as a contradiction of my original point about small merchants getting screwed by credit card companies on small purchases. Just wanted to point out that that’s the way it is for some (many?) small businesses, and you just learn to deal with it.
I realise that. My point still stands. I am aware that there are a lot of different kinds of beers that sell in the US for less than $8.50 per six-pack. Beer is just plain cheaper there than here. Like pretty much everything else.
FWIW, I’ve seen Red Stripe here for as much as AUS$20 a sixer. Unbelievable. And people still buy it!
I don’t know if we’re just lucky around here or what, but most bars I’ve seen only charge $11 for a twelve-pack of Yuengling. Or if you have no taste buds, you can get a 12-pack of Natty Ice for $7.
Small stores are the only places I’ve ever seen this done. I suppose I could have made the title “Fuck you, Mom & Pop stores who won’t take my Visa for small purchases, but I’ve got no problem with those that do,” but I would have thought the reader could have been able to gather that from the OP.
Tell me again why I should have to, or why I would want to spend one penny more than necessary at a place that treats their customers like that.
Sorry to hijack, but the part that REALLY got to me about these hours was that the extended hours ('til 7) are on Thursday. Not Friday. Not Saturday. Thursday. What exactly is the logic of that?
And I have to wonder: does having businesses that close that early REALLY do a lot to bring families and communities together and all that rot? Or does it just result, as one of the other posters noted, in terminally bored and drunken people (especially youth)?
I think both shop owners and shoppers have a problem here, and the problem is Visa. Visa is trying to have it both ways: make it more convenient for people to shop with their card, and still charge the owners a fee that shred profit for low value items.
Visa is being naughty and should be kicked in the balls for this.
FWIW, the Marlowes on Thursday is packed to capacity with shoppers - there are people still waiting in line at the till to buy items as the shopkeepers are closing the doors and shooing other shoppers who literally have cash in hand to exchange for goods and/or services. But no, they don’t dare stay open another 30 minutes even, because that would lead to…well, I reckon it would lead to more sales, more convenience, and more…everything?
If you think that’s bad, try any local high street in the UK. While I’ve only been to a few dozen, it seems quite rare that anything I go to is open past 5:30 except for pubs. I’ve been to places (I think it was Bath) where nearly every shop technically closed at 5:00, but they were locking the doors at 4:30 and advising people to “hurry up.” This happened to me whilst I was dithering over a £500 item (which was likely honestly going to buy), and I finally just said sod it, if they want me out of their store that badly then I’ll just go fuck off.
Of course, many Sainsburys and Tescos are open very late (except on Sundays…that’s a whole other topic), so at least you can get food and alcohol.
Treats their customers like what? Sources of revenue?
You were griping about being forced to buy stuff “you didn’t want” just to get up to the $10 minimum, but my point was you obviously wanted the beer, and could have easily just acquired 2 six-packs and saved the other for a rainy day. Wouldn’t have wasted anything.
Highly improbable and if they are running a margin that small they are going out of business anyway.
The difference is rates is at most 1%. Those small Mom and Pop store “keystone” as much as possible, that’s a 50% markup. Pray tell me how 1% is going to make them lose money? Please include cites and do the math.
I tried to buy $9 worth of drinks for myself and a couple of friends (at The Lamppost on Main Street in Middletown, in case any locals want to know which bars to avoid).
I told the bartender that what she was doing was against Visa’s terms of service. She didn’t care, so I asked to see a manager.
“Yeah, maybe in the morning, but nobody’s here now.”
At that point, a bouncer came up and physically escorted me out of the bar!
I tried to explain my situation, but Joe Steroid wasn’t having any of it (or possibly he was too dumb to understand the English language).
Either way, I was forcibly removed from a place of business for asking them to follow the rules that they’d already agreed to.
What ever happened to a little bit of give and take?
If people like you start kicking up enough of a fuss, which of the following is more likely to happen:
Small businesses start taking credit cards for any purchase, no matter how small. They make massive losses, and go bust.
Small businesses decide that it isn’t worth having credit card contracts, and so their customers are now unable to purchase any amount of products with plastic.
How about business owners show some honour and integrity and follow the rules of the contract they signed with the credit card company? Seriously, it’s hard to believe that you own a business and don’t understand that when you sign a contract of service that says you won’t surcharge or set a minimum purchase amount (at least in the US - if this doesn’t apply in your jurisdiction, then that isn’t applicable), that you actually follow the contract? If the cardholder doesn’t follow the rules of the contract, then there are financial penalties, loss of service, and a poor credit record which can result. So why does the business owner get to pick and choose which parts of the contract they obey?
(Most) People aren’t asking that business owners take Visa no matter what, they’re asking that business owners obey the contracts they sign.
And if business owners decide to remain in the last century and not take credit cards, then, well, they can roll the dice and take their chances as to whether their business model is successful. More power to them. The market will decide. I’ve walked away from purchases worth thousands of pounds in the UK because for some reason a shop decided that they wouldn’t take cards or cheques, only cash. Seriously, is it reasonable to expect that someone walking through your door has £2000 of cash in their purse?
