There is truth to this. There are a few local stores that are open only traditional 'bankers hours but I still go to them because they are worth it. One of them is even a butcher (like one poster was talking about).
However, if a local store is only open restricted hours and have no hook/draw then forget it.
I sort of understand where they’re coming from, the 3 or 4% the bank takes from credit card transactions adds up. But I wonder how many other potential customers he has chased off? If you don’t show up he gets 0% instead of 97%.
In addition, if someone pays by CC then he has to pay taxes on it. No worries about this if cash.
I’ve talked with several shop owners who object on principle. I’m not sure what principle, but that’s their deal.
I say, “Give me the sales!” At shows where I sell stuff, I accept credit (thank you wifi and now smart phones), cash, and checks. Some shows end up almost all credit cards, others I carry home loads of cash. I rarely get checks. I figure the little fee I pay is more than made up for actually getting the extra sales.
Those who object, more power to them. I choose differently.
I don’t have a retail store front, so I don’t know what I would do in regards to hours. At the shows, I’m there from pre-open to post-close. Online is always open. I want the money. But that would be unrealistic for me to do long term daily brick and mortar.
A group of us went to a “trendy” food place for lunch. Only one of us had cash. He just had enough to cover and we all paid him back. No signs of not taking credit, but I did notice later there were no stickers saying VISA, MC, AmEx, etc… on the door like I’m used to. I guess it’s not cool to actually tell everyone ordering about the policy up front. Oh well, live and learn. I haven’t been cool enough to go back, tho. 
Merchant contract my ass.
I work at a small, independently-owned retailer which has recorded over 75,000 over-the-counter transactions in the past year, around 90% of which are with a card. Our system does not do debit - all swipes are as credit, so they get a receipt to sign. There is no PIN to enter. Almost all the cards I see have neither a photo ID nor are they signed on the back. Therefore, we have no way to know whether the person making the purchase actually owns the card. So we check IDs. I’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of “thank yous” from people who appreciate that we take the few seconds to check something so simple. Of course what we do isn’t 100% foolproof, but we think it’s worth it for the customers’ peace of mind.
If Visa or Mastercard don’t like the fact that we make a small gesture to show our costumers that we are concerned about fraud, then fuck them.
you said:
that’s pretty clearly painting a not so flattering picture, and lumping the guy in with the likes of the nutballs who run chick fil a. yes, Lynn, we all know the significance of sundays to christians, but you definitely implied the guy was bad.
No she didn’t. Get over yourself.
I thought someone here once said that the merchant agreement also said that the retailer was supposed to decline the transaction if the credit card was unsigned.
This right here. I fail to see why saying ‘someone’s moral code is more important than financial gain’ paints them as a nutball to anyone outside someone who idolizes Gordon Gekko.
i think i saw that movie once.
A breakfast place near me has a lit neon sign outside advertising “Swedish Pancakes”. I went one Saturday morning, but was told that they don’t serve Swedish pancakes on weekends, as they are too popular and too many people were ordering them! I pointed out that maybe they should turn off the neon sign on weekends, but they didn’t. I don’t know if they ever changed their policy because I have never gone back.
Nope! If that happens & they don’t go hog-wild, resulting in the card company catching in & proactively killing the card & sending me a new one then when I get the bill & review it, I call up & dispute the charge(s); either way I don’t pay for the fraudulent charges, the card issuer does.
Be careful; the first time they find out about it, you’ll get a sternly worded letter. If it continues to happen, they can revoke your card privileges.
V/MC want to make it as easy as possible for a consumer to use their product. Making the consumer whip out something else (ID) over & above what they’d need for another payment method (Cash) is not what they’re going for.
If you as the merchant make sure the card is still good (exp. date), that the sigs match, & they give you a confirmation code (ie. V/MC still thinks it’s a good card), it’s their problem, not yours. However, I can’t tell you the last time I saw a merchant look to see if my card was signed let alone compared the signatures.
Yeah, I can almost understand not serving something because it’s too popular – if you run out, then people coming in will have their expectations dashed because you’ve run out. But you had your expectations dashed anyway because of the sign!
So they spend the weekend making a supply for the coming week? 
If anything, I admire someone who is willing to give up money in order to do what s/he thinks is right, even if it inconveniences me, and even if I think that religion is nonsense.
I think that some believers are good, and some are bad. The good ones try to follow their religion’s teachings. The bad ones tend to go ahead and give in to temptation, and then claim that they are forgiven.
You are trying to put words in my mouth. Read what I write, and no more.
Yeah, there’s pretty much no basis to the argument that retailers are protecting cardholders by requiring ID. They protect consumers more by not making them show their home addresses and drivers license numbers (and maybe even Social Security numbers if any states still print that on ID cards) to a stranger along with their credit card numbers.
Actually, in most cases the merchant is the one who ends up paying for the fraudulent charge. If the issuer agrees with you (the cardholder) that the charge is fraudulent they pull the money back from the merchant’s account. Usually charging the merchant a fee, too. The merchant is then out the fee and whatever merchandise was sold.
I can really see both sides of the issue. The merchant asking for ID is protecting themselves, not the cardholder. They don’t want to be robbed, and then pay for the privilege. On the other hand, it is a violation of the merchant agreement (with Visa/Mastercard) to ask for ID, and it is often done in that “papers please” condescending tone that suggests you’re a miscreant. After originally being against the idea of asking for ID, I’m now thinking that if it actually prevents fraud (something I would need to be shown proof of) that asking for ID for credit card transactions is reasonable. Capturing or scanning that ID is not reasonable…
95% of the people working daytime do, lunch is within +/-1h (or less, in Brussels you’d think the noon bell stops everybody’s clock). In Spain it is extremely unusual to encounter someone who works daytime and who doesn’t start lunch between 1 and 3 (the ones I know leave work at 3 and eat when they get home); so, restaurants can be confident that by opening 1-4 they’ll catch 95% of business. Anybody who doesn’t have those hours can go to a bar or a fast food place, it’s not like there aren’t places to eat - there’s just less of them and with a more limited range of quality and price.
That’s why my father prefers his customers to pay in cash. Also since I started working for a bank I’ve noticed I’ve had alot of clients, all over the country, get work done on their car, pay for it with a credit card, then realize the mechanic did a shit job/didn’t fix the problem/gave them used parts instead of new/etc. Then they call their credit card companies to dispute the charges and we pull it out the merchants acount, and it’s up to the merchant to prove they actually proved the services they contracted for.
Actually if the card isn’t signed (or has some nonsense like “See ID” written on it the merchant agreement allows you to insist on ID or refuse the sale. The convience store I used to work at had a clever workaround (devised by corporate). You see gas stations are among the first places thieves stop at when they have a fresh card, because they an see if the card’s still active at the pump without confronting a live person. Then they frequenly go inside to buy cartons of cigerettes since they’re easy to resell (especially in a state with high taxes). So company policy was that anyone trying to be a carton or more with a credit card had to show ID no matter how old they looked.
Actually, if someone pays cash he still has to pay taxes on it. The fact that he chooses to break the law, and that cash payments make this easier, doesn’t relieve him of his legal responsibility.