Credit card merchant experts - question...

[Phil21]

This is more for my personal knowledge than anything else, but it does piss me off a little.

The power company here (Excel Energy) just sent me a letter stating that future payments via credit cards will result in a $4.50 automatic charge, plus a 3.5% "convience" fee for each time you pay your bill via credit.

I thought this was against Visa's merchant terms? From what I knew, you could NOT accept credit cards and charge a surcharge to use them. You could do a loophole though, and give everyone paying in cash/check a discount.. If my rusty memory doesn't fail me, I even thought it was against some funky consumer credit protection laws to do this.

Or was I completely wrong? Seems like just a lame attempt at a money-grab to me. It will now cost $36 or so to pay my $30 power bills each month. WTF?

-Phil

 

[N8Magic]

I've heard that this is true, and that's why computer stores usually have their prices "cash discounted" because they can't charge a premium for using credit cards. I would call Visa, and let them know that this is happening, and see if they can do anything about it.

Another trend i've been noticing lately is that certain bars and such are taking out their Interac/Debit/Check Card machines in favor of pay per use bank machines. When I try to pay with my debit card and they say "Use the bank machine" I stick'em with my credit card, cause they tried to rip me off, and now THEY can pay the service fee for my credit card instead of lining their pockets with their bank machine. GRR. :| ('scuse my rant there)

 

[kranky]

AFAIK you are right, merchants cannot charge extra for credit with Visa/MC. Call Visa and ask them - if the vendor isn't allowed, Visa will straighten them out.

That a hefty surcharge in any event. Time to pay by check.

 

[Phil21]

Yeah, I'm going to have to go order some checks now. Been checkless for over a year.

Plus need to find stamps and envelopes. Doh! I don't get this move, it's much more economical for them to have an automated phone/web/whatever credit card payment option, than it is to hire $10/hr clerks to open envelopes and key in data (along with an insanely high error rate compared to the automated solutions.) bah. Perhaps some deadwood CEO types that don't quite "get" the whole information automation "thing".

-Phil

 

[StageLeft]

If u find anything I'd like to know. I have to pay 2.5% if I want to pay by credit card as a "convenience fee". Screw that. The real convenience is on their end, so instead I pay the $.34 and write out a check and they can go and cash that and play around with extra mail. Paying a convenience fee is BS.

 

[Phil21]

Just called visa, and got a clueless phone jockey.. She had a bit of difficulty with english, but I think I got most of it.

She couldn't really comprehend that this was the POWER COMPANY, and not some hole in the wall merchant I could give contact info to my bank about. It also it appears it may be visa's policy to refund any "service charge for use your visa" merchants may charge you..

Basically, it went nowhere. She did say repeatedly that it is against the visa merchant agreement to charge any extra fees for using your visa. Then all she did was repeatedly tell me to call my bank.

oh well, I may call my bank and see.. that will be a deadend though, they'll prolly either "look into it" or tell me to call visa. bah!

-Phil

 

[StageLeft]

See what they say. I'd really like to know

 

[kranky]

Call Visa back during a weekday, that's probably when the best reps are working. You might get more help.

 

[Phil21]

Ok.. update.

Called my bank, they said call visa. Duh.

Called visa back, and got a clueful phone guy. He said that charging a service fee for CC transactions is absolutely prohibited, no matter the merchant size, and verified it with the manager on duty (for whatever good that does). Then got transfered to a slightly less clueful and very slow typing phone girl, who took my "complaint" and gave me a tracking number. Seemed to go good until the very end of the call with the "this will be forwarded to corporate and you should hear back within 2 to 4 weeks". bah!

Also verified this with a guy I know who pushed around $100k/mo through CC transactions, and in his words:

I just looked over my agreement with NOVA and I plainly states that charging a "service charge" for a CC transactions is prohibited

I would call VISA and complain

So, I did.

Wonder where this will lead. Probably no where, but I can wish right? Xcel Energy is insanely huge up here, so I'm thinking they either have a special agreement w/ Visa or they are just dis-regarding the merchant agreement.

-Phil

 

[compuwiz1]

When I was in business, the practice of passing on the merchant discount fees to customers was against policy. If I recall, there were strict warnings against doing this.

 

[StageLeft]

phil21 Good you got that out of them but I also suspect that as a general rule of thumb although it is prohibited your power company (and mine), but be aware of the rules and have sidestepped them somehow. Perhaps you're not paying the "convenience fee" to use visa, but rather paying that fee to use their automated system - and since visa is the only way to pay it you end up paying it to use visa.