McDonald's charges you an extra $0.50 to use your credit/debit card.

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Vic
Bad enough you're eating at McD's, you gotta use your credit card to pay for it?? Sad....

It's a convenience thing. Largely the reason you are going to a fast food joint in the first place. When I'm on the road, I'd much rather flip a CC at a drive through than fumble with a couple bills and a handful of change.

 

[Geekbabe]

It's a "FAT Tax"

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
You might see it a low volume store as a way of recouping costs. It costs a buisness money on every credit card transaction. On low margin items like the $.99 sandwiches and chicken nuggets you are barely making money as it is. Then couple that with a percentage of sales ding from the credit card company, plus the per transaction fee that's a flat rate and you probably just lost money on the deal. It's not as big of a deal on large dollar orders, but hundreds of $2 and $3 charges can really cut and already thing profit shorter.

They may also be trying to recoup some costs on a broadband connection that they had to put in to support the transactions to the CC provider.

I don't really condone the charge, but I can see where it would be necessary.

But, they aren't allowed to charge you this per the terms of agreement which they signed with Visa and MC. It's in violation of their contract. They should be fined or dropped all together if they don't follow that rule. If a particular McD's thinks they are loosing too much on $1 charges for a mcchicken, they need to rethink having the CC system in place. As a Visa or MC user, I will not pay this extra charge, and will alert Visa or MC if I am ever asked to pay such a fee.

However, I've never seen anyone try this. I do have doubts that the original poster was charged extra for using a Visa or MC unless it was a debit card.

 

[vi edit]

And once again - I must repeat - McDonald's is a franchised operation where there are thousands of stores independently owned and operated by private parties. What they do at their franchises are not necessarily a Corporate wide practice or Corporate approved.

 

[vi edit]

But, they aren't allowed to charge you this per the terms of agreement which they signed with Visa and MC. It's in violation of their contract. They should be fined or dropped all together if they don't follow that rule. If McD's thinks they are loosing too much on $1 charges for a mcchicken, they need to rethink having the CC system in place. As a Visa or MC user, I will not pay this extra charge, and will alert Visa or MC if I am ever asked to pay such a fee.

I don't know how loose the wording is on this law. If McD's charges it as a "handling" or "expiditing" fee, then they are probably clear.

I know that many places charge a $1, $2, or more fee for using a credit card payment. The department of transportation is one such place that I can think of. If I pay with credit card I pay a "processing" fee for using it over paying by check or cash.

 

[Thegonagle]

I don't think McDonald's even did it. I think he entered his PIN, which means it went through as an ATM transaction, and the bank added their own fee for using an off-network "ATM." That's why it's listed on two different lines.

 

[royaldank]

I don't know how loose the wording is on this law. If McD's charges it as a "handling" or "expiditing" fee, then they are probably clear.

I know that many places charge a $1, $2, or more fee for using a credit card payment. The department of transportation is one such place that I can think of. If I pay with credit card I pay a "processing" fee for using it over paying by check or cash.

You should alert Visa or MC. See what they say about it. Doesn't matter how you word it, they are still charging you extra which isn't allowed under Visa and MC terms of agreement.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: Vic
Bad enough you're eating at McD's, you gotta use your credit card to pay for it?? Sad....

It's a convenience thing. Largely the reason you are going to a fast food joint in the first place. When I'm on the road, I'd much rather flip a CC at a drive through than fumble with a couple bills and a handful of change.

I keep my CC's in my wallet right near my cash and IMO nothing is more convenient than cash. I guess I just don't see pulling a fiver out of my wallet (and then throwing the change in the "ashtray") as fumbling... while I do see giving my CC to the ex-con minimum wage worker at McD's as a type of fumbling -- a bad type

Anyway, when discussing financial planning with clients, I warn them not to use credit cards for small, daily purchases. The reason is because of how quickly they add up. $5 bucks at McD's every day may seem small, but the next thing yaknow, it's $150 on your monthly bill. Don't pay your monthly bill off in full (as most people don't) and it's double-digit interest on your BigMac for the next 40 years.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Vic
Bad enough you're eating at McD's, you gotta use your credit card to pay for it?? Sad....

Agreed.

It's different if you're eating inside and it's $10 or more but come on!

Last night I had a craving for a Taco Bell beans/cheese/rice burrito for 99 cents, paid them $1 cash the whole process took 90 seconds from order to payment to driving off.

 

[GreenGhost]

Around here, I've never seen any of the fast food stores accept either CC or checks. In one of the iTunes discussions, someone mentioned $0.30 for a CC transaction. Is it true? That's substantial when you are selling stuff that is less than $5.

 

[lokiju]

KFC charges 99 cents

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: GreenGhost
Around here, I've never seen any of the fast food stores accept either CC or checks. In one of the iTunes discussions, someone mentioned $0.30 for a CC transaction. Is it true? That's substantial when you are selling stuff that is less than $5.

It's typically a small percentage that is capped at some amount.

 

[V00DOO]

I thought it's against the CC company rule to add surcharge for using CC. On the other hand I have seen signs for surcharge using Debit Card.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: royaldank

Originally posted by: GreenGhost
Around here, I've never seen any of the fast food stores accept either CC or checks. In one of the iTunes discussions, someone mentioned $0.30 for a CC transaction. Is it true? That's substantial when you are selling stuff that is less than $5.

It's typically a small percentage that is capped at some amount.

But there definitely is a minimum fee that the merchant pays too ($0.30 sounds plausible, I've also heard $0.50--I suppose it varies depending on total sales), which is why so many stores/franchises try to ask for a minimum purchase. Also probably why fast food places are likely not to accept credit card transactions (Visa/MC/etc.) and might only take debit (ATM-card) transactions where you enter a PIN--because they ARE allowed to add their own fees to this type of transaction (of course they need to disclose it in advance). Banks can add their own fees on top of the merchant/ATM owner's fees as well, so watch out.

(Recognize the difference between the VISA portion and the ATM portion of those bank cards, folks!)

 

[Krugger]

Originally posted by: Krugger
FOUND IT!

LINKY
--------
Can merchants set a minimum purchase or charge me a fee for accepting my Visa card?
Visa merchants are not permitted to establish minimum transaction amounts, even on sale items. They also are not permitted to charge you a fee when you want to use your Visa card.

If you run into a problem like this with a merchant, please notify the financial institution that issued you your Visa card. These institutions have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations and can help you document and file your complaint. You'll find their address and/or telephone number on your Visa statement. Their telephone number may also appear on the back of the card itself.
--------

Bump for those that missed this post. Basically if it's a pure CC transaction they can't do that. If it's a PIN transaction they can. end of story.

 

[faZZter]

50 cents........thats all?

Carls and Taco Hell both charge more for using debit card at their stores in our area. (Santa Maria- yes, where they arraigned Michael Weirdo Jackson!)

Anyway....so 50 cents doesn't sound so bad......although I think they should all be "zero" extra.

 

[dethman]

oh my god there is so much ignorance and misinformation in this thread.

 

[Krugger]

Originally posted by: dethman
oh my god there is so much ignorance and misinformation in this thread.

and then there's some good info too :beer:
none of which you seem to have imparted with your post.

 

[0roo0roo]

lots of places charge for debit. only credit is mostly free

 

[JW]

If you entered a PIN, then it was exactly the same thing as an ATM transaction as far as the bank is concerned, and your bank probably hit you with their "non-network ATM" transaction fee. If you did this type of transaction (using a PIN) and McDonald's or any other retailer/ATM operator hit you up for a fee (as opposed to the bank's fee), it would NOT be litsed seperately.

That's not necessarily true. There is a distinction between ATM transactions and POS (point-of-sale) transactions. I have a plain-old-ATM-card with my credit union, and while they will charge me $1.00 for off-network ATM transactions, they don't charge a thing when I make a purchase with my PIN. YMMV depending on your financial institution.

JW