Welcome Back, MINIMUM PURCHASE signs for Credit Card Usage!!

[ShawnD1]

use credit card becuse its faster than cash. lol like what 2 seconds faster on a machine at walmart? ive been at walmart and safeway where i had to swipe my debit card a couple of times because the sale didnt go through for some reason and im sure im not the only one who has experienced this. like the Dr. Pizza said a few post up said about his pizza shop, those old machines take a long time to dial out.

Using cash takes a considerable amount of time. First I need to look for and count all of the money - a $5 bill, 1 quarter, 2 dimes, 2 pennies = $5.47 total.
After I've handed that off, the cashier then counts the money to make sure I really gave her that much. She gives me a receipt, and I go away. Here we had to count money twice instead of just swiping a card without doing any counting or hunting for coins.

That's when paying the exact amount. The shit really hits the fan when I'm not paying the exact amount. Say the bill comes out to $8.47. I hand her $13.47. She'll try to take just the $10 and hand back the other $3.47 I gave her. I then need to explain for the next 2 fucking minutes why I gave her that amount and what I'm looking for is a $5 bill for change instead of a bunch of coins.

Then there are the times when they don't have large denominations for change so they give you a bunch of quarters and shit. I need to spend the next 30 seconds counting this bullshit just to make sure you're not ripping me off. I've worked in retail before and I know that trick just as well as anyone else (short change the person by giving them a wad of coins and hoping they don't count it).

 

[OutHouse]

If you think the speed of sale has anything to do with this law, I have a bridge you might be interested in.

im talking about you guys saying using credit cards to buy shit because "its faster".

I said. i do not based my transaction on which one is faster.

 

[endervalentine]

I never carry cash. I use my debit/credit card for convenience. The only time I use cash is when I pay my barber.

If an establishment wants to set a $10 minimum, I'll just take my business elsewhere.

this ... plenty of places to eat for lunch

 

[QueBert]

Cash is NEVER 100% secure, everything about plastic is more secure. Every transaction, even debit cards, have SOME "this transaction shouldn't have occurred I'm not responsible for the charges" method. Sure it can take a while, but you will get your money back. For a cash transaction, this would take a visit small claims court. Even if it's not 100%, it's better than cash.


All the people who have their cash robbed at 7-11 will say the same thing.

Not gonna bother with the fraud, because as we all know, there's never an fraud when cash is involved...

Why would small claims court come up if I paid cash? I've used nothing but cash for my physical purchases forever now. And I've never had a single problem, ever. Cash is more secure, I pull out the $8 my lunch cost, end of transaction. If I use plastic any number of things could happen. And while a lot can be reversed, it's almost never easy or quick. Show me a web site full of people complaining about a cash transaction they made at a store. Your 7-11 scenario is valid, but I can show you more people who've had CC & debit card problems than people who've gotten mugged for cash, a lot more. And a lot of the time the person who had the debit fraud committed against them don't know about it until it's too late. That's assuming they have one of the uber rare banks that will actually credit back a debit card. I carry $50 tops. I'd rather have $50 robbed from me at 7-11, than to have my debit defrauded and me being out $500, but that's just me...

 

[TruePaige]

im talking about you guys saying using credit cards to buy shit because "its faster".

I said. i do not based my transaction on which one is faster.

When I used to go to Tim Hortons with my AmEx, I'd just tap and go. Took literally two seconds.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Exactly. I hate carrying cash, it takes up room, opens me up to theft much easier, and just in general is more of a pain in the ass.

And I know retailers hate checks, why they would want to go the opposite direction that they've been going all these years is beyond me.

Well what the idiots in congress don't understand is that ultimately someone is paying to process checks too, be it the retailer or the bank.

This is another bill aimed at penalizing corporate America.

Fast food and places like 7-11 are smart and include in the price of their items the cost of CC transactions as most people now days are going to swip a card rather than pay cash.

 

[Phoenix86]

Why would small claims court come up if I paid cash?

Ever disputed a payment? Buy something, get screwed and want to cancel the transaction if the merchant doesn't want to refund.
Cash payment=go to court. Can take months. AND you'll never do it for less than $10.
CC=go to bank, dispute charge, money is back. Takes a few days to a couple weeks.

Show me a web site full of people complaining about a cash transaction they made at a store. Your 7-11 scenario is valid, but I can show you more people who've had CC & debit card problems than people who've gotten mugged for cash, a lot more.

There's also hundreds of thousands more transactions in plastic than cash. Daily. But you're missing the point. Fix issues with plastic (there aren't many), don't drive people back to using cash or worse yet, CHECKS.

And a lot of the time the person who had the debit fraud committed against them don't know about it until it's too late. That's assuming they have one of the uber rare banks that will actually credit back a debit card. I carry $50 tops. I'd rather have $50 robbed from me at 7-11, than to have my debit defrauded and me being out $500, but that's just me...

People can monitor their accounts, "too late" isn't valid. Personal responsibility. Uber rare banks refund invalid plastic charges? I have had 3 fraudulent charges on my CCs over time, with 3 different financial institutions. All refunded the money back, worst case took ~16 days.

I have been robbed twice, banks didn't give me that money back. I have lost cash before as well, didn't get that back either.

I'll take being defrauded out of $500 over losing $50 in cash any day of the week and twice on sunday.

Paper has 0 security. Plastic, while far from perfect, has some and that has been enough to protect me every time.

 

[DrPizza]

Using cash takes a considerable amount of time. First I need to look for and count all of the money - a $5 bill, 1 quarter, 2 dimes, 2 pennies = $5.47 total.
After I've handed that off, the cashier then counts the money to make sure I really gave her that much. She gives me a receipt, and I go away. Here we had to count money twice instead of just swiping a card without doing any counting or hunting for coins.

That's when paying the exact amount. The shit really hits the fan when I'm not paying the exact amount. Say the bill comes out to $8.47. I hand her $13.47. She'll try to take just the $10 and hand back the other $3.47 I gave her. I then need to explain for the next 2 fucking minutes why I gave her that amount and what I'm looking for is a $5 bill for change instead of a bunch of coins.

Then there are the times when they don't have large denominations for change so they give you a bunch of quarters and shit. I need to spend the next 30 seconds counting this bullshit just to make sure you're not ripping me off. I've worked in retail before and I know that trick just as well as anyone else (short change the person by giving them a wad of coins and hoping they don't count it).

Yeah, about twice a week, on average, there's some douchebag like that. Otherwise, cash is faster than credit cards at the typical mom& pop type of shop as discussed in this thread. At the pizza shop, I can ring up, give change to, and serve multiple people a minute when it's busy, provided they're regular customers (most are) and not dumbasses. If someone's busy counting their money, I move on to the next customer; I don't stand there waiting.

 

[Phoenix86]

I don't see why some of you still believe debit cards are better for you than credit cards or are still using debit cards.

See, now if the law addressed this issue instead this would be a different conversation all together.

 

[TruePaige]

Yeah, about twice a week, on average, there's some douchebag like that. Otherwise, cash is faster than credit cards at the typical mom& pop type of shop as discussed in this thread. At the pizza shop, I can ring up, give change to, and serve multiple people a minute when it's busy, provided they're regular customers (most are) and not dumbasses. If someone's busy counting their money, I move on to the next customer; I don't stand there waiting.

Mom & Pop stores? Absolutely.

But you can't beat the speed of tap and go..

 

[ShawnD1]

Mom & Pop stores? Absolutely.

But you can't beat the speed of tap and go..

And when they don't take credit card, you'll find me there giving exact change.

 

[Gothgar]

dang, that will suck at Sonic at happy hour, 1 dollar cherry limeades no more unless I have cash

 

[TruePaige]

And when they don't take credit card, you'll find me there giving exact change.

I don't shop anywhere outside of yard sales that don't take a credit card.

 

[Terabyte]

lol @ you guys hating on people using CC for small $ purchases

Go to any college campus and you'll see many students using a CC for buying stuff like soda, candy, and etc.

 

[DrPizza]

And when they don't take credit card, you'll find me there giving exact change.

Okay, Mr. Passive Aggressive.

A lot of idiots are like that. You'll set the $10 bill down and start fumbling around for change. Long before you find the first coin, your $2.80 change or however much you have coming back to you will be in front of you, and that $10 will be in the register. I'm not waiting.

Your solution, since you're so brilliant? You'll get the change before you look for the bill. I'll simply say, "I'll get that from you as soon as you're ready" and wait on the next customer. You'll be standing there with money in your hand, your pizza sitting on the counter, until I get around to getting the money from you. You don't get 1 on 1 attention until your entire order is completed. You don't get to waste my time. I get to waste your time though.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

lol @ you guys hating on people using CC for small $ purchases

Go to any college campus and you'll see many students using a CC for buying stuff like soda, candy, and etc.

The vending machines at my college all had a credit card option.

 

[Jeff7]

The vending machines at my college all had a credit card option.

Side note - I love the on-campus contradictions:
- The college's financial aid department will tell students to avoid expensive convenience foods when possible.
- They'll also tell you to avoid signing up for many credit cards


All around campus, there are card-pay vending machines, with the stuff priced about 25-50% higher than at a vending machine at a mall. ($1-$1.25 for a candy bar, $1.50 for a soda) The campus cafeterias had their own stuff - something like $2.50 or $3.00 for a burger, and so on. Expensive. The meal plans themselves cost a lot on top of that. ($1000 base cost, then you start buying meal points.)
And finally, the bookstore was trying to get people to sign up for some credit card. But it was ok, because you'd get a chance to win a $300 gift certificate to buy more books.


"Be careful how you spend you money. Now buy some overpriced junk, goddammit!"

 

[PingSpike]

Okay, Mr. Passive Aggressive.

A lot of idiots are like that. You'll set the $10 bill down and start fumbling around for change. Long before you find the first coin, your $2.80 change or however much you have coming back to you will be in front of you, and that $10 will be in the register. I'm not waiting.

Your solution, since you're so brilliant? You'll get the change before you look for the bill. I'll simply say, "I'll get that from you as soon as you're ready" and wait on the next customer. You'll be standing there with money in your hand, your pizza sitting on the counter, until I get around to getting the money from you. You don't get 1 on 1 attention until your entire order is completed. You don't get to waste my time. I get to waste your time though.

I gotta be honest with you man, I don't think I'd go to that Pizza place you're talking about. It sounds like its run by the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld...I'm just trying to buy a pie here and there's all these unwritten rules I've never seen applied anywhere else. What happens when some one gets out a checkbook? Are they decapitated by a swinging blade hidden in the ceiling?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I gotta be honest with you man, I don't think I'd go to that Pizza place you're talking about. It sounds like its run by the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld...I'm just trying to buy a pie here and there's all these unwritten rules I've never seen applied anywhere else. What happens when some one gets out a checkbook? Are they decapitated by a swinging blade hidden in the ceiling?

Yeah, I think that's really lame to move on to the next customer. It's not like it takes me 8 minutes to find 5 pennies. Wait an extra 15 or so. Almost every store's cashiers will do that.

The thing about CC and signing has slowed people down, but at Target for example, you can spend like 25 or something without having to sign. 98% of my purchases there now are no-sign. Swipe and it says "Transaction is complete."

I don't like people who use a credit card to charge $4 worth of shit. Regardless of what Visa might say on their commercials it's NOT faster to use a CC than cash. Cash is quicker by a long shot. It's especially apparent when I have 4 buttfuckers in front of me who all want to use their Visa to buy a bag of chips and a soda, the extra time adds up.

Like I said, look at Target's model. Actually this model is used by Walgreens to and Costco. Look how fast Costco cashiers are. They take your Costco card as the previous customer is finishing up, scan and start scanning your items the minute their payment is done. When they're done scanning, they ask me if I want it on the card because I have a Costco AMEX card. Bam, no signage, nothing. Done.

The fact is instead of wasting a cashier's time counting money, dealing with possible errors, you could just do a swipe and done. Zero effort practically.

The only time it's slower is when anal retentive stores want to look at your signature, ask for ID, compare names, make you sign a damn slip, blah blah blah. Yeah. Takes forever doesn't it. Well, Target, Walgreens, Costco are certainly moving in the right direction. I bet you there's another dozen national chains that are moving in that direction too.

 

[Kev]

Okay, Mr. Passive Aggressive.

A lot of idiots are like that. You'll set the $10 bill down and start fumbling around for change. Long before you find the first coin, your $2.80 change or however much you have coming back to you will be in front of you, and that $10 will be in the register. I'm not waiting.

Your solution, since you're so brilliant? You'll get the change before you look for the bill. I'll simply say, "I'll get that from you as soon as you're ready" and wait on the next customer. You'll be standing there with money in your hand, your pizza sitting on the counter, until I get around to getting the money from you. You don't get 1 on 1 attention until your entire order is completed. You don't get to waste my time. I get to waste your time though.

Wow man. You're like the bad boy of pizza. I know I'm impressed.

 

[slayer202]

i'm not reading through the whole thread to see if it was answered, but how much do the credit cards charge per transaction, aside from the percentage? whats the base fee?

 

[xCxStylex]

Credit card companies charge business a small fee whenever a transaction occurs, this is how credit card companies make $$.

Small businesses can't really afford to take the hit when someone buys something for such a small amount, such as the guy who posted about people buying $2 items.

While I also swear by credit cards (rewards, baby), convenience, tracking spending, ect blah blah, I also don't want to screw over small businesses either. For corporate chains or franchises where I assume they're making bank (e.g. McDonalds), I won't hesitate to use my CC for a $5 transaction.

I feel businesses should have retain the right to refuse service, customers, or sales, just as you refuse to pay cash. No ones forcing you to go to Arco or small coffee places.

This is fucking bullshit.

I guess I'll get more detailed.

I use my debit card for day to day purchases, I never carry cash. I already avoid people who make me pay to use my card, IE Arco Gas, small coffee places, etc etc.

I'm not going to start carrying around cash just to cater to these stupid fucking places.

 

[DrPizza]

Yeah, I think that's really lame to move on to the next customer. It's not like it takes me 8 minutes to find 5 pennies. Wait an extra 15 or so. Almost every store's cashiers will do that.

May seem lame, but the place is incredibly busy, one of the most popular places for lunch because you can get in and out in minutes. As I said above, I can take the order for, serve, tell them how much money they owe, and give change to multiple customers per minute. Most know exactly how much money it's going to cost them, and most are ready to pay when they place their order. Many people come in as small groups of 3 or 4 people, each placing their own individual order. I'll wait on them all at once, tell them each how much their individual orders are, then simply ring in the total of those orders on the register to save time. It's a pizza shop, not Walmart. I (and many of the customers) know exactly how much each order is going to come to. Regular customers who come in for a sub might say "half steak yes no yes and a can of pepsi." A group of people might walk up to the counter & with a nod of my head and lifting of eyebrows I hear the first person say "daily, pepsi" "Me too." "I'll get one with dew." "4.60 each please" <grab the drinks, guy cooking has already tossed 3 plates of 4 slices of pizza each on the counter> I'll tap in 1380, hit the button to open the register for change & start grabbing 40 cents, using both hands. I don't think it even takes 10 seconds to get the money and hand back change to 3 people. So, as for waiting 15 seconds as someone suggested above - fuck em. We don't have time.

Quite honestly, any time I've gone to some fast food type of place, as they rang up my order and I pulled a $20 out of my pocket, even if I realize that I have the exact change in my pocket, if there's a line behind me, I don't hold up the rest of the line while I dig around for the exact change. I'm not a selfish prick willing to hold everyone else up for my own convenience of having 5 fewer coins in my pocket.

 

[Fear No Evil]

It amazes me that this thread has gone nearly 200 posts and nobody has stated the obvious. Wouldn't it make more sense for the feds to regulate the fees charged by the processors rather than limiting the consumer's options?

WTF. Pass a law saying that if someone charges a nickel then the processor can't charged them a $2 fee. Problem solved. Instead, government goes the stupid route - Allowing a minimum charge amount. Which only hurts smalls business who will lose customers, or will hurt the consumer who will lose out in ATM fees. Any large retailer won't charge a minimum fee anyway. This just punishes small businesses who can't afford to eat the cost.

As a consumer I will rarely do business with cash only places. Only if they offer an EXTREMELY unique service or product that I can't get elsewhere.

 

[Turin39789]

May seem lame, but the place is incredibly busy, one of the most popular places for lunch because you can get in and out in minutes. As I said above, I can take the order for, serve, tell them how much money they owe, and give change to multiple customers per minute. Most know exactly how much money it's going to cost them, and most are ready to pay when they place their order. Many people come in as small groups of 3 or 4 people, each placing their own individual order. I'll wait on them all at once, tell them each how much their individual orders are, then simply ring in the total of those orders on the register to save time. It's a pizza shop, not Walmart. I (and many of the customers) know exactly how much each order is going to come to. Regular customers who come in for a sub might say "half steak yes no yes and a can of pepsi." A group of people might walk up to the counter & with a nod of my head and lifting of eyebrows I hear the first person say "daily, pepsi" "Me too." "I'll get one with dew." "4.60 each please" <grab the drinks, guy cooking has already tossed 3 plates of 4 slices of pizza each on the counter> I'll tap in 1380, hit the button to open the register for change & start grabbing 40 cents, using both hands. I don't think it even takes 10 seconds to get the money and hand back change to 3 people. So, as for waiting 15 seconds as someone suggested above - fuck em. We don't have time.

Quite honestly, any time I've gone to some fast food type of place, as they rang up my order and I pulled a $20 out of my pocket, even if I realize that I have the exact change in my pocket, if there's a line behind me, I don't hold up the rest of the line while I dig around for the exact change. I'm not a selfish prick willing to hold everyone else up for my own convenience of having 5 fewer coins in my pocket.

You take all of this exactly 472.34% too seriously.