My local firing range does this, as do a number of small, local restaurants. I understand why. I get it. If you are a small business, the CC companies rake you over the coals. I know that it violates their merchant agreement, but I'm not going to rat them out. I want them to stay in business, and being able to recover fees that eliminate their profits does this.

See it all the time.

I have two small businesses... well, one now because one was sold last month.

Every month I get to see exactly what accepting credit cards costs my bottom line. It's a cost of doing business, though. If I cannot accept that fee, then I should not be accepting plastic. Passing along the fee as a surcharge is bad business, IMO, and it is a violation of your merchant account terms of service.

Looking_for_911, you are the type of customer I am; the type who wants to know what the price is without unexpected surcharges or 'minimum purchase' requirements.

Businesses should set their prices accordingly, then offer a discount for cash customers. That way the CC customers are not surprised by unexpected charges, and cash customers are pleasantly rewarded.

yomv

http://www.nontoxicreviews.com/wordpress/?p=477

I own a small retail smoke shop and we do not have a minimum amount to use a credit card nor do we have a surcharge. Cost of doing business, but it does p*## me off when some jerk makes a $2.00 purchase on his Amex gold card. Yes it really happened.

Bernie P

This is my mom. She doesn't carry cash except for an emergency $20 if something weird happens. I am cutting down on carrying cash. The only real reason I still do is to pay cover charges at bars. Otherwise everything I do can be put on the card and I have a detailed record of my spending.

Yea I understand and if I plan on being at the bar, I will open up the tab. But often we will end up stopping at a bar for one drink and then moving on.

My experience:

I had a mechant refuse my transaction (about $7) because it did not meet their minimum for credit card use (don't remember what their minimum was).

I told the cashier that I had no cash on me, and it was a violation of their merchant agreement with Visa. The cashier said he was not the manager and had to follow policy.

I left (pissed off), and wrote a letter to my CC company. After a while, this letter was forwarded to the merchant's bank that handled their CC processing (I know this because somebody I knew at that bank had it land on their desk.) The bank contacted their customer, and the customer ended up leaving the bank over the issue.

Every time I see a "minimum" sign it pisses me off, but I've decided it's not worth the hassle.

i forgot to mention...the sandwich sucked too.

gas stations do it, but they usually post the 2 different prices. here is the one that got me. we use to have a BP credit card, we would get charged extra for using the BP card AT a BP gas station. go figure! i got rid of the card 10+ years ago and i still will not get gas at a BP station.

i would not think anyone could do it unless they posted it, not tell you when you go to pay that the bill is more. with that, we own a scrapbooking store, my wife put up a sign, no credit cards under $10.

debit cards are different, they dont get charged a fee for the debit card, BTW, i dont carry cash , and i dont go anywhere that adds the fee to my bill.

Really? I am sure they are happy about that too. Have you ever run your own business where everyone from all sides are sucking you dry of money through fees. They are loosing money. did you want them to buy you lunch too? Look at it as tips man. People talk to us and complain about how we are so expensive compare to others. I always say, you should have sign with them. What are you doing here?

Processing costs money, whether debit or credit.
With debit, it is usually flat "swipe fee" of anywhere from $.20 to $.60 per card.

absolutely standard here in Australia. Noone other than the big supermarkets takes credit below a certain threshold.

have a heart for these small businesses - the cc's are sucking them dry like huge parasites

the are also your local biz - if they get hurt and die off, then some franchise will be taking the $$ out of the community

I'm all for spending my money locally, but refusing my transaction because of a minimum purchase policy isn't doing them any good.

Cashflyer,

Thank you for understanding what I was saying.

Merchants, just build the fees into the price, be upfront, and don't try to make me (us) feel as if I have to pay extra for the priviledge of doing business with you. And as far as I'm concerned you don't have to "offer a discount for cash." Just build the cost of doing business into your price.

And, what say you, about those that complain of "high prices?" Well, that's where a great attitude and stellar customer service comes in! You make doing business with you so pleasant and reliable people want to trade with you.
In short. Good Attitude!

And for those that say I'm not the type customer they want... how foolish. (that's not good attitude, by the way) I am Exactly the type customer you want. One that Spends Money like it's water through a sieve!

the lady at the lumber yard where i have been buying supplies said they prefer debit, no fees???

thanks. we have had 2 small businesses now and we try to keep prices low, but if we dont have custumers or loose money, we will have to close, and its been tough lately. we did not make the bills last month. one scrapbook store has already closed, another is hurting.

and we have not refused a transaction, bit we do have a sign up. she says so far no one has complained.