AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[oz_mark]

After all, the lonely 5 cent piece is still legal tender and must be accepted for payment of goods. After the above game, they might actually see that cash also costs them profit and if it is as we all expect, cash turns out to be more expensive than credit cards such as Amex.

...or they may decline to keep you as a customer.

 

[Deleted User]

I'm not 100% sure about this. Yes, its legal tender, but I believe their are guidelines in place about trying to pay for goods with ridiculous amounts of small change. I don't have any clue what level these bars might be set at.

Sadly you are correct, I also thought this would be the case. But it would be a bit of fun to prompt the discussion of a 2% surcharge

Reserve Bank Act 1959, Australian banknotes are legal tender. According to the Currency Act 1965, coins are legal tender for payment of amounts which are limited as follows:

• not exceeding 20c if 1c and/or 2c coins are offered (however, it should be noted that these coins have been withdrawn from circulation but are still legal tender);
• not exceeding $5 if any of 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins are offered;
• not exceeding 10 times the face value if coins in the range 50c to $10 inclusive are offered; and
• to any value if coins of value greater than $10 are offered.

 

[Deleted User]

...or they may decline to keep you as a customer.

No loss there, since this was made quite clear by charging 2% surcharges. I'm more than happy paying surcharges, but I do not believe that the percentages being waived around are correct....!

I would be happier to see surcharges looking more realistically something like this (At least it "looks" believable" rather than rounding up):

• 0.81% per transaction when a MasterCard or Visa is used.
• 1.92% per transaction when an American Express card is used.
• 2.12% per transaction when a Diners Club card is used

and whats with some Hotels charging 3.5% ...!

 

[oz_mark]

I would be happier to see surcharges looking more realistically something like this (At least it "looks" believable" rather than rounding up):

• 0.81% per transaction when a MasterCard or Visa is used.
• 1.92% per transaction when an American Express card is used.
• 2.12% per transaction when a Diners Club card is used

I think the RBA agrees with you. Certainly one of the current lines of inquiry is about blended surcharges (although the merchant is often given the blended charge by their bank).

Public submissions closed last week on the inquiry, and I am not sure what time frame they have for where they go from here.

 

[Moopere]

I would be happier to see surcharges looking more realistically something like this (At least it "looks" believable" rather than rounding up):

• 0.81% per transaction when a MasterCard or Visa is used.
• 1.92% per transaction when an American Express card is used.
• 2.12% per transaction when a Diners Club card is used

and whats with some Hotels charging 3.5% ...!

Whilst I don't disagree with you I'd prefer to not have this rubbish exposed to me at all as the customer. I don't understand the need for it outside of simply finding any excuse possible to vary the advertised cost and the real out of pocket expense.

I mean where does such ridiculousness end? I want to pay a bit less because the waitress didn't spend as much time with me compared to that other guy. Or I only had 1 sugar and not two. Or I drank my coffee faster so freed the table sooner, etc, etc.

Front line service businesses existing in the margins of 1-2% are business waiting to go into receivership. Make a business plan and stick with it. On-charge back-end costs as part of your cost recovery as you do with power/gas/labour/etc/etc. If getting charged by banks to accept cards gets right up _your_ nose as the owner, imagine how your customers feel when you are doing it.

 

[cdp88]

Whilst I don't disagree with you I'd prefer to not have this rubbish exposed to me at all as the customer. I don't understand the need for it outside of simply finding any excuse possible to vary the advertised cost and the real out of pocket expense.

Unfortunately this is all too common. I remember that airlines originally tried to advertise fares exclusive of taxes, fuel levies etc before it was banned. This still happens for hotels in some places in Asia where there are 2 or 3 taxes that must be added on to the quoted hotel rate, which is always exclusive of tax. Why advertise a price that is substantially lower than what I actually have to pay? I don't care what taxes, surcharges, levies apply to the price. Just give me an all in price because I can't avoid any of those charges.

Perhaps businesses think that it creates solidarity between them and consumers: "we don't want to pass on these nasty taxes/surcharges/fuel levies but we have to. So that you can feel better about paying them we'll quote you a price exclusive of those costs and then add them on later." Or, maybe they think that it helps them compete: "I'll lower my prices artificially but add on surcharges to make it more difficult to compare prices."

I think there is a strong case for government intervention here because you won't get a change in practice without a compulsory standard applying to all businesses who use cc surcharges. Although I wonder whether they will be able to make it compulsory to only charge the exact amount of merchant fee they incur. This would really expose the rates different businesses have negotiated. If you read the choice report on surcharges the merchant fees vary significantly across industries and some businesses are able to negotiate better rates than others within the same industry.

 

[oz_mark]

I think there is a strong case for government intervention here because you won't get a change in practice without a compulsory standard applying to all businesses who use cc surcharges. Although I wonder whether they will be able to make it compulsory to only charge the exact amount of merchant fee they incur. This would really expose the rates different businesses have negotiated. If you read the choice report on surcharges the merchant fees vary significantly across industries and some businesses are able to negotiate better rates than others within the same industry.

If they make it so that you can only pass on, at most, the exact amount of the surcharge, this will give various signals to particpants as to what others are being charged. This may help to put downward pressure on such fees.

Policing this is probably not the easiest thing though.

 

[sparoz]

If they make it so that you can only pass on, at most, the exact amount of the surcharge, this will give various signals to particpants as to what others are being charged. This may help to put downward pressure on such fees.

Policing this is probably not the easiest thing though.

Great in theory, but it is hard to implement it. My shop's till cannot add a percentage as a surcharge automatically so the only way is to calculate it manually and add it as a separate item. You can't rely on staff to add 2.11% or whatever it might be as they are bound to get it wrong.

 

[Deleted User]

Great in theory, but it is hard to implement it. My shop's till cannot add a percentage as a surcharge automatically so the only way is to calculate it manually and add it as a separate item. You can't rely on staff to add 2.11% or whatever it might be as they are bound to get it wrong.

What is difficult about adding 2.11%

How much is 2.11% of $95.00?
Solution. Multiply Base × Percent.

Press
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[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD].[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]×[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD].[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Press the percent key % last. And when you press the percent key, do not press = . (At any rate, that is true for simple calculators.)
The answer is displayed:
[TABLE="align: center"]
[TR]
[TD] 2.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


If your calculator does not have a percent key, then express the percent as a decimal and press = . Press

[TABLE="align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD].[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]×[/TD]
[TD].[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]=[/TD]
[TD]2.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[TonyHancock]

What is difficult about adding 2.11%

If shop staff are in that 16-20 year old bracket, the product of our rather marvelous education system, I'd be a little worried about them trying to add anything!

 

[Deleted User]

If shop staff are in that 16-20 year old bracket, the product of our rather marvelous education system, I'd be a little worried about them trying to add anything!

Yet they are trusted to collect cash & in return hand out change...!

I'm also pretty sure they all would be able to tell you what 2.11% was in dollar terms if it was discussed as a "pay rate increase"

 

[TonyHancock]

Yet they are trusted to collect cash & in return hand out change...!

With a camera watching them, and other security cash management systems in place!!!!!

I'm also pretty sure they all would be able to tell you what 2.11% was in dollar terms if it was discussed as a "pay rate increase"

LOL I can't argue with that!

 

[sparoz]

Yet they are trusted to collect cash & in return hand out change...!

I'm also pretty sure they all would be able to tell you what 2.11% was in dollar terms if it was discussed as a "pay rate increase"

They don't have to do anything but read the screen - and they still get that wrong sometimes.

They usually get that wrong too with the wage increase, e.g. somehow magically add 3.11 instead of 2.11.

 

[JohnK]

JB Hi-Fi has what appears to be a 1.9% surcharge on Amex.

I wouldn't normally shop at JB Hi-Fi (they are more expensive than most stores) but they had Stargate 9th season DVD on special for $29.98 so bought it. The 57c surcharge did not make a huge difference but still a nuisance.

 

[pauly7]

JB Hi-Fi has what appears to be a 1.9% surcharge on Amex.

I wouldn't normally shop at JB Hi-Fi (they are more expensive than most stores) but they had Stargate 9th season DVD on special for $29.98 so bought it. The 57c surcharge did not make a huge difference but still a nuisance.

Yup JB HIfi has been a long time offender!

And I agree their prices are usually cough anyway.

 

[hummel]

I have found jb prices not too bad but I don't use them due to the surcharge.

In the past I have price matched jb to DSE and even David jones!

 

[Stephen65]

JB have had a well-publicised surcharge on Amex for a long time, there are signs stuck all over the checkout warning you about it.

I can't remember the last time I bought a DVD or Blu-ray in Australia. So much cheaper from Amazon.

 

[hummel]

Exactly. I only buy locally is voltage/shipping is going to be a problem.

Plus buying from amazon you don't get coughpy sales service.

And people wonder why retail is dead...

 

[JohnK]

This really deserves to be discussed elsewhere but this is a starting point.

I have noticed a sign in the lift at the Mill that as of 1/07/2011 the surcharge for using Amex is 3% and Visa and Mastercard is 1.5%. I don't think there was a surcharge before and I believe the room rates have not changed.

Please don't tell me that hotels did not include bank/credit card commissions in their room rates as a cost to the business until they started to surcharge. So if room rates were already absorbing bank/credit card commissions then what is the surcharge supposed to achieve?

Cream on top.

What is even funnier is that one can buy drinks or meals in the bistro without surcharge yet if charged to the room then this incurs a surcharge. An absolute joke and I still cannot understand how the gutless wonders get away with it....

 

[Deleted User]

This really deserves to be discussed elsewhere but this is a starting point.

I have noticed a sign in the lift at the Mill that as of 1/07/2011 the surcharge for using Amex is 3% and Visa and Mastercard is 1.5%. I don't think there was a surcharge before and I believe the room rates have not changed.

Please don't tell me that hotels did not include bank/credit card commissions in their room rates as a cost to the business until they started to surcharge. So if room rates were already absorbing bank/credit card commissions then what is the surcharge supposed to achieve?

Cream on top.

What is even funnier is that one can buy drinks or meals in the bistro without surcharge yet if charged to the room then this incurs a surcharge. An absolute joke and I still cannot understand how the gutless wonders get away with it....

We can only hope these greedy buggers keep pushing the limits until something will be done, I bet we are all going to question our loyalty to these hotels just simply because of a surcharge only "they" believe is required...