Card users pay dearly

[oz_mark]

the taxi industry in Victoria charges a 10% loading on the total fare, regardless of the type of card (debit or credit) used. amex, mastercard, visa, diners etc.all 10%:evil:.

You can thank cabcharge for that.

 

[drron]

The lowest transaction fee that AMEX offers merchants with no ongoing fees is 1.95%.

Of course they can deal if you threaten to pull it and are in a good location, but that is their base offer.



Ticketing agencies don't charge the fees themselves, these are covered by the event organisers/promoters, so it is their choice to implement a credit card surcharge or not.

Not true.Amex dont know that I am retired and still trying to sign me up.Was offered a rate of 1.27% last year-ie same as the tax office.I am sure the large hotel chains would be getting that rate.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Not true.Amex dont know that I am retired and still trying to sign me up.Was offered a rate of 1.27% last year-ie same as the tax office.I am sure the large hotel chains would be getting that rate.

That's what they offer you if you go to them.

If they chase you, rates are lower. I know of a small business on 1.15%.

 

[lovestotravel]

It's a can of worms really, especially for Amex - they have merchants out there surcharging their customers which hurts their loyalty to Amex.

Amex will quote you about 3.3% as a merchant fee to start with

With a bit of a hassle you will get them down to 2.0% but they mention that this "reduced rate" is ONLY if you agree not to surcharge AMEX..... :shock:

Also, what's the deal on minimum amounts? If someone walks into a store with no minimum and pays for an item which is valued at 50c, what does the credit card company get? 0.81% of this amount (which is 0.405c), or a fixed minimum (e.g. $2 per transaction or 0.81%, whichever is higher), or is it simply aggregated over a period (e.g. day, week, month - and say an administrative/handling charge of $500 per month or 0.81%, whichever is higher)?

**This is important to distinguish. For example, Hilton (and later other hotel brands) Australia started a 1.5% credit card surcharge on bills settled at the desk. Most of us on AFF and FT of course looked at the decision with considerable contempt. Now had Hilton instead increased their hotel room rates across the board, say by $5-$15, and suppose they instituted small increases in their miscellaneous chargeable items, would people have expressed an equal level of contempt?

The most silly minimum EFTPOS amounts I have seen are at a very nice Take away pizza restaurant in Melbourne.

$30 for EFT.
$50 for credit card.

My first visit there a few years back they try to implement the $50 min for credit card and I said I had no other way to pay..... They had an Amex sign on the door an my pizza/pasta was $35... The owner told the girl to accept it..

After a few visits they got to know me and nothing is now said....

The merchant fee is the same if the amount is $10 or $1000. It's the total turnover per month/year that MAY affect the merchant fee you can negotiate.... The more you can put through EFTPOS the better. I would LOVE to know what Woollies/Coles pay :shock:

I would rather a business/airline/hotel put up prices by 1% rather than stuff around with a silly fee. How many people really pay cash when checking out from a hotel ???

One of the issues is differing %s for differing cards that outwardly seem the same:

Platinum cards with some merchant deals will be charged a higher % fee than non-platinum cards.

One of the issues is the retailer would need to hold a huge list in order to properly inform the public of the % fee for their card (if charge was only what the retailer was paying).

Correct again - One of my friends business charges 1% for "Standard Credit Cards" and 2% for "Gold/Platinum" credit cards...

Doesn't accept Amex either as they wouldn't budge from the 3.3% fee........





As I have always said I will shop/buy/eat at establishments that firstly accept Amex, and secondly do not surcharge.

Of course with hotels it's a bit harder to simply go elsewhere, unlike a restaurant/small business.

 

[tuapekastar]

I heard a merchant relate on radio earlier this week how at a rate of 3.5% he decided to 'leave' AMEX. When he rang and told them they offered (and he accepted) a rate of 1%.

 

[serfty]

the taxi industry in Victoria charges a 10% loading on the total fare, regardless of the type of card (debit or credit) used. amex, mastercard, visa, diners etc.all 10%:evil:.

Actually, in the Victorian Taxi industry there's an extra 11% applied when using credit cards; for Cabcharge it's 10%.

Why?

The Cabcharge 10% is not subject to GST while the 10% CC loading applied be the taxi companies is (so there is the additional 1% - being 10% of 10%)!

 

[lovestotravel]

I heard a merchant relate on radio earlier this week how at a rate of 3.5% he decided to 'leave' AMEX. When he rang and told them they offered (and he accepted) a rate of 1%.

1% for Amex that's VERY good!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flying Fox]

Working in the industry, yes I get very annoyed (language was toned down) at QF for their $7.70 CC fee when I know that even small merchants can achieve a 0.99% MSF on Visa & Mastercard.

Large merchants can achieve 0.77% for all cards and thus QF is paying 0.77% at worst! Hence my $200 return airfare should only being charged no more that $2.00

Grrrr....

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Like cruiser, I always make a point of tipping in AU.

Restraunts, cabs, small incidental items etc... Recent example was cab fare home which was $16. I DO NOT carry coins under any circumstances and do not want them as change either. So I round up to the nearest note and consider it a TIP. What boils me is surcharges - especially the 10% in cabs, so now I pay cash, ask for a receipt and don't tip 1 cent.

I do this with everywhere I go and it's annoying because I've built up a massive pile of change on my desk at home.

No surcharges = I pay more. Surcharges = lost business. Simple fact.

 

[anat0l]

How many people really pay cash when checking out from a hotel ???

I put that question to quite a few hotels that I stayed in Australia after the 1.5% surcharge was instituted.

Now before you lunge at my throat claiming that the front desk clerks were just sheep reiterating managerial rigmarole, let me tell you that these answers were their (the front desk clerks) recounts. And the results were pretty shocking (or not so shocking, in a way). There were some of us who couldn't "care less" and copped the 1.5% (even though they did explicitly tell everyone that there is a surcharge), but there were many others now switching to cash, even for folios that were over $1,000. One clerk even told me there were tourists who had stayed a while and run up a few thousand on the folio, and paid the whole amount in cold hard cash. No word of a lie, but I'll leave you to decide the sanity of some customers...

For me, even if it is an extra $15 in every $1,000, the lure of credit card points and the odd feeling of having to withdraw and then hand over a considerable sum of cash is enough for me to acquiesce to this odd practice and cop the surcharge.

 

[Mal]

I put that question to quite a few hotels that I stayed in Australia after the 1.5% surcharge was instituted.

At various hotels where the surcharge occurs, I've noted recently that the staff are more "tender" and "open" about announcing the surcharge. I suspect they've had 1000 lashes from overseas visitors before...

The hotel industry is one of the worst ones in Australia ripping people off, and one that needs to be reigned in significantly...

 

[FuzzyAUS]

While i agree carrying around large amounts of cash is not a smart thing.. i am thinking just once to pay for one of the meetings i run at a hotel in cash, would be 3-5k in total. so the 1.5% is between $50-$75 in fees.

I'm not worried so much about the 1.5%, but what annoys me is that credit cards were really brought in to save people carrying cash, and people receiving it to have to bank it or have the potential for it to be stolen. Now days we are being hit with fees to simplify a system.

I'm sure any hotel wouldn't want their admin team to be walking to the bank with 10+k cash, makes for an easy target and cash is expensive to insure against.

Just a few random thoughts.
Fuzz

 

[Must...Fly!]

The issue for me isn't so much the fees, it is when I have no alternative. I just feel like I'm being taken for a ride.

Example being Family and Friend rates at IHG. IME, the hotel will do exactly as the rate specifies and charge the stay to your card between the day of booking and day of arrival. Usually it's the next business day as I see evidenced on my statement.

Clearly I have no alternative method of payment here!

What is also annoying is that I have only ever had one hotel (CP Darwin) that have mailed my confirmation of them billing my card along with the print out from the eftpos machine, and a full receipt.

 

[JohnK]

Surcharges have become a nice way for businesses to increase profits without increasing prices.

Prepaid my hotel stay in Mackay on the weekend with Wotif. They have a booking fee and a 3.5% Amex surcharge. :shock: Anyway purchased from the hotel internet access for 2 nights and the cost came to $10. Checked out on Sunday and paid with my Amex.

Manager: There is a 3.5% surcharge on Amex
Me: No problem
Manager: (looks around for calculator)
Me: Surcharge is 35 cents
Manager: (Looks at me)
Me: Yes surcharge is really 35 cents. Trust me.
Manager: Spends the next 5 minutes trying to enter surcharge separately on invoice while there was 3-4 people waiting behind me.

I wonder if the 35 cents was worth spending 5 minutes sorting it out?

I do this with everywhere I go and it's annoying because I've built up a massive pile of change on my desk at home.

If it is really bothering you that much, I will gladly come over and take away the massive pile of change from you free of charge.

 

[markis10]

I wonder if the 35 cents was worth spending 5 minutes sorting it out?

Time has a different value in Mackay, especially on the weekend! Although you do have a good point, the cost of the extras in terms of admin exceed the revenue, but not everyone thinks through what they are doing.

 

[anat0l]

I wonder if the 35 cents was worth spending 5 minutes sorting it out?

It's not the fault of having a surcharge that it takes this person 5 minutes or more to work out a simple math problem.

That can be attributed to the extremely poor numeracy skills which plague the majority of Australians and is only getting worse. (To say the mental arithmetic abilities of most Australians is well and truly in the toilet is a compliment).


Of course, that's a contrived example. If it were say a surcharge of 0.81% on a bill totalling $247.55, that's a little different. However, from the sounds of what you were going on about, the clod on the counter probably might not have been able to calculate that successfully even with the aid of a calculator!

 

[BAM1748]

Surcharges have become a nice way for businesses to increase profits without increasing prices.

Prepaid my hotel stay in Mackay on the weekend with Wotif. They have a booking fee and a 3.5% Amex surcharge. :shock: Anyway purchased from the hotel internet access for 2 nights and the cost came to $10. Checked out on Sunday and paid with my Amex.

Manager: There is a 3.5% surcharge on Amex
Me: No problem
Manager: (looks around for calculator)
Me: Surcharge is 35 cents
Manager: (Looks at me)
Me: Yes surcharge is really 35 cents. Trust me.
Manager: Spends the next 5 minutes trying to enter surcharge separately on invoice while there was 3-4 people waiting behind me.

I wonder if the 35 cents was worth spending 5 minutes sorting it out?


If it is really bothering you that much, I will gladly come over and take away the massive pile of change from you free of charge.

Good one. :mrgreen:

 

[lovestotravel]

Surcharges have become a nice way for businesses to increase profits without increasing prices.

Prepaid my hotel stay in Mackay on the weekend with Wotif. They have a booking fee and a 3.5% Amex surcharge. :shock: Anyway purchased from the hotel internet access for 2 nights and the cost came to $10. Checked out on Sunday and paid with my Amex.

Manager: There is a 3.5% surcharge on Amex
Me: No problem
Manager: (looks around for calculator)
Me: Surcharge is 35 cents
Manager: (Looks at me)
Me: Yes surcharge is really 35 cents. Trust me.
Manager: Spends the next 5 minutes trying to enter surcharge separately on invoice while there was 3-4 people waiting behind me.

I wonder if the 35 cents was worth spending 5 minutes sorting it out?


If it is really bothering you that much, I will gladly come over and take away the massive pile of change from you free of charge.

HA - Yeh I have had that happen at a few restaurants and the like.... They expect you to say no to the surcharge and then totally struggle to work it out.

As for Wotif.com I will NEVER use them again as the CEO gave a big donation to the Greens at the last election.

 

[BAM1748]

As for Wotif.com I will NEVER use them again as the CEO gave a big donation to the Greens at the last election.

I you check the donation registers, I think companies spread their donations around. If I stopped using companies that donated to groups I didn't support myself I would be sitting at home starving. :shock:

 

[anat0l]

As for Wotif.com I will NEVER use them again as the CEO gave a big donation to the Greens at the last election.

Well, that's left field for this topic (no pun intended), but we do have a good indication of your political standing now.