A dance club I frequent requires a $25 minimum purchase to use a credit card. And when we use it we also have to show ID. We usually end up just leaving our card at the register and run up a "tab" so we can go over $25. Sometimes we drink a lil too much on $1 drink nights. Do you guys think I should report them to visa about the minimum thing?

ID SOUNDS LIKE FOR THE BOOZE...

$25 IS A DEPOSIT (AS WITH RENTING A CAR) "IF" YOU SPEND $5.00 A REFUND OF $20 IS DUE

"IF" $25 IS A MINIMUM CHARGE THAT IS A RIP-OFF

Do they ID you when you go to pay or when you get the booze? If it is when you get the booze, that is legal. If the ID is for a signed card, report them to Visa/MC/AmEx and complain.

YOU DON'T NEED TO RUN UP TO $25 TO USE YOUR CARD.

Report them to Visa/MC/AmEx.

They can not require a minimum, or force you to pay $25 for $10 worth of drinks. Don't let them get you tricked into spending more.!

What is the cover charge? What do cash customers pay?

Only people who are of legal drinking age are allowed into the club. They check your ID at the door. They also charge more to enter for non-local people, which I didn't care about anyway but shows another way that the club is messed up. There is no deposit. You pay the same for drinks if you pay with cash or card. You just have to purchase a minimum of $25 worth of food or drinks to use your card.

This seems to big a "big problem" here in ORLANDO, Florida, aswell. I frequent some nightclubs around Downtown Orlando, and all clubs in order to go in, they check ID at the door, if you are "under age" you get a diffrent color wrist band, so the bartenders won't serve you drinks, for "over" 21 years of age, they strap you with a diffrent color wrist band so you can get drinks at the bar "without" showing ID.

The part about showing ID with a credit card, has happen to me aswell, In my case, they didn't want to see the ID for buying the drink, they wanted to see the ID, in order for them to accept my credit card- as per club manager, I told them this was against their merchant policy, they really didn't care they said.

Another problem is the "$20.00 to $25.00" "MINIMUN" purchase on a credit card, in order to pay with a credit card. This here I think is unfair and wreak less on the clubs behalf and managers. It's dangerous to force someone to spend X amount of money just to pay with a credit card and enjoy the night at the club, "They did have to pay in order to get in" that "minimun should be more than enough". That's my perspective on this ongoing problem at local nightclubs here in the City of Orlando.

Nah, don't report them. Actually, if you don't have the cash or aren't going to spend $25, what are you doing in a nightclub?

I remember one nice nightclub I used to frequent when I was out of a job. They used to let me charge money on my Diner's Club card.

J

You guys are LETTING THEM WIN and take your money.

Next time you go and have $10 worth of drinks give them the card.

Tell them you won't give ID, as it is signed.

Tell them that you won't authorize a $25 charge, or buy $25 worth of drinks either.

Tell them that if they don't want to take the card, you have no cash so they don't get paid.

See if they take it then...

And REPORT THEM TO VISA/MC/AmEX!!!!

No one is forcing you to spend a certain ammount of money.

You are choosing to spend it and let them win.

Pay with the credit card even if it's $2 or $5 or $15.

The merchant agreement requires them to take it! They can take the card or not get paid... tell them you have no cash.

And don't show ID either for the card.

Club manager's here in this city really don't care about credit card policys. If one does not pay, they will "trespass" the person and that person won't be let back into the club.

Either you pay full cash or stick with the minimun purchase set in order to use a credit card and pay in full using the card. That's the nightclubs way down here.

This in towards persuades a person to drink more than usual, if they don't have cash.

Unless you plan on buying and drinking "SEVEN BOTTLES", small bottles of water. With so many people in nightclubs, they should have "water fountains" in "specific areas" of the club, FREE WATER! Not take advantage of people and sell small bottles of water at inflated prices just for profits. One (1) Small Bottle of "water" can cost from $3.50 to $4.00 or $5.00 per bottle, depends the nightclub here in Orlando, Florida USA.

Read this article:

Guidelines urge licensed venues to offer free water

By Rachel Wells
January 21, 2004

The State Government yesterday announced new guidelines to encourage licensed venues to provide free or inexpensive water to patrons.

The guidelines, developed with the hotel and entertainment industry, have been designed to prevent licensed premises, especially nightclubs and dance venues, from selling bottled water at inflated prices.

The move also follows reports of some nightclubs shutting cold water taps in toilets and bathrooms or designing taps so patrons cannot refill bottles.

Some licensed venues in Melbourne charge as much as $4 for a 300-millilitre bottle of water or $6 for a 600-millilitre bottle.

The average price for bottled water in milk bars and convenience stores is $1.60 to $2 for a 600-millilitre bottle.

"These actions have little regard for the health or safety of customers," Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said yesterday.

"We are encouraging licensed premises to have free drinking water available to patrons at all times, on any premises where liquor is sold or supplied," she said. "When free water is not feasible, drinking water should be available for less than the lowest price at which any alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink is sold on the premises," she said.

The guidelines also stipulate that licensed premises must have cold water available in bathroom and toilet taps at all times.

The guidelines were applauded by industry bodies yesterday, including the Australian Hotels Association and RaveSafe, a Department of Human Services-funded initiative aimed at harm minimisation among party drug users.

"It is essential that drinking water is readily available to prevent dehydration and heatstroke emergency," said Natalie Russell, from RaveSafe.

Ms Pike said she would consider introducing legislation if the guidelines were not followed.

People who attend licensed venues that are not complying with the guidelines are encouraged to report them by telephoning the 24-hour alcohol and drug service, DirectLine on 1800 888 236.

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/...4360763696.html

and one day someone will be stupid enough to decide if I have to pay for that much alchol, then I will drink that much alchol. They will then drive drunk, cause and accident, and the bar will be held liable as well, for allowing an obviously intoxicated person drive away. Sounds strange but I know where it has happened.

I grew up in a rural area of NC. The county used to have a "country" style club. The club decided to start enforcing mininums on charges. A guy who was alone drank all the alchol he had to order, you were not allowed to remove it from the bar. He ended up wrecking and getting killed. His parents sued the club for allowing him to leave. Witness from the bar said he could barely walk, he was so drunk. The bar lost in court and ended up going BK because of the lawsuit.

Then you should drink $10 worth of stuff, let them charge you $25 anyway, show ID... and then report them to the card issuer/Visa/Mc/Amex so you get the money back... and they get fined.

If they want to ban you from the club, tell them to go ahead... their loss.

This is how I would do it. Let them charge you $25 and than whatever the difference is ... dispute it and request a chargeback. There is an option on disputes for "goods and/or services not delivered/rendered." In this case you were charged for $25 in drinks, but only given $10 in drinks. Than, when the bank asks for an explanation tell them there was a minimum for using the credit card or something to that effect.

In this case, the club gets a double whammy: fine and the chargeback.

However, there is a reason why the clubs do this.

When you pay with cash, it's easy. Here's $2.50 for my Coke, $4 for my beer. A few hours later, $2.50 for my Coke, $4 for my beer. That's $13 over a few hours. Two $6.50 bills. Probably not too drastic to run credit cards there.

Where it gets sketchy is when patron a, b, and c are at the club together. They order their first drinks together. But, through the course of an evening Patron A gets 4 more drinks, Patron B gets 3 more drinks and Patron C gets 1 more drink. Each time they use their card. So what you have is 1 larger charge, than 8 more small charges. Multiply that over and over and over and the club is suddenly getting nailed with the standard fee just for swiping the card.

By running the $25 charge one time, the clubs are only hit with one fee and it saves money. As a customer, you are being forced to pre-pay for the drinks.

On the other hand, it's not a problem if you pay cash per drink. There are no costs associated.

Now, what should happen is that they charge you the $25, but if you get $10 in drinks, the final charge should only be the $10. There wouldn't be anything illegal about that at all. It would be perfectly legal. It would simply be an authorization for the evening and similar to what the gas station or a hotel does. If you go over the $25 you are charged the difference. Fair enough, right?

Also, they could get around this by requiring a $25 cash deposit from cash customers. Heck, in Vegas there are shows that require you to buy $7 in drinks. In the end it's one or two drinks. Unless you dring fancy cocktails, you are being overcharged. I'm a soda drinker and hate paying a $7 charge to get a watered down Coke.

Back to the start, I would simply dispute the difference between what you drank and what they charged. Seems perfectly legit to do so to me.

SURE GLAD I DON'T DRINK

But if I did I sure wouldn't let them MINIMUM CHARGE ME $25.00

That's the problem of accepting credit cards, they have to deal with it, like it or not. They accept credit cards, deal with every single transaction as seperate. That's not our problem if it cost them more or not to swipe each card individually.

It's unfair! no matter how you figure it out, they accept credit cards they have to deal with each customer as single transactions, no matter how many time he or she comes back for drinks.

Keep in mind though that it would be perfectly legal if they AUTHORIZED you for $25, than charge you later for your $10 in drinks. Or $2 in drinks. Or $31.50 in drinks.

The problem too is that there is TIME involved in accepting a card. Slide card, input the data, wait for it to authorize, get the thing signed, and put the receipt in drawer. Cash has much less steps.

You also face the fact that you may not always be ordering staright from the bar itself, but from a waitress. Do you really want some waitress running to "the back" with your card a few times each evening?

I think a good thing to do would be to not only contact VISA/MC, but the club's owners (some of the clubs in Orlando are corporations right?). Let them know it's wrong and give them a suggestion (besides charging each time you order, because that just isn't feasible).

The credit policies woulnd't forbid a club from charging you a $25 deposit/authorization, but would require the remainder be returned.

WE HAD A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT (HARDEES--NOW CARL'S JR) THAT YOU PUT IN WHAT EVER YOU WANTED (ESTIMATED) CHARGE FOR YOUR FOOD IN THE CUSTOMER COMPUTER TERMINAL...

VISA/MC

THEY FILLED IN THE REVISED PRICE...

AND JUST PUT IN THE REVISED PRICE AT A LATER TIME THAT DAY...

(SAME AS "IF" YOU LEFT A TIP ONLY IN THE OTHER DIRECTION (lower price)

PRE-AUTHORIZE $10.00...REVISED $8.42

So you order $8.42 in food, but they charge you the $10 estimate ahead of time. Seems fair to me and I would imagine that is perfectly allowed. This is what the club needs to do.

PRE-AUTHORIZE $25.00

DRINK $4.00

REFUND $21.00

or

RE-AUTHORIZE FOR $4.00

Just so you know..in places like these the "minimum purchase" amount might be something that the TABC would also like to know about.

Nightclubs/bars can get in lots of trouble (at least here in Austin) for promoting EXCESSIVE drinking and/or serving clearly DRUNK individuals...I've seen people turned down for more drinks because they'd already had *too much*, and a local nightclub got in trouble because the cops were stopping so many drunk drivers leaving that club (more than any other club)....

I'm sure that the TABC would find this information VERY interesting (assuming those rules/problems are generally the same). The local nightclub here was in danger of losing it's license...

I think I will report them to Visa/MC.


It's funny, the guy bartender downstairs says there's a $25 minumum but when we go to the girl bartender upstairs she happily takes it with no min. Now I go to her for my drinks... and leave a good tip. Plus she's cute