Small Biz owner copped attitude about CC acceptance

[Caramel_Pinay]

I always use my Entertainment book to patronize new and interesting biz in our town. Well I went to this interesting Burger/Soda restaurant that looked excellent. Unfortunately they did not accept Entertainment coupons "after 5pm" :roll: (not written on the coupon but placed on a sign in-store).

 

I still decided to try them out b/c everything was fresh and made-to-order. This was by no means a small establishment. They had a dining area to support at least 75 customers, a large restroom, and they are an anchor store in a big shopping area. Plus a jukebox and "dance/hangout" area.

 

Because they are in a shopping are with several HUGE bookstore, restaurants, and off a major exit, I assumed they took CC's since I stood in line for 1/2 hour since they were so packed.

 

It came time to pay and I pulled out my Visa. We dont' take Visa. I said well, do you take Amex or MC? Nope. Ok, do you take debit cards???

 

Nope. :shock: :? :x

 

He proceeded to say: <insert nasty voice and eye rolling here> I'm just a small independent business owner ma'am and I refuse to do that. What do you think we run here, some kinda money down-the-drain operation? If you wanna use your CC then you need to run over to another shop where the owner doesn't care about making money.(WTF?) Why would you even ask me if I take CC's and you see I'm running an independent shop? If I took CC's, I'd lose customers. :shock: :?:

 

Me: Well sir, I wasn't trying to offend you but many people use electronic money nowadays, and I just don't keep that much cash on me.(My total was $36, but I only had $30 in my pocket) You'd make a lot of money if you accepted credit cards.

 

Him: Never...Next in line please. :?

 

So all the food was in bags and the cups were handed over to go to the fountain. I told him that as a mommy I need to keep at least $20 in cash for true emergencies, and not for Ice Cream Soda Shops. :roll:

 

Sir: Please take off everything except for the kid's meal and the Shirley Temple Cream. New total: $6.54

 

Him: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

Me: :roll: :roll: :x ...whatever :roll: He just lost a long-time customer. :evil:

[TammyB]

you were way to nice about it you should have said :finger:

JMO

[johnnybgood]

Too bad you can't PFB the bastad!

[shadowzwench]

Lovely way to run a business! Sheesh! :roll:

[Cabledude]

I had this problem once at a business dinner in downtown Philadelphia. Took four guys out to a steak joint, pretty classy, and just assumed they took plastic. Bill was $185 and when the waitress came and I handed her my Visa I about chocolate myself when she said they did not take plastic. :shock:

 

Fortunately they were nice about it and let me leave to run down the street to a money machine. Talk about embarrased. I ALWAYS check before hand as you never know who is anti-plastic......

[mrhope]

pinay is that you in the picture in the sig? also i know in florida when any business only accepts cash i believe you can get them in trouble (unreported income - no true way to verify) hence forcing this business owner to accept another form of payment (personal checks)

[liquidone]

Everybody knows you make more money by accepting plastic.

 

I am sure the truth is that he has bad credit and they will not extend him credit merchant privileges. Actually, it is probably worse than that, he is probably on the merchant black list, as even people with poor credit can get merchant account through various ISO's that accept the risk. Obviously when someone gets that defensive, he has something to hide and he wanted to turn all the attention and blame away from him. He was actually embarassed way deep down inside. If I ran a business that didnt take credit, I would aplogize proffusely to the customer and tell them that I wished I could accept credit cards, but that I am just a small business owner and cant and maybe get some sympathy and understanding rather than insult the customers !

 

He is a loser !

[Auto_Body_Chick]

chocolate myself :shock:

 

 

LMAO!

[virginiagentleman]

For fast-food type restaurants, credit card acceptance can be very expensive because most purchases are for smaller amounts---let's say $5.

 

Merchant fees can take a big chunk out of profits for small businesses with a low average dollar per ticket amount. And since Visa/MC rules prohibit minimum purchase requirements, lots of independently-owned fast food places operate on a cash-only basis. It's not necessarily that the owner in this case can't get a merchant account, it's probably that he doesn't think the potential for extra business is worth the fees he'd have to pay for CC's.

 

A friend of mine owns a restaurant in town that's cash or check only because he doesn't want to pay the CC merchant fees, and makes a small fortune with one of those mini-bank ATMs near the takeout counter. $1.50 per cash withdrawal adds up...and he makes much of the profit in this case rather than the banks!

[TxQuiltGirl]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

[GEORGE]

IT IS A PROVEN FACT THAT BUSINESSES THAT TAKE CREDIT CARDS HAVE A HIGHER PER CUSTOMER SALE

 

I would have said NEW TOTAL IS $0.00

[DanS]

I've had a few occasions where I was surprised the business did not take a credit card. In every instance, they were gracious about accepting a personal check or telling me where a cash machine was located.

 

CP, you might let the publisher of that coupon book know about their "5pm" disclaimer - probably not legit - and their attitude about credit cards.

[centex]

IT IS A PROVEN FACT THAT BUSINESSES THAT TAKE CREDIT CARDS HAVE A HIGHER PER CUSTOMER SALE

 

I would have said NEW TOTAL IS $0.00

 

But, that doesn't always translate to higher profit per customer...we just recently started taking credit cards in our office, and many of those processor fees can eat into the profit really quick.

 

Considering that many people going into a walk-up restaurant are probably spending less than $20, it simply isn't worth the hassle for vendors like the one Caramel went to...the vendor is left with two unpleasant choices- raise prices to accomodate the expected processing fees (penalizes the cash customer who now pays more) or take less of a profit (not real appealing for the merchant).

[plasticman]

pinay youre too nice girl.. should have flipped him one and left.

 

I do understand his predicament, but, what a poor attitude. I would not have purchased anything.

 

I really despise stores which sign up for the entertainment book then add disclaimers after the fact that you have no way of knowing about until you visit the establishment which is the whole purpose of the promotion anyway from their pov... and/or make you feel like you're doing something wrong using it! what a rip... :evil: :roll:

[aiken]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.  

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

 

What are those fees? I thought V/MC took about 3% off the total. What difference does it make if you hvae 100 $8 sales or 1 $800 sale? Just wondering.

[aiken]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.  

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

 

What are those fees? I thought V/MC took about 3% off the total. What difference does it make if you hvae 100 $8 sales or 1 $800 sale? Just wondering.

[aiken]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.  

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

What are those fees? I thought V/MC took about 3% off the total. What difference does it make if you hvae 100 $8 sales or 1 $800 sale? Just wondering.

[Adrian]

It seems to me that any fast food joint in a major shopping area with lines that cause 20 minutes of waiting time AND charges 36 bucks for a couple of hamburgers and cokes. Could well afford to pay Visa a 3% fee on sales. I think this guy probably couldn't get the merchant acct bc of bad credit.

[wildcat97]

For fast-food type restaurants, credit card acceptance can be very expensive because most purchases are for smaller amounts---let's say $5.

 

It can't be that bad; McD's, Burger King, Capt D's, Guthries (regional chicken place), Arbys's, Subway, and several local Chinese and Mexican takeout places all take check cards here.

[jwbbx]

I don't mind a place that doesn't take plastic as long as they TELL you in advance. Steak and Shake (personal downfall) didn't for years and it never stopped me from going.

 

There's an independent grocery chain (Woodman's) here that doesn't take CC, just cash and debit cards. They're always mobbed, but that probably has to do with them being 20-25% cheaper than the Albertson and Safeway clones we're stuck with here in Chicago. They DO provide a fee free ATM too.

[TxQuiltGirl]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.  

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

What are those fees? I thought V/MC took about 3% off the total. What difference does it make if you hvae 100 $8 sales or 1 $800 sale? Just wondering.

 

I can't remember, it's been so long since I checked into it, but there were fees to get set up to accept the cards (and the fees weren't cheap as I recall), fees to accept the cards, fees from MY bank for processing the cards. It was a LOT of fees. I can't remember all of the breakdown, but I remember thinking that it would take about 18 months for me to even break even, based on 50% of my sales being credit cards and less than $20 each (my avg sale was about $15 on a cash basis, but I knew that handmade soaps and candles were a luxury item and I would only do really good business around Christmas, Mother's Day and maybe Valentine's day). Since I already had a high overhead (supplies, equipment, packaging, testing and space rentals), it was a BIG expense to start accepting cards. Also, for me personally, most of my sales were at craft shows, so it cost even more for me to get the phone line to run the card machine.

 

I can't find my analysis, but it seems to me that I figured I would have to increase the cost of my product an average of 10% just to keep my profit margins the same. Of course this was a few years ago, and now I think it's actually cheaper to set up. And I remember there was a clause that said you couldn't refuse a charge of more than $1 ... which was ludicrous because then you'd be paying something like fifteen cents in fees.

 

As I recall, there were several different banks I could go through, but it seems to me that most of them had a sliding scale (?) on the fees. And the more charges you had the lower the fees (but of course they were still getting TONS of money). Now this was just for Visa/MC, but a friend of mine who DID accept cc's said that AmEx and Discover charged her more for the same transactions as Visa/MC.

 

I wish I could find that spreadsheet. If I run across it, I'll let you know what the fees were!

[Caramel_Pinay]

I agree that I was a bit "mild" with him, but he did put me on the spot and made me feel really dirty or something. I was so embarassed b/c people with their "cash" stared at me like I was poor or begging or something since they didnt' take CC's. I just don't keep a lot of cash. I've been robbed before and don't like cash for that reason.

 

Anyhoo, CC's are the way I shop. I think the guy must've been blacklisted as a vendor b/c he was too angry about it, but he shouldn't have spoken to me that way. He was the owner, and it was an indy company, so no big guys to complain to.

 

BTW, he can afford the 3% cc fee, and the set-up fee.

 

This man's shop is PACKED during lunch, dinner, and the weekends when families and teens come in and dance. It has barstools and is set up like a 50's soda shop/hop or whatever.

 

The cheapest burger he has is $5.99 and that is plain.

 

His stuff is unique and expensive but tasty. Gourmet burgers, dogs, hand-dipped pups, fresh desserts, and homemade ice creamn and ambiance.

 

Average bill for a family w/tip is about $50.

[GEORGE]

IT IS A PROVEN FACT THAT BUSINESSES THAT TAKE CREDIT CARDS HAVE A HIGHER PER CUSTOMER SALE

 

I would have said NEW TOTAL IS $0.00

 

But, that doesn't always translate to higher profit per customer...we just recently started taking credit cards in our office, and many of those processor fees can eat into the profit really quick.

 

Considering that many people going into a walk-up restaurant are probably spending less than $20, it simply isn't worth the hassle for vendors like the one Caramel went to...the vendor is left with two unpleasant choices- raise prices to accomodate the expected processing fees (penalizes the cash customer who now pays more) or take less of a profit (not real appealing for the merchant).

I have $0.10 CASH or AMEX DELTA or BofA US AIR VISA or TARGET VISA

 

DO YOU WANT THE $0.10??? (YES THAT IS TEN CENTS)

 

Or do you want me to use one of my credit cards???

[GEORGE]

The merchant has a COST to deposit CASH...and those BOUNCED CHECKS TOO!!!

 

CREDIT CARD--APPROVED or DENIED

 

Many merchants have that money in their account in less than 72 hours and they DON'T DRIVE TO THE BANK TO PUT IT IN!!!

 

CASH HAS A COST TO DEPOSIT!!! (they don't do it for free)**

 

 

**unless they changed business account fees

[zeekerette]

While I can understand your frustration Caramel, I've never accepted cc's for any of my sales either. It's just too expensive and a HUGE hassle. I had a soap & candle business, and it would have killed me to take the fee hit on a $3.50 bar of soap! While his attitude definitely needed to be realigned, I can understand why he wouldn't accept cards. That said, he SHOULD have had an ATM machine in his place for customers to get money. He might get more business that way, and it would be far more convenient for his customers.

 

His attitude was unforgivable, but his sentiments are understandable. When the average fast food bill is less than $8, those cc fees take a big bite out of the profits of small businesses. But he should have been more gracious about it.

 

What are those fees? I thought V/MC took about 3% off the total. What difference does it make if you hvae 100 $8 sales or 1 $800 sale? Just wondering.

 

The fees are not just a percentage of the cost. Some vendors charge a flat fee plus a percentage of the cost. In addition, some vendors will charge less fees for larger purchases. This is why it is difficult for merchants with small priced items to make a profit from the utilization of credit cards.