|
Saint -> Stores Violating their merchant agreement (6/1/2006 12:36:23 PM)
|
I know the economy is bad right now, but how many people have come across a situation similiar to this where store owners blatantly rip off unknowing consumers? There are 3 stores in the town I live in that charge a minimum purchase amount when using a debit or credit card. The first store charges a minimum of 3 dollars, the second 5 dollars, and the third 10 dollars. At first I wasnt mad about it because I figured that they had that right. Then I got to thinking, that this is the same as someone telling me that I have to make a minimum amount purchase if I write a check. And to me, that is just plain wrong. The first store told me that everyone else was doing it, so they saw no reason why they shouldnt either. And that they were charged a fee per each transaction through the company issuing the equipment and that was why they charged a minimum amount.
So after that, I called my bank to confirm this because it didnt seem right to me at all. The bank in turn told me that no additional fees had ever come out of anyone using a debit or credit card during a swipe transaction with a store. After they told me that, they told me to call 1-800-visa-911 and confirm this. Before I did that, I was aware of the 2 other stores who charged a purchase amount to use your debit or credit card.
So I gathered their information; Name, street address, telephone number, and then called the visa number. After being connected, I asked whether it was legal or not for a store to charge a minimum purchase amount when using your debit or credit card. They confirmed that it was illegal and that it did indeed constitute a violation of their merchant agreement to those stores. Then I told them I would like to file a complaint and gave them all the appropriate information. They told me that they would send a copy of my complaint to my home address and that I should recieve it no later than 10 business days.
Okay, Im not a protestor or someone that normally likes to cause trouble for people. Normally I would have let this go by and shrugged my shoulders, but this got me to thinking. If they were doing this to me, how many others were they doing it to? How many thousands of dollars extra were these stores making by duping customers? The more I thought about it, the more angered I got.
Im just curious as to whether or not anyone else knows about this or about stores doing this to them at some point in time. To me, illegal is illegal and it doesnt matter if its a nickle or ten dollars. I guess I just wanted to throw this out here so that other people can look at it and know that things like this are illegal.
lol Not really a political thread or religious thread, but it is an economic one and so I posted it here. :)
|
|
|
|
