Charlie Brown
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AT&T charges a fiver if you pay your cell phone bill with cash. Is that legal?
Legal to charge a fee if paying cash?
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JackReacher
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Charlie Brown said:
Do you pay your phone bill every month in cash? And if so, why?
Z
zeke12
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Near as I understand, they have to take cash (For all debts...) but they can charge a fee for it.
Charlie Brown
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First time I've paid in cash. Too complicated to explain why. Never thought I'd live to see the day when you had to pay extra to pay with legal tender.
JayFarrar
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I read an article that said a grocery store somewhere, maybe Florida, was no longer accepting checks or cash for payment. You had to pay with a credit or debit card.
Said people who paid with cash or check clogged up the lines and made other customers wait.
I would never frequent a place that didn't take cash or checks. Not because I pay with either very often, it just pisses me off when someplace tells me how I can spend my money. In my mind, they should be grateful for a customer.
Said people who paid with cash or check clogged up the lines and made other customers wait.
I would never frequent a place that didn't take cash or checks. Not because I pay with either very often, it just pisses me off when someplace tells me how I can spend my money. In my mind, they should be grateful for a customer.
JackReacher
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There were several gas stations in the part of Alabama I lived that didn't take credit cards. Cash or check only.
And here in DC, there are still tons of places that accept cash only. No checks. No credit cards. Straight cash, homey.
And here in DC, there are still tons of places that accept cash only. No checks. No credit cards. Straight cash, homey.
Lots of counterfeit bills out there, but also plenty of stolen credit cards. Not accepting cash makes no damn sense. I suppose it makes the store less of a robbery target, but still.
What's not OK under credit card merchant agreements, or at least Visa's (I think it's Visa), is having a minimum credit card charge. I know why they do it, because the fee is a dollar or whatever. But it's technically not allowed under the merchant agreement. Under Visa's, neither is asking to see ID when a card is signed (unless the signature doesn't match). That was a few years ago, though; wouldn't surprise me if that's changed since then.
What's not OK under credit card merchant agreements, or at least Visa's (I think it's Visa), is having a minimum credit card charge. I know why they do it, because the fee is a dollar or whatever. But it's technically not allowed under the merchant agreement. Under Visa's, neither is asking to see ID when a card is signed (unless the signature doesn't match). That was a few years ago, though; wouldn't surprise me if that's changed since then.
The Big Ragu
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OK. Just a guess. ... It's a utility company. ... My best guess would be that 95 + percent of people who want to walk in cash to pay their bill are either on the brink of having their service canceled for not having paid or are overdue on their bill and need to get the payment processed quickly to avoid service interruption. So my guess is. ... they are taking advantage of the situation to squeeze those people for more money. That is just a guess. Usually you don't enact policies that seem that counterintuitive unless you have some kind of leverage that makes you think a lot of customers won't walk as a result. The only other explanation I can think of is that so few people pay in cash that their operations aren't set up well for accepting it. I am curious, though.
JackReacher
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RickStain said:
Winner!
Exactly why so many companies are going paperless. And most places give you a little discount for doing paperless business with them. I know a bunch of insurance companies do that.
Baron Scicluna
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Don't forget, cash has to be saved because it cured Magic Johnson of HIV.
In all seriousness, last week, I went to an out-of-town restaurant that, until I went up to pay, only accepted cash and checks. I didn't have enough money on me. Luckily, my wife did.
In all seriousness, last week, I went to an out-of-town restaurant that, until I went up to pay, only accepted cash and checks. I didn't have enough money on me. Luckily, my wife did.
Baron Scicluna said:
So they accepted cash and checks until you went up to pay? So what's the problem? :D
Waffle House only started accepting plastic a few years ago. Seems somehow wrong.
And the 'discount' for things like paperless is just a friendlier way of charging you to get a paper bill.
JackReacher said:
The credit card at a gas station thing really makes sense. At one time when gas was at record highs, the card fees really began eating into profits.
Al's Morning Meeting had a piece on it way back when:
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=145562
"The percentage (charged by the cc company) is fixed — usually at just under 2 percent — but the dollar amount of the fee rises with the price of the goods or services.
As gas tops $4 a gallon, that pushes fees toward 10 cents a gallon. Now stations, which typically mark up gasoline by 11 to 12 cents a gallon, are seeing profits shrink or even reverse."
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