Secrets of the City

Max, looks like you’ll just need to add one more used white belt to get you up to that $16 minimum.

I think there is a per transaction charge as well as a percentage charge. It amounts to a large chunk of a small purchase. Max, I always have at least a $20 on me for this sort of stuff. I hate standing behind people at Dunn Bros who charge their 3 dollar coffee and make me wait for the damn machine to spit out their charge slip. You aren’t one of those, are you?

TBartel, that would be me.

I never, ever, carry cash anymore. And I find myself thoroughly annoyed when places don’t accept plastic.

Seems like a bunch of places are adopting a new process, where you are not required to sign for purchases under a certain amount (typically $15 or $20), you can simply swipe your card and be on your merry way.
Great for speed, however, it makes me a little nervous for that inevitable day I lose my check card.

There is a $20 minimum at Choice Gentleman’s Club.
.
That has always chapped my hide.
.
Ohhhhhhhhhh, hurt sooo goood!

Now that we don’t have to sign for purchases under $10, credit cards are faster than cash. And I’m in less trouble if I’m jacked.

If I went to all the trouble of sticking you up, Max, and all I got was a Caribou card, I’d be pissed.

Count me amongst the group shortyJ is in, with the exception that I use a credit card instead of debit card. To put it in geek terms, I use the credit card like a firewall between my bank account and any nefarious people.

The other benefit to plastic is that every purchase is tracked…$20 in my pocket disappears without a trace.

One time I overdrafted in my checking account because I used my debit card for a $.50 muffin

Many credit card companies base the percentage rate the merchant pays on the amount of average transaction.

I’ve had a customer try and pay for a $1 item, (a tire valve stem), with their credit card. I told them I’d just turn my back and they could steal it.

this si a good story and derusha shoudl to it tonight. READ THIS JASON!

I agree the credit card minimums are a pain but HEY!

Lay off LULA! The owner there is no spring chicken in her business and if that’s what she has to do to keep up so what? Her merchandise is darn high-quality for good prices, but it would be pretty hard to spend only $16 there. If you walked in there THAT big a cheapskate you don’t deserve to walk out with any of the fine threads she’s got for sale.

So chill. If you’re gonna publicly rip on ONE small independent business that is being held hostage by the credit card companies just like the rest of us, you can buy your vintage clothes at the little store that doesn’t have a credit card minimum that’s located just up your ASS a ways.

Hey, it’s not like I turned Lula’s in, which is what Visa recommends doing. They lost a sale, and I won’t be shopping there again, but the repercussions could have been worse.

Listen, if businesses have a problem with the deal they made with the credit card company, they need to take it up with the credit card company. But willfully violating your terms of service and then making it a problem for you customer? Another ball of wax. My favorite is when businesses point me to the cash machine in the back that will charge me $1.50 to take out cash — some of which they get as profit — rather than than honoring their end of the business deal.

b.rivera, wells fargo just rolled out my upgraded fraud protected check card. i imagine check/debit cards are losing to protected credit card use for your stated reason. they said my new card is for being a gold plaited customer. i’ve had the account 4-5 years now.

parking ramps that don’t take credit/debit cards really ruin my day.

So do the management retain the right to refuse service to anyone or don’t they? I can’t say I see adding “amount/manner of purchase” to the list of -isms I need to rail against when it comes to shopkeeper traits and idiosyncracies.

I think you did the right thing; you disapproved of the policy so you took your business elsewhere. If enough people do that, they either think about changing the policy or they go OUT of business.

Tattling to the credit card company, on the other hand, makes it seem like you have a lot of time to kill and carry a grudge rather easily. (Tho’ I suppose it could also be argued that making a MNspeak post along those lines carries roughly the same connotations… )

i think this is less about puppet boy being pissed and more about another subtle change in our society.

remember the dime store? i grew up in northern mn, and we had a dime store a few blocks from my house. the owners lived in the back of the house and the store was the front. nothing between the store & their living room but a curtain in a doorway.

convience store opened up and they closed. sucks, boo hoo hoo. read on…

the iron grip of visa is simply another factor contributing to the demise of small businesses. most pay 12-25 cents per transaction AND 2-4%. I believe that larger retailers can negotiate their way out of the lion’s share of those fees. not taking cards is simply not an option..

if you support local businesses, stop being a pussy and stop using your card for small transactions(when possible)

so parber, to help you out, here are some ideas for furture posts.

My favorite neighborhood bar closed.
i hate driving to rainbow when I only need a dozen eggs.
wal-mart is ruining the universe.
my puppets dick fell off and the wood-working store closed. now i can’t varnish it.
etc, etc, etc

Parber?

As I said, I don’t complain about $5, although it can be apain in the ass. But, honestly, what’s the cut-off point? When does such a practice become indefensible?

russ, that was funny! Could you do one about DeRusha next?

Hey, you know what’s NOT funny? Roundy’s is closing the Rosedale Rainbow. They REALLY think I’m going to drive all the way to Larpenteur! Screw that, it’s the Har Mar Cub for me from now on! Or maybe the Super Target. This has nothing to do with the original post but it IS an insight into my fascinating life, so it’s okay.

I don’t know why the guy had to go and bring my weiner into all of this.

When does such a practice become indefensible?

If not taking cards at all is defensible, therefore a purchase of $infinity is defensible. SO: is there really an upper limit?

What did they say when used asked about the minimum?

Why $16? Why $15 or $20? What magical threshold does that pass?

Did you tell them that you would no longer be shopping there?
What was their comment?

Can I borrow $20.00?

I didn’t ask. They just have a sign up.

I didn’t decide not to shop there anymore until the next day. Their men’s selection isn’t that big anyway.

using a sign is a good way to enforce compliance with uber-compliant minnesotans.

if u challenged them they probably would have caved

How much bargaining power do you think a small company has with Visa? I can tell you– zero– its a take it or leave it proposition.

Anyone who charges less than $5 on a credit or debit card should not be allowed to have one; as they are a befuddled individual who cannot control impulse purchases, and will probably get in credit card trouble.

That goes for anyone buyng double mocha half decaf latte concoction (that takes 10 minutes to make) in a coffee shop. If they reach for a credit card the coffee shop management should have authority to cut off a finger.

My mother used to write checks for sixty cents.

As someone who workedin retail for many years, I preferred getting credit cards to anythign else. They were, by far, the fastest transactions. But apparently The Rat thinks I should have been outraged and demanded severed digits.

As a worker in retail i’m sure you preferred a credit card for under $5 purchases. As an owner i can tell you that the transaction cost for a credit card used for under $5 is too high.

And do you hate carrying cash so much that you can’t be bothered to carry a twenty dollar bill? Is it just too heavy? Are you allergic? And why rip on a small business owner who is just trying to stay in business?

Or are you just in love with your own whining?

Anyone who charges less than $5 on credit card or debit will burn through a $20 bill faster than a six-year-old at an amusement park.

let’s not get personal people.

if you must insult someone, hit the puppet.

Whoah, hey, what? What I ever done to you, man?

Leave the puppet out of this. He has an audition tonight to worry about.

The Wall Street Journal covered this last year. A summary:

Since ITunes’ 99 cent downloads, micropayments to credit cards are much more common.

In 2003, cash transactions of less than $5.00 totaled an estimated $1.32 trillion. Credit card companies who are looking for growth are now focusing on these smaller transactions.

These smaller transactions can typically hurt a merchant’s bottom line because of the fees but merchants can get around it by totalling up the smaller transactions and then processing them as a single large transaction.

Houston, Texas plans to install credit card readers on their parking meters. Some cities are installing them on subway turnstiles. Some jukebox manufacturers are offering credit card readers on their lastest models.

It is a rare occasion when I have cash on my person. It all goes on my debit card and the wife has the checkbook.

My run in with a ‘VISA fee’ came at a convenience store in Prior Lake one sloppy winter day. Smack in the middle of a busy street, I ran out of washer fluid and stopped at the first store I encountered. I washed my windshield outside and trudged inside to buy a jug of miracle-blue-window-sludge-be-gone. The clerk told me the total and I pulled out the debit card, he looked at it and rung up a total twenty cents higher than previously announced. It’s only twenty cents but it’s the principle that the clerk in this now-shady store jacked the price without letting me in on his shenanigans.

Do you regularly check the fluid levels in your vehicle?

I wonder why more of those stores don’t just take debit cards with a PIN. That would relieve them of most of the cost of processing. When I was in San Diego last winter when you paid at the pump not only did you have to pay before you pumped at almost every station if you wanted to pay at the pump you could only use a debit not a credit card or cash, naturally.

The Rat carries cash. He doesn’t often go to the ATM, because when he does he withdraws enough to sustain him day to day for a reasonable period.

He may use a card for gas and dinner and drinks. He doesn’t burden fellow moviegoers or coffee purchasers with his mismangement.

Foster remembers how you used to have to go to the bank during business hours if you wanted any damn cash. And you used to get a Dum-Dum sucker with your cash at Norwest Bank. My favorite was the ? flavor.

Max, remember when I told you that msparber could be read Ms. Parber. It’s happened! And I wish russ would come up with a list of possible posts for me. Let’s see:
I’m on TV.
Watch me on TV.
Read my blog.
Look at dumb pictures of my kid
Did I mention I know Don Shelby?
Why Maple Grove sucks the big one
etc, etc, etc….

You changed from third person to second person, to first person, there Foster. That indicates a lack of discipline. Admit it, you buy Dum-Dum suckers with debit cards, don’t you. DON’T YOU!

Are we all referreing to ourselves in the third-person now? Msparber is not sure he approves.

“How I used my blog to elevate my non-existent local news profile, and why the rest of the twin cities news machoine hates me for it.” -posted by jderusha.

but seriously, good move on your part. Obvioiusly, you’re not as hot as the elfin sven sungaard, so you do wat you can. He has the gay vote, you have the urban techno hipster.

Rock on.

baker carries cards and cash, but looks at everyone as if they just stole from their grandmas…

And if baker is ever a victim of crime again, ( screw reporting it to the police, we all know what happened to baker last time ), the berretta 590 becomes uncased and vigilante ‘birdshot’ justice begins. Even if it is just some pizza orders and a time warner payment.

“In 2003, cash transactions of less than $5.00 totaled an estimated $1.32 trillion.”

A clear sign this nation has lost its way.

That is a startling stat. Wow.

don’t know if sven is gay. don’t care. irrelevant.

just pointing out he is loved by gays and women everywhere. (he’s cute & petit…like a little gymnast)

Since ITunes’ 99 cent downloads, micropayments to credit cards are much more common.

That’s not really the same thing, as there is really no other way to buy on iTunes. It would make them common for iTunes, but how would that apply to a cup of coffee?

i think the most annoying is that liquor store in uptown. cash only seems a bit crazy for the amount of money people could spend there, and they pack that store with lots of merchandise so it’s not like it’s the “neighborhood” liquor store.

Russ you pegged me spot-on! MY non existent local news profile has now been elevated among people who proudly proclaim they never watch the news. Oh well. It’s a long-term plan at the wcco.com/jasonblog world headquarters.

valid point

#1 Sentiment Posted on MNSpeak
“This site was better when Rex was here.”

#2
“I don’t even own a TV.”

#3
“I can’t stop gazing at my navel long enough to cash the check my Mom sent me.”

If I could I would use plastic for everything. I hate using cash and having that change jangling around in my pocket. Hey, I’m a Navy vet and that Sailor Martin guy reminds me of some the guys I served with.

“I don’t even own a TV.”

That type probably thinks Derusha is watching them through the damn thing. A TV reporter I knew in Atlanta told me the story that a woman once called in and said “I know you can see me through the TV.” She had the misfortune of reaching sports desk.

“Nice dress you’re wearing,” said the guy on the phone.

Awesome.

Then there was the woman who walked into the newsroom where I worked on a Saturday. Wanted us to cover her divorce because she’s the incarnation of the profit Elijah and her husband is the incarnation of, as I recall, Moses.

Listened for awhile and told her I’d pass it on to the editors.

Couple weeks later I see her working in the circulation department.

I’m thinking to myself: Should I tell the guy in charge of circuration about her?

“Naaah!”

One thing to consider all you anti-charging-under-$5 grumps: these days it’s nearly impossible to take less than $20 out of a cash machine. If you’re like me and live paycheck to paycheck, that last inaccessible $18.73 keeps me fed for a week. But there’s no way to use that money unless I use my debit card. Just sayin’.

I’m really the only anti-charging under $5 grump, it seems. And I’m talking about people buying muffins and Big Coffees with the damn thing.

Another reason to tell the credit card companies to go screw themselves.

I no longer have ANY credit cards, just one checking Visa.

More retailers should take Costco’s stance: Debit cards only (well, they do accept American Express credit cards.)

My Visa check card works with both credit and debit transactions, but debit has two advantages: Fewer fees for the merchant, and the transaction processes immediately–when I get home to check my balance online, the transaction has already shown up, and my balance is accurate. Credit-based transactions typically take a few days to process and clear the account.

I’m more concerned about the other way.
You no longer have to sign for anything under $20 in most stores.
If I steal a credit card and then spend under $20 multiple times, I can get away with it. It seems like nothing, but adds up. Plus, if you’re like some of these idiots and have four or five cards, will you really notice if one is missing?

Ironic, it’s rare that someone actually checks the signature anyway. I guess I’d rather be free of the whole farce. Most theft stories I’ve covered involve people stealing credit cards, and racing to ring up huge charges in the first hour, before it gets reported. They ring up several $500 purchases, like buying gift cards at Target.

It does seem weird to not have to sign though.

This kind of brings up a related topic…What is the policy for asking for ID’s with credit cards? Is it up to each business? Is it legal to refuse plastic due to lack of id? Not that I mind when they ask but it seems like it could bring up issues if they are picking and choosing whom they ask for id….

I work in a local grocery store and when I used to cashier we were told to accept check/credit cards as a credit transaction, not a debit. It is my understanding that the reason for this is because as a credit transaction, VISA will cover the amount should the transaction “bounce” so to speak. This is because their system approved the transaction, so they will stand behind it. With a debit purchase, we do not have that back-up to ensure that the company receives its money.

I work at at the hospital gift shop and a woman came i and told me we could not have a 10.00 charge for using a credit card is she righ. sharon