A Call to Arms
Word on the street is that Zeb is going to begin instituting a $5 minimum for credit card purchases, destroying the utility to a coffee-only purchaser. Where are the protestors when we need them?
posted by Toney at 11:16 AM
10 Comments:
I thought protests didn't work unless they were letter writing campaigns to Sacramento? (Sarcasm). Seriously, no retraction of all the shit-talking from Nuts & Boalts after the Governor's higher education funding proposal? I'm not saying it's the biggest victory in the world, but it's a pretty significant step.
I always thought credit card minimums would be interesting contracts exam fodder.
Relevant info: MC and Visa merchant agreements forbid credit card minimums. AMEX does not forbid minimums, but forbids discriminating against AMEX (such as instituting a minimum for AMEX but not MC/Visa). Finally, most small merchants do not deal directly with the CC companies, but have contracts with processing companies, who in turn contract with the CC companies (CCs are also issued by independent banks, but I won't get into that).
You can complain to the CC companies, but they don't always enforce their agreements. Maybe you could make a third-party beneficiary argument. Who knows.
I often choose to enter stores specifically because they display the Visa/MC logo when I'm short on cash. This makes me want to bring some kind of "false advertising" claim (Lanham act?) but of course I don't have standing for that. Maybe you could convince a competitor to bring suit? In the end there's not much harm except the inconvenience. I tend to forgive as long as they advertise the minimum prominently.
Than there's the more ethical side of the debate... a chain like McDonalds is big enough to negotiate a favorable fees with the CC companies, so they can still turn a profit on a $1 hamburger charged to a CC. But small merchants usually pay a monthly fee, plus a few percent of the sale, plus a per-transaction fee (this could run in the $.25-.5 range if I recall correctly). So offering a small merchant a CC for a small purchase might be a dick move if you can avoid it.
Someone should perhaps gently inform the proprietors that pursuant to their merchant agreement with the credit card companies, they are not allowed to impose a minimum charge. See, e.g., http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11697094/; http://usa.visa.com/about_visa/ask_visa/index.html; http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/contactus/merchantviolations.html.
Moreover, in California, they cannot - by law - charge a surcharge fee. http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/no-surcharge.html (but they can give a "cash discount")
On the other hand, I have little sympathy for credit card companies, so I like using cash with small businesses whenever possible.
Oh yeah, forgot to say that if the small merchants can't turn a profit on small items, then maybe they shouldn't have entered into the merchant agreement to begin with. It's not like anyone forced them to take credit cards in the first place.
(yeah, I get too worked up over this issue)
That last post was supposed to have "insert antitrust arguments here" but blogger ate the angle brackets.
In unrelated 1L gunner related questions, do any upperclassmen know the deal with getting AmJurs or Prossers for classes? Would it have shown up on your BearFacts grades? How does that all work?
It depends. Sometimes you get a letter a few weeks (months?) later. Sometimes it just shows up on your transcript.
11:51, I'm giving notice that I'm wading into this discussion without knowing much about the issue. Disclaimer.
Are you referring to the Governor's promise to not cut any additional funding to higher education? If so, it's just a political snow job. As a condition of taking federal money from the stimulus, California had to agree not to cut higher ed. Schwartzenegger figured, why not turn this into a press release? Can't say I blame him.
To Dan:
I'm assuming comment #1 refers to the governor's promise to set a Constitutional floor at 10% of state spending for higher education. That seems pretty unprecedented, both in California and nationwide. Thoughts?
As an alum, all I have to say is: they used to not take credit cards. I would've happily accepted a $5 minimum instead of having to run to the B school to get cash if I wanted to eat at Zeb.
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