First it was 31 Flavors, then my favorite bagel shop, and now my local French bakery. Despite the most obvious theme (yes, I have an insatiable appetite for all things terribly high in fat and carbohydrates), what I am reeling over is the infamous "$5 minimum purchase for debit cards" policy. It's stupid.
I don't carry cash. I never have and probably never will. Why should I unless I am going to a garage sale? It's not that I have anything against carrying cash, it just seems so much easier to carry a card- no change, no wadded up bills, no coming up short. But this new thing about forcing me to spend a minimum amount of money is ridiculous. When 99% of the items you sell are less than $5, what do you want a customer to do? No, I don't want a bagel and a coffee, I just want a bagel. No, I don't want a three scoop sundae with extra fudge, I want a cone. No, I don't want 2 dozen cookies! I just want my 3 heart cookies and a couple of tea cakes for Gabe! Ugghh!!!
Maybe it's not normal to become so annoyed by such a minor thing. You might even be thinking that I should just buy an extra something, relax, and move on, but that's not the point! Before walking into a store, I always check for the bright blue and orange sticker that cheerfully tells me that the establishment "gladly" accepts debit cards. If they don't accept them "gladly", perhaps they should not accept them at all. "Cash Only", I get it. I'll go to the bank and make sure I'm loaded with cash. The point is you should not have a sign that you take cards if it is only half-true.
Please don't misunderstand, I am a loyal customer happy to pay for what I order. I even tried to get the bagel store to charge my card $5 even though I was only spending $3 and they said they couldn't, I would have to buy something else! What?
I did a bit of research (if you can count Googling debit card minimums and checking out the first couple of posts research) and it seems that this may not even be a policy that is allowed under a retailer's contract with Visa or MasterCard. It's just something stores impose because they are too cheap to lose twenty cents on my $3 purchase. Whatever the truth is, I'm not happy.
Well tonight was the last straw. When I was told I would have to spend an extra $1.50 for my cookies I walked out. That's right. I left in a huff. I will no longer be a slave to the retail world. But I must say that I am really craving a cookie. : (
image: flickr
2 comments:
I hate that, too!!! ;) A woman after my own heart...
One time I was at a shoe repair shop and my purchase (a minor shoe repair) cost about $2.50. And, yes... there was a $5 minimum and, no... I never have cash on me. The "kind" gentleman went on to extol the virtues of carrying cash and then told me how shocked he was that I would leave the house without any... needless to say I asked him to charge the $5 on the card... he refused... and I think I found the change in my purse. ughhh! Needless to say... the cobbler and I parted ways and have never cobbled together again.
Sorry about the rant... but it needed to come out! ;)
Mimi I'm gonna need to you to start a third blog. And I'm gonna need more pictures of the our cats. Maybe I'll start a blog about the adventures ChaChi and Nacho. what do you think? ok bye for now. see you tonight.
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