Best Merchant Account

Posts Tagged ‘Onto’

It has only happened a few times, but I remember watching a news expose on stores and gas stations charge the credit card fee to the customers.
Does anyone know if this is legal? It recently happened to me at a fast food restaurant (Church’s Chicken).
First they wouldn’t take a credit card (only debit), then they asked for my pin (WTH?), then after processing it, they told me there was a $0.79 processing fee for debit transactions.

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Is it legal or not. There is a lot of gray area. However they could receive a hefty fine from Visa/MC. Visa/MC policy states that a merchant can not charge any additional fee’s for credit/debit transactions. Also I am sure you have seen stores were they have a sign near the register “$10 min purchase”. Once again a big no no. I would first go back and request your .79 back, its not the money but the principal. Then whatever happens I would contact Visa/Mc and file a formal complaint. I have seen first offenses result in $10,000.00 fines. I work in the merchant services industry. Just in case you wanted to file a complaint, you would contact the issuing bank for your card (more than likely your bank because it is a debit card) explain what happened and state you would like to file a formal complaint to Visa/Mc. They have the required forms. Happy hunting