Is this illegal behavior by store?

Diji1 on 25/02/2015 - 19:34

Went into one of those convenience stores because I was thirsty and picked out a peach flavoured ice tea for $3.80.

Went to the counter, handed over the item and pulled out my credit card. The storeperson then informed me that there was a $5 minimum.

I told her that's OK I'll just leave it (I mean $3.80 is already er … terrible).

But the she told me she would just put it through.

I wasn't sure if she meant she was going to charge me $5.00 or $3.80 so I asked her what is she charging me: suddenly there was an inability to understand English on her part. Went from no problems to not understanding the question: "How much are you going to charge me?". Had to ask her over and over like maybe 4 or 5 times in a row and she wouldn't give me a straight answer.

Now I have a real ****ing problem with that because she wouldn't sell me the item because of a supposed $5 minimum first and then when I told her that's fine I won't take the item the $5 was suddenly waived.

It's a scam and illegal right?

I went back after I calmed down for a minute - because she pissed me off by not handing over my card as well when I was repeatedly asking her how much is she charging me - and informed her angrily that I was going to report her.

Some other stupid customer started consoling her because she was upset but I don't care: she attempted to scam me right?

General Discussion

closed Comments

  • CrazyMexican on 25/02/2015 - 19:42
    +15

    Maybe she misunderstood you agreeing to pay 5$ for the drink?

  • scatman00 on 25/02/2015 - 19:51
    +6

    Did you end up buying the drink, and if so how much did you pay?

    Sounds to me she had your measure, just like the supermarkets seem to ;)
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/173446

  • PVA on 25/02/2015 - 20:16
    +26

    would the price come up on the card machine she was was using - if it wasnt $3.80 dont put your pin in and cancel the transaction. simple.

  • clarebear on 25/02/2015 - 20:23
    +10

    Its a minimum lots of small stores have. Either buy something else to total $5+ or leave without purchasing the product.

      • rack on 25/02/2015 - 21:38
        +53

        If she said she'll put it through AT $3.80 then why were you constantly asking her how much is she charging you and why abuse her in the end.

      • mskeggs on 25/02/2015 - 20:50
        +40

        Yeah, do-gooders. Always doing good. I hate them and their goodness and their good ways.
        An end to good! No more good! Then we'll all be happy.

        • Axelstrife on 25/02/2015 - 21:09
          -1

          There is doing good and then there attacking people for the smallest thing such as this entire forum post.

          He didnt post for people to call him "stupid" or "moron", he posted for a civil answers NOT insults.

        • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2015 - 23:35
          +1

          lol @ mskeggs.

        • bobbified on 26/02/2015 - 10:37
          +8

          @holden93:

          He didnt post for people to call him "stupid" or "moron", he posted for a civil answers NOT insults.

          I think you should read the OP's original post again - everyone is simply replying in the same kind of tone, attitude and "jerkness" that he's projecting to this community.

    • djones145 on 25/02/2015 - 21:08
      +21

      totally a scam
      should report to ACCC
      today tonight, A current affairs

      if they don't respond…
      bikies

      or batman

      batman solves all problems

      • TassieJones14 on 25/02/2015 - 21:40
        +1

        Your hilarious m9!!!11

        • djones145 on 26/02/2015 - 08:36

          batman is the answer of all problems, especially ones identified in a bargain forum which have nothing to do with bargains!

    • zelda707 on 25/02/2015 - 22:57
      +7

      If I had decided I wanted the drink and bought another item then I've been scammed

      How is that a scam???

      • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2015 - 23:36
        +4

        How is that a scam???

        This is OzBargain, right? ;)

    • This Guy on 26/02/2015 - 03:14
      +7

      Franchises are often charged a flat percentage of sales (say 10%) and another 10% in GST.

      Then there are wages, other taxes, utilities, fixed franchise fees, theft, damaged/expired stock and maintenance.

      Profit can be between 4 - 10% on many high turnover items.

      The merchant fees for small business on some cards make small sales a loss.

      Buying that drink on card removed all profit and made the sale cost the merchant.

      Your $3.80 drink may cost $2.63 delivered

      Franchise fees and GST take off 20% (most franchises charge closer to $5 for the drink I'm referencing)

      That leaves $0.41

      Card transactions can cost a minimum of $0.40

      That leaves 1c to pay for all the other costs.

      You cost this store money by buying so little on your card.

      • tomsco on 26/02/2015 - 06:03
        +1

        Where did you get that information (ignoring the rent of the merchant terminal as that is a fixed cost and they should be doing their best to put through as many transactions to bring the cost per transaction down).

        As far as I'm aware, EFTPOS cards charge ~20c and credit card charge a %. So they would be charge the same percentage of you pay $3.80 or if you spend $38. This is why I don't get the minimum for credit cards.

        Are rates for small businesses seriously that bad?

      • derk on 26/02/2015 - 07:39

        If this is the deal your business gets on eftpos machines then you are bringing ripped off..

    • surethang on 26/02/2015 - 12:20

      "Bartering" - in use since… forever

  • cypher67 on 25/02/2015 - 20:42
    +5

    Never hand your card to any sales person. Always check to see the Eftpos charge amount on the screen and only once you are satisfied do you pay. A number of times I have court out sales people "accidently" adding an extra zero, you are responsible for your own money don't let a stranger handle the transaction for you.

      • juventino on 26/02/2015 - 01:52
        +6

        and now out of nowhere, you've attempted to make allegation that she adds small amounts to any other transaction.

  • indium on 25/02/2015 - 20:44
    +52

    Err you should be thanking her for waiving the $5 minimum which most small independent stores have due to the fee they are charged when you pay via card. Sounds like you were pretty rude to her…

      • This Guy on 26/02/2015 - 02:52
        +31

        She was violating her boss' rule to be nice to you. She may have been putting her job in jeopardy. So yes, you should have been nice.

  • mskeggs on 25/02/2015 - 20:57
    +10

    The minimum is to cover card transaction fees, which for a small shop can be 40c plus a percentage of the total.
    If a customer has a card and cash, and doesn't care which they use, or doesn't care much (like my 0.5 QFF point per dollar on the card) then it seems reasonable to me to forgo my 2 frequent flyer points to let the shop save 40c in bank fees.
    If you never carry cash, or have none, I can understand it is a frustration, but from the shops point of view, they make 40c less profit from you than a cash payer, so it is in their interest to encourage you to start carrying a little cash.
    They have decided it is worth irritating some customers to to save that 40c transaction many times over.
    And occasionally, I buy some extra stuff to get over the limit if I am cash poor, so it is a win for them. They have to pay the fee, but they get a $10 sale instead of $4.

    • sachz on 26/02/2015 - 11:19

      i hardly carry cash, and ill roll up the purchase to $5 myself.

      cash is so 1980's…

  • Cheeper on 25/02/2015 - 21:09
    +24

    Using a credit card to pay for a $3.80 purchase? Come on…. a bit rude, you know these small businesses have to pay a fee for each transaction.

    • Unorthodox on 25/02/2015 - 22:00
      +6

      I'm one of those people who use my ing card for $1 purchases at Coles…

      Lucky it's not a small store haha

      • zeomega on 26/02/2015 - 00:00
        +10

        Don't really care about the big corps.. i will pay even 20cents by card.

        Let's try to understand and support the small guys shall we?

  • ozhunter on 25/02/2015 - 21:56
    +17

    Now I have a real ****ing problem with that because she wouldn't sell me the item because of a supposed $5 minimum first and then when I told her that's fine I won't take the item the $5 was suddenly waived.

    It's her choice to waive it or not. They set a minimum to cover the transaction fees. You weren't getting scammed, she was letting you off the minimum limit.

  • martinj on 25/02/2015 - 22:11
    +34

    You were offered one thing, you rejected it, so they offered you something better. Seems pretty simple. Why would you think this should be illegal?

  • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2015 - 22:46
    +18

    One of the Major Telco's was going to charge me $80 for a replacement modem. I said I was going to cancel my service. They put me on hold, then told me I can have it for free. I took the offer. I didn't go into a raging fit, abuse the operator or call the ACCC.
    Someone here needs friends!!!

  • Davo1111 on 25/02/2015 - 23:01
    +10

    She wanted you to buy something else to make up the difference. You called her bluff, so she wanted to make the sale anyway. Is it really that hard?

  • mooney on 25/02/2015 - 23:01
    +9

    Diji1. I'm failing to understand how the store is behaving illegally. If you're used to paying with your card you'd also be used to bumping up against minimum spend requirements from many retailers.

    In this instance the woman serving simply decided taking a smaller profit on an item was better than no profit, so did you a favour.

    Why is this hard to work out?

    • mmd on 26/02/2015 - 01:26
      +16

      OP title is incorrect. Title should be changed to "Is this childish behaviour by a customer?'

      She probably wanted him/her gone asap due to the amount of verbal garbage she was getting.

  • majimaji on 25/02/2015 - 23:40
    +26

    I work at a privately owned bottleshop as a part-time job whilst at Uni. There is a $10 minimum to use a card. Occasionally when someone really wants to use the card, I can circumvent this minimum (when the owners aren't on), by charging $10 through eftpos and then giving the customer the difference back. Eg - they buy something for $6 and they want to use a card. I put through $10 and give them $4 change. Whilst the cashier did something slightly different, by the sounds of things they were trying to do you a favor by putting it through. In conclusion, the OP is a bit of a dick and I probably wouldn't serve you.

    • scrimshaw on 26/02/2015 - 01:43
      +1

      Was a good read though. Like the Tales from retail subreddit but only this time from the eyes of the consumer.

  • Mysterious on 26/02/2015 - 00:22
    +10

    Minimum credit card transaction amounts are usually set in place by independent shop owners because card fees bite into profits.. they are set under the store owners discretion and are usually set (e.g $5, $10, etc) but they are flexible in some situations where the customer has no other way of paying for the item. They are not legally bound to stick to the minimum transaction for credit card payments. In fact, they have the right to refuse service completely after the way you treated the poor cashier lady..

  • cowiie on 26/02/2015 - 08:15
    +3

    You are seriously misguided thinking it is illegal to have a minimum eftpos amount and still be able to pay for something with a card under that amount. I work in a pharmacy with a minimum of $5 but still at times waive this minimum for customers when they have no cash on them. Its a sale vs no sale.

  • thefreelunch on 26/02/2015 - 08:48
    +1

    Interchange fees for card transactions are typically a few cents. You can see the exact amounts for different types of cards on Mastercard or Visa websites. Of course, the merchant service fee charged by the bank to the retailer is more, but any retailer paying 40c per small transaction is getting totally ripped off by their bank and doing their customers a disservice. The RBA has released a lot of research over the years showing the (hidden) cost of handling cash compared to cards. Personally, I carry little cash and generally avoid retailers who won't take paywave or similar. Sure, it's the retailers right to impose minimum transaction amounts, just as it is to surcharge credit card payments, but there's plenty of choices out there depending on what you value.

  • nikopol76 on 26/02/2015 - 08:49
    +12

    So you yell over and over again at her about how much you're going to be charged, you walk out of the shop to calm down (so obviously even by your own standards you had lost the plot) and then go back in there since you'd forgotten your credit card then start to tell the poor woman you're going to report her for no apparent reason than her most likely trying to be helpful to you (not everyone is trying to scam you all the time mate!).

    Consider how you would feel if when you tried to help someone you get yelled at and then they return to give you more grief and then even when you start crying they still seem to obviously not care. Can't be a nice feeling about your fellow humans

  • Mikinoz on 26/02/2015 - 09:20
    +5

    TLDR went to shop to buy drink, acted like jerk, left without drink and paying.

  • MementoMori on 26/02/2015 - 09:43

    Do consider that she might have only known 'McDonalds' English. i.e. knows a few standard phrases such as 'Is that all?', 'Please enter your PIN', etc but nothing out of the ordinary.

  • p1 ama on 26/02/2015 - 09:47
    +11

    Is this illegal behavior by store?

    No

    Some other stupid customer started consoling her because she was upset but I don't care: she attempted to scam me right?

    No, she's probably paid $10/hr or something like that to deal with idiots like you; whether she puts through that transaction or not won't give her any more or less money - so she has no incentive to scam you. It was probably either a misunderstanding, or more likely, she was just doing you a favour.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2015 - 09:58
      +4

      exactly! Getting paid $10 or possibly $8 an hour (some convenient stores pay that much) and dealing with such a customer. You do realise if she didn't understand you the first time, repeating the same sentence three more times wouldnt help either?

      Plus I doubt she has anything to gain for this "scam". Probably waived the fee coz the boss was pressuring her to make more sales or reach a target.

  • RedCarpet on 26/02/2015 - 10:00
    +4

    Diji1, you sound like you were born yesterday, most of the small stores I went to DO have min spend amount due to the big banks charging them for credit card transact.

    You shouldn't be welcome in anyway seeing your bad attitudes and the society should condemned you for this sort of abusive behaviour!! For just $3.80?? Be nice to each other, who knows it could be your daughter, sister or mother facing this sort of D*ckhead like you did to her.

    The subject should be altered to "I'm a jerk, I've just verbally abused her with pleasure"

  • PJC on 26/02/2015 - 10:05

    So did you get that drink? How much was the receipt for?

  • raffaharley on 26/02/2015 - 10:16
    +2

    OP you have been well and truly flamed by the voices. Its very easy to go off on a tangent when you feel you have been mistreated in some way and have a firm belief in your own opinion. Heck I do this myself, and I also see it when I read some of the OP questions on here, and in this case I thought it was the actual shop owner trying to maximise profits, but then when you read the comments in response you get to see so many other opinions, possibilities and circumstances that it makes you re-think. Personally I would take it as a life lesson and have a more understanding view in the future.

  • justinh93 on 26/02/2015 - 11:20
    +8

    This is absolutely ridiculous, the clear lack of empathy and failiure to comprehend that the cashier was just being nice.

    I hope you don't treat everyone around you like this…

  • Ughhh on 26/02/2015 - 11:34
    +10

    Anything that doesn't occur in ones favour is "illegal" and a "scam" these days.

  • dvsbastard on 26/02/2015 - 12:29
    +1

    In a lot of cases setting a minimum charge is not a hard limit, nor is it about "scamming" customers into spending more. Instead it is simply to encourage them to use cash for small transactions.

    So basically you lost your doughnuts at some poor cashier for absolutely no reason. Even IF you had some of ground to stand on, behaving as you did is not productive and speaks volumes about how you treat others.

  • meumax on 26/02/2015 - 12:41
    +9

    So the staff tried to do you a favour by waiving the surcharge and you return the favour by abusing them. I see no scam here, just someone trying to help you out and you acting like a total idiot.

  • Moderatorhamza23 on 26/02/2015 - 13:05

    Okay too many personal attacks here, points have been made, thread is closed. Thanks

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