Ugh Ost store

[Nu2SW]

Wow, I cant believe what they are doing to customers who use a debit card/credit card. I purchased almost all my stuff when I got into the hobby at Ost.

So I just got a new Bank card, And I don't have a pin # yet. I have to get it set at my bank And I have been busy with work. So I need a small rio 90 power head and go in to Ost to buy it. That was all I needed, didn't need any salt or test kits and they didn't have any good fish in that I wanted.

So I get to the counter, tell them thats all I want and Inform them I am a mars member. There was 2 guys behind the counter and one of them could barely speak English, so I couldn't understand what he was asking me. I think he was asking for the Card, but I don't know. So they proceed to run my card as debit, I said " I'm sorry can you please do it as credit." They said " oh well for us to do that, We would have to charge you $4.00 dollars to run it."

WHAT!!!!!!!!!:eek1: :eek1: :eek1:

$4.00 bucks, Now mind you visa or there company who process's there card payments, probably takes about 2-3%. Peggy has told me how much % she pays to the company, and of course she is not there.

So 3% of $12.00 is.36cents, Even if it was as high as 7% is .84 cents. See where Im getting at.

So in my case new card, don't have a pin yet. I use to work for a bank and would run into a lot of people who did not know there pin because they used it as credit only, and always went into the bank to get cash out for withdrawal.

That is just ridiculous.

 

[funman1]

Umm yeah. It's against their terms of service to charge for Credit Cards, AND they can not have a minium purchase amount.

Now for Debit they can charge whatever they want, and have any stings attached they want.

Normally I turn in ALL compaines who pull this bull on me but Ost I kinda like, so I would prolly put up with it.

I have turned in 30-40 companies that play this game with me.
Chinesse Resturants are VERY notourious for this behavior and I turn ever last one of them in.

They get a warning first to change their policy
Then if they do it again they get a hefty fine.
and the third strike MC/Visa will straight up shutdown their account, with no more questions asked.

 

[Unarce]

:lol: I used to be a banker in a former life, too, Edwin. We should get together and just charge people a fee for allowing us to ignore them

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

Hence I never use my debit card except at the Bank, everyone loses but the credit card company.

 

[Nu2SW]

OK so something just didn't seem right. So I called up peggy and talked to her.

She told me that the company she uses, called Secure Systems. I guess they called her just before the holiday's and told her that they were assessing a $4.00 fee per transaction. I dont know if it is a company wide thing for them or only O st.

Peggy said she is going to give me the # to the company, So I can call and complain and say how she is being ripped off.

So what they decieded to do, was eat the $4 on purchase's over $20 for credit. If you use it under, Like I was planning to. They ask you to use debit or pay the $4.

Fair and reasonable to me. I just new something wasnt right.

After talking to her, she said that she would waive the $4 for me, But I told her I didnt but it at that time and was gonna go back and get it. I really needed it tonight, so he said she would wait an extra 10 minutes for me after they close, so I could use my wifes ATM card , since I know her's.

Now that is customer service!

 

[MrMikeB]

I am not sure about this ridiculous $4 charge BS. I am with funman... its against the terms of the merchants to charge fees to use the CC. All merchants usually get a 1%-3% fee assessment for accepting cards. The trade off is that they get more business. All of them incorporate that into the price of their merchandise (like the rent, the lights, etc.). Charging to use a CC is bad business.

On a side note, I was there 2 days ago picking up an open brain and used my CC and there was no charge. Unless they are just adding this 'policy,' or something is up.

 

[JahReefster]

That's nice of her to do that, and Peggy's always been decent to me, but it still doesn't sound right. As far as I know, any merchant who wants to accept VISA is not allowed to charge a fee for accepting it, nor are they allowed to set a minimum purchase level. I don't see how it should make any difference depending on what service the merchant uses to process the transaction.

 

[Nu2SW]

if your charge is over $20 dollars, Like a brain would be. You dont hear about the charge.because they are eating the fee that the company "Made" them pay.

 

[funman1]

See this is exactly why I don't turn them in for this.
Customer Service.

Yeah it's totally against the terms of service to charge or set a minimum purchase price to use the CC, but Ost has always been there for me, so I let it slide.

NOW here's a small catch. The merchant CAN offer a cash discount.
MEANING C.C. price is $45.00 Cash price is $40.00.
BUT all items must be marked as such.
OR a % discount must be posted like "Cash discount %5"
SO usually only gas stations will do this with gas because they can easily post both prices.

I studied this VERY in depth, and had a merchant machine at one time, for my web business (now I just force all customer through Paypal).
So I know what they can get away with and what they can not.
And I have the numbers on speed dial on my cell phone to report merchants, (I usually turn them in to Visa/MC while standing right there talking to the manager or owner)

But if I like the place, and all their other dealings with me are good, then I can let stuff slide sometimes and not turn them in. IE: Ost

~Steve~

 

[Nu2SW]

Ya but steve how would that apply if it was the store being forced to do it?

Can we turn in that company?

 

[Elite]

So what is the # if you want to report them??

 

[funman1]

Edwin, It does not matter in the least. For them it's called the cost of doing business. If they are really being charged that much then they need to switch providers that's INSANE fee's!!

Elite, You need to contact the bank who issued the card you "tried to use" so for me that's BofA, and I also call WaMu.

Here is a clip right from the visa webpage
http://www.usa.visa.com/about_visa/...al/using_visa/index.html|Questions? Ask Visa!


"Minimum Purchase
Visa merchants are not permitted to establish minimum transaction amounts, even on sale items. They also are not permitted to charge you a fee when you want to use your Visa card.

If you run into a problem like this with a merchant, please notify the financial institution that issued you your Visa card. These institutions have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations and can help you document and file your complaint. You'll find their address and/or telephone number on your Visa statement. Their telephone number may also appear on the back of the card itself. "

 

[funman1]

Also just dug up on Mastercards site the "Rules for merchants"
Here is the entire PDF link
http://www.mastercard.com/us/wce/PDF/12999_MERC-Entire_Manual.pdf

And here is the pertinent info quotes from the PDF

"9.12.2 Charges to Cardholders
A merchant must not directly or indirectly require any MasterCard cardholder
to pay a surcharge or any part of any merchant discount or any
contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a MasterCard card
transaction. A merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash
payments. A merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide
commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the like) if
the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment
used.
• A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a MasterCard transaction
that is not charged if another payment method is used."

AND

"9.12.3 Minimum/Maximum Transaction Amount Prohibited
A merchant must not require, or post signs indicating that it requires, a
minimum or maximum transaction amount to accept a valid MasterCard card."

I hope this helps some people out, who get screwed by this time and time again, at stores and restaurants.
It drives me nuts!!!

Now you have the proper links and info to fight back!!! (except against Ost)


~Steve~

 

[pepe.king.prawn]

Another note: If you pay your UC Davis tuition with a credit card, you get charged an extra fee to offset the fee UCD pays.

At my highschool it was the same way, pay for books and such with a credit card, school charges you extra to offset their costs.

 

[Jim_S]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8910162#post8910162 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pepe.king.prawn
Another note: If you pay your UC Davis tuition with a credit card, you get charged an extra fee to offset the fee UCD pays.

At my highschool it was the same way, pay for books and such with a credit card, school charges you extra to offset their costs.

Same thing at CSUS. They started this up my Junior year. I was so P'd off..... 4 semesters of paying $40 bucks extra per....... by the time I graduated, that school had taken so much money from me for things other than education......

Oh well.

At least Peggy is cool and is willing to offset the price. I like that store. I get stuff there all the time, and will continue to do so because of all the nice things they have done for me.

BTW, I'm in Tokyo right now Hello from half way around the world and across the international date line. Man they know how to celebrate New Years here! My second time here at this time of year and I'm still suprised....

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Nu2SW]

Steve, is that like some of the gas stations that charge a cash price and a credit card price. Same rules apply to them.

Wow I didnt know that. They do it in china town in San Fran all the time. Cash under $10 or credit over $10.

 

[Genicanthus]

As long as we're on the subject of O street, Dennis is a complete ***hole.

I haven't bought a fish retail in about 3 years. When I was in there the other day, I happened to see 4 beautiful lyretail anthias females and one male cruising in one of their tanks. All looked very nice. "Hi, I think I'd like to purchase some of your anthias. Can I see them eat?" Dennis rolls his eyes and tells me "It'll cost extra." Like I'm some kind of newbie or just a plain idiot. So I said, "Okay, fine, I'll just drive down to ASAP tommorrow and pick up 4 there, at $7.50 a piece. Or you can sell me these 4 for $24.99 a piece right now. After I see them eat." He fed them.

Shady, shady.

 

[duec22]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8910617#post8910617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jimdogg187
Same thing at CSUS. They started this up my Junior year. I was so P'd off..... 4 semesters of paying $40 bucks extra per....... by the time I graduated, that school had taken so much money from me for things other than education......

Jim, when I went in to pay tuiton last semester there was some guy that was really ****ed off because they stoped taking CC's for tuition payments...I guess they got turned in...

This is all some really good information....putting the number into my cell phone

 

[Brian Prestwood]

LFS Relations

LFS Relations

Hey All

Lots of good consumer rights info here, thanks.

I've always enjoyed dealing with Peggy and O st usually has one of the best selections of reef critters in town.

Most of you are arguing that O st has violated the agreement that MC/Visa brokered between us (their customers) and O st. That may be true. The fact is, if O st wants to charge $4 more to credit customers they can probably find a way to do it that doesn't violate our brokered agreement.

My suggestions is don't take it personally. Don't criticize their ethics, don't waste your time trying to get O st to abide by the agreement and, on the flip side, don't solve their problems for them. The offer is on the table, take it or leave it. Of course, making other MARS members aware of the offer help conserve gas.

 

[rafael13]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8911559#post8911559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Genicanthus
As long as we're on the subject of O street, Dennis is a complete ***hole.

I haven't bought a fish retail in about 3 years. When I was in there the other day, I happened to see 4 beautiful lyretail anthias females and one male cruising in one of their tanks. All looked very nice. "Hi, I think I'd like to purchase some of your anthias. Can I see them eat?" Dennis rolls his eyes and tells me "It'll cost extra." Like I'm some kind of newbie or just a plain idiot. So I said, "Okay, fine, I'll just drive down to ASAP tommorrow and pick up 4 there, at $7.50 a piece. Or you can sell me these 4 for $24.99 a piece right now. After I see them eat." He fed them.

Shady, shady.

did you buy them?
I hope not
"Okay, fine, I'll just drive down to ASAP tommorrow and pick up 4 there, at $7.50 a piece.
what and where is this?