FAA Investigates American Flyers

"Big John" wrote in message
...
American Express seems to be the most expensive and you will find many
firms not accepting AE credit cards for this reason..

And consumers like me preferring to use AE. Why? My perception that they
offer the most protection against erroneous, disputed, and fraudulent
charges. But especially because of there willingness to resolve such
problems acting as an advocate of the consumer. This 'advocacy' may be true
in fact or simply perception on my part but that's why I use AE.

"Captain Wubba" wrote in message
om...
Considering it costs about $100K for each ATM, plus periodic
maintenance,
it's great business sense for the eBanks to use competitors machines
(which
are in place, at great cost) and just refund the fees the ATM owner
charges.
Their customers would have to use EACH SINGLE ATM machine 30,000 to
50,000
times to cover the cost of having their own.

Just a minor correction. It costs nowhere *near* $100,000 for an ATM.
Cash dispensers can cost as little as $10,000, while good full-service
ATMs can be had for $25,000.

Sorry...I was using early 1990's numbers. I'm sure the price has declined
since much of the early costs were often for the secure network which is now
ubiquitous.

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...

"Tom S." wrote in message
...

Considering it costs about $100K for each ATM, plus periodic
maintenance,
it's great business sense for the eBanks to use competitors machines
(which
are in place, at great cost) and just refund the fees the ATM owner
charges.
Their customers would have to use EACH SINGLE ATM machine 30,000 to
50,000
times to cover the cost of having their own.

The cost would also involve finding someplace to put it. Perhaps with
some national
aliance with some place like 7-11 or Exxon stations could do it, but
otherwise they'd
have to real scramble to arrange with people to allow them to install
these things.

By the way, I only paid $20 for my ATM, and I think I bid too high.

Does it burn your fingers?

"Tom S." wrote in message ...



By the way, I only paid $20 for my ATM, and I think I bid too high.

Does it burn your fingers?

Nope, I obtained it legitmately. I picked it up at an RTC auction along with a
whole pile of office furniture.

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...

"Tom S." wrote in message
...



By the way, I only paid $20 for my ATM, and I think I bid too high.

Does it burn your fingers?

Nope, I obtained it legitmately. I picked it up at an RTC auction along
with a
whole pile of office furniture.




The real cost is in moving it.

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message news


The real cost is in moving it.

It had wheels. It wasn't anywhere near as heavy as the desk/credenza set I also
bought.

wrote in message
rg...
Maybe customers wouldn't love them as much if they knew how much they add
to the cost of their purchase.

By "customers", you mean the same idiots that feed anywhere from $1.50 to
$3.00 or more to banks just for the privilege of saving those banks money?

Right. As if those customers really care.

That assumes, of course, that allowing credit cards is actually a net loss
for the merchant. Not a foregone conclusion at all, since many factors are
improved when a merchant allows credit cards, including reduced fraud and
more sales.

Pete

Out here in the wild and wooly, having a cash price and a credit price is
SOP.

Bob Gardner

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...

"Tom Fleischman" wrote in message
rthlink.net...

What about all the gas stations that have a cash price and a credit
price?

I haven't seen as much of that in the past couple of years, but it was
common practice at most gas stations up until just recently

I haven't seen such a thing in decades and I've lived and travelled
through many states. I remember it briefly in the early eighties and
the stations allowed you to avoid it by using "their" credit card and
I had a bunch of gas cards as a result. I terminated all of them when
they went back to taking VISA/MC for the same price. Most of the
OIL cards now are logo'd VISA/MC/AMEX cards now anyhow.

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:21:07 -0600, Big John
wrote:

Rosspilot

So what do you do?. Just add your cost of CC service to the posted
price? If someone comes in and pays cash then you make more profit?

That's right, more or less. Likely it comes to less of a markup than
that, meaning the cash customer is penalized in general. But the
markup gets applied evenly, all around.

Just as a corrolary, you'll see that with cash arrangments at the
doctor's office, too. His list price for your physical exam might be
$100. If you pay cash, you'll get a discount, say $5. Neat, eh?

The insurance companies he deals with will pay him $48. Medicare will
pay him $25.

Cash price for my daughter's amoxicillin at the pharmacist? $53 (no
kidding!) My copay was $15, the insurance company chipped in another
$9, which the pharmacist might see before the next Ice Age glacier
rolls over his store. Hmm. $53 cash price/ $24 insurance price?

So, yes, if someone pays cash you *do* make more profit. On that item.
Congratulations, cash buyer: you just paid the administrative costs of
everyone else being on an aggregate guaranteed payment program.

On a much *much* larger scale, you see that kind of thing in the
disparity of drug prices between the U.S. and Canada.

Rob

--
[You] don't make your kids P.C.-proof by keeping them
ignorant, you do it by helping them learn how to
educate themselves.

-- Orson Scott Card

Ron Natalie wrote:

"Roy Smith" wrote in message ...

When I paid my bill, I was astounded when they tacked on a few extra
bucks to cover credit card transaction fees! It wasn't a whole lot of
money, but I've never heard of anybody ever doing anything like that.
I didn't even think it was legal.

Whether they can pass on the credit card fees depends on what state you're
in. It's legal here (Virginia) but not in California.

Regardless of what state you live in, both Mastercard and Visa prohibit surcharging.
(They do allow cash discounts subtracted from the price.) American Express prohibits
surcharging when other cards do (e.g. Mastercard or Visa). I believe Novus prohibits
it too, but am not sure.

By the way, they also prohibit minimum purchase amounts.

Mastercard and Visa DO enforce their merchant agreements, and will be happy to
investigate problems. You can contact them at their websites.

Mastercard Policy:
http://global.mastercard.com/my/consumer/cust_serv.html

Visa Policy:
http://usa.visa.com/media/business/e...erch_guide.pdf