With all the different ways to pay for things these days and the, rise of the machines, I simply do not carry cash on me anymore. I used to walk around with 30 grand rolled up in a wad like in Goodfella's (not really) but these days: Zero cash. I have a couple of cards, both of which are not credit; They operate off my own bank balance or cash I load it with and I'm happy with that. Credit isn't something I value that highly, or at all.
Anyhow one of my pet hates is those places that impose a $10 minimum transaction on credit card transactions. I don't see it as a justifiable request in this modern age of credit cards, apple pay and similar options. I happen to know that EFTPOS machines from the bank are free in that the banks provide the machine, maintain it and will replace it for free and there's no extra account fees to have it either. I happen to know this because my wife uses one daily for our business. I have had this conversation before, in the real world, and was told that a minimum number of transactions is required for the free service and you know what? I call bullshit. My wife would do around 5-10 transactions per day over a 5 day week, so not a lot. How can we believe then, that a cafe would not meet the minimum number of transactions in a 7 day 7-10pm working day? Like I said, I call bullshit. Maybe they're trying to get you to spend more? Maybe they would rather you pull a $10 bill from your pocket and pay with cash so they can avoid declaring it to the government to avoid the resulting tax? No, really? Surely not!
So, here's how I handle it; And I stick by this self-imposed rule like superglue to your fingers...
I refuse to pay it. I have purchased things for $9.95 and been advised of their dodgy $10 minimum for credit card purchases and simply said, "Oh, ok, no worries, forget about it," and walked out. Brutal? Not as brutal as walking out despite the fact they made the coffee or food already though! I do that too. You see, there is no minimum at all and what they are trying to do is increase your level of spend in their outlet. It's border-line extortionate in my opinion. As a caveat to my rule, I will always look for a sign advising of the $10 minimum and choose to walk out prior to ordering if my purchase is going to be less than $10.
Anyway, that's just my take on it and I assume other's have a widely different view. For me I'll continue to option out of those stores and outlet's that take it upon themselves to dictate to me on how much I HAVE to spend there, and I'll take my hard-earned consumer dollars elsewhere where the service is just that; Service. After all, this isn't George Orwell's 1984, despite how similar life looks these days.
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