Being charged to use your debit card

[LizzyS]

Yup, I've had this happen at a couple of places. One I know was a local restaurant. As a PP said, most merchants are reluctant to do this, but occasionally you will run into ones that do.

 

[nikkita]

It's pretty normal here is Australia for smaller businesses. It cuts into their bottom line too much. Some places will charge a % while others will charge a flat dollar or two

This happens for both debit and credit cards

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

edited to add: A state which charges a surcharge for online use of a credit card might be encouraging people to go to a local DMV office and pay with cash or a check. The cost to operate DMV offices to the level necessary if there is a significant reduction in the use of online renewals will probably exceed the costs to accept credit cards.

I argued this very point when I recently renewed my car registration. They charged $1.00 to renew online. Not enough to make me want to get up early on a Saturday and go in person. They offered a customer survey at the end and I explained to them that customers who require a human being to process a reg. renewal in a brick & mortar office should be the ones to pay the extra fee. They don't charge extra to pay by cc when going in person, it's the online convenience fee.
You would think they'd encourage everyone to do it online and it would cut costs and they could downsize but of course what govt entity wants to downsize?

 

[MillauFr]

I explained to them that customers who require a human being to process a reg. renewal in a brick & mortar office should be the ones to pay the extra fee.

Exactly. The people that require in person service which is very expensive to operate should be the ones paying the fees. I still don't understand why Disney hasn't converted more of their operations to online. Seems like you have to call a live person much of the time.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I argued this very point when I recently renewed my car registration. They charged $1.00 to renew online. Not enough to make me want to get up early on a Saturday and go in person. They offered a customer survey at the end and I explained to them that customers who require a human being to process a reg. renewal in a brick & mortar office should be the ones to pay the extra fee. They don't charge extra to pay by cc when going in person, it's the online convenience fee.
You would think they'd encourage everyone to do it online and it would cut costs and they could downsize but of course what govt entity wants to downsize?

For my state you get charged regardless of in-person or online if using a credit card or debit card. They do 'penalize' if you will those who have to renew in person because they charge an additional $5.00 per vehicle to do it in person.

I've always done it online but you have to qualify for that by getting a PIN sent to you through renewal paperwork. Often the issue if you didn't get a PIN is your insurance company failed to submit electronically proof that you've had valid insurance. I had that happen once years ago where it was a glitch with my insurance company who had issues during a specific time period. At that time though the DMV wasn't charging the $5.00 per vehicle (that started in Jan 2015).

You can renew by mail but only with check, money order or cashier's check (no additional fee there other than postage of course).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Exactly. The people that require in person service which is very expensive to operate should be the ones paying the fees. I still don't understand why Disney hasn't converted more of their operations to online. Seems like you have to call a live person much of the time.

Not that phone CMs are 100% accurate but Disney seems to have quite the issue with website reliability. I myself prefer to do things online if I can but I def. know Disney doesn't make it always easy for that be it their website becomes glitchy or functions aren't all there for online (or in the case of some things availability for ADRs and resort stays aren't fully there online).

 

[SL6827]

Reading these reports are not encouraging. Makes me really think the future will shift the cost of using plastic from the retailer to the consumer, at all places. Not good.