I went to a local gas station today and purchase a soda, large bag of chips and package of cookies, or so I tried. The balence was 4 bucks. I had no cash (never carry it) and wipped out my visa debit card. The lady says they have a minimum charge of 5 bucks. I tell her it's against the law (because I've read about it before). She says other places do it as well. I said those other places are breaking the law too. She said that is their policy. I told her you can be reported for that and she said that was their policy and too bad. I left my shit on the counter and left (got the stuff at the next gas station no problem).

So I went back to work and looked up the proper documentation to back up what I already knew. It is not actually illegal (ie punishable by court systems), but it is against the policy of Visa and Master Card. Both card companies strictly prohibit any minimum charge amount. They reccomend you report the merchant to the financial institution you got your card from and they can persue it (ie the bank). Merchants can be removed from Visa or MasterCard and not be allowed to use their services anymore.

Seeing that I warned her twice and called back later giving them a chance to make good on their slap in the face (which the guy gave me the same run around)...I reported them to Comerica.

What should we do in the future?

I copied the pages from their bylaws into graphics, and also attached the URL for the page from their website if they wish to see for themselves. I will put these small sheets in my wallet and bring them out whenever I have to. Showing them should get them to change their ways. I suggest the same for you:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k70/WTFchris/MasterCardLaw.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k70/WTFchris/VisaLaw.jpg

did they change their policy?

Thank you for doing the work, Chris. This is something that bugs me all the time. Fortunately, most places I go let it slide so it's not a problem. Usually they say the minimum, but then let me go ahead and do it anyway.

It's just not logical to carry cash anymore.

Having hassled with merchant agreement bullshit, how to overprice to factor the credit card tax, etc., my first instinct was along the lines of:

"I'm glad to know that people are standing up for the big credit card companies. They sure could use all the help they can get."

Of course, another part of me thought:

"I'm glad that credit card companies charge stupidly high transaction fees, so we don't get eaten to death by micropayments."

That's a sign that I'm thinking too much about this. :)

I don't get into the merchant vs credit card stuff. If they have a problem with the fees then address it. Don't take it out on me and make up some bull shit minimum amount. Sure, I might charge 4 bucks and you make less profits than a $20 charge. But I'm also there charging 80 bucks in gas a week later. It all averages out.

Unless I am getting something from a vending machine, a vendor at an event, etc...then I'm not expecting that I had to have cash. The point of the debit card is that you don't have to go to the bank and make sure you have cash for the week or whatever.

And most places I do let it slide if they let me charge (despite their rule that is not allowed). I won't raise a fuss if you call them out on it and they bend their "rule" for you.

When they still don't allow it I'm going to play hard ball.

Generally, a vendor that accepts credit cards has to charge a few percent more on their goods and services to account for that, whether a consumer pays with a credit card or not. They address the problem by taking it out on us. It is only getting worse, too. This year, you'll see a ~0.5% increase in what you pay for darn near everything because Mastercard and VISA jacked up their interchange fees. It's stupid that with today's transaction handling technologies, the credit card companies' minimum fees are still stupidly high enough to push small businesses into minimum transaction bullshit. The big credit card companies have gamed the laws and regulations far better than the small business owner or consumer.

And yes, before I ever actually came up close and personal with credit cards, I'm almost 100% sure I'd have felt the same way WTFchris does. Admittedly, I keep a $20 yuppie coupon stashed in my vehicles ever since my wallet had a bad encounter with a magnet...