Boots charging you to pay them

Lavendyr

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

I did read it properly. It tells me I pay 2.75% for using my card. The fact that this is included in the total is irrelevant.

Do I get a 2.75% discount for paying cash? If not, I will be paying for a service I do not receive.

Actually, it might interest you (or not!) to know that the cost of handling cash is at least as high as, if not higher than, the cost of taking credit card payments. Not that it's directly relevant, but it is a very expensive method of taking payment, because it requires so much management.

The straightforward answer, though, is that you wouldn't get a discount for paying cash, because the 2.75% is included in the cost of each product sold by Boots. This doesn't actually affect the cost of the product, it's just an allocation of a proportion of that cost.

So effectively, yes, if you never pay by card in Boots, by shopping there you are subsidising their costs in taking card payments. But consider that a percentage of your payment - whether specified or not - is also going towards covering their cash handling costs (which are considerable), their light, heat, rent, employee wages and so on. It's all overhead costs and it's all absorbed into the cost of the product that you are buying. It's just that they are being specific about the percentage of the value of each product that is going towards the handling of card payments.

To put it another way, would you get upset if they told you on the receipt that 1% of the total cost of your purchases was going towards paying Boots' heating bill, even though you never shop in Boots when it's cold enough for the heating to be turned on?

If, despite all that, it bothers you, vote with your feet and shop elsewhere. However I think you'll find that whether they specifically state it or not, pretty much every shop out there will allocate a proportion of the cost of each item towards overheads like card processing.

~Jem~

Oh my god what does it matter?!
Would you prefer the charge to be added onto the total?!

It reminds me of when i worked in Tesco a couple of years back and some bloke argued for 10 minutes with my manager because his receipt said a similar thing.

If you don't like it then boycott the shops that do it, which mean you'll be left shopping hardly anywhere as most of them do it

And 3 cheers for the post above, definately made the most sense, i suppose its kind of like vat - its already included in the price.

kr15snw

Jem, doesnt every shop get charged for using a credit / debit card scheme?

Meaning youd have to boycott everyone?

d123

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

I don't need a lecture from you, thank you. I did my MBA some years ago.

I just have to ask, if you did an MBA how come you didn't know about this?

I've noticed this from Sainsburys, Tesco, Morrisons, in truth, virtually every large retailer.

It allows them to save a few pence on each sale via a loophole in VAT. I would have thought someone with an MBA would have been aware of this sort of thing....

DCFC79

kr15snw wrote: »

Jem, doesnt every shop get charged for using a credit / debit card scheme?

Meaning youd have to boycott everyone?

all shops pay the card companies a fee, the fee is incorporated into the cost of the items, its not something to get worked up about OP,

Plasticman

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

I did read it properly. It tells me I pay 2.75% for using my card. The fact that this is included in the total is irrelevant.

Do I get a 2.75% discount for paying cash? If not, I will be paying for a service I do not receive.

I really don't get the point that you are trying to make? There is a charge of 2.75% for using your card, but this compensated for by the retailer who discounts your purchase by the same amount. You do not get a discount for paying in cash but why would you? You are not "paying for a service you do not receive" - you are paying for a product which you take away.

Sugarfree_Babe

Actually I am not worked up about it. But I am fascinated by the amount of support and encouragement you are all giving to the banks and card companies who levy these charges.

Personally I think the banks and credit card companies make far too much profit.

d123

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

Actually I am not worked up about it. But I am fascinated by the amount of support and encouragement you are all giving to the banks and card companies who levy these charges.

Personally I think the banks and credit card companies make far too much profit.

No-one is supporting the banks and card companies, but if you view it rationally, we wouldn't have credit or debit cards if they weren't viable for the banks to issue them, the choice is either we pay to use them, or the banks levy a charge on the retailer for them to accept cards, it just so happens that the retailers found a way to save a percentage of this fee via a tax loophole.

It doesn't cost the card user anything.

BillTrac

Sugarfree Babe,

actually you are worked up about it. Otherwise why waste your valuable time posting about it.

Having an MBA does not really make you smarter than most people, just seems to have given you an excuse to mention it, although what it has to do with your post is beyond me.

ps. just thought I would mention, I have an MBA as well but I am NOT going to mention it.

It has not cost you a penny more and quite a lot of places put this on receipts just to make you aware what the card companies are doing. I hope I never have to stand in a queue behind you. Goodness knows what you will whinge about!

pps, our local Aldi store accepts debit cards,AND gives cashback but I dont think it accepts CC

Plasticman

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

.........I am fascinated by the amount of support and encouragement you are all giving to the banks and card companies who levy these charges.

I didn't notice much support or encouragement for these charges - just acceptance that they need to be paid. Credit cards aren't free to administer so if the shop wasn't charged their use the card holder would need to fund it in their monthly payment (some form of fees system or no interest free period).

Sugarfree_Babe wrote: »

Personally I think the banks and credit card companies make far too much profit.

I think that they are making a lot less profit at the moment - in fact some aren't making much profit at all.......................