One of my friends just called from Cleveland,she lives in AZ

[az chela]

she is on her way to Maine and took the shuttle to the airport this morning and they refused her credit card saying they arent taking credit cards so she had to pay cash.This is not due to her not having money as she has a lot of money and pays for everything with credit cards.I told her yesterday to go get money from the bank and not to rely on her credit card but am amazed that they refused to accept credit cards.Has this happened to anyone else???

[LSdemocrat]

1. Could just be that their credit card satellite dish/communication system was down

[slampoet]

8. If that were the case they should be able to take hand written invoices.

[musette_sf]

2. i'm willing to bet that a lot of small merchants

are going to stop taking CCs because of the fees they have to pay to accept them.

[truedelphi]

12. This is already been happening for about a year

GHere in Lake County.

The fees for the merchants are really high. And since people in this neck of the woods are honest, a merchant usually finds that they are better off losing out on the monies involved with one or two bad checks a year, than paying out 2.1% on each and every transaction.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. My uncle's friend's roommate says...

he couldn't use one of them credit card activated defribrillators when he need too.

God damn congress!

[deaniac21]

4. .

:spray:

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. !!!

:spray: :evilgrin:

[az chela]

5. I had heard on tv yesterday that the credit cards

were going to be cut off but didnt expect it this soon.I am glad I told my friend to get cash but this is DAMN SCARY

[Greyhound]

7. They're going to use any and all means to scare you into giving up.

Will we give in to the terrorists?

[kirby]

9. See this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4107028&mesg_id=4107028

[mahina]

10. I'm certain this is not all the information. Lots of businesses don't take credit cards;

that doesn't mean the sky is falling. It means they take cash. Do busses take credit cards?

[liberalhistorian]

27. Exactly. Chances are the bus didn't accept

credit cards, a lot of merchants like that don't. Businesses do NOT have to accept cc's, and many small ones simply don't 'cause it costs them too much and is too much of a hassle. I used my cc this morning for groceries at the store on my very rural Indian reservation, so I really don't think there's any problem or that this means all that much.

[Retrograde]

31. no, but the commuter train does

you can buy train tickets with credit cards, as low as $1.75 for travels in 1 zone

Credit card companies charge merchants a percentage of the total sales, which can be 8% or more for small-volume merchants. That eats into the profit margin, so I can see small businesses not taking credit cards. If they advertise that they accept them but then don't take them, contact the credit card company and/or the local business bureau: this is possibly an unfair business practice.

[garlicmilkshake]

11. That had to be some sort of technical glitch. No, see edit, sorry

Ain't gonna happen. :-)

Darn few merchants will either.


Heck, I bought a car with one yesterday, $14K...
:shrug:

edit: OOPS, I thought you meant one of the airline shuttles! I rarely use a pay ground shuttle, mostly hotel no-charge buses (of course I toss a couple dollar tip to the driver) ;-)

[az chela]

18. My husband has paid this same place with credit cards

many times and we sure as hell dont have a lot of money like my friend

[ThoughtCriminal]

13. I've run into that with some shuttle companies in Phoenix,

but it has been a few years since I used them.

[az chela]

17. This was in Prescott,the shuttle goes to Phoenix

[Occulus]

14. We should be telling them this:

If you don't unlock the credit cards so we can use them, we will stop sending you payments ON them.

Personally, I think the CC companies can go pound sand, but that's just me. Credit card contracts are the only contracts I know of that can be altered at will by one party to the contract.

HOW is that even legal to begin with?

[trof]

15. Um...did the shuttle EVER take credit cards?

And now they don't?
Or do they just not accept credit cards, ever?
That would be good to know.
My farmers' market doesn't take credit cards either.
;-)

[az chela]

19. that is what they take is credit cards

I doubt anyone pays them cash,thats why this is so weird

[trof]

25. Ah. Thanks.

[MurrayDelph]

16. I used to travel a LOT on business

and had many shuttle drivers try to avoid taking credit cards (Even when the card logo was on their van AND I had told the dispatcher I wanted someone who would take credit cards).

They would deny that they took cards, or claim their machine was broken, or that they were out of slips (we're talking ten years ago, before they could charge over the phone).

In those cases it was usually a scam, either to avoid having to pay the credit card fee, or reporting the income at all.

It is very possible that her problem had nothing to do with the current financial crisis.

[ThoughtCriminal]

28. I've had a driver try an scam me

Insisted on cash and tried to overcharge me. I'm pretty sure he was overcharging passengers and pocketing the difference. I had checked the rate before I called and insisted on contacting his dispatcher. That cleared it up.

It was also the only time I had seen a driver who was openly rude to passengers and the only time I have not given a tip.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Yesterday at local grocery store

the store refused the lady in front of me credit card

Overheard the conversation... they are, for the moment, refusing any card issued by any affected bank... hers was WAMU

And I will be surprised if a local merchant I know accepts credit cards by the end of the month

[garlicmilkshake]

21. Any merchant who does that is an idiot and is contributing to the problem.

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Any merchant who does not want to take a CC isued by oh Wachovia

having his doubts he'll be paid is an idiot?

Ok

[az chela]

23. She has money in several banks,Wachovia is one of them

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. As I said, I saw a WAMU card rejected yesterday

and I would not be too surprised if your friend's situation is related.

For the record, anecdotally, a friend of my brother in law had his account frozen until all the transfer, et al to the new owners gets settled

[garlicmilkshake]

30. Yes. A moron even.

:eyes:

[FarCenter]

29. WAMU cards should be good

JP Morgan Chase has announced that the WAMU acquisition now makes Chase the largest card issuer measured by total outstanding balances.

They are going to stand behind the cards. They would not want the value of their acquisition dimished.

[Fresh_Start]

26. I thought if you bought tickets especially one-way tickets

with cash, you were flagged as a possible terrorist?