2% surcharge on credit card purchases.
You: So, how much is this handphone?
Shop: Rm1500.
You: Ok, i'll take that. *fumble for wallet and taking out credit card to make payment*
Shop: I'm sorry, sir, i have to charge you an additonal 2% on the price i quoted you just now if you were to pay by card. The price will be Rm1530 by card, and Rm1500 by cash.
Now, how many times have we encountered this before? Innumerous, right.
How do you feel? Cheated? Treated unfairly? It's a fact.
But do you proceed with the transaction eventhough you are seething underneath. I understand you perfectly. I've been through this many many times.
Ask yourself this:
1) Do you really need the item so urgently that you are willing to pay the 2% surcharge?
2) Have you checked out other shops carrying the same item for the same price or less without the 2% surcharge when you use your credit card?
3) Is that the last item on sale and the shop is closing soon?
Do you know that merchants get more sales when their shops accept credit card transactions as opposed to those that do not? That's because almost everyone carry one nowadays. Thanks to impulse buying and the psychological fact that when you dont see the cash, you dont feel the pinch when paying for an expensive item. Imagine having to pull out 15 pieces of Rm100. You might think twice if that's the only amount you have in your pocket right there and then, and the atm machine is like, no where to be seen. Moreover, which moron would want to carry so much cash around nowadays. What with the present safety level. We dont have anymore Rm500 or Rm1000 dollar bills, you know.
Credit card is a form of convenience to the card user, and the credit facility extended to you by the bank is not to be abused in any way. It's much safer when shopping with one instead of carrying cash. You lose all your money when you drop your wallet. But just make sure you make a report as soon as you find out that you've just lost your credit card and all transactions made after the report will be resolved or maximum liability limited to Rm250 or whatsoever amount stated by your card issuer; at their discretion of course when you have proven to have used the card in good faith.
Now, this is what i do whenever the shop tries to surcharge me the additional 2%. I'll ask them once more not to and if they insist, i'll just walk away; unless it falls into the three examples as mentioned earlier.
They lose a sale and i save 2%. No matter how much that 2% is, that's still savings in the long run. I dont tolerate this kind of nonsense. To me, it's just plain unethical business practise.
Shop: Rm1500.
You: Ok, i'll take that. *fumble for wallet and taking out credit card to make payment*
Shop: I'm sorry, sir, i have to charge you an additonal 2% on the price i quoted you just now if you were to pay by card. The price will be Rm1530 by card, and Rm1500 by cash.
Now, how many times have we encountered this before? Innumerous, right.
How do you feel? Cheated? Treated unfairly? It's a fact.
But do you proceed with the transaction eventhough you are seething underneath. I understand you perfectly. I've been through this many many times.
Ask yourself this:
1) Do you really need the item so urgently that you are willing to pay the 2% surcharge?
2) Have you checked out other shops carrying the same item for the same price or less without the 2% surcharge when you use your credit card?
3) Is that the last item on sale and the shop is closing soon?
Do you know that merchants get more sales when their shops accept credit card transactions as opposed to those that do not? That's because almost everyone carry one nowadays. Thanks to impulse buying and the psychological fact that when you dont see the cash, you dont feel the pinch when paying for an expensive item. Imagine having to pull out 15 pieces of Rm100. You might think twice if that's the only amount you have in your pocket right there and then, and the atm machine is like, no where to be seen. Moreover, which moron would want to carry so much cash around nowadays. What with the present safety level. We dont have anymore Rm500 or Rm1000 dollar bills, you know.
Credit card is a form of convenience to the card user, and the credit facility extended to you by the bank is not to be abused in any way. It's much safer when shopping with one instead of carrying cash. You lose all your money when you drop your wallet. But just make sure you make a report as soon as you find out that you've just lost your credit card and all transactions made after the report will be resolved or maximum liability limited to Rm250 or whatsoever amount stated by your card issuer; at their discretion of course when you have proven to have used the card in good faith.
Now, this is what i do whenever the shop tries to surcharge me the additional 2%. I'll ask them once more not to and if they insist, i'll just walk away; unless it falls into the three examples as mentioned earlier.
They lose a sale and i save 2%. No matter how much that 2% is, that's still savings in the long run. I dont tolerate this kind of nonsense. To me, it's just plain unethical business practise.
4 comments:
They are NOT allowed to charge the surcharge. They are supposed to bear it. You can report it to the merchant-bank.
That's right. Used to work for a financial institution. Just get the name of the shop/retail outlet, credit card name (its Visa or MasterCard mostly in Malaysia) & lodge a complaint to the HQ. Shops are suppose to absorb the surcharge as acceptance of credit card means more business for them!
Kat
emperor - i did lah, but there are so many doing that, its already the norm. boycott seems more effective.
kat - i called up a merchant bank's customer service the other day and the response was lame. said they cant do much about it and its up to the merchant to charge whatever amount they like. what the heck is this?
Hi Samm,
on reporting being charged the surcharge: a friend of mine did actually threaten to report this one handphone vendor in Sg Wang Plaza, who was reported to have replied "You want to report, reportlah! You think they do anything about it ah?" ... ah, yes, "enforcement" is a word that seems to exist infrequently in the authorities' vocabulary - the vendors are not scared, cos they know they can get away with it :-(
btw, another place that unabashedly charges this 2/3% surcharge is the travel agent: isn't that ridiculous? If one goes to a travel agent, one is probably going to be dumping a few hundred (or even over a thousand) bux to buy that vacation package, or (in my case) a ridiculously-expensive open return ticket.
3% of RM4K is a lot of "extra" money I'm not willing to shell out! I wasn't going to walk around with that amount in cash either, so I arranged to pay by cheque instead.
Kinda pissed off cos that's A LOT of "bonus points" "lost" from my credit card... but hey, overall I gained (or at least: didn't have to pay) that 3%!
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