[www.wellsfargo.com]

If you used paywave, there wouldn't be anything Jack In The Box could do, as the transaction already went through. Of course the downside is you have to want the card with RFID in it, which is a little privacy invasive for some people.

Lucky225

JimandJune

newfenoix

If y'all don;t like to eat the 40-50 cent fee + 4% of the transaction amount fee, don't accept the cards at all. it is really simple. Nobody places a gun against the merchants' heads to accept credit cards. You want cash only? Go for it.

You want the safety of guaranteed payments despite fraud? You want the exponentially greater customer pool of those who insist on using plastic? This is the cost.

Also, there absolutely IS a difference in the acceptance/declination of cards. If the receipt comes up before five seconds has elapsed, there is no way in hell the approval was made by checking the individual's account through the issuing bank. None. All that was checked was the algorythm of the card number (there are specific sequences that must be used when creating a cc account number) and/or a check against a data base for known bad/stolen cards. Typically, gas pumps are the place you would encounter the more lax approval.

Trojan69

mzlinax3

Hudson74

karmaghost

moviemoron

they're tasty and good for those late-night cravings.

i tend to roll up on my bike (since they will serve bike customers at my local one, big ups) and pay with plastic and roll off with no problem.

given the trouble that WA has with identity theft and allegedly "stolen" cards (demanding my ID because i'm brown but not from a white dude in front of me=so f-ing classy, not.), i'm amazed they're not trying this BS here.

algormortis

stuartny

The Great Aussie Evil

htrodblder

greensmurf

Yep your right I am full of crap, because you know I went there because I have used the card without any problem at all on a small purchase. It wasn't until last week that I noticed the sign. I didn't have a camera on me at the time so I couldn't snap the picture. Up until last week though I hadn't been to that particular JinB for months. So I can't say for sure when the sign went up. Sounds to me like you haven't been there in a few weeks either. Who knows maybe they have taken it down since then because there is no way that I wasn't the only one to make the complaint to JinB corporate.

valthun

hi

McD's in Boston...
For a double 1/4lb. w/cheese meal is 6 bucks, NOT supersized or even large!

BK is not much better. 5.89 for 1 double whopper w/ cheese meal...

GrandizerGo

WV.Hillbilly

A theory I have is that the credit card thieves are now using drive-throughs to test their stolen cards. Before it used to be gas stations. But now that gas stations are immediately flagged for fraud, they are turning to other places to more easilly test their cards. A drive through would be idea for this as it's quick and doesn't require a signature. Therefore, I suspect this Jack In The Box, must have had a high amount of charge backs. By imposing these limits, high purchase limit and needing identification, the crooks will go elsewhere to test their cards. So it's probably not a corporate wide policy, but something the local franchise needed to do otherwise they'd be losing money hand over fist due to fraud.

satoru

bluebuilder

James Sumners

James Sumners

I know of two fast food chains were purchases under 30 dollars will be approved in this manner. So it's very simple to hand them any old card you want, get your food, and never get caught.

You can tell this is happening because the receipt will print out extra fast..only taking a few seconds instead of the normal 5-15 seconds in other places."

THIS IS FALSE.. I write sofware that interfaces with credit card processing systems and a web based system responds in under 3 seconds.

rjstsas

newyorkjerry

Wow, they write your CC on the check too?

I would have just gotten a debit/CC card, report it to the bank as lost or stolen, gotten a new number issued, and then given the old number anytime I wrote a check in your situation.

Hawk07

That-Dude

That-Dude

I think no one's asking because the merchant's reason for asking for ID is going to be the same reason for the ridiculous minimum: fraud. Also, with a minimum that high it kind of makes it a moot point. The ID check never becomes an issue if no one wants to spend that much money.

I wanna know what happened to the flag button. Should we just reply to the offending comments with "Flag"?

Rectilinear Propagation

That-Dude

SoCalGNX

My friends parents own a small business selling vacuums, and the majority of their revenue comes from inexpensive vacuum bags, which people usually only buy 1 or 2 of. If they didn't charge a minimum fee they would never be able to keep their store open.

redhelix

stinerman

Jack in the Box in a noun...and in some unfortunate cases, a verb. It's basically what Spitzer did to Dupree

LUV2CattleCall

@James Sumners: So you will carry a printout of Visa/MC merchant rules in your wallet, but you won't carry a single $10 bill just in case you run into a coffee shop/fast food joint that doesn't accept credit cards?

jdsmn

FLConsumer

corrosive

ceejeemcbeegee

bluewyvern

jgarra

katylostherart

Phillip M. Vector

"Always honor valid Visa cards in your acceptance category, regardless of the dollar amount of the purchase. Imposing minimum or maximum purchase amounts in order to accept a Visa card transaction is a violation of the Visa rules."

If you buy something at the store for $1 and the store has a minium purchase price of $5, they can make the argument that they accept the card, but tack on the fee.

Can anyone quote the agreement that no fee will be imposed for using the card?

Phillip M. Vector

Imposing a minimum balance is basically telling your customers, "I don't want your money".

Of course, I always carry SOME cash on me and have never considered paying for fast food with a credit card. If you can't carry enough cash for a Jumbo Jack then maybe you should stick to eating Kraft Mac and Cheese at home.

deserthiker

JiB is incorporated, not franchised.
I once charged $0.07 just to see if it would go through. it did.

Poisonthescene

but I haven't been since this guy has so I'll go tonight and check if its true.

(and their curly fries are the fuckin bomb at three am when you're drunk.)

enjo

scoosdad

scoosdad

i think in an instances like this, management should be investigating alternatives to software that strips away the protection that interchange fees provide.

mac-phisto

witeowl

renilyn

mac-phisto

MissTic

All else being equal, I too tend to prefer to patronize small businesses. But knee-jerk anti-corporatism is rather irrational.

ShortBus

They said the fee on the AMEX transaction was the reason for capping the credit card amount.

durkzilla

Leave with $35 worth and feed your buds.

HalOfBorg

However, a $30 minimum at a chain restaurant is preposterous. I hope they lose plenty of business because of it, on top of getting in trouble with the credit card companies. Rude!

erica.blog

I know of two fast food chains were purchases under 30 dollars will be approved in this manner. So it's very simple to hand them any old card you want, get your food, and never get caught.

You can tell this is happening because the receipt will print out extra fast..only taking a few seconds instead of the normal 5-15 seconds in other places.

This manager probably knows that $30.00 transaction amounts will trigger the real-time verification engine.

Why he does not just change the software threshold is beyond me....

rdytmire

1) There are specific VISA rules that apply to each business class of merchants. Those rules have a NDA attached and I am not privilaged to all merchant class rules. If you search the VISA site you will find references to the NDA.
[www.usa.visa.com]

2) The Merchant Banks publish "public" rules which are general guidelines for that Merchant Bank. The Merchant Bank also has a specific set of rules that apply only to specific business classes and those rules and guidelines also have a NDA attached.

3) There are an entirely different set of rules for 3rd party CC transactions.

Many small value merchants (such as fast food joints) use a 3rd party CC transaction service. My understanding is that 3rd party service charges the merchant a % or flat rate fee for every transaction. The merchant can then legally add that fee to the CC transaction OR have a minimum transaction amount.

StevieD

courtneywoah

Rectilinear Propagation

Bay State Darren

Oops! I just had a massive coronary embolism.

ClankBoomSteam

Yes

StevieD

Zyada

I don't know, it seems like a situation where, yeah, you can complain, bu should you?

mgy

timsgm1418

"Your merchant agreement and the Visa U.S.A. Inc. Operating Regulations take precedence over this guide or any updates to its information."

Key words: YOUR merchant agreement. So, the question becomes:

Is it possible that indvidual merchant agreements can include provisions for minimum purchases and/or fees?

Dooley

timsgm1418

Bay State Darren

CPC24

Party Boy

ChuckECheese

James Sumners

valthun

ophmarketing

AbsoluteIrrelevance

snowpuff

At the Jack In The Boxes here, they have installed RFID credit card readers on all of their drive-thrus and counter cash registers, and those are only supposed to be used for small (less than $25, I think) transactions.

Sounds like this particular franchisee didn't want to accept credit cards at all, but JITB corporate forced them to.

Karl

donTHEd

/sarcasm

Anyways, 2 things I'll never do:

1. Spend more than 5 bucks for fast food

2. Give my debit/credit card to the teenager working the register.

Alas, perhaps my penchant for planning ahead and being a cheap bastard will bite me in the ass, however, I think in the long run I'll be ok.

Scuba Steve

I SOOOOOOOO miss white castle! Nothign I liked more after getting off work at 5 am than stopping buy the grandview, MO whitecastle & getting a bag of bellybombers to take home. WhiteCastle closed all of its shops here in Kansas city years ago & the closest ones are all the way across the state in St Louis! :*(

as for the article.... I hate it when companies get all militant against their customers after getting defrauded by criminals .... basically treating every customer as a potential criminal. You'd think that companies would realize that its expected to get a cetain percentage of fraud/loss & not take it out on their customers.

forgottenpassword

snowpuff

No minimum purchase required.

No ID required.

-------------

Visa rules are:

No minimum purchase required.

snowpuff

I'm just going to have to stop patronizing those businesses since I almost never have cash on me.

stinerman

mgy

Crumbles

From what I understand, business aren't allowed to impose a minimum for credit card purchases. A few do; a green grocer near me won't accept orders under $10 for plastic payment. I've never bothered to take them to task as their prices are great. I suppose the the fees are bothersome for accepting credit but I'd think the advantages would far outweigh the disadvantages. Folks are carrying less paper in their wallets and credit/debit cards are easier to zip out, sign and go.

Gadgetgirl

aphex242

Maybe if you are picking up lunch for all your coworkers (as i have done that before), but I doubt even a family of 5 couldnt blow THAT much at one fast food place!

forgottenpassword

30!

That's what I was thinking!

Boy Howdy

The hassles in order to pay for things in CA was the part I disliked most about living there. But that was also when demanding a credit card (and they wrote it all down on the check) was required in order to write a check most places. That was also my first introduction to the pay before you pump stupidity.

bohemian

NcSchu

greensmurf

The terms of the merchant agreements are quite different.

StevieD

creamsissle