This is true. But the surcharge the banks have for these is ridiculous and has always been there so it’s not really a new thing. There has only really been an increase in passing on fees. There are some new products out there that businesses can use that can dramatically if not get rid of them.
1 Like
My hairdresser was telling me the bank gave her one surcharge for tap and one for insert. She dumped them and went with a smaller mob.
1 Like
I was talking (pre-Covid) to the guy who runs the coffee place I go to - he was telling me that his bank (big 4, might have naming rights on a stadium) gave him little choice but to have the surcharge and even then it can be lucky to cover the cost (they also put some pretty crazy rules around it that are over and above any ACCC requirements). He shopped around to see if he could get a better deal, but didn’t find anything that was compelling enough to shift (trading off cheaper rates for poorer service)
He resisted cards but it got to the point where he was losing customers because he wasn’t accepting card payments, but for low-value transactions, it’s quite expensive.
5 Likes
This is what a lot of businesses are doing now. Tbh, I’m not sure what the fees with these companies are like.
1 Like
My parents were complaining to me on the weekend of the credit card fees imposed by small businesses near our home.
Isn’t that common practice for small business to pass on the fees to consumers because they get charged per card transaction ?
A lot of big businesses plus government department also pass on CC fees.
Well it is now but my point was that it hadn’t been in the past. I guess businesses were absorbing the costs and just putting up the prices accordingly.
It’s a lot more obvious now when it’s additional charge on your purchase. So can have anywhere from 1% to 2% surcharge for using a credit card and then a 10% surcharge for weekends. And at a restaurant there can be a 10% surcharge for groups larger than 10 and corkage fee if you BYO wine or a cakeage fee if you bring your own cake. So many additional charges.
The weekend/public holiday surcharge is a rort in particular in tourist areas at places that would make most of their money on weekends and public holidays and could easily make a decent profit without the surcharge. I pay everything on card but I pay off the balance every month and earn a decent amount of Qantas points during the year.
2 Likes
Perhaps more people will start walking around with a camera - like a dashcam.
1 Like
It will also be something that the store can look through to determine if someone is doing their job (both literally and if they are being rude to customers too).
I believe the cameras have to be activated by the employee wearing it since it can only record for about half an hour? Seems they’re really just meant to cover an employee when there’s an abusive customer and such.
2 Likes
Another data breach
1 Like
Got some porterhouse steak sliced for $17 a kg at Drakes couldn’t believe the price… It looked really good in colour too . Hard to explain in words .
It did say economy which I looked up to mean an older cow.
Tasted absolutely delicious. We did bash it with a meat tenderiser and it only had a very very slight small toughness . Very good quality.
Apparently meat prices are going to drop or are dropping due to farm gate price… vege and fruit prices are good at the moment too.
Last time I remember meat specials on steak so low seemed like before 2010 maybe. Apparently an oversupply of cattle in Australia at the moment.
1 Like
Prices are reducing in Meat. But they have just climbed in Ice Creams. Woolworths had hiked all ice creams by about 10% within the last fortnight. Now I assume they are doing this to then play the high/low special or ‘price drop’ game over the summer season.
Coles has hiked its own brand Milk, Woolworths yet to follow however I’d imagine that will occur in a matter of days.
The price drop stuff annoys me. To have a line at one price for say 12 months. Then hike it by 10% for 2 months. Then enter that product into a ‘price drop’ campaign that brings it back to the original price before the hike? Nothing but a scam.
1 Like
Absolutely. I’ve been saying that for a while. Their catalogue quotes the price it was in a certain month but they don’t tell you a month earlier it was actually cheaper. Shonks!
2 Likes
The duopoly has us by the balls. Same with Qantas and Virgin.
I think Woolworths and Coles get away with too much. The airlines are starting to be held to account, I think it’s time some retailers are also, including that rubbish from House.
1 Like
I noticed in Coles today Pringles were on offer 2 for $8
Last week they were $2.50 each on offer.
It’s just a slightly different font doesn’t seem to be “much cleaner” to me if it was it would use a completely different font not a similar one.
1 Like