Pepper Lunch eatery opened in Chadstone SC this week. I paid with a card using my Debit Card or Savings. Without warning, I was alerted at the last minute that a 9 cent surcharge is to be debited. When I said ‘you did not warn me of this’, the staff pointed to a list printed on my left side, well below eye-level. Can stores charge on non-credit card purchases?
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Yes, see…
Did you ask them if there was a way to pay without incurring the 9 cent surcharge?
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Depending on their costs and profit margins the cost of debit transactions may be at a level too high for them to cover. They must give clear warning about any surcharge they add and this may be an issue you could raise with your State Office of Fair Trading and/or the ACCC about the clarity/visibility of any advice about a surcharge being added.
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Worth a report to the ACCC, but don’t hold your breath on a reply or response. 9% seems over the top for even the smallest business with the most expensive terminal provider. Being in a shopping centre one would expect they have more than average small shop business as well as many customers who pay with cards.
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Was it 9 percent…or 9 cent?
9 cents could be seen as reasonable for a modest purchase, 9% not.
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Option was to pay cash. Who has more than a few dollars in cash these days?
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Yes, was 9 cents. It is the principle of forewarning that matters.
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They need to clearly and plainly advise of the surcharge before you commence the payment part of the transaction. As I advised above a complaint to your Office of Fair Trading and to the ACCC is certainly a step you should seriously think about doing. Also advising the business about their signage is probably worthwhile (a letter to the owner/manager not to counter staff).
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Once again the eyes lost the plot, Ta…
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