Is this legal?

[Confetti]

Hubby went to the local salvage yard to get a part for the car. He didn't take cash, but used the check card with the Visa logo. If he would have had cash, it would have been $25, but with Visa they charged him $37.
Should we make Visa aware of this merchant? Is it even legal to do what they did?

I think it's pretty obvious that they want to encourage a cash (unreportable, untrackable) business, and it seems pretty dishonest to me.

[disneysteve]

No, that is not legal. As much as I hate the policy, businesses are allowed to charge a little less for cash purchases, but $12 in this case represents a 32% discount. I think that would violate every rule in the book. I would report them to Visa and I'd report them to your local and state tax offices and the IRS fraud division. I'm sure if they are giving such steep cash discounts, they aren't reporting that income.

[Ima saver]

Yes, I would report them too.

[veronak]

Report them, merchants if they are accepting CC are not allowed to charge a fee or place a minimum on the amount charged. I would report them as well. When a company says that to me I tell them you know it is illegal to do so and they often waive their fee (these are usually mom and pop stores) See they have to pay a very small percentage on each charge

[simpleyme]

Unless it was in writing ,it cannot be proved anything was wrong,
you should just use cash in places like that ,but I am sure the rewards you get back will make up for the overcharge;-)

my son bought a taillight for histruck yesterday they told him it would be 35 bucks ,but they only charge him 10 when he went to pay we wont be reporting them

[pennrj430]

I'm not sure if it is legal, but I know a few local merchants near me that don't charge you Tax if you pay in cash (florist, deli's, etc..) , but have to if you use a CC. Maybe they were doing something like that?

[Hypersion]

It not illegal but it is agaist Visa's policy.

[disneysteve]

It not illegal but it is agaist Visa's policy.

It certainly is illegal if the business isn't reporting income from cash transactions. If the difference between the cash and credit prices was 2 or 3%, that wouldn't make me suspicious, but a difference of 32% certainly leads me to believe that the merchant is pocketing the cash.

[loanstar]

usually additional charges are to meant to cover merchant charges, but an extra $12 is way too much, perhaps he could have asked the reason for the extra charge, or better have it written on a reciept, this would have made it easier to report them.

[pennrj430]

If I knew I was going to get a $12 discount if I used cach, I would have asked where the nearest ATM was.

[vsjhoc]

It is illegal. Visa and the merchants have a written, legal agreement that the merchant won't charge less for cash or require a minimum purchase to charge it.

[simpleyme]

He should has let them know of the "error" on the spot

I find it funny how if a business prefers cash people try to accuse them of shady practices ,i get overcharged for items all the time i just bring it to the attention on the cashier

also most wrecking yards buy metal and cars and pay in cash ,so they actually need the green stuff to operate

if credit cards are so good for businesses why do so many seem to discourage the use of them?

If its Illeagal that mean you should call the police ,not visa LOL

[disneysteve]

I find it funny how if a business prefers cash people try to accuse them of shady practices

What else are we to assume when a business offers a 32% discount for paying cash?

Sure, businesses prefer cash because they don't have to pay the credit card fees, but that only accounts for a couple of percent of the price, not 32%. That's shady.

[simpleyme]

a wrecking yard is not like a regular business, its more like a yard sale
things are priced as they are plucked off of the cars and depending on the guys mood he can charge what ever he wants ,

when dealing with small business it always pays to be nice as they can charge you whatever they feel like on these type of unmarked items, its up to you to leave if you do not like it
the OP should have called them on the overcharge on the spot to find out what had happened

by the way I could give you a 50 to 75 percent discount do to keystone product pricing and there would be nothing shady about it

[disneysteve]

a wrecking yard is not like a regular business, its more like a yard sale
things are priced as they are plucked off of the cars and depending on the guys mood he can charge what ever he wants

by the way I could give you a 50 to 75 percent discount do to keystone product pricing and there would be nothing shady about it

I'm not saying giving a discount is shady. That's perfectly fine. But there shouldn't be a huge cash discount and a far higher credit card price. That's a violation of Visa rules and, most likely, suggests that the merchant is not reporting the cash transaction for tax purposes. That's shady and illegal.