’Twas only a week ago in the tiny burg of Germfask in the Upper Peninsula that my wife and I stopped at the Jolly Inn for lunch.
Though the Jolly was known to me in the past as a place where rustics relieved themselves of aches, it has gained somewhat of a reputation for serving quality bar food. My wife was impressed with the fries and I had a decent “Full Moon “ sandwich.
Even more noticeable though was a declaration by the proprietor that if we chose to use a credit card, we would have to fork over an extra 3.99% of the tab. It was an obvious attempt to get us to pay with cash. Luckily, we had enough of the greenbacks available.
It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen this policy. The most obvious example is some gas stations in West Michigan that advertise one price and then quote a reduction of 5 cents per gallon if cash is used instead of a card.
I’ve been told that credit card companies charge businesses for the privilege of letting customers use credit cards for their purchases, so I wonder if said businesses are staging a quiet response by offering discounts to those who use cash, or jacking up the price if cards are used.
This can be somewhat unsettling because these days many consumers don’t take cash with them and swipe the cards instead.
That reminded me of a television commercial from about 20 years years ago that had the late great Louis Armstrong singing “When the Saints Go Marching In” while a line of customers quickly and happily swiped their cards to purchase something. Suddenly the music stopped when one poor sap bought something with cash, which held up everybody else.
It made me wonder if yet another reaction is brewing in protest of “the way things are,” just like the self-serve checkout lanes in big box stores.
Consumers of the world unite!
Nuthin’ new…. Years ago when cash was ‘king’, occasionally a few businesses charged an extra 4% for credit card purchases, as they were paying banks 4% for the convenience of a ‘buy now – pay later’ purchase. Now that most everybody makes card purchases, the 4% charge is so endemic that nobody thinks twice about it, so it can come as a surprise when somebody offers a discount for paying in cash. Speedway Fuel & Convenience stores offer a discount on fuels when utilizing their ‘Rewards Card’. Use any credit card – Mastercard, Visa, etc. – to load funds onto Speedway’s Rewards cards, then save on fuels.
Never hurts to ask. I had a transmission replaced a few years ago and when I got the quote for the repairs I asked if they could offer any discount for a cash payment. They obliged and offered 10% off for paying cash over card. Not advertised, just needed to ask.