Government not held to same rules on credit cards

Readers have been peppering me with questions and comments over the past couple of weeks - particularly on two subjects, so it’s time to address them wholesale.Dozens of readers wrote in after last Sunday’s column on the prohibition of credit card surcharges and minimum purchase requirements by both the credit card companies and the state. They split into two groups. The first was those who noticed they were being surcharged by universities, cities, and towns and even the Internal Revenue Service and wondered whether that was legal.It is. Massachusetts law exempts government from being held to the same restrictions as businesses.The other group was made of merchants who mostly wanted to make the point that while they were required to accept credit cards, even for tiny transactions, the public should be aware that it is financially challenging to small businesses to pay a credit card processing fee plus a percentage of the sale.
One reader wrote: “You should make the customer aware and give them a dummy slap for expecting to use a credit card for a purchase. It reminds me of the dopes who step in front of cars in a crosswalk - it may be the law, but it doesn’t make it the right thing to do.’’Another issue that drew a burst of reader e-mails related to a recent column about Sears’ failure to have in stock an item that was advertised for sale and its unwillingness to offer rain checks. State law says that they don’t have to as long as they note in advertisements that quantities are limited.
It turns out that many, many readers had the same experience with a wide array of products different retailers. Telling nearly identical stories, they painted a pattern of routinely seeking advertised items that were nowhere to be found.The only way to solve this problem is to file complaints with the attorney general when it happens and to contact your local legislators to let them know this is a problem and that they ought to consider requiring stores to carry advertised sale items or, other than in certain very limited conditions, to offer rain checks.And, while you’re at it, when you find a national retailer failing to carry sale items, report it to the Federal Trade Commission.The other group was made of merchants who mostly wanted to make the point that while they were required to accept credit cards, even for tiny transactions, the public should be aware that it is financially challenging to small businesses to pay a credit card processing fee plus a percentage of the sale.One reader wrote: “You should make the customer aware and give them a dummy slap for expecting to use a credit card for a purchase. It reminds me of the dopes who step in front of cars in a crosswalk - it may be the law, but it doesn’t make it the right thing to do.’’Another issue that drew a burst of reader e-mails related to a recent column about Sears’ failure to have in stock an item that was advertised for sale and its unwillingness to offer rain checks. State law says that they don’t have to as long as they note in advertisements that quantities are limited.It turns out that many, many readers had the same experience with a wide array of products at different retailers. Telling nearly identical stories, they painted a pattern of routinely seeking advertised items that were nowhere to be found.The only way to solve this problem is to file complaints with the attorney general when it happens and to contact your local legislators to let them know this is a problem and that they ought to consider requiring stores to carry advertised sale items or, other than in certain very limited conditions, to offer rain checks.And, while you’re at it, when you find a national retailer failing to carry sale items, report it to the Federal Trade Commission.