I'm Only the Trombone Player

So, It Costs Me Money To Pay My Tab?

Life is full of petty annoyances, and we all have some that are personal to us. Heaven knows I have more than a few.

But this is one that really tweaks me, bringing out the Grumpy facet of my personality in full force.

Fees for using a credit card to pay a vendor for services rendered or products delivered.

Here in New York, vendors aren't allowed to charge a fee for the privilege of extending your credit card debt. So, instead, vendors offer a cash discount. When all is said and done, this amounts to a surcharge for using a credit card.

Now I completely understand that Credit Card Companies are sucking funds from both ends of the transaction. They charge the vendor a processing fee and the consumer interest on any balance they carry. I can also understand a sole proprietor, with no employees passing that fee onto me. I don't like it, but I understand it.

But here's what bothers me about larger business passing it on;

I spent enough time in both retail and fast food work to know the following. Any business that has more than two employees will invariably experience cash shrink — more recorded sales than cash collected. Whether it be human error or theft, it is going to happen if cash nis involved.

While working for Arby's during High School, the manager saw me as a candidate for advancement, one of the things he always talked about was shrink at the POS (point of sale). Just before I left to start college, we began taking credit cards. Guess What? Shrink dropped dramatically; it seems it's very hard to miscount or steal cash that's not there. Credit Cards were actually saving Arby's money.

The same holds true in retail; the less cash in the register, the less opportunity for it to disappear somehow.

And yet, Retailers and food purveyors add that cost to consumers, even though in reality, the use of credit cards ultimately protects their bottom lines.