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Dealers charging a fee for using a credit card

I’m wondering if this is the new trend of dealers charging customers anywhere between 3 and 4% fee on the total sale if paying by credit card?   I was going to buy a brand new item online for 5K, but stopped dead in my tracks when I found I was going to have to pay a 3.9% fee for using my Mastercard!  The fee would have been almost $200.00!   Since this dealer has mostly online sales, it sounds like a big money grab to me. Between the 5K price, add $275.00 for shipping and 200 for paying by CC plus sales tax of $300.00, it would have cost me $5775.00.  I cancelled before I clicked send.  I called the dealer and was told that is the cost of doing business on the internet, so I basically told them to pound sand. 
 

Two weeks ago, I had all new brakes and rotors replaced on my 2020 Tucson with only 22K miles on it.  The bill was $1375 and I paid with my card.  When I got the statement, there was a CC fee of $37.00 added to the bill.  I went back to the Hyundai dealer and was told all businesses do this and he pointed to the sign.  I told them I saw the sign but paid with my DEBIT CARD, not a CC.  I was told it didn’t matter.  When I asked how many transactions were in cash, the service writer told me one out of fifteen pay in cash.  This makes me sick to my stomach.  
 

I would like to hear from others who have dealt with this. 

stereo5
speedthrills
215 posts
 

Gouging and started during/after COVID. We stopped going to restaruants near us that starting teacking that fee on top of sales tax, tip and the over priced meal. I don't like being faced with either having to carry cash or knowing that I'm paying 5% more than I should be. Businesses are just trying to shift as much of their cost onto a customer as possible which at some point becomes absurd. Like you, I vote with my wallet- now the dealer who wastring to bang you for $200 for a credit card fee lost out on the entire sale itself, which undoubtedly had more than $200 profit. Keep voting with your wallet. 

qjm101
122 posts
 

@parkergetdean

"if you don’t have a clue, I won’t do it. It’s pretty simple, nothing to explain."

 

So you have nothing.

Got it.

Post removed 
jl35
4,452 posts
 

Some interesting articles out there about the steep decline of use of cash past 25 years...numbers pretty similar for different age and economic groups...sad part was how many are afraid to be seen at a money machine, or taking cash out of pocket/wallet in public place...reports of being approached afterwards...

elliottbnewcombjr
7,728 posts
 

@stereo5 

You denied yourself whatever because you were surprised, the dealer didn’t explain things, and you didn’t have time to carefully think it thru. This practice has been building for several years in my area, NJ near NYC.

AND they were wrong, there should be no add-on if using a debit card which is essentially the same as cash in it’s implementation.

Online sales has improved competitiveness, lower costs have resulted in nearly everything, isn’t it weird that Sears, their origin a big mail order catalog, and/or Kodak, A&P ... failed, how could they not figure it out?

Thus profit margins have narrowed, everywhere, and in order to compete, keep the net price down, then it makes sense to pass any added fees back to the customer who chooses to use a CC that involves an added charge to the seller. Equipment; Services; Restaurants ..... they all must compete. 

To keep the net price down, I understand sellers wanting to use PayPal Friends and Family, but it opens the door for fraud, I hope they will let me pay the add-on fee to get price protection, some hope they will split the fee, whatever.

I go out once a week for dinner with a friend, for nearly 40 years now; we usually just give them two cards, 50/50 split, lately we are bringing more cash with us. 

 

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