geen schuld Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 A towing company refused to let me pay my impound bill of $118 with a VISA credit card. However, they did accept my VISA DEBIT card. I asked why and was told they accept credit cards for all services except impounds. Are they allowed to refuse credit cards on certain purchases or services? Isn't this against the VISA/MC rules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Honestly, I'm not absolutely sure, but I don't think Visa/MC have any rules that says a vendor MUST accept credit cards for all transacations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezter6 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I doubt it is "illegal".The reason they're doing this is because they could give you the car, then 10 minutes later you call up and flag the transaction as fraud or whatever, and the tow company doesn't get it's money and you get your car.With debit, that money is instant and done deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geen schuld Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 If it's not a rule it should be. If a merchant displays the logo then they should be required to accept the card for any and all transactions. Because otherwise it amounts to discrimination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwoodystyl Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 If it's not a rule it should be. If a merchant displays the logo then they should be required to accept the card for any and all transactions. Because otherwise it amounts to discrimination. Visa's regulations are crazy in that they're regulated mostly by Visa and the member banks that issue Visa and not the FTC or other legislation. I think Visa might agree with you. Maybe. I don't know. They might consider it a card acceptance violation of some sort.http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/card_acceptance_guide.pdfNote: it wouldn't be too hard to call 800-Visa-911 and give name/location of the merchant and ask for Visa's opinion and for them to investigate further. The worst they could tell you is that it's not a violation of Visa regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geen schuld Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 MasterCard has a complaint form on their website with 4 options to complain about and one of them is:"A merchant/retailer displaying the MasterCard decal in their window refused to accept my MasterCard card."So then I'd say it is a violation to display the logo and then refuse the card. It makes sense.http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/contactus/merchantviolations.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwoodystyl Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, good work; you got the ball rolling. I doubt it's that simple, though, because few things are They might make an easy to fill out complaint form for customers, but they also produce 500 page compliance books twice per year that contain the esoteric details.In short: your complaint will probably be investigated, as they tend to take these things very seriously, but whether the merchant committed any wrongdoing according to MC, you'll probably never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jq26 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Just to clarify- this really has nothing to do with any sort of illegality or breaking the law. IF a rule in the contract between Visa and the vendor (towing company) has been broken, then it really amounts to a potential breach of the contract between the two parties, to which you are a third party and not part of). This is a contractual thing, not a law thing. The towing company has a right to get paid however they like. But back to the main issue: I've never heard of a towing company accepting credit cards for impounds. They are almost always cash only. Obviously personal checks are out. And credit cards create a slew of problems for them. First, it costs them $. More importantly, you can imagine how many tee'ed off veicle owners would pay for their vehicle with a credit card, drive home, and then dispute the charge with credit card company as unfair. The towing company would then have to fight each and every dispute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geen schuld Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Just to clarify- this really has nothing to do with any sort of illegality or breaking the law. Contracts are legal documents and can be enforced with laws between the parties involved. So yes the merchant is breaking contract which is against the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jq26 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 You are clearly incorrect. I am sorry. This would be a breach of contract. You are not a party to the contract. There is no "unlawfulness" about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadokeeper Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 There are laws that govern the contracts. You as the consumer or third party have no "legal" recourse against the towing company breaching the contract with the Credit Card company... It is between the CC and towing company. Just FYI I called a bunch of Towing Companies today lol, and asked if they accepted CC they said yes but not for Impounds, impounds are cash only... So it seems normal. Just another FYI when you go to the Grocery Store at least here and it has a liquor store in it you cannot pay with a credit card for any liquor over a certain proof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jq26 Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I think that's correct. It's called privity. Without it, no standing to sue. Pay cash or it appears that the car will be on hiatus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nascar Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 It may also have something to due with the fee-per-transaction percentage. I know there are some stores, Dollar General for one, that accepts MasterCard only if used as a debit card for that reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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