From this I feel like you are afraid to be in oublic because youightdrink too much and sodomise yourself with a pool cue.

You have said a lot about some very specific things that are not that indictative of real life.

Cannot wait for the new payment systems being worked on. Visa and mastercard are going to lose out on their biggest bloc because of greed and stupid voters.

I'd hope that they're not. That would be really creepy.

If you ask me it OP that was the asshole. The bartender was just doing his job and wanted to go home.

Businesses pay fees to accept payment through credit cards. This business decided it wasn't worth it for small transactions.

It used to be a lot more common, but it's pretty rare these days.

This was years ago when things were cheaper and a beer was like five dollars. Obviously (because I’m in the US, I’m going to throw down a couple of bucks for a tip, but it still wouldn’t have met their minimum.

chocolate all over face, slurring from insanely high blood sugar I'll tell you when I've had enough

What exactly was I supposed to do? Both options were as a result of their self imposed limitations: the credit card minimum is allowed now, but back then it was explicitly prohibited. And while they called last call, it was still twenty minutes away from the 2am when the law prohibits more sales. (Calling last call 20-30 minutes prior to 2am is common, and I have no issue with that).

My understanding is that it used to be against their terms, but it no longer is.

Diabeetuusss?

Or maybe you got a local bar with decently priced food, generous drink pours, and regularly attended by friendly neighbors whom you don't always have to chat up but are perfectly lovely when you do

https://xkcd.com/859/

It seems very unlikely that the bartender had any input on that policy.

No doubt, at least on the minimum cc purchase thing. They were, however, choosing to not serve me a second beer 20 minutes before 2am. That was definitely a choice the bartender made.

I’m any case, I wasn’t rude about it.

I think that can put them in an off spot legally, depending on their local liquor board. I understand the bartenders reluctance.

… make it illegal and nothing in a store will be under $10 (or so).

You’re too illogical to understand it, apparently.

It’s against the credit card company tos because the credit card companies want to force small businesses to lose money on small transactions or not have the option to take cards.

So ratting to Visa helps Visa and hurts the small business. Great job! With friends like you who needs enemies! Just bring fucking cash ffs.

Why the fuck are you fighting for visa?! You’re on the side of a major international corporation against small business. Fuck you. How’s that?

You lost the plot.

$4? What year is this? 2005?

Not really. I’ve bartended (and managed bartenders) in this state for twenty years. The only binding thing is the 2am cutoff, and that means no one is allowed to have ANY alcohol at 2am. For that reason, most places call last call 15–30 minutes before 2. Nothing out of the norm there, but he absolutely could have sold me one more beer at 1:40 saying that it has to be finished by 1:59.

If imposing a minimum credit card purchase was not allowed, how could they impose a ten dollar minimum for credit card purchases??

only during happy hour. The rest of the time the price is 2x or 3x, depending on which bar and what drink.

And they still expect you to tip on top of that.

Same way speeding in your car isn't allowed.

It was 15€ minimum for a long time in France, but now they've finally caught up.

Indeed it is in most of Europe, I think.

I did buy something in a takeaway a few years ago and it was like 20p below the minimum, and I just went "charge 20p extra then" and it seemed to break the other customers minds. Never occurred to them you can do that, rather than asking for an extra £2 of stuff you don't want...

Therefore that alcohol establishment was running the risk of being fined by the government for their illegal activity?

I never said it was “illegal” to do it, it was against the terms of their credit card acceptance. They weren’t putting their business or liquor license at risk, only their ability to accept credit cards.

This is just from my limited experience, + some friends stories. But lmao, I guess desperate times can call for desperate measures with the pool cue.

Credit card and Debit Card charge the merchant per transaction, so most places will have a minimum spend. but usually it is like $3 or something. Same with food bank donations, it has a low minimum because their transaction provider charges fees for handling the donations online

Ok thanks for explaining. But to be clear, you did say their credit card policy was something they got away with just like we get away with speeding in our cars, and speeding in cars is illegal & punishable by law. 🤷🏼‍♀️ But now you explained it was only against the terms of their credit card acceptance. They weren’t putting their business or liquor license at risk, only their ability to accept credit cards. 😄

I can see how that paints a legal picture, and you’re not wrong reading that way. I only meant that speeding is something easy to get away with even if it’s not allowed.

I know in NY and CA there are to be no sales after the cutoff time but people are usually allowed to finish what they already bought past the time.

I’m not on the side of visa, I’m on the side of the guy trying to buy shit with his money vs the dude who doesn’t pay his employees in the first place. Fuck you too.

Or let the customer buy a drink and eat it. It’s not like the fucking bar pays their employees anyway. It’s not about helping visa, it’s about helping the customer.

I go to a bar whenever I'm in another city, easiest way to make quick acquaintances and get the vibe for the place. Heck, I'm drinking less now, so I'd get a non-alcoholic or a mocktail and still have a decent time. It's not about drinking.

If they don't want to play by the rules they put their signature under and force people to spend more money than they actually want to, they are also stealing from you. Noone forced them to enter a contract. And the conditions are clear, its not like they got baited or something.

Also, these are not a few euros per day, this can amount to a substantial amount of money over the course of a month - that costumers have to pay, not Visa or MasterCard.

See my reply above.

Most definitely not the case in California. No consuming after 2am no exceptions.

Maybe it is because I go to dive bars.

I don’t have self control so a $10 minimum would Be farthest from my problem. All the other stuff is my issue

Credit card minimums are a local business thing. Every credit card transaction costs the business either ~3% of the total, or some minimum amount of it's below a certain number.

Ten dollar minimum just means that they don't make enough profit on a sale smaller than ten to be worth it given the minimum charge per transaction.

I haven't been gone so this is confusing. You're not thinking of SHEEP or SPECULATOR are you?

No I'm thinking of you only. Now even when I go into your profile, I see bunch of comments in last 24-48h and the nothing for 1 month, nothing between - 1d and - 1mo.

I see it in kiosks in Germany all the time. I’ll grant you that they’re not generally the most above board businesses, and I’m now wondering if it’s posted or just shared verbally after they clock you