On 10/2/2011 3:28 PM, SMS wrote:
On 10/2/2011 10:31 AM, Notat Home wrote:

In the US, when a merchant signs up to take credit cards, he signs a
contract that he will not give a discount for cash sales. A few may, but
they are in breach of their contract.

Wrong. They sign a contract that they will not have a surcharge for
credit card sales. It's actually different. The posted price is what a
credit card user pays. A cash customer can get a discount--sometimes.

Wrong, it varies according to the agreement. For some reason CC
agreements have merchants by the short hairs in my state.

As an example there is a local family owned discount store chain in this
area. Previously you could walk up to a register and when you said cash
you received an automatic cash discount. It went through the court
systems for a number of years and they lost.

I know a family member of a local family that owns a bunch of mini
marts. Earlier this year they offered cash discounts and within days
they received a letter from the CC company advising them they would
proceed with legal action if they continued. They checked with their
legal adviser who advised them to back off from their idea.

A guy had a large gas station in the area where some family members
live. He began offering cash discounts. The CC company stopped him
within a month. He actually bought a nearby second station and runs it
as a cash only operation.