PeakOil is You
Paying cash? That'll cost extra
Re: Paying cash? That'll cost extra
by ColossalContrarian » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 19:31:54
Cash is widely accepted for buying drugs and other nefarious objects.
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Re: Paying cash? That'll cost extra
by smallpoxgirl » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 19:35:17
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smiley', 'I')f you think that is bad then I got some worse news for you. Loyalty card info is usually only used by a single company and mainly to monitor their customer base and adapt their inventory,
You think they aren't selling their lists along with buying habit data? Maybe not, but they're sure awfully determined to blackmail you into giving up your information. I've got to think they're putting it to valuable use or they wouldn't be so agro about obtaining it. Some of the more sophisticated ones, Office Max, and Ace Hardware come to mind, send you your rewards in the mail as a way to discourage giving false info. It's really a new form of slavery emerging where someone else owns and sells every detail of your life and you have no control over it."We were standing on the edges
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS
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smallpoxgirl - Expert
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Re: Paying cash? That'll cost extra
by Dreamtwister » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 19:45:23
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smiley', 'W')hat is for you the difference between paying with a few scraps of printed paper or a piece of plastic.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'SELECT *
FROM recentPurchases
WHERE purchaseTypeID = ID_NAUGHTY_THINGS
ORDER BY threatRanking;')
Woe to the flower growers...
The whole of human history is a refutation by experiment of the concept of "moral world order". - Friedrich Nietzsche
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Dreamtwister - Intermediate Crude
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Re: Paying cash? That'll cost extra
by smiley » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 19:45:53
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou think they aren't selling their lists along with buying habit data?
No they won't for sure. It is too much of a liability. Once these list are sold they are out in the open.
That means that your direct competitor could buy a list of your customers and buying habits and could target them specifically.
Eg. Target would love to know who is buying what at Wall Mart. They would discount these items immediately and shell the Wall Mart customers with brochures.
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smiley - Intermediate Crude
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Re: Paying cash? That'll cost extra
by jlw61 » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 19:48:44
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smiley', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')NYBODY who does this will cause me to terminate my business with them.
Sorry JLW but why this upset?
What is for you the difference between paying with a few scraps of printed paper or a piece of plastic.
My upset is over the fact that such a move is intrinsically discriminatory on the dollar. Arguments on fiat money put aside, I prefer to see people use cash over plastic for a number of reasons including privacy and economics. Such policies strike me as unfair and unwise. Thus with the power of my wallet, I would react according and would encourage everyone else to do the same.
Now, the differences.
First, AT&T pays CC companies for the privilege of accepting said payments with plastic and pay no fee for cash payments since the counter clerk is already there to help customers. Their agreements of course prevent charging for CC use, so it strikes me as a way to raise extra cash on the backs of cash payers.
Second, this is clearly something that will affect the people on the lower end of the economic scale, as the lower you go, the less likely they have a CC or debit card.
Finally, do I think it's illegal (or should be?), no, I don't unless it can be successfully argued as discriminatory. In fact, I hope they continue, because I'd love to see them lose customers over this. After all we need more low cost cell providers.
Another thought, it strikes me that this may be (or should be considered) a violation of their service agreement and people should be able to leave AT&T without penalty. After all, they are suddenly adding new fees while the person is locked into their contract. This sounds like a great opportunity for a class action law suit.
When somebody makes a statement you don't understand, don't tell him he's crazy. Ask him what he means. -- Otto Harkaman, Space Viking
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jlw61 - Tar Sands
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That would not describe any time I've ever been in a cell phone store. In my experience they were usually there to shoulder me out of the way and read the packaging to me. That or keep me waiting in line for at least 45 minutes before telling me that they can't help me.
