OenSRS TuCows Illegal Credit Card Charges 3% Not Allowed Tucows OpenSRS Resellers VISA/NC rules do not allow merchants to pass on to the customer any part of their merchant fees. This is a direct violation of the merchant agreement. Internet
Business people need to understand that financial problems of their own making are not solutions customers are willing to pay for. OpenSRS re-branded as TuCows domain sales has started charging a 3% surcharge for using any credit card in direct violation of their merchant agreements. Merchant agreements are treated as just another business document once they are signed as banks could care less what the merchant is doing as long as they get their cash. I contacted my bank, bitched and they are kicking back the charges. If any OpenSRS or Tucows resellers out their have paid a fee for the right to use your credit card you are able to get a refund. Hell even 1and1 Internet who I consider the scum of the earth does not pass of merchant fees to their customers.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
ReactorCore
Victoria,British Columbia,
Canada
Could there be a loophole?
#2
Mon, August 24, 2009
Things get sticky here pertaining to location, jusrisdictions, country of residence and so forth, but here's why I'm wondering about loopholes and merchant accounts:
There are, I think, merchant accounts for credit cards and another type of merchant account for debit? Or are they treated as the same beast? See, here, people got all up in arms and butthurt when merchants started adding $0.25 or $0.50 for any purchases under a set amount when using debit cards.
They ostensibly claimed that this was to "offset costs" in the use of debit machines and accounts. Never mind that the limit they set, usually anything under $5.00, you had to struggle to achieve... I mean, Taco Time pulls this, and with the price of fast food nowadays, one would think that any purchase under $5 would be the exception rather than a problematic norm. Anyway, I digress a tad here....
Anyway, people raised cain and called the merchants on their faggotry, turning to the courts and government....
Who deemed the practice legal.
Go figure.
What I'm wondering, is if somehow there hasn't been something that's happened to allow that deemed legal activity to cross over in the credit card arena? Are there statutes? If so, have you checked to see if they've been amended or something?
If TuCows, who is ancient in Internet Years, is pulling this, I also wonder if they're applying it from TuCows.ca to get transactions to fall somehow under Canadian jurisdiction, thus be subject to Canadian laws.
All of the above is just hypothesis and all, but if it's the case in one flavor or another, it'd be an important thing to know.