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 Replies: 50 / Views: 16,765 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3789 Posts |
Well, I have a copy of the Ad and if anyone wants to see it, I can certainly put it up. Nowhere does the Ad state that there is a surcharge for using a credit card.
As I have stated before, if Westminster Mint stated in the Ad that there is a surcharge for using a credit card, I would have had no problem.
But to lead me on, to think that was the price per coin and shipping, were the only charges, I feel I was baited and switched.
I dont think ANYONE here would like receive and respond to an Ad, to go to the store, look at an item, conclude its a reasonable offer, go to purchase, and then be told, "oh theres a surcharge btw". Thats not being honest.
Westminster Mint can charge all they want and whatever extra fees, that's not my issue. my issue is I was led to believe what the Ad stated on the per price per coin and shipping fees was all I needed to pay.
Again, I Have a copy of the Ad, I have a copy of several of their Ads from USA TOday, NONE of them discuss a credit card surcharge.
Google Westminster Mint and look them up at the BBB you can clearly read the complaints against them, my case is not isolated.
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Valued Member
United States
408 Posts |
Get over it man. Life ain't always fair. Move on.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1116 Posts |
Many times when I pull out the plastic I'm asked if its credit or debit. If I say debit they say fine no problem. If I say credit, they tell about the added fee. At that point it's up to me to either agree or disagree. Agree fine - Disagree no sale end of story. There's nothing shady about telling you up front that there is a fee for using a credit card. You have the last word if you want to make the purchase or not. You agreed to the terms of the sale. End of the story. If you have a credit card you are an adult. You could have canceled the sale with no hassle. I've done it many a time if I didn't like the terms or the person I was doing business with. I don't complain publicly about a deal that I knew all the facts about after the fact. To do so is just not right. Like the man said said: Quote:
Get over it man. Life ain't always fair. Move on.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!
Edited by ghostrider
12/25/2012 10:13 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3789 Posts |
Again this is about being truthful in advertising.
No honorable business Advertises their product without putting some sort of fine print with inclusions, exclusions and surcharges.
If you are going to charge extra for using a credit card it should be plainly stated.
If everyone else wants to be an ignorant consumer thats fine by me but I am not going to pay a dime more than what the Advertised price is... period lol :D
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3789 Posts |
ghostrider-
Clearly you did not read what I posted. I didn't accept the charge. Had I not asked about the price difference, Jacob would have charged my credit card without telling me about the surcharge for using credit cards, and ima glad I did my math when he read me back the math because he was going to slip in the surcharge without asking me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Bullion Billy, I say the need for courtesy ends at what I would call "full effort." An example unrelated would be an old lady needing to cross the street, carrying a package and using a cane. You say, "Ma'am, may I help you across?" She says "yes," and you do it; or, she says "no thank you," and you say "all right; we're crossing at the same light, so let me know if you change your mind." You have done your due diligence; the lady knows she has an arm if she needs one, and that if she doesn't change her mind but stumbles in the crosswalk, you'll help her.
So, I would say it is part of the company's due diligence to report "additional fees may apply." You don't have to spell out what they are; once the customer knows they're there, it's the customer's duty to say "By the way, the ad said 'additional fees may apply'--what does that mean?" so the seller can say "we charge a fee for credit to cover our overhead" or "if you ask for faster shipping, the rate charged will increase" or what have you. But you can't ask about something you don't know is there.
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
I dislike credit cards.....I actually think business's should be allowed to tack the costs of a transaction on to a CC purchase. Why should the CC transaction costs be spread across every customer? IMHO User pays should rule. I believe Credit card companies, when they first set up banned( in their contracts) the adding of a surcharge so as to ensure they gained market traction far more easily. These days I think consumer law should be modified to be far more free market oriented and those provisions in the credit card contracts should be deemed illegal.
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New Member
United States
11 Posts |
This is not a discussion about credit card fees or senior citizens.Someone started this thread and dissed Westminster Mint. They also posted on scam report and wrote to the BBB. It seems like a lot of hype and trouble to go to since the company did nothing wrong and the customer is not out of pocket! What is he warning us about?
He talks about bait and switch. In bait and switch scams the company tries to sell you something they make a big profit on. Westminster Mint does not make money on credit card fees VISA do.
Going fishing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Billy, you seem to have taken my analogy literally, in which case it becomes useless. Bait and switch may not be the correct term, but this is certainly dishonest.
Also, I did as OP suggested and ran WMM through friend Google. Guess what I found? The president of the company apparently makes a habit of searching for complaints against the company on other forums and posting, rather rudely, about the person's response--and suggesting they shouldn't discuss it.
Hm. If he has time to do that, he has time to write better ad copy.
They also seem to chalk up an average of 1.2 complaints per month over the last three years on the BBB website. Not good for a relatively small company. Google offers three related searches: "westminster mint scam" "westminster mint ripoff" "is westminster mint legit" three out of eight? Also not good.
Ripoff Report shows eight more complaints, along with more rude rebuttals from the president. To this I will add a statistic I learned when I trained for my job: only ONE PERCENT of people who feel they have been treated wrongly by a company will actually complain and give them the chance to make it right. The rest will quietly go elsewhere. And making a BBB report isn't easy; I've helped my mom do it. If FIFTY PEOPLE felt it was important enough to complain about, how many were actually ripped off?
On the whole, I'd say unprofessional at best.
Edited by ninamason
12/26/2012 08:14 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
I have been following this thread since it started. IMO the OP is correct. I believe because they were going to charge him/her without even mentioning the fees. They could of mentioned the extra fees as soon as the OP said he/she would be using a cc. At the very least the WMM should change their add & this would save them the hassle of complaints the BBB & other reporting agencies. Not to mention their reputation. If the WMM does care about their reputation & customer satisfaction, then they should rewrite their add. I would like to hear more from the WMM pres. on the above mentioned complaints.
Edited by chris12018
12/26/2012 09:22 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I get mad when I see a flight advertised for one price and by the time I pay it is double the basic cost due to surcharges and taxes. Ryan-Air have a £6 administration fee for taking the money online by card, I fail to see how else you can pay for a flight on a website.
Having said that, in this instance there probably alternative means to pay, I know that the bankcharge from "switch" is a flat rate (50pence or something) which is a payment type ussed on debit cards. Bank transfer usually has no charges attached and personal cheques/bank drafts or postal orders are also alternative methods of payment.
If they offered you to use some other method which does not invoke a surcharge then I see no reason for complaint.
Legally you probably have no comeback in anycase though since most adverts for bullion carry smallprint explaining that the price is subject to change. (to allow for fluctuations in metal prices)
I can see your point but in fairness think that calling for a boycott of that company is probably an over-reaction.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
 Obviously these charges are worth it to them, why else would the be willing to invite so much digital bad will. Tasking credit cards is essential to doing business online and in a B&M, but the CC companies really kill the small businessman with fees. It is up to the companies to decide which way to do it. Either absorb these fees into the original price or charge extra. If it was me, I think I would rather offer a " cash " discount rather than charging more for credit card. At the very least do it the way APMEX does it they advertize " as low as " then they are very up front about , you only get this price if you order 20 or more and pay cash. They get to advertize their low price, but at the same time they don't get the bad press for being deceptive. As far as " it's only 6 dollars , get over it ". Let me see, spot is $30 , 33.95 okay not bad silver goes to 34 I break even, shipping 2 dollars, okay silver goes to 36 I break even. What? CC charges okay, silver goes to 38 and I break even. ( I know the math isn't right , just an example) I totally agree with the OP total price needs to be very visible. The marketplace will eventually take care of this problem one way or another . People will either absorb the fees as " their " cost of buying or this company will realize that too many people perceive them as being deceptive. Either way my LCS doesn't charge CC fees or shipping fees, thank-you very much. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
919 Posts |
I would love to find a LCS that accepts CC without a fee. With 2-4% cash back on purchases I would never buy any other way. Any store that does not charge a fee is either a. loosing money or b. making it up by charging higher fees somewhere. The 3 stores I go to don't accept CC. Maybe I will take a few days and expand my market. I already took advantage of the 5% cash back for online purchases this month.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3789 Posts |
Again, Westminster Mint can charge what they want and whatever fees they choose. Furthermore, I have no axe to grind with them.
What they need to charge and how they run their profits is not my concern and I am not taking an issue at all what they charge and how they make money.
My main point is- If you advertise a product for X price, and you spell out in the Ad the price and terms, then thats the price the customer should expect to pay. None of this "oh btw, theres a surcharge for using a credit card." I am not a mind reader, I buy from multiple dealers, they are all different. All I can go off of is the advertised price.
In no place in their HUGE Ads does Westminster Mint state that using a credit card has a surcharge. Quite frankly, if it said that, I would HAVE placed my order with them.
But to led me to believe that its one price, take my credit info and shipping, and then not tell me theres a surcharge is bait and switch.
Had I not done my math versus the total Jacob gave me, I would have paid unknowingly a surcharge.
So again, I am not saying they cant charge what they want, I am not saying they refused me service, I am saying they had me believing the Ad price was the total price out the door for a handful of coins. The Ad did not have any sort of exclusion, exceptions or any sort of warning that using a CREDIT CARD incurred an additional fee.
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Administrator
 United States
326 Posts |
This merry go round has run long enough.  |
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Posted 12/25/2012 9:14 pm
