I mentioned that I’m enjoying Salt Smokehouse. Lea and I went yesterday and I had these barbecue wonton nachos.
I love this restaurant. Alas, at my previous visit, they had implemented a 3% surcharge for credit card purchases.
I don’t like credit card surcharges. I think they’re a finger in the customer’s eye. And, as my high school classmate and attorney Melissa points out, credit card processing fees are a legitimate business expense, and therefore fully deductible on a tax return.
So why are you gigging me for them?
Though written with law firms in mind, this is a good piece on credit card surcharges. It points out two important things:
- Credit card surcharges are legal in most, but not all, U.S. states.
- Debit card surcharges are illegal in all 50 states.
After the previous visit at which I paid a credit card surcharge, I went to Salt yesterday with the debit card for my American Express checking account. When the check came, I pointed out to the server that, though this was an American Express card, it was a debit card, and therefore exempt from credit card surcharges.
She went quiet for several seconds, conveying unambiguously that this was going to be uphill.
“Well, it’s for all cards.”
“No, actually it’s against the law to surcharge a debit card transaction.”
She took it, and when I got it back to sign, there was no surcharge on my bill. But her initial befuddlement and response tells me they’re likely surcharging for every card, whether debit or credit.
And that’s not copacetic.
Folks, dig: any American merchant who surcharges a debit transaction is breaking the law. Refuse to pay it. If they insist, then file a consumer protection complaint with your state’s attorney general’s office. (In Alabama, that’s here.)