From MSNBC.com about an ongoing squabble between merchants and credit card companies over the fees merchants are being charged:
Sharon Gamsin, vice president of communications with MasterCard, said there is nothing stopping retailers from telling customers what the fees are.
But Craig Shearman, vice president for government affairs with the National Retail Federation, said the fees vary so widely that it would be impossible to give customers an accurate amount for each transaction."The amount of time to calculate and put it on the receipt would be impractical," Shearman said.
I would think a computer system could do that fairly easily but I don't think it would help their cause. Rather than pay the fees, consumers will find someone who doesn't charge them. The only course of action is to factor those fees into ALL of your transactions. That, of course, means cash customers will pay extra to compensate for credit card customers. One of the oil companies tried to give a discount for cash transactions but that never caught on. In this day and age, it never will.
I will say a couple of things about New York Jets rookie phenom, Mark Sanchez. If he continues to hold the ball low and away from his body like he did against the Saints, he will not last the season. Someone will break his arm. ALL defensive players will hack at that. And if he dives at a player's knees again, someone might break his neck.
About today's QOTD: Just another celebrity apology more for the benefit of the celebrity than the injured party. I can't honestly say I think any less of him, though. Never thought much of him to begin with.
Quote of the Day
And at that point, there's only two things that can happen: Either you're going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you're going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you, folks, I got my work cut out for me.
David Letterman
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "I read in the New York Times this week that I'm an ice queen, I'm the sun king, I'm an alien fleeing from District 9 and I'm a dominatrix. I recon that makes me lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space. What do you think?"
