Sue Cline on thu 3 feb 11
A few weeks ago several of us had something to say about a 800% increase in=
the monthly fees from Chase Paymentach, the merchant account provider nego=
tiated for us by Potters Council.
In speaking with Carolyn Dorr this weekend (at the Surface and Form regiona=
l conference in Cincinnati, which was quite a successful conference...) I l=
earned that the "increase" would not apply to Potters Council members as th=
is has been re-negotiated. Carolyn stated that names of PC members who shou=
ld be exempt from this ridiculous increase were sent to Chase. Further, if =
anyone experiences a problem with these charges, please contact Carolyn and=
she will help resolve the issue.
Cheers,
Sue Cline
Cincinnati OH
Michael McDowell on tue 8 feb 11
As a follow up to the discussion here on alternative credit card processing
arrangements, I thought I might share my recent experience. I've been using
Chase Paymentech as my processor for a couple of years under the Potter's
Council plan. It had been just right for my circumstances. $3.50 per month
service charge and processing fee percentages as low as any I've seen
offered. And there are no transaction fees. I had been using a different
processor prior to that and had purchased a terminal for use with them.
Paymentech was able to reprogram my terminal by phone to work with their
system and charged me no setup fee or any other charge to begin business
with them. Then I got the much scorned notice of the imposition of a $25 pe=
r
month processing fee minimum. I'd been following the discussion about it
here on Clayart so I knew to expect it. Since it was just past the end of
2010, I had just summed up the relevant data. I sell at the local farmers
market which runs 9 months out of the year. Credit card sales total for the
year were $5,000, and the total fees to Chase Paymentech for the year were
$175, including the service charges. That works out to a net figure of 3.5%=
.
Looking over the distribution of fees throughout the year, there was not a
single month which surpassed the proposed minimum, and the service charges
are an additional $3.50 each month so it was simple to figure what I would
pay to repeat that under the new plan. It would be $28.50 each month, or
$342 for the year. That amounts to 6.8% of a hypothetical $5000 in sales.
My decision was simple. I called up and cancelled my account. I was quite
clear with them that it was these proposed minimums charges that caused me
to cancel. They made all sorts of sympathetic noises, but maintained that
there was no help for it, "system wide" was the term they used to describe
it's immutable status. So my account was cancelled.
Then a few nights ago I ran across a post in the digest that someone had
spoken with Carolyn Dorr from the Potter's Council about this. She said tha=
t
our "no minimum" plan was still in effect and had been renegotiated. Caroly=
n
said to contact her with any problems. So I thought to have my account
reopened...
I called Paymentech's customer service number and described my situation to
them. They were quite willing to reopen my account, but they were unwilling
to forgo the minimum charges. This time they claimed that it was not their
call. They claimed that the Card companies themselves were mandating this. =
I
was very proud of how I handled myself at this point. A younger me would
have responded to this obvious lie with a blistering barrage of verbiage. A
more mature me recognized that this person on the phone is just a wage
worker reading from a script given him by his supervisor. I just told him t=
o
skip reopening my account for now, I'd try another approach. Then I emailed
Carolyn at the Potters' Council. She really did help! A couple of days late=
r
I was contacted by an account executive from Paymentech and assured that I
would not be subject to these new minimums. I followed that up with a call
to the junior executive who had verified my cancellation. He was able to
verify that the "no minimum" plan was available for me as a Potters' Counci=
l
member, and agreed to straighten it all out and reopen my account.
My point in relating this long story to you all is to make clear what a
great benefit we derive from banding together and bargaining as a group. As
an individual customer I had absolutely zero traction negotiating with
customer service. They didn't even feel obligated to do more than lie to me=
.
Potters' Council Rules!!!!
Michael McDowell
Whatcom County, WA, USA
michael@mcdowellpottery.com
http://www.McDowellPottery.com
May Luk on tue 8 feb 11
This past Sunday, I also was selling at a Farmers Market. Because of
the winter weather, I have lowered my prices and took only cash. One
lady stopped by and asked if I take credit card. I could and I didn't
feel like it, so I pointed to the ATM machine on premise. She was
going to the ATM to get cash and she promptly disappeared. I lost a
sale but I asked for it. My selling partner, who is also a potter, and
I joked about lay-aways and how we (or my parents) used to never buy
anything with credit cards. I said I want to bring back lay-aways or
crockery subscription service.
Do you guys want to brainstorm a bit on this? Are you providing
lay-away as a special privilege to your customers already?
May
Brooklyn NY
On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 4:22 AM, Michael McDowell
wrote:
> As a follow up to the discussion here on alternative credit card processi=
ng
> arrangements, I thought I might share my recent experience. I've been usi=
ng
> Chase Paymentech as my processor for a couple of years under the Potter's
> Council plan. It had been just right for my circumstances. $3.50 per mont=
h
> service charge and processing fee percentages as low as any I've seen
> offered. And there are no transaction fees. I had been using a different
> processor prior to that and had purchased a terminal for use with them.
> Paymentech was able to reprogram my terminal by phone to work with their
> system and charged me no setup fee or any other charge to begin business
> with them. Then I got the much scorned notice of the imposition of a $25 =
per
> month processing fee minimum. I'd been following the discussion about it
> here on Clayart so I knew to expect it. Since it was just past the end of
> 2010, I had just summed up the relevant data. I sell at the local farmers
> market which runs 9 months out of the year. Credit card sales total for t=
he
> year were $5,000, and the total fees to Chase Paymentech for the year wer=
e
> $175, including the service charges. That works out to a net figure of 3.=
5%.
> Looking over the distribution of fees throughout the year, there was not =
a
> single month which surpassed the proposed minimum, and the service charge=
s
> are an additional $3.50 each month so it was simple to figure what I woul=
d
> pay to repeat that under the new plan. It would be $28.50 each month, or
> $342 for the year. That amounts to 6.8% of a hypothetical $5000 in sales.
>
> My decision was simple. I called up and cancelled my account. I was quite
> clear with them that it was these proposed minimums charges that caused m=
e
> to cancel. They made all sorts of sympathetic noises, but maintained that
> there was no help for it, "system wide" was the term they used to describ=
e
> it's immutable status. So my account was cancelled.
>
> Then a few nights ago I ran across a post in the digest that someone had
> spoken with Carolyn Dorr from the Potter's Council about this. She said t=
hat
> our "no minimum" plan was still in effect and had been renegotiated. Caro=
lyn
> said to contact her with any problems. So I thought to have my account
> reopened...
>
> I called Paymentech's customer service number and described my situation =
to
> them. They were quite willing to reopen my account, but they were unwilli=
ng
> to forgo the minimum charges. This time they claimed that it was not thei=
r
> call. They claimed that the Card companies themselves were mandating this=
. I
> was very proud of how I handled myself at this point. A younger me would
> have responded to this obvious lie with a blistering barrage of verbiage.=
A
> more mature me recognized that this person on the phone is just a wage
> worker reading from a script given him by his supervisor. I just told him=
to
> skip reopening my account for now, I'd try another approach. Then I email=
ed
> Carolyn at the Potters' Council. She really did help! A couple of days la=
ter
> I was contacted by an account executive from Paymentech and assured that =
I
> would not be subject to these new minimums. I followed that up with a cal=
l
> to the junior executive who had verified my cancellation. He was able to
> verify that the "no minimum" plan was available for me as a Potters' Coun=
cil
> member, and agreed to straighten it all out and reopen my account.
>
> My point in relating this long story to you all is to make clear what a
> great benefit we derive from banding together and bargaining as a group. =
As
> an individual customer I had absolutely zero traction negotiating with
> customer service. They didn't even feel obligated to do more than lie to =
me.
> Potters' Council Rules!!!!
>
> Michael McDowell
> Whatcom County, WA, USA
> michael@mcdowellpottery.com
> http://www.McDowellPottery.com
>
--
http://twitter.com/MayLuk
http://www.takemehomeware.com/
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