Serviceman Denied Service?

[shocker1]

I think this is an over reaction myself.
Serviceman Denied Service

Tanya Mendis (tmendis@newschannel9.com)
July 16, 2007 - 5:56PM



A family says it is a clear case of discrimination when a military serviceman is denied service at a Monteagle convenience store.

Go HERE (http://www.newschannel9.com/video/) to see the video.

"It makes me mad," says Colleen Brymer, whose brother Ricky McClain is preparing to deploy to Iraq. "All he wanted was a cold drink and a cake or something."

The day of his mother's funeral last week, McClain stopped at Summerfield Market. At the time, he was dressed in full military uniform to pay tribute to his mother. When McClain put his credit card on the counter, he was refused service.

"The owner told him he didn't take credit cards, and Ricky said, 'Really?' and he looked at him and said, 'we no serve you'," Brymer says, bubbling with anger.

Denied service, the serviceman left. Brymer says it's discrimination.

"He takes food stamps, he takes Discover, Visa, Mastercard," Brymer says. "He always has because I've used mine there."

Store owner Lee Pyung says he remembers the soldier, and what he tried to purchase.

"He had one Coca-Cola soda, and one potato chips [sic]," Pyung recalls. "His total is $2.49 with tax."

Pyung admits he denied the soldier, despite signs on the front door to his market boldy displaying credit card emblems. But the reason why, Pyung says, has nothing to do with the soldier's uniform.

"Anybody, the soldier, you come in, any of my customers... I say, 'Under ten dollars, we can't service them," Pyung says, pointing to a sign on the side of the register stating, 'No Credit Card Sales Under $10.'

Customers outside the store said the sign, has been in place for years. Pyung says he is sorry he was not able to service McClain, but maintains it was policy, not politics.

"I put the sign there because the credit card company charging me lot of money," says Pyung.

http://www.newschannel9.com/articles/says_13886___article.html/pyung_service.html

[Partial_Panel]

Yeah, it doesn't seem like his military status had much to do with it, just store policy.
It reminds me of a case I heard about over on ARRSE/RumRation, when a Royal Marine was denied access to a pub because he was in uniform.
He had just come from a mates funeral.

[shocker1]

I can understand his reason. I have a credit card machine myself and small transactions like that cost a shiny penny. Though most convenience stores will take your card for all amounts due to high volume. this store is in the sticks so I would say he is just being frugal. However if it were my store i would have let him have the items and bring me cash later if he wants to.

[Partial_Panel]

I can understand his reason. I have a credit card machine myself and small transactions like that cost a shiny penny. Though most convenience stores will take your card for all amounts due to high volume. this store is in the sticks so I would say he is just being frugal. However if it were my store i would have let him have the items and bring me cash later if he wants to.

The guys in the c-store business, so he's probably been shoplifted, and generaly screwed over many times, so he's not willing to trust anybody, even for a lousy $2.49.
I work in public service too, so I have to admit, I understand the sentiment, on occasion.
Here in central Oregon, I've never seen a credit/debit minimum over $5.00.

[Hellfish]

IIRC, don't credit card companies charge either a flat rate for each card swipe - like $5?

[Conman]

IIRC, don't credit card companies charge either a flat rate for each card swipe - like $5?

While its not quite that high, for a small business operating on razor thin margins, putting a small transaction on credit card can actually cause you to make no profit and in fact lose you money

Pulled this from Yahoo Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-article-a-2018-m-1-sc-10-credit_card_processing_buyers_guide-i

The primary fee on a merchant account is the discount rate, a small percentage the provider charges on each transaction. Banks and larger providers will base this fee on criteria including: your company's evaluated risk, average sales ticket, transaction type, and total charge volume. Because of the difference in risk, most providers have two different rates, one for card-present transactions and one for MOTO (mail order/telephone order, also includes Internet transactions) or card-absent transactions. Currently, card-present transactions usually carry a discount rate of 1.5% to 2%, while card-absent transactions are at 2.2% to 3.0%. Some companies set a monthly minimum fee ranging from $20 to $35 per month, so if you do a low volume of credit-card transactions, be sure to ask about this.
Another processing fee charged by the merchant bank is the per transaction fee. The per transaction fee is generally $0.20 to $0.30 for card-present transactions and $0.30 to $0.50 for card-absent transactions.
There is also a fee to cover the cost of issuing monthly credit card transaction summaries, usually around $10.

[coughybean]

If it were my store I would have broken policy just for him because of the uniform. I have extra respect for servicemen/women.

[wicked_hind]

I'd say it was more of an inconvenience for the soldier than discrimination, and again, it was store policy coming into play.

[bd popeye]

I'd say it was more of an inconvenience for the soldier than discrimination, and again, it was store policy coming into play.

I agree with this statement...When I lived in California if the purchase was less that $10 bucks you hadda pay cash..simple. Here in Iowa you can use your credit/debit card any where for any amount...

[CPLHUNTER]

I've seen the same policy before...but he should have caught a break.

[California Joe]

^ What he said, but bottom line is it had f*ck all to do with him being a soldier in uniform.

[shocker1]

What is happening with this is people around here string up people who dis-respect armed forces personnel. This news service was already to jump on that and blow this up into a big deal.(notice title) When they got the story out it was a dud.
Westboro Baptist will not even come near Chattanooga National Cemetery.

[gaijinsamurai]

Personally, it would have been nice to have seen the store owner give the soldier a break, but now that I see he's crying about descrimination, when it clearly wasn't, it makes me more annoyed at the soldier.

[HOLLiS]

Personally, it would have been nice to have seen the store owner give the soldier a break, but now that I see he's crying about descrimination, when it clearly wasn't, it makes me more annoyed at the soldier.


Same here............. Uggggg. Cut the business owner a break.

[ThatHistoryDude]

Depends on who is providing your merchant services at my store we get charged about .20 per credit card sale on Visa mastercard and discover and we dont take Amex because they charge you per swipe and $25 a month and we dont get many requests for amex cards anyway.

[wicked_hind]

^ What he said, but bottom line is it had f*ck all to do with him being a soldier in uniform.

If the store owner said that it had nothing to do with him being a soldier, then again it's just another one of life's little inconveniences that we've all endured at least once. However, if the store owner had said he refused him because he's in the military and is against everything the military and the war stands for, every swinging di-k in this forum from east to west will be pissed off to say the least. Yeah, it would've been great if he got a break, but there's always going to be people who won't bend, regardless of who you are or where you come from.

[Minardiau]

What the heck is the guy using a card to pay for chips and a coke for anyway?

I used to reconcile the EFTPOS transactions for the uni I worked at when I was a Finance Officer Man the fees are a ****ing rip off. I've also used them before to when I was a cashier for 6 months.

I would of told the soldier where to go.

Soldier " Just a coke and a packet of chips thanks"

Me " $2.50 thanks"

Soldier "Just put it on me VISA thanks"

Me "Your ****ing kidding aren't ya?....................Idiot"

Is it me or is the world just going ****ing stupid and people losing their commonsense.

[shocker1]

I would of told the soldier where to go.

Soldier " Just a coke and a packet of chips thanks"

Me " $2.50 thanks"

Soldier "Just put it on me VISA thanks"

Me "Your ****ing kidding aren't ya?....................Idiot"

Is it me or is the world just going ****ing stupid and people losing their commonsense.
Well right or wrong your store would end up on the news with headline "serviceman denied Service". You can tell the owner is not a native Southerner or he would have said " hey friend if you don't have the cash it is on me, but don't go tell your buddies." or " We do not take that for such a small amount but once and a while for a soldier is all good. take care of yourself "

Not " Me no serve you"

[Kaapeli]

Why on earth would some Korean shop owner have a problem with American soldiers? The Korean businessmen I have met are some of the most pragmatic and unpolitical people and are very shy and careful not to make an issue of anything political in their dealings with other people. They are very strict about money but happy to do business with anyone that has it.

[Baboonass]

What the article failed to mention is the "soldier" is a half black, half mongoliod, transexual, with a eating disorder.

This is clearly a case of discrimination against credit card holders.

[Mr. JOSHUA]

Well right or wrong your store would end up on the news with headline "serviceman denied Service". You can tell the owner is not a native Southerner or he would have said " hey friend if you don't have the cash it is on me, but don't go tell your buddies." or " We do not take that for such a small amount but once and a while for a soldier is all good. take care of yourself "

Not " Me no serve you"

You just have to understand that there's certain people out there that aren't like you or I and wouldn't spend one penny if thats all the item cost to spare the hassle of this credit card debacle.