Quote:
Originally Posted by bnorth
That is because the person behind the counter is being nice to you. They are just an employee and losing money on your small purchase means nothing to them.
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The store doesn't lose money on the transaction, it just makes less of a profit. Profit margins on a CC purchase may be smaller than with cash but it is larger than no sale at all.
Let me give an example to illustrate the point. My wife and I walked over to a local Chinese restaurant to get some take out. The meal my wanted came with shrimp fried rice but she prefers chicken fried rice. The store refused to substitute despite the fact that I offered to pay more to do so. I explained to the manager that we were about to order $30 worth of food. However, if they would not work with me on the substitution, for which I would pay more, then I was going to cancel my order and leave. They stuck by their guns and I went elsewhere.
As a pragmatist I don't understand their decision. They gave away a sale despite the fact that I was willing to pay more. The profit margin of 0 was worth more than a smaller (but not really) one.