Giddy Tigers

Have you ever been told by a store or restaurant that they do not accept credit card payments because your total bill did not exceed a certain X amount?  I most certainly have, and while I used to tell them off if they did not have a signage that states this policy, I have since been extremely lenient and politely obeyed when asked to comply.  It’s not that I approve of them setting this policy, rather I do not have the time nor the patience to argue my point.

There were a few times where I had to insist on paying with my credit card though, for the simple reason that I did not have enough cash on me.  Carrying too much cash is also a hazard, if I might say so myself.

I still maintain that stores with credit card merchant accounts ought to accept credit card payments for whatever amount is due, as a form of good customer service to the consumer.  After all the merchant fee for business credit card processing is a negligible amount to pay for fostering good consumer relationship, which in turn is a huge asset to the store in the long run.

What about you?  Have you ever been in the same position as I am, and do you think stores should honor the credit card payment for whatever amount?

The everyday consumer is getting more and more intelligent and educated nowadays.  Gone are the days when someone can be foolishly conned and be gullible enough to fall into the proverbial trap of sales and marketing pitches.

Consumers have endless options to choose from.  Buying from the stores, shopping online, mail order catalogs and even online auctioning.

Stores who are smart and savvy enough would choose the Go Green route to gain more customers.  I know I would choose a store or restaurant that has *Gone Green* if given the choice.

Some of the Go Green steps taken by stores, be it physical or online are:

• Not providing invoices with the order.  If it is an online purchase invoices are mailed electronically.
• Not providing plastic bags.  I do like stores who provide an option for consumers to use paper bags.  Of course, consumers can use their own reusable shopping bags too, if they want.
• Store advertisement can be in the form of social media networks, utilizing all the different technologies of today.  A good example is the social entrepeneur twitter method where tweets are sent out targeted at a particular group of people for more effective advertising.

I was also very intrigued by this interesting article I read, detailing 10 Green Internet Business Ideas.  Goes to show that great ideas can come to anyone, if we only just think hard enough.