Costco Card machines

[smtplumbing]

any one seen there offers just now for card machines

here it is
NetPay Merchant Services Limited

 

[smtplumbing]

i have looked into it, cardsave is still better i think slightly dearer but depends how much you use your machine

 

[cr0ft]

Am I missing the point with card machines? In these days where nearly all use internet/phone banking I am nearly always paid quicker than I would be if I took cards. These machines just eat into your profits imo.

I only take cash or bacs payments and both work well and are free!!

 

[SimonG]

Accept when cust can't afford work and needs to stick it on the visa.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Am I missing the point with card machines? In these days where nearly all use internet/phone banking I am nearly always paid quicker than I would be if I took cards. These machines just eat into your profits imo.

I only take cash or bacs payments and both work well and are free!!

If you only do a relatively small number of fairly large jobs, your approach is probably fine.

For people who do a fairly large number of relatively small jobs - they are a service industry, and customer convenience is important in service industries.

I ordered some specialist packing material yesterday over the phone, and they didn't have the facility to take my credit card. By the time we had messed about with pro-forma invoices and one-off BACS payments, I was wishing I had called one of their competitors - and next time, I probably will.

 

[Masood]

Am I missing the point with card machines? In these days where nearly all use internet/phone banking I am nearly always paid quicker than I would be if I took cards. These machines just eat into your profits imo.

I only take cash or bacs payments and both work well and are free!!

I do a lot of emergency callouts. Often the customer won't have cash there and then - understandably so, if you've got a burst pipe your first thought isn't to run to the cash machine. You can't stand over a customer and make them do a BACS transfer there and then, so you're still left with an element of uncertainty. They may forget to pay, they may decide to wait until they are paid at the end of the month, or they may decide to knock you, in which case you're left with the hassle of chasing a debt.

With a card machine, sure, it costs me around £400/year in standing charges but I have no hassle. Once that PIN has been entered, your money is as good as in your hands.

 

[smtplumbing]

my problem was i got bumped out of money last xmas so when you pop the card machine they are like oooo right lol better pay now lol

 

[cr0ft]

I do a lot of emergency callouts. Often the customer won't have cash there and then - understandably so, if you've got a burst pipe your first thought isn't to run to the cash machine. You can't stand over a customer and make them do a BACS transfer there and then, so you're still left with an element of uncertainty. They may forget to pay, they may decide to wait until they are paid at the end of the month, or they may decide to knock you, in which case you're left with the hassle of chasing a debt.

With a card machine, sure, it costs me around £400/year in standing charges but I have no hassle. Once that PIN has been entered, your money is as good as in your hands.

Yes. Fair point. I do no emergency work at all to be honest and nearly all my jobs are big projects and the customer just makes one big payment at the end. I can see how they are handy for the emergency market in particular.

I do offer Paypal if a customer really wants to pay by card but I whack on the 3.5% charge to their bill though.

 

[smtplumbing]

croft do you take a deposit for eg boiler jobs

 

[cr0ft]

I take a £100 deposit for the customer to make a booking in my diary because I'm booking a bit ahead now and I don't want anyone to cancel and cost me cash.

A couple of weeks before their job, yes, I take full payment of all materials that are specific to their job. I don't fit boilers but for bathrooms/rewires it's all the sanitaryware/fancy electrical accessories etc.

Wouldn't do it any other way. I never get a problem with customers when I ask for full payment of items I'm ordering up front. If I did I would ask them if they expect to buy their food at Asda or wherever and pay for it once they've eaten it??

 

[P J F PLUMBING]

I've got a payleven terminal it's payg 2% per payment really good IMO

 

[SimonG]

I've got a payleven terminal it's payg 2% per payment really good IMO

Is that the only cost associated with the payleven?

 

[P J F PLUMBING]

No contrat no fees you just pay 2% on the transaction that's it