Wal Mart Corporation
Fee Charged for Signature Debit Transactions

To Whom it may concern:

Recently my girlfriend and I were customers at Wal*Mart Supercenter on Commercial Dr. in the Village of New Hartford, NY. When we attempted to use a debit card with credit using a signature instead of using the PIN option it was refused and we were forced to pay using the Debit option. As a result, we were charged by Wal*Mart an additional $0.50 fee to complete this transaction.

The local management was confrontational at first fiercely stating that it was our local bank, Savings Bank of Utica (SBU) who was charging the fee. SBU said they do not charge for debit transactions and said when Wal*Mart tries to charge this fee they deny it and do not charge their customers. They have been doing this because of so many complaints from customers. When we asked the store management about this they then said it was Mastercard charging us the fee.

We contacted Mastercard Intl. They do not charge for any merchant based purchases. And they directed me to information regarding a 1996 antitrust lawsuit involving Wal*mart and other major retailers Versus credit card companies. From what I gather, the suit challenged the "Honor all Cards" policy. This is a policy that allows consumers to use their debit or credit card wherever their card is accepted. "Honor All Cards" also allows the credit card companies to stay competitive. Unfortunately It seems that the Settlement allows retailers to deny certain types of cards.

I feel that the Wal*Mart corporation should give consumers the right to use their card any way they want and not give them an option that forces them to pay a fee. I believe that Mastercard and Visa's Honor All Cards policy promotes competition and gives consumers a better option. Wal*Mart's Customer Service, Employees and Management must be educated on how to explain these fees to customers properly.

At this point I have not received a reason as to why Wal*Mart chooses to charge this fee or why they choose to refuse certain types of signature based debit cards while allowing others (They deny this happens also but I have proof of this). The representatives simply deny that they are charging any fee. As long as Wal*Mart continues to deny signature based debit cards, and forces its customers to charge a fee for pin based transactions, I will boycott Wal*Mart and ask others to do the same.

Company: Wal Mart Corporation
Country: USA
State: New York
City: New Hartford
Address: Commercial Dr.
Phone: 4792734000

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