topic Re: What a racket in Community Chat

What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:05:16 GMT

I received our notices to renew our auto registrations. I opened them up and there was a big "Scan Here" to speed up the process on each notice. I took the bait and scanned one.

Iwas instantly taken to the page and my car's information was there and then all I had to do was pay. There was a choice to pay from my bank, to pay by credit card and to pay by debit card.

Since we've been having some discussions here about which way is safest. I remembered that a few states had their motor vehicle data hacked, so I decided to pay by credit card.

I put in all the cc info and paid and the sum came up with a charge of $3.50 more than the registration cost. There was a line on the bottom of the page that said that this was a "Processing Fee." OK, I shouldn't have rushed into paying so quickly. I noticed that this fee is applied to BOTH credit card and debit card payments. It did not say that bank payments would be charged, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't be...I don't know since I didn't put in my bank info to pay.

For both me and my husband the state received an extra $7.00. Ridiculous to charge so much to do this. No wonder they included the urgent notice to "Scan Here" to pay online.

Re: What a racket

cjm61 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:11:16 GMT

@Mindy D This is common practice since it's the CC companies charging. When I worked in a department of the school district, I was the person selling items. When someone purchased using a CC we were charged a percentage of the sale. So, either I could up the price to cover the charge or do as you did, have a fee added to the sale.

Some places I have been say CASH only because of this. Others I have seen state a minimum sale of $5 if using a CC. This is due to the fee's. Most likely it is not the State receiving that $7.

I don't like it either but it is the way it works for many retailers. If you don't see the fee, you are still paying for it with a higher price.

Re: What a racket

catter70 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:11:53 GMT

That's probably to recoup what they have to pay the credit card company. Some places are starting to charge extra if you use a credit card. My vet has stated that practice.and some eating places

Re: What a racket

Kachina624 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:13:45 GMT

@Mindy D. If you think that's bad (my state does the same thing), try getting a copy of something like a birth or marriage certificate. States have contracted with commercial firms to provide these documents and they charge something like $25+ for what used to be a nominal fee.

Re: What a racket

RetRN — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:14:30 GMT

@catter70, I have noticed that also. I don't understand why people are so against using cash or checks.

Re: What a racket

teganslaw — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:24:35 GMT

We used a debit card to renew our auto registration and weren't charged an extra fee. This was 5 months ago, so maybe the extra fee is something new.

RetRN,

Many people no longer use checks, . When everything is computerized, why deal with checks? Also, a lot of pople don't carry cash for safety reasons. Too easy to be robbed.

Re: What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:34:11 GMT

@catter70 wrote:
That's probably to recoup what they have to pay the credit card company. Some places are starting to charge extra if you use a credit card. My vet has stated that practice.and some eating places

@catter70 @They were charging the fee to both credit and debit and I don't know if they were charging a fee for bank funds, which I guess is similar to a check.

Re: What a racket

BunSnoop — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:32:29 GMT

State of Illinois has been doing that for several years when we renew the stickers for our license plates, renew our licenses, etc. I think they call it a "convenience fee".

One of our favorite restaurants has a sign by the cash register that states if you pay by cash, rather than credit card, they will deduct 5% from the bill. It mentions why give the credit cards 5% when you can have it instead in your wallet.

Re: What a racket

geezerette — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:33:06 GMT

My state uses a third party when paying online and there is an extra nominal fee however you decide to pay.

To avoid any extra fees you either have to mail in a check directly to the MVD, or go to the local office and pay in person.

Re: What a racket

ManyMeows — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:35:06 GMT

@RetRN wrote:
@catter70, I have noticed that also. I don't understand why people are so against using cash or checks.

🖊 I rarely ever write a check, but for renewing auto registrations and driver's licenses, and a handful of other things I still do. Otherwise it's cash or debit card.

Re: What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:35:44 GMT

@geezerette wrote:
My state uses a third party when paying online and there is an extra nominal fee however you decide to pay.

To avoid any extra fees you either have to mail in a check directly to the MVD, or go to the local office and pay in person.

@geezerette Which, when you think about it, probably costs the state even more because they need humans to open the mail and data entry the checks and post receipts to the senders.

Re: What a racket

chrystaltree — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:37:28 GMT

I don't know why that surprises you. It's nothing new and most people gladly pay the measly nothing about of $3.50 per vehicle to quickly and safely to renew their registrations fees. Perhaps your preference would have been to go down to the registration, stand in line and pay in cash but most people have moved beyond wasting their time like that.

Re: What a racket

chrystaltree — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:40:54 GMT

@Mindy D wrote:
@geezerette wrote:
My state uses a third party when paying online and there is an extra nominal fee however you decide to pay.

To avoid any extra fees you either have to mail in a check directly to the MVD, or go to the local office and pay in person.
@geezerette Which, when you think about it, probably costs the state even more because they need humans to open the mail and data entry the checks and post receipts to the senders.

And with checks and money orders, there's always a problem with theft. Not to mention that if humans do the work it can take 30 days or longer to process checks and money orders.

Re: What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:43:00 GMT

In June the Louisiana and Oregon Offices of Motor Vehicles were part of a hack which included banking, credit, and personal information from driver's licenses and Social Security information for every one.

Re: What a racket

Snooky60 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:43:25 GMT

@RetRN - I'm with u. How hard is it to write a check? And so many people have their debit and credit accounts hacked. I also always make sure I have cash on me.💗

Re: What a racket

Venezia — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:54:59 GMT

So, you write a check and either have to pay to mail it (and don't risk putting it in your mailbox for carrier pickup) or you go to the motor vehicle department or (in rural cases) your town office. Then, with the mail, there's the delay of it getting to the DMV and processing it.

How much does that cost in time and gas? (And parking depending on where you live.) $3.50 seems like a bargain to me for the convenience of using a credit card and not having to leave my home.

I always do our auto registrations online now.

Re: What a racket

spumoni99 — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:54:18 GMT

We use bill pay for all of our insurance renewals and all of our other bills, no checks, no stamp.

Re: What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 17:32:56 GMT

Plus they are very late in updating their website. There's at least three places that say there will be a $2 charge. Since I used their QUICK SCAN thing, I didn't get to see these. I just went to the site without using their QUICK SCAN method and I could see there would be a charge, although it is the wrong amount for the charge. THESE PAGES WERE BYPASSED WHEN USING THE QUICK SCAN.

Re: What a racket

Mindy D — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 17:00:44 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
I don't know why that surprises you. It's nothing new and most people gladly pay the measly nothing about of $3.50 per vehicle to quickly and safely to renew their registrations fees. Perhaps your preference would have been to go down to the registration, stand in line and pay in cash but most people have moved beyond wasting their time like that.

@chrystaltree @I was suprised because I've paid by check before and because the QUICK SCAN brought me to a page that didn't mention a fee.

Re: What a racket

Still Raining — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 17:01:53 GMT

I would think you could still go in person to the DMV and pay in person. We can still do that even for property tax.

Might the world's cheapest person, but I do appreciate just paying a small fee to avoid the hassle.