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Great work Visa, now I hate you

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Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#91

Post by ktizo »

simonw wrote: post #80

I've been having enormous trouble understanding the thinking behind the "We are proud to only accept Visa" marketing campaign. I simply can't understand how it could be viewed positively by any consumer - it's such an obviously anti-customer thing to do. I've been trying really hard to understand why Visa would make such an obviously unfriendly and counter-productive decision. The only theory I can come up with is th…

Is probably research. First test what happens when you have exclusive payment areas for a limited time and see if anyone kicks off really badly and if the fallout from doing so costs more money than what you make. If not, roll out to more events to try and establish a new standard practice, while keeping a very close eye on social indicators and the bottom line.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#92

Post by goatforce5 »

forwardslash wrote: post #66
Shenglong wrote: post #18

I disagree completely. Visa sponsored the event - why would they want competitors there? When the average person sees that his or her Mastercard is not accepted, I don't think the first response is "damn you, Visa!" Just like, when I see an AMEX card isn't accepted, I don't say "Damn you Visa and Mastercard for offering lower rates!" The image that Visa is trying to promote is that they're the most commonly accepted…

Actually, Tim Hortons just recently started accepting Visa (at least out here in BC).

I think it's dependent on the individual Tim Hortons. I don't go in them very often, but the ones near me are Mastercard only.

My local No Frills supermarket is debit or Mastercard only - no Visa credit.

Makes me think that Mastercard Canada must give good rates for low-value high-volume transactions.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#93

Post by andrewfelix »

rubergly wrote: post #56

More realistically, Visa was probably hoping that many consumers would, like the author, already have the option of and be forced into using their Visa card. I agree that this seems, in addition to being extremely frustrating to almost all consumers, a silly marketing move, but I'm sure that Visa has run the numbers and has a sound business reason for doing this. Since, judging by mthoms's post, this seems to be a tr…

>but I'm sure that Visa has run the numbers and has a sound business reason for doing this.

As someone who worked for an advertising Agency with a big bank as a client, I think this is probably not the case. A marketing ploy usually starts with a reasonable idea and then slowly morphs into something horrible as it makes it's way through various departments; market research, legal, management etc.

This campaign probably started as something entirely different, was rejected by legal and then manipulated at the last minute by someone client side who realised they could force consumers to use their cards.

Some companies have tight, well researched, single minded marketing(eg. Nike). I don't think many banks do, and from what I've seen of Visa's marketing I doubt they do either.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#94

Post by ktizo »

andrewfelix wrote: post #88
jakeonthemove wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In socialist Europe, banks own YOU! :-). But seriously, the banks screw with their customers so much over here that this is just another bump on the road. To me, "proud to only accept Visa" sounds like "F@#k you MasterCard and your users, too"...

>In socialist Europe, banks own YOU! Americans have a lot more personal debt than Europeans. 'In Free Market America, banks own YOU!' would be more appropriate.

Here's some nice charts on this theme. http://rwer.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/debt-britannia-with-16-...

You aren't doing as badly as you think.

[edit] I assumed you were based in america, but apparently you are in sydney, sorry for confusion and random assumptioness. However, this means that according to the first chart on the page I linked, you guys are doing worse than the americans on household debt. Not that I can point fingers from the uk, cos we are either screwed or up to something fiendishly smart. But if it is the latter, I have no idea what it is.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#95

Post by bicknergseng »

I'm curious... does anyone know where all this money from sponsors goes? The IOC is supposed to be not for profit. I understand hosting the Olympics is very expensive and that the LOCOG wants to recoop some costs, but this is ridiculous. It's going against the IOC's Olympic Charter at the very least...

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#96

Post by Zarathust »

wilki wrote: post #53

Don't hate Visa, hate/dislike the venue host that agreed to such terms (thus subjecting you to said terms). Since the article talked about McDonalds - do you hate Coca Cola for striking up an exclusivity deal with McDonalds? If you must place blame, direct it toward the correct entity.

This a thousand times.

It's the olympic commity that agreed on such terms, they are to blame. It does not exempt Visa and McDonalds from being assholes, but if you allow assholes inside your house, now its your problem.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#97

Post by cs702 »

simonw wrote: post #80

I've been having enormous trouble understanding the thinking behind the "We are proud to only accept Visa" marketing campaign. I simply can't understand how it could be viewed positively by any consumer - it's such an obviously anti-customer thing to do. I've been trying really hard to understand why Visa would make such an obviously unfriendly and counter-productive decision. The only theory I can come up with is th…

Consumers learn something crucial from this marketing campaign: that American Express and certain other credit cards are NOT accepted by some merchants, so it's a good idea to get and always carry a Visa card -- by implication, the only card accepted everywhere.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#99

Post by neutronicus »

1337biz wrote: post #75
rubergly wrote: post #56

More realistically, Visa was probably hoping that many consumers would, like the author, already have the option of and be forced into using their Visa card. I agree that this seems, in addition to being extremely frustrating to almost all consumers, a silly marketing move, but I'm sure that Visa has run the numbers and has a sound business reason for doing this. Since, judging by mthoms's post, this seems to be a tr…

The other question is if this behavior is not in the end leading people to shift back to cash payments again. I never understood the popularity of offline credit card payments. In fact I never used my credit card for anything outside of online payments, except for one situation where I had to come up with a relatively large and time sensitive on-spot payment. This minor factor of not having to spend each week two min…

Your credit card always has exact change. If you lose your credit card, you don't lose any money. Errands suck.

Why not remove an errand and a hassle from your life?

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#100

Post by DannyPage »

I'm not surprised at all. This is a company-wide philosophy that they should be the only CC processor.

I once did some contract work at Visa. At the time, I only had Mastercard and American Express. Went to their work cafe, tried to get some food, but was told (almost rudely) that they only took Visa. No cash either. I could buy a pre-paid card that can't be reloaded at one of the nearby kiosks (for 3 dollar fee per card). Needless to say, I went somewhere else for lunch.

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