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Great work Visa, now I hate you

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Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#181

Post by jarek »

Osiris wrote: post #82
corin_ wrote: post #2

This reads like the sort of post that so often goes on bad logic riding on emotion, but it's a completely valid point. I'm a Visa user, plus I don't plan on going anywhere near the Olympics despite living fairly close to London, but when I heard about this marketing plan I literally thought it had to be one of those hilarious fake news stories. But it wasn't. Stuff like the McDonalds sponsorship he mentioned (banning…

But this Visa deal, what on earth are people without Visa supposed to do? I do not have a Visa card. I have one Mastercard and one Discover card, plus my PayPal credit/debit card which is also Mastercard. The only Visa I've had in years have been those prepaid rebate cards. But I don't think it's VISA that we should be blaming but the Olympic Committee that agreed to this and the McDonald's deals. They didn't have to…

Why do you have a Discover card? Serious question, I've never been sure of the utility or purpose.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#182

Post by jarek »

archangel_one wrote: post #63
kaybe wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't go bad after this day.. (but theft is a valid point)

If you don't live in the UK, having a fistful of sterling when you get home is not really the ideal situation. It's not far from it going bad, in a sense.

For values of "going bad" approaching "losing 2-4% of its value." The horror.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#183

Post by jarek »

AJ007 wrote: post #142
ktizo wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been enforcing these kind of competitor exclusion zones on card payments at major sporting events since 1986? Ah.. Just looked it up. - http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1996/Visa-Will-be-Only-Credit-C... OK. Fair enough. They haven't just miraculously turned into complete bastards on this, they were just complete bastards all along and the press happens to be making a fuss about it at the moment, just cos it is news…

Just because consumers accepted something in the past does not mean they will accept it in the future. For example, in the past when I found a flashy new b2b service I would grumble when I couldn't find a price list and continue my research. Now, when I visit a company's page and there are no listed prices, I immediately close the tab and forget about it. Saying "We only accept Visa" is like saying "We only serve whi…

Before you go off about ethnic and class privilege, you did read the article and note that cash is accepted, right?

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#184

Post by smussman »

varikin wrote: post #170
jellicle wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>According to the U.S. Sponsorship Tracker, a Visa commissioned study following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games conducted by Performance Research When a company is paying for research about its own decisions, the research always comes back that the decision was wonderful, or that research firm doesn't get hired again.

>or that research firm doesn't get hired again. This is the key part. Research funded by biased parties can produce valid research and results. There is the case of the physicist that was skeptical of global warming that was funded by the Koch brothers to study global warming. As a scientist, at a well known college for physics, he was skeptical but not blinded by money/politics. His research changed is mind complete…

Out of curiousity, do you have a link to the study or a writeup? I'd love to read it.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#185

Post by thaumasiotes »

apike wrote: post #149
dangrossman wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I simply can't understand how it could be viewed positively by any consumer Visa's market research suggests a significant increase in Visa usage and Visa brand value among consumers aware of their Olympic sponsorship (which has been ongoing since 1986, and already committed through the next 4 Olympics games): > According to the U.S. Sponsorship Tracker, a Visa commissioned study following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic…

A lot of us in Vancouver really resented the "only accepts Visa" thing. It was particularly aggravating in Canada where most people pay with a bank debit card, not Visa or Mastercard. That said, it's not surprising that the overall effect of the sponsorship was positive since refusing MasterCard and debit was only one small aspect of Visa's campaign. Reading about this again in London made me all riled up again, but…

My bank debit card... IS Visa. I don't think I would have been able to get one that wasn't.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#186

Post by peteretep »

bdunbar wrote: post #152

This is a problem with a solution: eschew credit for debit cards. Mine is 'visa-compatible' (and others), draws from my checking account.

...?

Yes, Visa offer debit clearing as well as credit-card clearing. As do Mastercard (Maestro). How switching to a debit card would help, I'm not sure, unless it was a Visa debit ... and in which case, how's that different?

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#187

Post by philip1209 »

The author's assessment is fair; I felt offended on a road trip in Ontario when I found out that the Tim Hortons only accepted Mastercard. An international event like this should not accept only a single type of credit card.

I do not understand the reasoning behind this by the Olympic committee, because in all likelihood the big corporate sponsors are using the event to entertain clients, and they will likely pay with company Amex cards. Imagine being a businessperson whose company shelled out a sponsorship cost greater than the GDP of some of the competing countries, only to be embarrassed while buying drinks or food for a client because you have to pay for the items on a personal card. Even more embarrassing would be if their personal card was a Mastercard. Angering these types of visitors is not what behooves the olympic committee.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#188

Post by lsc »

FreakLegion wrote: post #175
bdunbar wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'In Free Market America, banks own YOU!' would be more appropriate. But wrong. Or at least 'they own the unwary and dumb'. I bank with a credit union, got rid of my credit cards in favor of debit, and working real hard to pay down my debt. Already I've bought two vehicles for cash. Now, granted, they were not _great_ vehicles, but they run and they're paid for. Looking forward to paying _cash_ for a really _nice_ (bu…

Why get rid of your credit cards? As long as you pay the balances in full every month, a modest selection of credit cards can easily lower your expenses by 3%, if not more. You can also accumulate a fair bit of free spending by trading out old cards for new ones with signing bonuses. Think of it like a free, untaxed $3-4,000 bump in salary.

untaxed? really? I thought you were supposed to report and pay taxes on all income.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#189

Post by rickmb »

Although I agree it's annoying and negative marketing, it's also being completely overblown here. This stuff is just a minor marketing gimmick.

Paying with credit card is in itself rare in most of the world outside the US, where debit cards and cash are way more common. My guess is, 95% of all locals and non-US visitors automatically pay with cash and don't even notice the Visa-only signs.

Not having the local currency on you and waving your credit card in situations where it's considered inconvenient and inappropriate is a very typically American tourist thing to do.

And I really can't think of anything within the Olympic venue that would be considered appropriate to pay for with credit card.

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