No, it’s not what you think. We didn’t get a discount for paying by check. In fact, it would cost us the same exact amount if we used credit card. But let me back up…
A few weeks ago my husband got into a fender-bender accident in a McDonald’s parking lot. It wasn’t his fault, though the other guy ended up harassing us over the phone for filing a claim against his insurance company. But that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, we took the car to a local body shop and the bill ended up being close to $1,000. The other guy’s insurance already cut us a check, so I could use my Premier Rewards Gold Amex credit card and hit the rest of minimum spending. Score! Or so I thought.
My husband said that it’s a mom-and-pop shop and that it’s not right to make them swallow the transaction fee. I tried to explain that the fee was already built into the price and we could likely ask them for a discount if paying via check. But he wouldn’t budge.
He said he wanted to just write them a check for the full amount and be done with it. OK, I had to come up with a Plan B. I told him to offer the shop owner a 2% extra to make up for the fee somewhat. Since I don’t do manufactured spending, I pretty much use credit cards for organic purchases only, aside from Plastiq payment here and there.
So, paying 2% extra would be worth it because it would free up my spending and allow me to apply for another card. Plus, I would earn 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar, a win-win. My husband said he would ask the owner.
I had to stay with the kids in the van, but didn’t anticipate any issues. Well. My husband came back and said he wrote a check because the owner said he preferred this form of payment. Of course they would say that! There was nothing I could do, so I just gave my husband an angry look and drove away.
I was still fuming when he came home. In my mind there were zero issues with using a credit card in this particular case. Not to mention, I was willing to cough up 2% extra even though it technically wasn’t required. I just couldn’t believe we squandered this opportunity.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the same quality that compelled my husband to give local small business a break is the reason why I was attracted to him in the first place. If I could describe him in one sentence, it would be “a decent guy who always tries to do the right thing.”
Here was our exchange:
My husband: You know I can’t do what you want 100% of the time.
Me: I know. And to be fair, you do what I want 99.9% of the time, so I can’t really complain.
Sure, we missed out on 1,000 MR points, but so what? I’m married to one of the good guys who treats me well (usually). He is not a maximizer when it comes to deals and he hates switching credit cards. But he is kind to people. In fact, he didn’t have to apply for any of his jobs so far. Someone knew my husband and recommended him for the position. A common theme? He is a hard worker and a decent guy.
The world can use more decent guys right about now.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Sorry, I can’t help but see this as a missed opportunity to knock out a big chunk of the MSR on your card. Mom and Pop shop or not if they couldn’t afford to absorb the transaction fee they wouldn’t take Amex.
I certainly appreciate your husband’s drive to do the right thing; we need more people in the world like that. Unfortunately, as you mentioned the fee is already built into the cost of the service. The way I see if they still charged $1k for the service, they overcharged a guy trying to do the right thing, and they knew it.
@projectx For sure! It was definitely a missed opportunity. You are preaching to the choir here. 🙂
The people who run the shop are honest folks. They would have taken the credit card, it’s just that my husband decided to give them a break without them asking. That’s the type of person he is. This one was an overkill, but the big picture is that I’m married to a decent human being.
Sorry you missed out on your MR points….I feel your pain. I wrote over a check from the insurance company last year because I honestly couldn’t handle any more stress. I had landed myself in the ER, my dryer broke, I got rear-ended by one of the school moms, and my little one ended up with a broken arm — all within 3 weeks. I missed out on 1,500 UR points because of it, but sometimes, the easy way is the best way just to keep your sanity.
@Stephanie Oh my goodness, you sure have been through a lot lately! I hope things are going better for your family. And I agree, simple is highly underrated.
@Stephanie Oops! Just saw that you said all of this happened last year. I thought it was last month. Either way, I hope your family is OK.
Oof thats tough. I don’t believe you have to cut Mom and Pop shops a break. Walmart was once a Mom and Pop. Most auto places are mom and pop anyway.
@Justin I sort of feel the same way. In this case a good portion of the bill was labor, so they did pretty well. Plus, we could have gone to a dealership instead. My husband likes to support small businesses, something I respect. That said, charging the bill to the credit card would not be unreasonable IMO. But my husband felt differently and would not budge. Marriage is about compromises, and it’s certainly not worth pitching a fit over 1000 MR points.
So like attracts like, you know. Good people usually attract others like them. So as much as you feel like you are lucky, I’m sure he is also lucky to have a wife like you. You know other bloggers charge to give travel advice, while you don’t. That speaks volumes to me. Especially since you helped me plan my dream trip to Banff and didn’t charge me a penny. You also made me feel like I could do this “travel hacking” thing and now I’m well on my way to booking great trips with my family for years to come.
Anyway, I have a question about the transaction fee with Amex…is it 2 percent or 4? I’d like to know for future reference so I can negotiate a discount for cash payment with contractors.
Thanks! But I’m pretty sure that I’m the lucky one. 🙂 As far as transaction fee goes, I believe it’s between 2-4 percent on Amex, but it probably varies with other networks. I recommend you just ask them what the discount will be and go from there.