I like to dream that somewhere out there is a person who only carries Diner’s Club and Carte Blanche credit cards exclusively. “Really, I’d love to pick up the check but…”
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I like to dream that somewhere out there is a person who only carries Diner’s Club and Carte Blanche credit cards exclusively. “Really, I’d love to pick up the check but…”
Ben
on 05 Nov 08So how come there are DC and CB logos in that graphic if those two aren’t accepted.
Conflicting signals.
Pinche Borracho
on 05 Nov 08Ben, I think you’re on to something…
Jim
on 05 Nov 08I am reminded of one of my favorite scenes in Futurama:
“Do you take Visa?”
“Visa hasn’t existed in 500 years.”
“American Express?”
“600 years.”
“Discover card?”
“Ooh, sorry, we don’t take Discover.”
Daniel
on 05 Nov 08Not quite that drastic but there is a restaurant here in Richmond, VA called Mamma Zu that has amazing Italian food but only takes Cash, Check and American Express. The first time we ate there we were celebrating with another couple… and when the $150 bill came we both pull out our Visa’s to hear “sorry we don’t take that” and our mouths dropped. We wrote down our drivers license numbers for them and came back with checks on Monday. So weird.
Greg
on 05 Nov 08I worked for a company in the ‘90s that made us use Diners Club. I never traveled without cash and my own backup cc.
Olli
on 05 Nov 08I think you guys have it backwards… The only card not accepted is the Carte Blanche card. Notice the ’:’ after the sentence… It says ‘the following cards’ but there happens to only be one not accepted. Right? (That’s how I understand it)
Bob K
on 05 Nov 08I used to carry only American Express and took the attitude that if I couldn’t get it on AmEx it might not be worth my time.
Several credit cards later, it turns out I was right. Knowing I had to actually pay for the item next month was an excellent filter.
Ian
on 05 Nov 08Over a decade ago, when I was in jewelry sales, we used to get a LOT of Diner’s Club cards. I have since left retail sales, but since then I think I’ve only met one person who has a DC card.
As to the graphic, it appears that the airline is using a third-party transaction processing system, and one that has a poorly designed interface. Rather than letting the customer select which card logos to display, the system defaults to show all credit cards and requires the airline to append text stating what is not accepted.
Sloppy, sloppy work. This is why we need more interface designers who give a damn and who pay close attention to the little details, because as you can see above, that’s where the devil hides.
Luis
on 05 Nov 08If Carte Blanche is not accepted then why is it on the list with the others? Are they all NOT accepted, or are they?
Larry
on 05 Nov 08As someone in the industry, I can tell you that online merchants are required to display all card logos on checkout pages. This is beyond control of the site in question.
Looks like a particular airline doesn’t take a particular card but I believe all logos are still supposed to be shown.
Calling it “sloppy work” is harsh though… remember that for any decision you see on a website there could be legal ramifications you aren’t aware of.
GeeIWonder
on 05 Nov 08As someone in the industry, I can tell you that online merchants are required to display all card logos on checkout pages. This is beyond control of the site in question.
I’m someone in the industry. and I’ve been buying and selling online for pretty much 20yrs.
I’ve never heard of this. Required by who? State, Federal, what?
Larry
on 05 Nov 08PCI compliance, Geel.
GeeIWonder
on 05 Nov 08Thanks. Talking across the point I guess—their definition of ‘merchant’ sounds more like gateways/POS to me. Couldn’t actually find the logo requirement though in their stated guidelines, and it doesn’t sound like it’s a legal obligation at all.
So I still have some questions on that whole statement but I’ll spare the thread.
Morley
on 05 Nov 08@Luis: It is both accepted and not accepted at the same time, like using an extra “e” in “judgement.”
random8r
on 05 Nov 08@Larry What’s PCI compliance? I’m also in the industry and I’ve never heard about a requirement to put all cards on a credit card payment page.
Derek K. Miller
on 06 Nov 08Incidentally, Diners Club was the first independent credit card, i.e. one not tied to a particular merchant or store chain. I guess first-mover advantage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Berserk
on 06 Nov 08Can’t see what the PCI requirements has to do with this at all. PCI is an international thing and there are different cards in different regions of the world (I don’t think you’ll get very far with Discover in Europe, e.g.). I can’t find “Thou shalt display the logotype of every credit card, whether they are accepted or not” in the twelve commandments of the PCI (see link).
And if you are in the industry, you really should know about PCI DSS.
RocketScientist
on 06 Nov 08A number of years ago I was in Belgium and wanted to use my Amex card to pay for the hotel. This was met with the response “We do take Amex but could you please pay with ANYTHING else.” I felt that they would rather I paid with trade beads or bags of Zimbabwean one cent coins than an Amex card.
It turned out that they only accepted Amex because at the time most Americans only had that card but as the commission was an exorbitant 14% the card it was not exactly welcome.
Contrast this with the Amex advertising strap line that was running ate the time “American Express, That’ll do nicely”
Alex
on 11 Nov 08Cash is king!
This discussion is closed.