Credit cards. Do you,don't you

[Jack Regan 116]

Never lost a sale when I've told punters don't take cards of any sorts .... 3 or 4 cash machines within a minutes walk helps .

[MattR 177]

1 hour ago, Craig F said:

Interesting topic this...

I've just had my latest Merchant Provider statement through and on 12 Debit Card Transactions I completed last month for £110,000 of business my charges alone on that were £351.25.

Total Merchant service charge for the month £433.67. This is of course not including the quarterly rental charge to the Machine provider. 

For me it's no longer sustainable. I remember when not that long ago my Merchant Fees on similar levels of business were around £40-£70 a month.

I would rather ask the Client to pay by other means in the knowledge that the car I have is better prepared than any other they will go and look at, will have been still priced competitively against lesser prepared examples and give myself a £300 a month pay rise.

it doesnt sound amiss - i'm with barclaycard for my card machine and my debit card charges are 0.29%, which doesnt sound a lot but it soon adds up. Encourage your customer to do bank transfers for balances, I have been doing since January when Barclaycard changed their rates ( was 80p per debit card transaction before) and most (but not all) are fine to do so. If they wont (or cant), then you have to ask for cash (which may have its own bank charges) or just swallow the 0.29% charge. you wont be worse off for asking!

I mainly use my card machine now as a deposit machine, then ask for the balance by bank transfer. Its good for your cashflow too, money in the bank before the car goes out rather than waiting 2-3 days for it to come in.

[EPV 631]

1 hour ago, tradex said:

All our sales are by card, a very few are cash, and as if by magic, our card machine went down last week, new one arrived Saturday and then that failed this afternoon with 3 sales to complete.

1/ bank transfer went OK, but didn't hit our account for around 20 mins, thats a long time in the office with a customer.

2/ bank transfer to do around 5pm...lets hope.

3/ I think we have just lost a sale. Father and son came to see a Clio from around 80 miles away...couldn't do a bank transfer for a dipper as he could not set up a new payee without his 'card reader' and had no cash on board.....he did ask where the nearest cash machine was but as that's a bugger for parking, so just said I'll keep it for a day and to come back tomorrow...hmm?

Get them to ring their bank, number on the back of the card. They can do a transfer that way.

[BHM 994]

Cash is king. Always has been, always will be.

[Nick M.K. 574]

22 minutes ago, BHM said:

Cash is king. Always has been, always will be.

Errrrr, Sorry, No.

When this iPhone generation grows up a bit to have their own money on their Apple Pay and they want to pay "contactless" for everything, when haggling stops being the norm (which it will, soon) we can all forget cash. 

Which is fine by me. I dislike it anyway. 

[trade vet 697]

47 minutes ago, BHM said:

Cash is king. Always has been, always will be.

Cash ! Who has cash now.The punters who have their own money tend to have it in non accessible deposit accounts earning 0.05% so it takes 2 weeks before a handover.Cash is dangerous,expensive to bank and if you insist on it ,HMRC will take a kean interest in your business and if you make a small banking mistake ( they don’t do mistakes) they will assess you for a telephone number amount and leave you to prove otherwise.

[lastyboy 23]

I take payments on debit and credit cards and will continue to.

If i think the customer could be an awkward sort i just dont sell them a car.

I personally think if everything is prepped up how it should be, you shouldnt have too many worries.

[justlooking 48]

9 hours ago, NOACROSS said:

Wow. Sounds like you dodged a bullet with them as a buyer maybe mate!

He quoted Parker’s guide when he called to deliver the news So I think you may be right, keep your eyes peeled, he may be coming to a forecourt near you soon! 

[CPM 0]

24 minutes ago, justlooking said:

He quoted Parker’s guide when he called to deliver the news So I think you may be right, keep your eyes peeled, he may be coming to a forecourt near you soon! 

Sounds like the customer I had Saturday using Parker’s pricing. Sorry, Parker’s who?? 

[justlooking 48]

45 minutes ago, CPM said:

Sounds like the customer I had Saturday using Parker’s pricing. Sorry, Parker’s who?? 

Can Parkers Guide sell you a car?

Parkers Guide? Who are they, is that a new dealership that's just opened up Sir?

Think I'll follow the lead from many of you, and do deposits with card machine and balance on bank transfer.

CPM, yes he was particular! he rung around and spoke to a local VAG specialist who advised him not to buy my car because there is no evidence of a gearbox oil change which ultimately has cost me a sale, I offered to do the gearbox oil to secure the sale and to put his mind at ease but he couldn't live with the 'what if's' regarding the damage its already done, I think he's looking for a way out and an overdue fluid change was the worst he could find on the 11 year old Audi.

[twerp 69]

18 minutes ago, justlooking said:

Can Parkers Guide sell you a car?

Parkers Guide? Who are they, is that a new dealership that's just opened up Sir?

Think I'll follow the lead from many of you, and do deposits with card machine and balance on bank transfer.

CPM, yes he was particular! he rung around and spoke to a local VAG specialist who advised him not to buy my car because there is no evidence of a gearbox oil change which ultimately has cost me a sale, I offered to do the gearbox oil to secure the sale and to put his mind at ease but he couldn't live with the 'what if's' regarding the damage its already done, I think he's looking for a way out and an overdue fluid change was the worst he could find on the 11 year old Audi.

Multi-tronic ?

[CCC 31]

10 hours ago, twerp said:

Maybe you just need to shop around..

Worth shopping around if you are doing over £1m per annum on cards. My experience was they didn’t want to know sub £500k, above that then you’d be offered more favourable rates, above £1m then you could negotiate and play them off against each other. That was the days of fixed debit card charges too.

12 hours ago, justlooking said:

Will be doing this from now on, expensive lesson learned...

yep! thats the mindset I needed this customer to get into ASAP because...

he just called, and bailed cos no invoice for automatic gearbox change at 40k

Does Audi have recommend that  in their service schedule? BMW are supposedly sealed for life though specialists recommend a change around 80k. I’m the only person I know who’s ever had an auto box oil change done on their own car.

[EPV 631]

3 minutes ago, CCC said:

Worth shopping around if you are doing over £1m per annum on cards. My experience was they didn’t want to know sub £500k, above that then you’d be offered more favourable rates, above £1m then you could negotiate and play them off against each other. That was the days of fixed debit card charges too.

Does Audi have recommend that  in their service schedule? BMW are supposedly sealed for life though specialists recommend a change around 80k. I’m the only person I know who’s ever had an auto box oil change done on their own car.

Nope, I had the transmission fluid done on my rangie last week. It’s on 60k, 7 years old. 

[Screenman 47]

On 23/03/2018 at 2:20 PM, Mark101 said:

Back in the day, I was one of the first people to receive a chip and pin card reader at my garage.  All my fellow traders thought I was mad but it transformed my sale conversions and now they all do it.

The idea was driven out of how many times I had heard "I'm just popping to the cash point to get a deposit" never to be seen again - I never knew whether they had no intention of completing or whether they walked passed the many other forecourts en route to the bank and spotted something more to their liking.  At least this way, I knew whether they were serious or not because I could be the "cash point."

It also meant that I didn't have to discount so much because people are generally less conscious about the money when it is not "real"

I always charged 2.5% extra for credit cards but didn't know I was breaking the law.

Wish I had one now but trading from home doesn't make it easy - I think you can use a third party like PayPal but haven't investigated fully.

I am in my home office now and there is card machine beside me.

[Mark101 536]

Question for Dave (you know our multi dealer level diagnostic, ex transmission firm owner and forum colleague)

I bought my old man a 3 year old Disco 3 about 6 years ago and I have just agreed to take it off him in PX and I am going to keep it (once I get the French plates off).

It's a 58 plate 2.7TDV6 HSE with 70k, brand new turbo fitted by LR in France at 5,000 Euros (yes that's right).

He is frustrated with the re-registration process and the RFL when he does such few miles (he's now moved back to UK), it needs 1 EGR (I am going to do both) and a new battery, I will also be fitting a new TB and WP as an age related precaution (unless this would have been changed when they did the Turbo, haven't seen the invoice yet?) along with a thorough service.

The gearbox on these I understand to be "sealed for life," is that true or as part of a major recon (just because prevention is better than cure), would you (Dave or anyone else with mechanical knowledge) change or leave - car drives mint (just has EML relating to one of the two EGR's)?

Absolutely no idea why this post has gone here, should have been a hijack of Simon's Viano thread 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Mark101

[Mark101 536]

1 minute ago, tradex said:

A 3 year old car, bought 6 years ago.....is his first name Marty McFly? 

I'm confused, it is too early.

It's an 09 which I bought in 2012 (3 years old) - 6 years ago = it is 9 years old now.

Just re-read what I wrote and if I had a coffee, I would be shopping for a new lap top right now, I am still laughing at your comment.

[Nick M.K. 574]

23 hours ago, Mark101 said:

I am prepared to take the risk on any of the above re: claw back.

Credit card clawback is very nasty indeed because the money leaves your current account before you even know there is any problem. If your cars are cheap and you always have surplus £ in the account (or overdraft) it's no big deal but if you sell a £15K car and one morning you notice that £15K taken out of your account the very next thing you'll do is amend your advert text regarding credit card payments. That's the reason most car supermarkets don't take credit cards. And the need to sell car finance of course which you'll have soon enough.  

[Mark101 536]

8 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

Credit card clawback is very nasty indeed because the money leaves your current account before you even know there is any problem. If your cars are cheap and you always have surplus £ in the account (or overdraft) it's no big deal but if you sell a £15K car and one morning you notice that £15K taken out of your account the very next thing you'll do is amend your advert text regarding credit card payments. That's the reason most car supermarkets don't take credit cards. And the need to sell car finance of course which you'll have soon enough.  

At some stage Nick, I want to pick your brains - Close are keen to do something with me and I know you have good experiences with their offerings.

Would you mind if I contact you once my FCA is approved?

Cheers, Mark

[Nick M.K. 574]

30 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

Would you mind if I contact you once my FCA is approved?

 

Contact me even before that as approval these days only takes 3-4 weeks. 

[EPV 631]

41 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

At some stage Nick, I want to pick your brains - Close are keen to do something with me and I know you have good experiences with their offerings.

Would you mind if I contact you once my FCA is approved?

Cheers, Mark

I’ve found Close very helpful. Probably not the highest in terms of comms but they offer more than that as a business partner. If you can get enough business going through them they will soon offer VERY attractive stocking facilities. They will of course, remove said facility if you don’t put enough business their way! The way it goes though. 

[Mark101 536]

20 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

Contact me even before that as approval these days only takes 3-4 weeks. 

Thanks Nick

8 minutes ago, EPV said:

I’ve found Close very helpful. Probably not the highest in terms of comms but they offer more than that as a business partner. If you can get enough business going through them they will soon offer VERY attractive stocking facilities. They will of course, remove said facility if you don’t put enough business their way! The way it goes though. 

They're already pushing me for a facility even though I haven't got 12 months trading - they say I have enough assets (scary)

[Dave2302 387]

1 hour ago, Mark101 said:

Question for Dave (you know our multi dealer level diagnostic, ex transmission firm owner and forum colleague)

I bought my old man a 3 year old Disco 3 about 6 years ago and I have just agreed to take it off him in PX and I am going to keep it (once I get the French plates off).

It's a 58 plate 2.7TDV6 HSE with 70k, brand new turbo fitted by LR in France at 5,000 Euros (yes that's right).

He is frustrated with the re-registration process and the RFL when he does such few miles (he's now moved back to UK), it needs 1 EGR (I am going to do both) and a new battery, I will also be fitting a new TB and WP as an age related precaution (unless this would have been changed when they did the Turbo, haven't seen the invoice yet?) along with a thorough service.

The gearbox on these I understand to be "sealed for life," is that true or as part of a major recon (just because prevention is better than cure), would you (Dave or anyone else with mechanical knowledge) change or leave - car drives mint (just has EML relating to one of the two EGR's)?

Absolutely no idea why this post has gone here, should have been a hijack of Simon's Viano thread 

Change the Fluid and Filter, you will not be wanting to pay the labour to R&I that trans if it goes tits up.

I had to pull one out on a RR Sport, both our fitters were off, what an absolute cunt, it took me a whole and busy day, and I usually have any trans out inside 4 hours !!

I think the "book time" is something ridiculous in "days" which includes lifting the body up from the chassis  Needless to say I didn't do that

ZF, and others, "Lifetime Oil" is a complete load of bollocks

You can buy the correct Oil, and the Sump / Filter all as a kit.

Note that if yours is the one with Filter Built into Sump, and a Welded Cross Member right under it, yo have to drop the Sump a little, break the Filter Pipe, and then use the "Car type separate Sump and Filter to reassemble  

BTW it sounds from the E5K for the Turbo that yours is one of the ones that is supposed to have the Body Lifted for changing everything except the Air Filter 

[Mark101 536]

20 minutes ago, Dave2302 said:

Change the Fluid and Filter, you will not be wanting to pay the labour to R&I that trans if it goes tits up.

I had to pull one out on a RR Sport, both our fitters were off, what an absolute cunt, it took me a whole and busy day, and I usually have any trans out inside 4 hours !!

I think the "book time" is something ridiculous in "days" which includes lifting the body up from the chassis  Needless to say I didn't do that

ZF, and others, "Lifetime Oil" is a complete load of bollocks

You can buy the correct Oil, and the Sump / Filter all as a kit.

Note that if yours is the one with Filter Built into Sump, and a Welded Cross Member right under it, yo have to drop the Sump a little, break the Filter Pipe, and then use the "Car type separate Sump and Filter to reassemble  

BTW it sounds from the E5K for the Turbo that yours is one of the ones that is supposed to have the Body Lifted for changing everything except the Air Filter 

Cheers Dave

I did (as a hopeful fix, it didn't) a transmission fluid and filter change on an RR sport (same engine), using (I think Britpart) hack - you cut the original oil pick up tube and replace the original sump (with filter insitu), this way you can slide the new replacement and new tube/filter/sump in above the crossmember without removing it.

Such a shame because for an early RRS, it was the prettiest one I had seen, HSE, 22" Stormers, dechromed (but not chavvy).  Transmission firm said it could be a £500 fix or a £3,000 fix, a gamble I wasn't prepared to take.  Apparently, you can't just swap boxes around, it is all ECU this and ECU that, then it might still want a set of solenoids.

[AAM90 22]

17 hours ago, lastyboy said:

I take payments on debit and credit cards and will continue to.

If i think the customer could be an awkward sort i just dont sell them a car.

I personally think if everything is prepped up how it should be, you shouldnt have too many worries.

As we do

Never had a charge back or even come close in the 15 years we have used a card machine

If you deal with warranty issues yourself and correctly a customer will never need to "chargeback"

As regard the fees...it's a cost of business

Having said that we encourage customers to give a £200 deposit on debit card and bank transfer the balance

[Autolink100 34]

I think the card companies hiking their fees to a percentage on debit cards was good news in hindsight. It forced me to move over to bank transfers only with very very few exceptions. We take a max £500 on a debit card for depos only and they MUST do the balance by transfer. Its been a couple of years now and it has not been a problem at all. On our turnover  we worked out that if we had continued with cards it would have cost us nearly £8K in fees over the year which is ridiculous. I don't take credit cards at all, I might be a bit cautious but it's one less thing to lose sleep over