Comments on: Barnes and Noble.com: Definitely Not A Bookstore http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/ Adding a punchline to your bottom line Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:15:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Abigail Blog » It took some little time to convince Mr Flower that he really meant it, http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-4927 Abigail Blog » It took some little time to convince Mr Flower that he really meant it, Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:07:47 +0000 http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-4927 [...] Barnes and Noble.com: Definitely Not A Bookstore [...] [...] Barnes and Noble.com: Definitely Not A Bookstore [...]

]]> By: Ralph http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-3840 Ralph Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:32:52 +0000 http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-3840 From what I know about processing of credit card transactions, it is NOT the merchant that "categorizes" themselves - it is their merchant service provider (ie, the bank that they process all CC transactions through). That BANK will have the merchant (in this case B&N) setup in a particular category (you'd be AMAZED at some of the weird categories merchants get stuck into), and the category ID info is sent along with the transaction details to YOUR CC bank for processing (eg. Citibank in this case). BTW - once the merchant has been setup by the bank and started using it's merchant facility it is next to impossible to get the category changed - they'd probably have to allocate B&N a new merchant ID and reprogram all their EFTPOS terminals! From what I know about processing of credit card transactions, it is NOT the merchant that “categorizes” themselves - it is their merchant service provider (ie, the bank that they process all CC transactions through). That BANK will have the merchant (in this case B&N) setup in a particular category (you’d be AMAZED at some of the weird categories merchants get stuck into), and the category ID info is sent along with the transaction details to YOUR CC bank for processing (eg. Citibank in this case).

BTW - once the merchant has been setup by the bank and started using it’s merchant facility it is next to impossible to get the category changed - they’d probably have to allocate B&N a new merchant ID and reprogram all their EFTPOS terminals!

]]> By: Jason http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-3691 Jason Sat, 23 Sep 2006 13:17:20 +0000 http://www.punny.org/money/barnes-and-noblecom-definitely-not-a-bookstore/#comment-3691 I'm glad they fixed it for you. I've read that some csr's will just tell you there is nothing citi can do about how it's categorized. Overall, that's the only bad thing about specialized reward cards. If the store doesn't correctly categorize themselves then you don't get the bonus points. I'm surprised that the Citi rep didn't immediately realize that that was the reason as I would presume it's the most common reason for people getting shorted. I’m glad they fixed it for you. I’ve read that some csr’s will just tell you there is nothing citi can do about how it’s categorized.

Overall, that’s the only bad thing about specialized reward cards. If the store doesn’t correctly categorize themselves then you don’t get the bonus points. I’m surprised that the Citi rep didn’t immediately realize that that was the reason as I would presume it’s the most common reason for people getting shorted.

]]>