and we had a law to say that the surcharge must be clearly advertised in advance
Except it never was.
The surcharge was clearly associated with the cost of using that form of payment.
Except that the cost of handling cash is many times greater than the cost of using debit cards.
The point is that in practice, these charges had no purpose other than hiding the true cost of the product from the vast majority of customers whom they know are paying by card. It’s deceptive. The same reason we don’t allow tax to be added at checkout, and that we ban mandatory drop pricing.
Except it never was.
Except that the cost of handling cash is many times greater than the cost of using debit cards.
The point is that in practice, these charges had no purpose other than hiding the true cost of the product from the vast majority of customers whom they know are paying by card. It’s deceptive. The same reason we don’t allow tax to be added at checkout, and that we ban mandatory drop pricing.