Credit Cards

[mrenglish]

I don't know if this is the case with Mars or not, but some of those states he does not ship to may require customer information that he does not wish to provide. In Ohio, if they do not charge the OTP tax, they are required to provide the name, address and order information of the customer. Some B&Ms here that ship out of state eat the tax and some have it built into their price to avoid the issue.
I'm not saying that Mars is taking the high road as it may indeed be just avoiding processor fee's, I do not know, I'm just saying it could also be to not send detailed customer information to that state. I think some of those states may require customer information regardless. In any event, there will be a time when we cannot use our CC to purchase pipe tobacco.

 

[jbbaldwin]

 

[cigrmaster]

I am sure Mars could be using the same processor that p&c and smokingpipes uses and they have no issues. JRcigars requires no proof except checking a box, I ordered from them recently.
Retailers need to be smart about this if they want to survive. Lil Brown smoke shop wanted me to jump through hoops to order from them, I said forget it. They lost business. Why is there no hassle with p&C, smokingingpipes, 4noggins, because they are smart business people. Hell even cup of joes who ain't the brightest bulbs are easy to order from. The retailers who are having issues are having them because they are not doing their homework to find the right processors. I know tobacconists overseas who sell Cuban cigars into the states that have no issues with Mastercard or Visa or American express.

 

[dochudson]

Well McDonald's is hiring those people.
if they can't get on at McD's there's always the TSA

 

[moses]

Booooo Mastercard for thwarting me on my attempted order of some 8oz Penzance this morning!! You should be ashamed, sirs and madames. Boooooo.

 

[shawn622]

It is site dependent though, MrSnuff.com will let you pay with a card.

+1

 

[rlunderhill]

When we get a one world government, maybe things will change. God help us all after that.

 

[phred]

I actually used to work for a large credit card processor (worst year of my life...) - the rules and regulations involved both on the part of the processors regarding their merchant customers and on the part of the processors regarding local, state, and federal mandates will make your head spin. Card fraud is big business - and yes, the card companies tend to err on the side of caution if it looks like the regulators might have to get involved or if it looks like they might lose more money. The amount of money involved in tobacco taxes is likewise enormous, and thus you wind up with smuggling, tax evasion, and identity theft in order to either save some dough or cash in (depending on which side of the transaction you're on).
Really, it's been part of the landscape since the fledgling U.S. Government imposed the first excise tax on whiskey, sparking the Whiskey Rebellion... only now we've got credit card companies involved as well. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...

 

[dragonslayer]

No matter what CC's do, where there's a will there's a way. I'm lining up an international order where the person is useing his own paypal account to recieve the money, and then running it through the store.
Tobacco will be purchased as something other than it is, an herd, a classic tin (ebay does it now). The CC's are the least of the Nazi issues we have to deal with in the near future. The current bills are so vague there's no chance of them passing. The Internet lobby is still strong enough to string it out for a few years, but it will come some day. To much money for the government not to get its hands on. My money is on them useing a ploy that pits hitting medicare against Internet income to push it through. The tax will slaughter 1000's of Internet based stores and do far little to the B&M that they claim will prosper. Just because a few of your items will compete with the Internet, Walmart will stomp 90% of your products so it won't save the store.
On and on and on...