Shop doesnt take credit cards

mariamartinez

Hi, I am want to buy a new bike abroad from netherlands and ship a new bike to the UK. Its not available here in my size. I dont know the shop personally. Its rijwielshop-elfring nl . The purchase is not cheap and I would prefer credit card protection. However the shop says "we don't take cards". Further, and this is even more odd, they say "we have never been asked whether we take credit cards". Either something is odd with the shop, something is lost in translation or something is unusual in terms of payments in NL. Maybe the first because they have a tiwtter account but not posted since 2014.

anyone give any insights?

thanks

imposter2.0

Not taking card payments (especially on relatively high-value purchases) is extraordinary. Find another shop - the Netherlands is full of them...

timothyw

What do they take, bank transfer? Western Union?

Steer well clear.

david7m

Maybe they think you are asking for credit?

kingrollo

find another shop. even bike.

navrig2

Sounds like a scam. I'd avoid.

cal_stewart

It’s not that uncommon in Europe. My local diy superstore doesn’t take uk credit cards.

gabriel959

I would say it is very uncommon, at least in Spain and France everywhere takes credit/debit cards. May be not so much in Germany where they are still pretty cash centric. I am not sure about the Netherlands.

Alejandrosdog

not having posted on twitter for years is probably a good sign

Lagrange

Holland take 'pin cards' These are Debit Cards from local banks. I've had the same problems in supermarkets there.

timothyw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ882QYzr-M

sungod

as above, netherlands is a bit 'different' when it comes to payments, some places will only take local debit card payment, it's not a scam, it's just how things are

the website isn't written in multiple languages, presumably their focus is their home market, their choice, their rules, nothing wrong with that

you could try a curve card, this operates as a debit card as far as the payee is concerned, but the payment actually routes from curve back to your chosen card, which can be a credit card

there are also fx advantages using curve vs. many uk cards

depends on the transaction size, if you can't cover it with the free curve card, it'll cost you at least a month's fees on one of the paid versions, probably still worth it

email curve and ask if it should work ok for nl

Wayne Plunger

Out here in Portugal one of the most common shop window signs you will see is Nao Temos Multibanco, which basically means we don't take cards.

cougie

Why make a big purchase from a shop you've never been to ?
It's only a bike. You can buy them anywhere. What's so special about the Dutch one ?

Matthewfalle

can you not pop it on a Revolut card or similar? get around the credit card bit?

#revolutionary

perfectmark

Who makes the bike, normally you can find a UK distributor and get them to order the size for the specially? Otherwise I would make a weekend of it and pick it up yourself. Eurostar have some deals on to Amsterdam if you don't want to car it. I have trained it to Harlow, ferry to Hook of Holland and then trained around Holland before. You just need to check with the train company if you need to pre-book a bike on a particular line.

tangled_metal

Two years ago on our family tour of Holland we found our cards didn't work. Most European countries operate two systems for cards we got told by a bank teller over there but Holland operates only one which isn't the same as UK one. Or something like that. Anyway UK credit and debit cards don't work Amex might though. We ended up having to operate off cash only and go to banks to get the money. ATMs didn't work iirc but the bank tellers could give you your money with a UK debit card. Would have messed our holiday up if they didn't do that. Just goes to show you need to research where you're going a bit better than we did.

Not a scam only Dutch way of operating. And I know a lot of companies (from UK based lbs to larger shops too with several stores) who have social media linked on their sites but they're years out of date. Means nothing other than the store doesn't see the benefit of social media to their business because they are too busy and/or do well without it.

ddraver

Shops that take small payments - supermarkets and such - tend not to take cards other than "PIN" cards in The Netherlands (I lived there for a 5 years)

For a bike shop not to take them though is unheard of. Further, given that you can't use those cards online as they don't have a 12 digit number on the front, for a webshop not to take them is extraordinary.

This feels very wrong. Avoid

alanparsons

ddraver wrote:

For a bike shop not to take them though is unheard of.
This feels very wrong. Avoid

Not unheard of, on a trip to the Netherlands last year I visited a Wilier Punto Rosso shop:- https://www.italworks.nl/
Fantastic shop, bikes worth 10,000euro+. Didn't take either my Mastercard or Visa Debit, had to go and draw cash from the ATM.
Have had the same problem at times all over Europe, French Toll booths being the most annoying.

gsk82

I bought some wheels from matt salden a few years ago. They were the same.

sungod

ddraver wrote:

...for a webshop not to take them is extraordinary.

This feels very wrong. Avoid

baseless nonsense

it's not a "webshop", it's a web site, there is no online purchasing

ddraver

Would you?