Rite Aid Disables Apple Pay Support After Initially Accepting Payments

[eelpout]

Good grief, the reaction to this is amazing, "I'll get my cough drops down the street!!" It's just another way to pay people, get over it. While NFC is cool, I got bored with using Google Wallet after a while.

And they are not singling out Apple Pay, but *all* NFC payments, including Google Wallet and secure SIM methods like SoftCard.

Not surprising, some merchants see more in it for them if they go the CurrentC route. If you were aware of the MCX and apparently not many are, you knew this was coming.

 

[Aragornii]

It's been said before, but it bears repeating:

Why on earth, in today's competitive retail climate, would a retailer do something to prevent customers from spending money with them?

Part of it may be that there's not a huge overlap between Rite-Aids customer base (old and not tech savvy) and Apple Pay users (younger and tech savvy). I"d guess that Apple Pay sales are a pretty small priority to them.

 

[pdaholic]

I would say that I will start going to Walgreens instead, but I don't go to any of these stores. I don't take any meds, and sundries are cheaper at just about anywhere other than a drug store. But I will jump on the bandwagon and still not support Rite Aid.

Apple pay worked amazingly well at Whole Foods yesterday.

 

[Jason83]

And Apple users wonder why they are laughing stocks - look no further than this post.

Said the guy with an account on an apple-centric forum...

 

[BC2009]

Talk of Rite-aid boycotts over Apple Pay? Really? It's a freakin' convenience store. I doubt any habits will be changed.

It's the principle.... Rite Aid actually had to do work to make Apple Pay NOT work. Apple Pay functioned at Rite Aid yesterday (just like Google Wallet or any other standards-based NFC payment system).... Rite Aid specifically made this choice to look after the interests of a business partnership to the detriment of their customers (they also disabled Google Wallet at their terminals).

Any time a business makes choices to look after their own interests when supporting their customer's interests would have not taken any effort on their part (i.e.: they went out of their way to make things more difficult for the customer), then the customers should boycott that store and give their patronage to competitors.

This is the exact thing that Tim Cook referred to when he introduced Apple Pay. Everybody is coming up with mobile payment solutions that are designed to leverage the interests of those coming up with them rather than focusing on the user. Every other mobile payment solution wants to track your purchases for marketing purposes.

Any retailer that goes out of their way to block something that they used to accept because they are afraid their interests are threatened regardless of the detriment to their customer's experience should suffer for it.

It is certainly Rite Aid's choice as to whether or not to accept Apple Pay or Google Wallet. It is their business. But as a customer, it is my choice as to where I will shop. I have stopped shopping at Amazon for the past six months because I do not condone their anti-competitive business practices that are delaying customers' orders for weeks or months in order to try to stick it to publishers.

 

[milhouse994]

They moved pretty quickly to disable it though...

Right, but my point is, if they had disabled it from the beginning I think this would be less of an issue. The fact it worked and now doesn't is the particularly frustrating part.

 

[NachoGrande]

Buying a $600+ phone because of a feature that may or may not ever catch on is the epitome of foolishness.

Why do you know my financial situation? Maybe $600 is not a lot of money for me or maybe it is. But that's my business what I choose to buy or why I choose to buy it

Some may say buying a $600 phone to check email or a bigger screen is foolishness too.

 

[yg17]

Why not? What does it have to do with the cashier's paycheck? You think they are on commission? Ridiculous.

Because doing that is a dick move and you're creating more work for an underpaid worker who has absolutely no say in what payment methods the store accepts.

 

[Diode]

Good grief, the reaction to this is amazing, "I'll get my cough drops down the street!!" It's just another way to pay people, get over it. While NFC is cool, I got bored with using Google Wallet after a while.

And they are not singling out Apple Pay, but *all* NFC payments, including Google Wallet and secure SIM methods like SoftCard.

Not surprising, some merchants see more in it for them if they go the CurrentC route. If you were aware of the MCX and apparently not many are, you knew this was coming.

This might be why Apple is rushing out Apple Pay 2.0 - merchants want our info!

 

[applefan12345]

Some business, such as Rite Aid and Best buy, rely heavily on their "Rewards" programs.

I don't belive Apple pay supports loyalty programs. MCEXchange seems like it does according to their website.

So it makes some sense why rite aid would not allow apple pay since those customers will opt for Apple pay as opposed to using their rewards card. Rite site looses "stickiness" with their Apple pay customers.

 

[tooloud10]

Please, everyone get over yourselves for saying, "Guess I won't be shopping there..."

If it's around the corner and you need to pick something up, you sure as hell will be shopping there in a few weeks.

Want to bet? That's exactly the point that everyone is trying to make here--just because it may not change your mind as to where to shop doesn't mean that it won't change my mind or the minds of thousands of others. I might still buy something from a store that doesn't support Apple Pay, but not if there's another option. Can you name any stores that don't have any competition?

I REALLY want to be able to use my phone to make purchases at retail stores, so I choose to support stores that allow me to do this. I don't need all the drug stores in my area to support it, just one.

 

[TonyC28]

First, I don't understand why there are people on here ripping Apple when this had absolutely nothing do with Apple.

Second, why would Rite Aid disable a payment service that doesn't cost them anything and makes their customers' payment methods more secure? Even if they are favoring another form of the system, why deny Pay payments if it doesn't cost them anything? They get their money just the same as they would with any other credit card payment.

 

[Peace]

Some business, such as Rite Aid and Best buy, rely heavily on their "Rewards" programs.

I don't belive Apple pay supports loyalty programs. MCEXchange seems like it does according to their website.

So it makes some sense why rite aid would not allow apple pay since those customers will opt for Apple pay as opposed to using their rewards card. Rite site looses "stickiness" with their Apple pay customers.

Apple Pay will support rewards programs sometime in the future. Perhaps IOS 8.2

 

[TheHeadFL]

The reason why Rite Aid (and likely eventually all MerchantC/MCX companies) are doing this is blatantly obvious if you read the details of MCX...

$$$

MCX currently does not accept regular consumer credit cards. They currently accept only store credit cards, and most importantly, checking accounts.

It exists solely to cut the payment networks (Visa, MC, Amex, etc) out of the loop. They want them out of the loop so they no longer have to pay them a % of all charges.

If they can get everyone using MCX, they can save money by telling the major card networks to get bent.

 

[dcorban]

Easy, no shopping at Rite Aid.

No big deal, see ya Rite Aid.

Word.

 

[malexandria]

Yeah!

all 20 of them are tweeting fast and furious like....

 

[AspectRatio]

Why not? What does it have to do with the cashier's paycheck? You think they are on commission? Ridiculous.

I've had stores turn me down for using a credit card because of a too-small purchase twice in my life, both times I said forget it and walked out. They don't want my money, I'll go away. Simple. Why should I have to shop somewhere when I don't like the policies? That makes me a "world-class prick". Do you even know what "world-class" implies? Utterly ridiculous. The blood has literally drained from my face because of the idiotic implications in your post.

Haven't even tried Apple Pay, yet. Haven't even tried setting up my CU bankcard, I doubt it works, yet. S'pose I could try.

The post I replied to recommended walking into a store, purposefully filling a cart with items, and abandoning it at the check stand. Guess who has to re-shelve all that stuff? Ever worked retail before?

And it's not like they won't accept your credit card. I could understand leaving the store if that was the case. But it's not. They'll accept your card, but they're not equipped to accept the fancy technology that spares you the terrible burden of removing that card from your wallet.

How is this even remotely worth complaining about?

 

[rorschach]

Load up a cart at the offending (non-ApplePay) merchant and go to checkout.

When they say,

"Oh, we don't support ApplePay."

You say,

"Cancel the sale. I'll shop somewhere else."

If everyone does this, merchants will quickly get the picture and throng to get on-board.

Or, more accurately:

If everyone does this, a whole lot of working-class folks making minimum-wage and struggling just to get by will have to stay late at work to clean up after you and probably get yelled at by their manager for not doing it fast enough.

Doing that is the mark of a giant douchebag.

 

[proline]

Why do you know my financial situation? Maybe $600 is not a lot of money for me or maybe it is. But that's my business what I choose to buy or why I choose to buy it

Some may say buying a $600 phone to check email or a bigger screen is foolishness too.

Oh yes, the internet's classic "it's my opinion so I can't be wrong". That's all well and good, but I don't think people will be putting a lot of weight to the opinions of someone who buys a super expensive phone for a feature that hasn't been demonstrated outside a keynote hall and might not ever work.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

it just trolls.

Comment of the day.

 

[Yojimbo007]

Most likely a financial incentive.

This is how stupid this is....
It is like taking visa but no amex or mastercard.....

Limiting payment choice for a customer is pure IDIOTIC !!!

Fools at riteaid... This is your customer trying to GIVE YOU MONEY ... Lol.. Why are u making it harder than need be ???f

 

[teknikal90]

Man Apple is messing up once again. Reminds me of Microsoft in their prime. yay yah I know it's the pay providers not Apple


Save yourself the quotes. My point was that these inconsistencies should have been handled ahead of time. I have no confidence in Apple Pay right now. As I said before I tried to use is 3 times and it worked 1 time. My credit card has never let me down and until it gets to that point it's just easier for me to pull my card out.

And for the record I bought the iPhone 6 strictly for Apple Pay...

I'll bite.
you bought iphone 6 strictly for apple pay?

with every rollout theres bound to be some inconsistencies. name me 1 major apple product that launched smoothly? even back in the old days

 

[Stewie]

Yes, that is the case. Rite Aid have specifically blocked the use of Apple Pay at their terminals.

They have turned off NCF payments. What Apple Pay and Google Wallet and your credit cards with NFC in them use.

IF NFC is enabled there is no way to just block Apple Pay and leave something like Google wallet working.

 

[dtich]

Man Apple is messing up once again. Reminds me of Microsoft in their prime. yay yah I know it's the pay providers not Apple


Save yourself the quotes. My point was that these inconsistencies should have been handled ahead of time. I have no confidence in Apple Pay right now. As I said before I tried to use is 3 times and it worked 1 time. My credit card has never let me down and until it gets to that point it's just easier for me to pull my card out.

And for the record I bought the iPhone 6 strictly for Apple Pay...

oh don't be a douche. how can 'these inconsistencies' be handled 'ahead of time'? this is a MAJOR payment system launch. things like this, and i'd emphasize the word 'inconsistencies'--these issues are SMALL, people--are bound to happen. this is part of shaking the system out. it has to happen to find all the weak spots. sorta like you can't sort out all the inconsistencies in a tv show launch, or a space shuttle launch or a fall fashion line launch before it actually.. launches.

in the case of rite aid, this is a bit of ******** because i feel pretty confident that eventually they will come back and support apple pay, they are just playing politics with a competing (?) system of payment facilitating and while competition is usually good for the consumer, in this case i think this is just bs. support all the pay systems for f's sake, why limit things??

i know apple is going to make money off this system, and i'm sure that rankles lots of people, but they are going to make paying for stuff easy and secure, so why can't they have point one five percent of the transaction? i'm fine with that. i may boycott rite aid over this, LOL. (nawww.....)

 

[farmkittie]

Easy, no shopping at Rite Aid.

No big deal, see ya Rite Aid.

Yes, I will switch to Walgreen's now. I've been a long time Rite Aid customer who spends enough each year to get 1K points and the 20% discount every year. I wasn't going to switch to Walgreen's just because Rite Aid didn't have Apple Pay but the fact that they're ACTIVELY not allowing it doesn't sit well with me.

I'll still go to RiteAid if it's too inconvenient to go to Walgreen's but when I'm at home they're about equidistant.