Hanover Green Card customers looking for a snack after midnight might be buying a little more than they bargained for this term.
Everything But Anchovies, the only Hanover restaurant that delivers after midnight, now charges customers an extra 25-cent fee for each order purchased with the Hanover Green Card.
EBAs Co-Owner Jim Dowd said the new action, which began this term, is in response to the high cost of accepting the Hanover Green Card, which gives students a declining balance account to use at local restaurants and businesses.
Founder and President of Hanover Green Card, Inc. Mitch Jacobs wrote in an e-mail message that EBAs has doubled in size over the past three years and plans to continue to expand.
"Students and the Green Card have supported a great deal of the growth and we are disappointed that this fee has been implemented," Jacobs wrote.
Of the 37 businesses served by Hanover Green Card, Inc., EBAs is the only one with a surcharge.
Dowd said this is because the other Hanover shops do not have as many patrons using the Hanover Green Card. The Hanover Green Card has "a lot of hidden costs," Dowd said.
He said the new charge of 25 cents per transaction is the "only way we can continue accepting the Green Card and remain profitable."
EBAs, which has accepted the Hanover Green Card for almost four years, has an accountant who spends between 15 and 20 hours a week reconciling the Hanover Green Card charges, he said.
Also, Hanover Green Card, Inc. charges businesses five percent commission, cutting EBAs' 10 percent margin in half, Dowd said.
He said the credit card companies only charge between two and three percent.
Jacobs wrote that his company earns the commission because it provides parents and students with a budgeting method for off-campus spending and it organizes discounts businesses offer to members.
"A commission seems like a very fair way of charging merchants for our services," Jacobs wrote. "We do not get paid unless we succeed in generating business."
Dowd said students have been positive, but concerned about the surcharge and are understanding when they are explained the reasons for it.
Jacobs wrote he has heard more questions about the new surcharge than complaints.
"We don't have much control in this situation and I think most students recognize that," he wrote.
But Leonora Lok '99 said the new surcharge is unfair and she plans to do less business with EBAs because of it.
"They're so confident they're not going to lose customers that they can get away with this," Lok said.
"EBAs virtually has a monopoly and they know it," Joe Peters '99 said.
He said EBAs is "taking advantage" of their position as a monopoly and adding a charge it does not truly need.
Justin Carter '99 said the idea that EBAs needs the surcharge to maintain its profit margin is a lie and he plans not to use his Hanover Green Card when ordering from that restaurant.
He said the new surcharge may affect Hanover Green Card's business negatively, but not EBAs' business.
"Considering that they're already overpriced, they have no business doing that," Amanda Norquest '99 said of the new EBAs fee.
She said the "ridiculous" surcharge will "add up" for students who order often from EBAs and use their Hanover Green Card.
Jacobs wrote the EBAs' fee has not had an effect on Hanover Green Card membership growth and it is too early to determine what effect it will have on spending.
"We are concerned that the EBAs' option cost will result in reduced usage," he wrote.
Despite the new action, Dowd said EBAs' relationship with Green Card has been positive.
"It was not something we wanted to do, but [accepting the Hanover Green Card] has become such a large piece of work," he said.
