Scrubs exist Far-L, and 'spreading out the pain' a la the 'rolling blackouts' California experienced a few years back (remember Enron?) is standard practice for a Third Party Processer.
In other words, a processer knows, in general, an account's average volume. Very few 'established' long-term accounts flucuate wildly week-to-week. So calculating how to increase a scrub here, decrease it there, etc etc is all part of the merch account game.
But to blame a processer for this IS wrong, I believe, and that's where I agree with you Far-L. But to just think it's not happening is also wrong. Knowing a processer is scrubbing hard at a particular time helps webmasters to know when to switch between multiple processers, in an attempt to stay one step ahead in this crazy online sales game. (I should add that VOLUME of sales is probably the biggest factor in who does and doesn't feel the scrub the most.)
Of course, there are some days when ALL processers seem to be scrubbing hard, so.....LOL You just gotta stay on top of patterns and, when in doubt, swap 'em out. Having said that, companies like CCBill and Epoch are doing what's in the best interest for them AND you, the webmaster, so "blaming" them is not fair. It's a balancing act.
Cascades and multiple processers exist for a reason.
