charge for using credit card

lorraineb

I have booked a holiday with major travel agent and following good advice wanted to pay by credit card, travel agent wants to charge me 2.5% for using credit card, is this usual? They wont even take personal cheque even though holiday is next May. I am surprised they are so fussy in this economic crisis!

YorkshireBoy

Yes, charging a fee is "usual".

However, if the holiday cost is between £100 and £30,000 you only need to pay a deposit to secure section 75 protection, and the deposit could be as little as £1 (if the travel agent will take such a low payment by credit card).

withabix

This has been going on for a couple of years now.

As YorkshireBoy says, that 2.5% credit card fee can be a godsend if the company goes bust or part of a non-packaged (and therefore non ABTA-protected) trip goes belly-up.

lorraineb

We have already payed deposit by debit card, can paying any amount on credit card get us any protection say a proportion or even the balance due which is £4,800

moonrakerz

[SIZE=-1]The claim is not limited to the amount of the credit card transaction. Customers can claim for all losses caused by the breach of contract or misrepresentation. And this applies even if all they paid by credit card was the deposit.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]So, for example, a customer who pays a deposit for goods – using a credit card issued by firm A – and then pays the balance using firm B’s card, has the choice of claiming for the cost of goods and any consequental losses against:[/SIZE]

• [SIZE=-1]the supplier of the goods;[/SIZE]
• [SIZE=-1] firm A;[/SIZE]
• [SIZE=-1] firm B; or [/SIZE]
• [SIZE=-1]all three.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]But of course, the customer cannot recover the same money twice.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=-1]See: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm
[/SIZE]

exel1966

withabix wrote: »

This has been going on for a couple of years now.
quote]

And the rest, I'd say ten years at least within the travel industry, long beofre the likes of lo-cost airlines bought it more into the open and it's catching on more and more with other businesses looking to improve their profit margins.

Charges being passed onto the consumer usually amass to anything between 1.5 - 3.00% though one or two charge considerably more.

These charges are perfectly normal and perfectly legal.

You may have limited protection under the VISA chargeback scheme if you used a VISA debit card, though this is not a statutory protection scheme. If any other debit card has been used then NO protection is offered.

To obtain coverage under the Consumer Credit Act any part payment on your credit card will suffice.

moneypooh

"and it's catching on more and more with other businesses looking to improve their profit margins".

..there are costs are there not to processing these payments too? So it can't all be profits?

exel1966

moneypooh wrote: »

"and it's catching on more and more with other businesses looking to improve their profit margins".

..there are costs are there not to processing these payments too? So it can't all be profits?

Of course there are costs which vary considerably, but some retailers will pass the cost to themselves + an additional mark-up which is nothing but sheer profiteering e.g Ryanair.

Most retailers will already incorporate the charge to themselves within the price of their products being charged to the consumer, others, particularly the travel industry and small businesses tend not to.

The bigger the retailer, the less likely it will cost them as they will have the power to negotiate better deals for themselves with the likes of VISA/AMEX/MASTERCARD.

lorraineb

thank you all for your replies which are most helpful, we did contact our credit card company to ask what the travel agent would be charged for accepting payment by credit card, we were told the retailer pays nothing, if that is true why a charge to the customer at all?