Ryanair Debit card charge grumble

NickX

noh wrote: »

There is no case for them to be challenged as unlawful because there is no requirement in law for them to be bear any relation to the cost involved.

There does not have to be any law in place for a business practice to be challenged. There were no laws in place with regard to bank charges but they were challenged.

There is no law regarding unenforceable CCAs but they can be challenged.

It is down to a judge to decide if there is a case or not rather than posters to this forum.

TFD_2

noh wrote: »

The fees are not hidden they are there for all to see and can be avoided by the use of an electron card.

Rubbish. Unless you specifically look for the info, you're not made aware until the booking screen.

The electron card argument is pretty poor also, as not many people have one - clearly why Ryanair chose this as the only free option.

garethjv

I think most apparent 'supporters' of Ryanair on this thread are really only supporting the fact that they've worked out the way to beat their system and have already obtained an electron card to avoid the card handling fee. If Ryanair are ever challenged on this, probably the cheapest flights will no longer be available with such a card so they are really just protecting their own interests.

Can't blame them for that, I suppose this is the wrong forum to complain about a card fee when there is a route in existence to avoid it. I just don't like the way Ryanair implies that there is an extra cost that it needs to claim back from you for you choosing to pay for their flights with a standard debit card.

Does anybody actually know whether electron cards are cheaper for a retailer to process than a standard Visa Debit card or is this just a cunning way for O' Leary to claim that he does in fact have £1 flights available from his company?

NickX

garethjv wrote: »

Does anybody actually know whether electron cards are cheaper for a retailer to process than a standard Visa Debit card or is this just a cunning way for O' Leary to claim that he does in fact have £1 flights available from his company?

I think he has to provide a route to get the flight for the headline fare and used the Electron Card as that route because it is the least prevalant card.

I agree that the Ryanair apologists on this thread probably would not favour a challenge because it potentially could mean the headline fares increasing for everyone.

Personally I am not bothered because I am not impressed with Ryanair for the reasons that I have already stated, namely that is very much "Cattle Class" transportation and do not intend to use them again.

TFD_2

garethjv wrote: »

Does anybody actually know whether electron cards are cheaper for a retailer to process than a standard Visa Debit card or is this just a cunning way for O' Leary to claim that he does in fact have £1 flights available from his company?

Not at all, debit cards have a flat rate. With the number of transactions they process it's going to be very low (my company puts about £500K a year through a PDQ and pays about 30p per debit card transaction).

noh

NickX wrote: »

There does not have to be any law in place for a business practice to be challenged. There were no laws in place with regard to bank charges but they were challenged.

There is no law regarding unenforceable CCAs but they can be challenged.

It is down to a judge to decide if there is a case or not rather than posters to this forum.

There needs to be a basis for the challenge. Bank charges were challenged on the basis that they contravened the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations.
What legislation do you think this Ryanair fee contravenes?

Nigel

NickX

noh wrote: »

There needs to be a basis for the challenge. Bank charges were challenged on the basis that they contravened the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations.
What legislation do you think this Ryanair fee contravenes?

My understanding is that the Bank Charges were challenged on the basis that they were not representative of the actual cost to the bank for processing the particular breach of the Terms and Conditions (i.e. sending out a letter stating that an overdraft limit had been exceeded etc).

Ryanair's charges could be similarly challenged in that they are not representative of the actual cost to Ryanair of processing that method of payment. There does not have to be any legislation for a class action to take place, it just takes enough disgruntled customers with appropriate legal representation.

Edit : It could also be argued that Ryanair's charges contravene the Trade Descriptions Act because the advertised fares are only available to a small proportion of the potential customer base. There is certainly a legal debate that could take place here.

noh

TFD wrote: »

Rubbish. Unless you specifically look for the info, you're not made aware until the booking screen.

The electron card argument is pretty poor also, as not many people have one - clearly why Ryanair chose this as the only free option.

I always check the cost of something before I buy
It's not hard to find the list of fees charged, as I said before, it is just one click away from the home page.

It's not an arguement it's a fact the fee can be avoided, at present, by the use of an electron card. Not many have them but they are available to all.

noh

NickX wrote: »

My understanding is that the Bank Charges were challenged on the basis that they were not representative of the actual cost to the bank for processing the particular breach of the Terms and Conditions (i.e. sending out a letter stating that an overdraft limit had been exceeded etc).

Ryanair's charges could be similarly challenged in that they are not representative of the actual cost to Ryanair of processing that method of payment. There does not have to be any legislation for a class action to take place, it just takes enough disgruntled customers with appropriate legal representation.

Edit : It could also be argued that Ryanair's charges contravene the Trade Descriptions Act because the advertised fares are only available to a small proportion of the potential customer base. There is certainly a legal debate that could take place here.

Your understanding is partially correct.
The bank charges were challanged on the basis that they were penalty charges and as such, under the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations, the amount charged should be set at a level that represents the true costs involved.

I'm not aware of any requirement under the Trade descriptions act for the advertised prices to be available to any set proportion of the potential customer base. In any case the price is available to all if they can be bothered to get an electron card.



Nigel

NickX

noh wrote: »

I'm not aware of any requirement under the Trade descriptions act for the advertised prices to be available to any set proportion of the potential customer base. In any case the price is available to all if they can be bothered to get an electron card.

Nigel, your unconditional defence of Ryanair is quite amusing, I wonder if you and Mr O'Leary are drinking pals

The fact is that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) are well aware of this issue and have already made efforts to force them to be more transparent in their pricing :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/761531/Ryanair-'fobbing-off'-OFT,-claims-Abta.html

It will only be a matter of time for the consumer pressure to build to the extent that they act further. Personally I think that this charging structure will have to change eventually, but we shall see