New 25p admin charge for top up meters at Pay Points

Half_Price_Sky

My girlfriend went to top up our pre-payment electric meter at the local newsagents today only to be told that they have now introduced a new 25p admin charge per transaction on both gas and electric.

Has anybody else heard about this? Seems a bit greedy to me as surely the Pay Point shop already receives a fee from the utility company in the first place.

She declined the transaction at the newsagents, then went to Supercigs who said the same thing and finally went to Asda who did it for nothing but mentioned that they're also planning to bring in the 25p charge very soon.

Does anyone know if this is legit and is there anyway to get around this new charge, any places that aren't planning to do it etc?

Magentasue

http://www.paypoint.com/faqandquestionsform.htm

Question 7 suggests there should not be charges.

SwanJon

I've not heard of this. May be worth contacting Paypoint directly.
I'll ask around.

Half_Price_Sky

Has anyone else been faced with this 25p charge yet?

My girlfriend was in the shop today buying the gas and electric and the man on the counter tried to charge her and another customer 50p for the two utilities.

They both refused to pay and the assistant kicked up a fuss but at the end of the day there was nothing else he could do except hand over the topped up meter cards / keys and waive the fee!

Apparantly he's since stuck a big hand written sign in the shop window advising of the charge!

This is totally immoral imo, it's basically a tax on poor people.

generaloneill

So that counts gas, electricity, bt, rent, and council tax payments, so potentially over £1.25 a week.

Half_Price_Sky

generaloneill wrote: »

So that counts gas, electricity, bt, rent, and council tax payments, so potentially over £1.25 a week.

She said the sign the man put up on the window read "25p for gas and electric now, and in the future for all bills too". So yes, this will result in a potential £1.25 charge per week in the very near future.

How are they getting away with it considering Question 7 on the Pay Point website clearly states:

7) Do I have to buy anything or pay a fee to pay at PayPoint?
No, the PayPoint service is free to all customers. If you are ever asked to make a purchase or charged a fee please let us know straightaway.

I'm going to email them after tea.

A_fiend_for_life

Not received one at my local store this is how I pay my quarterly bills.

Is this the same system in use in post offices?

A_fiend_for_life

Half_Price_Sky wrote: »

....Asda who did it for nothing but mentioned that they're also planning to bring in the 25p charge very soon.

Does anyone know if this is legit and is there anyway to get around this new charge, any places that aren't planning to do it etc?

Don't know but the Asda bit looks like there might be changes.

SwanJon

I've had a quick look around at work (British Gas), and couldn't see anything along these lines.
Half Price Sky - Could you let us know how you get on with Paypoint, or if you don't want to take it further I'd be happy to if you can let me know which shops are involved.
The suppliers pay PayPoint per transacation, who then pass this on to the shop, so they shouldn't be getting paid twice. If this was to happen, people woudl top up less often (bigger chunks) so the shops would get less from PayPoint (fewer transactions).
Speak to PayPoint (maybe your supplier too) and kick up a fuss.

dosher

Fantastically fervent MAGENTASUE's link address for Paypoint's FAQ on paying charges (1/04/09 @ 8:46), has changed from :-- faqandquestionsform.htm to :-- faq11.aspx - - - ps. am new member, so not allowed to quote full web address

A_fiend_for_life

I've just paid my phone bill using pay point and received no additional charge for it.

Any joy with Paypoint?

iirc letting agencies got a fair bit of stick a few years back for charging both landlords and tenants: ie 'double charging'. The ruling was charge one or the other but not both.