BEWARE - Virgin Holidays crafty credit card charge

Consumers_Revenge_2

We go to Florida most years and have usually booked through Thompson Holidays; however this year a member of our group was searching for deals to Florida on the Internet, and found a decent deal at Virgin Holidays, which we booked.

I was very happy with the accommodation offered, the hire car and its insurance etc; everything at a really good price for us all, and went ahead and booked and paid outright on my credit card that very evening.

However, whilst ensuring that I was careful with the booking throughout the whole process, and constantly checking details / price etc, I was astonished that when I pressed the confirm payment button, I was then charged a £59.76 Credit Card surcharge fee.

The original price I was happy with and clicked confirm payment on, was £2987. I did not see any warnings with regards to the Credit Card surcharge at all throughout the process, until the confirmation page appeared, and we then noticed that the price had gone up to £3047.56.

I am very unhappy about this as I have never been charged a Credit Card surcharge as high as this, and I am also unhappy that we were not warned about it, until the holiday had been confirmed to us.

Does anybody know a higher level of Management that I can send my email to, as the email I received does not help at all but just says that they have spoken to their web team about the charge appearing afterwards and not before.

I want to take it to a higher level though now as many people could get caught out by this.

Incapuppy

Consumers_Revenge wrote: »

I want to take it to a higher level though now as many people could get caught out by this.

Not much point, the 2% credit card charge, indicated on their website here:

http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/info/important/faqs/default.aspx?category=11#129

is pretty standard in the industry AFAIK.

Thomson charge 2.5%

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/faqs/payment/card-payments-and-charges.html

Maybe you have not paid this much before because you have not booked a holiday to this value before?

shelleylou

It does say on the payment page just below where you enter your card details that for payment by credit card there is a surcharge of 2%, so I doubt speaking to a manager will help.

Consumers_Revenge_2

Usually book for the group most years and have been to Florida numerous times before without ridiculous charges.

All the way through the process it totals your cost, but only when you confirm does it then add on the extra charge..

They have sent a mail back advising that it should have pre warned us of the charge just before the end of the process, but this did not happen.

If I would have known, I would have booked direct from my Bank Account, as sufficient funds are there for this trip.

satan666wayne

It says it just under where you put in your card info,
So it is not virgins fault that you did not read it.

Your payment details

To secure your booking we need a minimum payment of £270.00. If you would like to pay more than the automatic minimum then simply change the figure in the box to the left, complete your card details and the requested amount you give us will be debited instead.
Amount to pay Payment amount* £
Card details:
Card details Card type* Select... Visa [Credit] Mastercard Amex Visa [Debit] Solo Switch/Maestro

Card number*

Name on card*
Security code*

Start date Start date For payment by credit card there is a surcharge of 2% added by the card issuer (we're pleased to say there is no charge for debit card payments). This will be automatically added to the amount required for payment now (see above).
**Please note: If you have a Switch card which does not have an issue number, enter 0.

photome

I booked a flight with Virgin not so long back and it definitely warned me of the card charges before payment was taken

You say "ridiculous charges" Is 2% that ridiculous?

Caz3121

I think it would be more uncommon to find a company that does not charge for credit cards these days. My last big holiday payment I put on a bmi miles card so the miles I achieved balanced out the fee so I did not feel hard done by

Consumers_Revenge_2

photome wrote: »

You say "ridiculous charges" Is 2% that ridiculous?

2% (£56) is bad, its just money getting unfairly swallowed up from people. You're obviously happy to hand over the cash like a robot without questioning this.

The credit charge warning wasn't there for us, and their poor email says that they will speak to the Internet team about this, but no apology that it wasn't there for us. We just had an email advising of their terms and conditions and potential charges we may pay if we cancel the trip.

Not good really as trips to Florida have declined since 2007 and the downturn in economy in the UK, not as many folks are heading over there now.

photome

Consumers_Revenge wrote: »

2% (£56) is bad, its just money getting unfairly swallowed up from people. You're obviously happy to hand over the cash like a robot without questioning this.

The credit charge warning wasn't there for us, and their poor email says that they will speak to the Internet team about this, but no apology that it wasn't there for us. We just had an email advising of their terms and conditions and potential charges we may pay if we cancel the trip.

Not good really as trips to Florida have declined since 2007 and the downturn in economy in the UK, not as many folks are heading over there now.

The £56 is irelevant..The fee is 2% as that is what is charged by the card company to the retailer. I am not a robot and I DID read the card charge info BEFORE booking

Consumers_Revenge_2

photome wrote: »

I DID read the card charge info BEFORE booking

Yes, it was on the FAQ's but it should have appeared when I entered my card details (as the person earlier in this post displayed) but it did not. They have recognised this and are speaking to the web team about it.

withabix

Virtually all holiday and flight companies do this now.

The only way to offset it (other than by using the right card) is to go via Quidco/other cashback site to start with (where possible).


I was charged £20 card fee for a £1000 holiday with Monarch the other day. Quidco got me £50 back.