£5.99 charge to use my credit card, is this normal>?

ElkyElky

lisyloo wrote: »

My view is that it depends.

Everyone knocks Ryanair and I assure you they are my least favourite company.
BUT they do strip out these charges from their VERY LOW price because this is what YOU (the public) asked for.
We want very cheap headline prices.
If you force then not to add on these charges (through legislation) then the costs will simply have to be included in the initial pricing.

Provided it's clear I don't have a particualr preference.
I rpobably prefer it the way they do it now because then at least you have a choice as to whether to incurr the charge or not.

BUT be aware these costs need to be paid for one way or another.
Whether they are included and slplit across everyones flight ticket or insurance or whether they are added on later.

Exactly. Businesses aren't going to pay for these additional charges out of their own pockets.. they're in it to make money, not spend it.

Charities even take a portion of your donation and use it to pay for the costs in processing the actual donation. Blame Visa, Mastercard, Amex and the others for the fees.

Rafter

Why is this shocking?

If you pay by credit card (and pay off in full) you will get free credit for up to 2 months?

If something goes wrong with your insurance company your card company will also be responsible under the consumer credit act.

The insurance company has been charged about 2% of your premium by the credit card company, so why shouldn't they pass these costs on rather than subsidising you from customers who pay by a debit card where their costs are lower?

What is wrong though is charging you a fixed fee - the charge should be no more than the extra cost the insurance company incurrs - otherwise you are subsidising customers who pay by other methods - just like Ryanair!

R.

Rafter

Lisyloo/ ElkyElky,

The problem is if Ryanair and others are charging different rates for thes 'charges' then it is impossible for customers to know who is cheapest or know from two adverts who is really the cheapest.

You wouldn't expect Tesco to advertise Milk at 99p and then levy a £5 charge at the checkout unless you paid with an obscure payment method.

The problem is a lack of ethical treatment towards customers by Ryanair and a lack of a simple law that says that any advertised price must be the price you would pay for payment by cash or cash equivalent (debit card).

The retailers arguing they are ok to charge for using debit cards are being less than honest with the press when they say it is to cover costs. They will pay far more for theft, safes, secure tills, securicor vans, teams of people counting cash that they ever would for the same transaction using a debit card.

R.

trinidadone

Rafter wrote: »

Why is this shocking?

If you pay by credit card (and pay off in full) you will get free credit for up to 2 months?

If something goes wrong with your insurance company your card company will also be responsible under the consumer credit act.

The insurance company has been charged about 2% of your premium by the credit card company, so why shouldn't they pass these costs on rather than subsidising you from customers who pay by a debit card where their costs are lower?

What is wrong though is charging you a fixed fee - the charge should be no more than the extra cost the insurance company incurrs - otherwise you are subsidising customers who pay by other methods - just like Ryanair!

R.

well whats shocking is I always pay by credit card and in full, and have NEVER been charge an addittional fee. Other relatives have also recently purchased car insurance by credit card and have not been hit with a £5.99 charge. These experiences suggest some companies accept the charges themselves, while others pass directly onto the customer - there is no consistance