MSE News: Which? launches card surcharge super complaint

Mikhail

spikyone wrote: »

Sorry but I don't agree with this kind of argument.

If you buy something online, you can't (ordinarily) pay cash or cheque. There is no reason in the world for websites to add a separate surcharge for paying by card; it's just a con to make headline prices look lower.

Secondly, which do you think businesses prefer - an automated electronic transaction that puts the money straight in their accounts, or a wedge of cash that someone then has to count, bank, etc.? There are costs associated with using cash, it's just that it's far less easy for the retailer to justify them to the "average" consumer.

In Ryanair's casse it's an even bigger scam - no fees if you use a type of pre-payment card that, coincidentally, they offer... (inserts not-at-all-surprised smiley)

I can't say any better! I'm really surprised that so many people are not intelligent enough to understand the facts you listed.

No one in this world is forced to accept payments by CC or DC – FACT – however if you (as a business) want those millions of people who want to pay by CC or DB to come to your business – shut up, and pay for the opportunity, if not nobody is forcing you.

In the same way the business owners can ask you to pay 'a little extra' for their advertising, why not? It also costs a business money.... aaaa the advertising is optional?! Well accepting credit cards is also optional.

Many businesses also have loyalty cards!

Well done Which?:T

spikyone

callum9999 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure they don't offer prepaid Mastercards - I haven't seen any on the site anyway.

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-launches-ireland-s-first-prepaid-mastercard

- Not sure if this still exists of course! I wonder why they were the first in Ireland to launch one of these...?

callum9999 wrote: »

But what would it matter? You could still get one elsewhere if you wanted - and surely if they promoted a Ryanair Prepaid Mastercard they would be making it easier for people to avoid the surcharge - so why moan about it?

"It’s very common for a fee to be charged when you top-up, around £1 or 3% of the value loaded, depending on the card" (Martin's guide)
I don't know about the Ryanair card, but I would bet you the cost of a Ryanair flight to an airport miles from anywhere, that the charges are comparable to what they charge for accepting other payment types.


Everyone's a winner, baby.

theheadlander

A small etailer is usually charged between 0.014% and 0.018% most small retailers accept this charge even though this damages there profitablility.

But the big airlines, ticket sites who will be able to gain much better rates because of the volume of money they pass through the banks a day charge because the customer will pay it that is the facts.

rnem170

I welcome this. I had a meal with the family at a hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh - Manor Hotel - and was outraged when they told me that I would have to pay £2.55 on top of £54 for the bar meal (way overpriced for the portion sizes). I told them I'd never eat there again.

Fedup100_2

I paid £3.20 for 15 mins car parking at Luton Airport and they charged me a £1.50 surcharge for using a credit card. That's nearly 50%! Never heard anything like it. As if £3.20 wasn't extortionate enough...

Victors_Bruvver

I was just about to book a cross channel crossing with Norfolkline and happened to come across their t&c's for card surcharges.

www.norfolkline-ferries.co.uk/EN/Ferries_to_France/Ferry_help/Credit_card_policy/

Interestingly they do not make any surcharge for those booking in Euros and Paypal. Does that mean the card operators along with Paypal charge DFDS Norfolkline less than us in the UK or is it because it is deemed illegal in the EU perhaps?

Payments in Sterling (£)
For online bookings and telephone bookings payments can be accepted via the following payment mechanisms and with the following surcharges:
Visa Credit Card - £4.50 surcharge
Mastercard - £4 surcharge
Visa Electron (debit card) – no surcharge
Visa Delta - £1 surcharge
Maestro, Cirrus and Switch - £1 surcharge
American Express - £6 surcharge
Paypal (online only) – no surcharge
Diners Club and Euro Cards are not currently accepted.

Payments in Euros
For online bookings and telephone bookings payments can be accepted via the following payment mechanisms and with the following surcharges:
Visa Credit Card – no surcharge
Mastercard – no surcharge
Visa Electron (debit card) – no surcharge
Visa Delta – no surcharge
American Express – no surcharge
Laser (Ireland) – no surcharge
Giropay (Germany – online only) – no surcharge
iDEAL (Holland – online only) – no surcharge
Carte Bleue (France) – no surcharge
Paypal (online only) – no surcharge
Diners Club and Euro Cards are not currently accepted.

MorrisonsEmployee

£2.50 surcharge for paying a T-Mobile bill online by credit or debit card:mad:

oscar52

theheadlander wrote: »

A small etailer is usually charged between 0.014% and 0.018% most small retailers accept this charge even though this damages there profitablility.

Would love to know where you get these figures. Using your figures £100 * 0.014% works out at 1.4 pence.

The true figure for many "small retailers" is actually around 3% for Visa and Mastercard and is higher for AMEX. Larger retailers are able to haggle due to volume of sales

1.4p in every £100 I am sure most retailers could cope with, £3 in every £100 is a different story.

Roger1

Thanks for your info.

Victors_Bruvver wrote: »

www.norfolkline-ferries.co.uk/EN/Ferries_to_France/Ferry_help/Credit_card_policy/

Interestingly they do not make any surcharge for those booking in Euros and Paypal. Does that mean the card operators along with Paypal charge DFDS Norfolkline less than us in the UK or is it because it is deemed illegal in the EU perhaps?

I don't know the answer to your question.

However, I have used PayPal linked to my American Express card to pay Air France and other online retailers with no surcharge, even when they apply surcharges to card payments.

If a retailer accepts MC, Visa and PayPal but not AmEx, PayPal charge the amounts to my AmEx card, and I earn AmEx points.

Roger1

Alpharooms.com charge £3 payment fee for most forms of payment. Exceptions: prepaid MasterCard and Solo.

I had a transaction valued at £0.00 after using a discount code. It was impossible to complete the transaction without 'paying' the £0.00.

They wouldn't accept my prepaid Mastercard, even though account details were correct. In the end, I had to use a card, ending up £3.00 the poorer.

It must be illegal to demand a payment fee for nothing. I have complained, asking for repayment of the fee.