Ryanair credit card charge for debit card

eshroom

jpsartre wrote: »

The only relevant question is this: Are you going to take them to small claims court over £10?

No, the question was are they legally allowed to charge me a credit card fee given I paid by debit card and their system is able to recognise what form of payment is being used?

agrinnall

eshroom wrote: »

No, the question was are they legally allowed to charge me a credit card fee given I paid by debit card and their system is able to recognise what form of payment is being used?

How do you know that their system can recognise card type from the BIN? Nothing you have said previously suggests you have any evidence for this. Maybe they can't, and they do in fact rely on your identification of the card type. Many online systems require the customer to do this, it's certainly not unique to Ryanair.

jpsartre

marsman802 wrote: »

There is absolutely no need to select the card type as the numbers identify that.

Then you have to wonder why pretty much every company that accept card-payments insists that you chose this. Again. *you* picked the wrong card-type, nobody else. The sooner you accept responsibility for this the sooner you can move on with your life.

eshroom

agrinnall wrote: »

How do you know that their system can recognise card type from the BIN? Nothing you have said previously suggests you have any evidence for this. Maybe they can't, and they do in fact rely on your identification of the card type. Many online systems require the customer to do this, it's certainly not unique to Ryanair.

The payments processor will have access to this information while processing payment, which is why it is not possible to pretend a credit card is a debit card in order to avoid the fees. (I work in mobile payments). For those curious: http://www.dirigodev.com/blog/ecommerce/anatomy-of-a-credit-card-number/

For what it's worth, Ryanair agreed to refund on the basis that since I used a debit card, they should not have applied a fee for a service they knew I wasn't eligible to receive.

For those that make the same mistake and resent Ryanair's attempt to grab money at every corner, I hope you find this information useful.

eshroom

jpsartre wrote: »

Then you have to wonder why pretty much every company that accept card-payments insists that you chose this. Again. *you* picked the wrong card-type, nobody else. The sooner you accept responsibility for this the sooner you can move on with your life.

Your guess is as good as mine. To charge accidental fees will be on the list for Ryanair. You'll find many new mobile start-ups have done away with it. (Try Hailo, for example, enter card number and it will tell you the type of card it is.)

marsman802

jpsartre wrote: »

Then you have to wonder why pretty much every company that accept card-payments insists that you chose this. Again. *you* picked the wrong card-type, nobody else. The sooner you accept responsibility for this the sooner you can move on with your life.

I'm not the original poster unless you were referring to him via me?

I said why they do it. Website coding - wife has explained it but its too detailed to bother writing the ins and outs.

I do think its worth querying this, eshroom, with a regulator as u feel this strongly. I'll ask wifey tomorrow where to go.
At worst you get some free advice I guess.

marsman802

eshroom wrote: »

The payments processor will have access to this information while processing payment, which is why it is not possible to pretend a credit card is a debit card in order to avoid the fees. (I work in mobile payments). For those curious: http://www.dirigodev.com/blog/ecommerce/anatomy-of-a-credit-card-number/

For what it's worth, Ryanair agreed to refund on the basis that since I used a debit card, they should not have applied a fee for a service they knew I wasn't eligible to receive.

For those that make the same mistake and resent Ryanair's attempt to grab money at every corner, I hope you find this information useful.

Sorry I missed this!

Well done - it seemed ridiculous and working in payments u knew it.
I've learnt so much from my wife lol - she has some big airlines as her accounts and all I hear about are fraudulent transactions these days!

eshroom

marsman802 wrote: »

Sorry I missed this!

Well done - it seemed ridiculous and working in payments u knew it.
I've learnt so much from my wife lol - she has some big airlines as her accounts and all I hear about are fraudulent transactions these days!

Yup, some may see it as conspiracy thinking, but it seems pretty clear that it is just another way for airlines to get an extra bit of revenue.

I guess this one is a bit too small for regulators to pick up on, but I'd bet a not negligible number of people accidentally select the wrong card type, and given the relatively low cost never challenge it.