Surcharge fees - when do they have to tell you?

cat_claws

Hi

I was wondering if anyone knew at what point do a company have to tell you that I will incurred a surcharge for using a credit card.

Basically, had a quotation on a kitchen worktop and asked what method of payment available (cash, transfer, credit card, even paypal). After the template/measurement, I went to pay the deposit on credit card, then was told I'll be charged an extra 2.5%.

I argued no-one at any point mentioned a 2.5% surcharge, and had this waived but will not get a waiver for the final payment. I'd like to know at what point should they have stated there's a 2.5% charge? I didn't budget for it, and asked what method of payments available were. The extra charge means I might not have gone with the best quote!

Thanks in advance for any responses!

bigadaj

So long as you are told before you paid then that is ok. They would have to show teh charge is a true reflection of their costs which is probably about right for 2.5%.

You could have withdrawn before paying the surcharge and checked elsewhere, that's your decision, but if there's only that difference between quotes then it wouldn't bother me too much.

You're potentially in a minor bind if you can't pay by other means but I would say its normal to take a deposit on credit card for no fee and charge for the balance as it is an extra cost to the business.

You still get section 75 cover on the whole purchase in either case.

I recently bought a car with deposit on credit card and balance on debit card which was fine for me.

PeacefulWaters

At what point did you tell them you were going to pay by credit card?

That would seem to be the fairest point to flag up any surcharge.

eddddy

cat_claws wrote: »

I'd like to know at what point should they have stated there's a 2.5% charge?

Hi cat_claws

Legally, they could have told you at any point up until you agreed to the contract - even just 5 seconds before you agreed.

But, in your position, I would be more interested in why they didn't tell me earlier. Did it not occur them to tell me? (i.e. they are a bit incompetent in the way they do business.)

Or were they deliberately hiding the information until the last moment? (i.e. they are tending towards dishonesty.)

Either way, I might question whether these were the right company to do business with.

chattychappy

Did you sign any order form? Any small print on the quote? Anything to the effect that their T+Cs apply?

But frankly I think you are sunk on this one because it sounds as if there was no binding agreement until you paid the deposit. You were told that there would be a surcharge when you paid the deposit - they waived this for the deposit but not for the final installment. You then went ahead and paid on this understanding. You could have backed out.

Agree with the above. In principle both sides can change the deal/insert particular conditions right up until shaking hands. Then both sides are stuck with what they've got, execpt for changes made by mutual agreement.

There are some regulations - eg not surcharging by more than what it costs them and in a retail environment displaying prices in a certain way. Don't think any of that applies here.

eskbanker

cat_claws wrote: »

The extra charge means I might not have gone with the best quote!

Are you implicitly assuming here that other companies wouldn't have imposed a CC surcharge in exactly the same way? I know it's a sweeping generalisation but it seems to me that in most cases competitors tend to take the same approach to surcharging on high value purchases, e.g. car dealers, travel agents, etc....

reclusive46

eskbanker wrote: »

Are you implicitly assuming here that other companies wouldn't have imposed a CC surcharge in exactly the same way? I know it's a sweeping generalisation but it seems to me that in most cases competitors tend to take the same approach to surcharging on high value purchases, e.g. car dealers, travel agents, etc....

To be fair, I do agree that it should be a bit more transparent. I just had my kitchen redone and I paid for the whole amount with my Amex and wasn't charged any kind of surcharge.

eskbanker

reclusive46 wrote: »

To be fair, I do agree that it should be a bit more transparent. I just had my kitchen redone and I paid for the whole amount with my Amex and wasn't charged any kind of surcharge.

I did concede that it was a sweeping generalisation, I should have known that someone would supply the exception that proves the rule!

And I do agree about transparency too, I was just observing that OP shouldn't assume they picked the wrong quote just because the selected one imposed a surcharge, the others might have done the same (without making it clear upfront)

cat_claws

Hi all

Thanks for the response. I rec'd the quotation weeks in advance (given the whole process of deciding on a kitchen has taken months) and asking the company alot of questions, I also said I'll be paying by credit card.

They were abit pushy giving me their bank details to do a balance transfer (This is the only way that the bank doesn't charge receipts of money, from what I understand), but as CC give protection under the section 75, I felt much safer paying by CC.

I said I was paying by CC both via the email correspondences, and when they confirmed the quote amount on templating AND signed the order form then. It was only mentioned when I said I'll was trying to pay the deposit over the phone - hence my surprise. I had the same thing with my kitchen supplier who accepted the deposit without any surcharge but any remaining balance would incur 2%.

I accept the charge is legally allowed to be passed to consumer - just prefer to be informed before. The reason why I didn't back out is because I'm without a working kitchen including sink for the past 1.5 weeks, and won't have it fully working for another week.... I can only live on takeaways and microwave meals for so long!

Eskbanker - agree with your point, but given the high value purchase and it's a company you wouldn't use every day, I believe the majority would choose to use a credit card for their own consumer protection more than anything. I know what the maximum difference can be, but I'm used to transparency over charges as a consumer. I could go back and ask the other quotations, but there'd be not point given that I would have to push back the whole schedule for the kitchen to be completed.

Edddy - I'm not sure about the reason why it's not mentioned, whether it's incompetence or hiding... that's why I wanted to know if there were any legal requirements to tell the consumer, plus they did waive the first charge due to their incompetence. It's just the balance will have the %surcharge.

Thanks for the comments

YorkshireBoy

cat_claws wrote: »

They were abit pushy giving me their bank details to do a balance transfer (This is the only way that the bank doesn't charge receipts of money, from what I understand), but as CC give protection under the section 75, I felt much safer paying by CC.

You do know you'd enjoy full section 75 protection on the entire invoiced price (of between £100 and £30K) even if you only paid the deposit on a credit card?...or maybe you don't know?