late payment charge!

traceya89

I would appreciate help with this. Are catalogues (namely Empire stores) entitled to add £15 late payment charge? A cheque on two occasions seems to have gone astray and i have had £30 late payment charges added to my account. I am far from happy with this and just wondered what anyone would advise. I am writing to the company to complain but any help would be appreciated.

thewayitis_2

It depends what you signed up for. Check the terms and conditions of the store card, but most likely yes - they are entitled to charge you if you broke the rules you agreed upon.

Theres a lot of stuff going on at the moment with people reclaiming penalty charges from banks, but it all hinges on whether the charges are proportionate to the 'crime'. Being charged 30 notes for going a few quid overdrawn is harsh because it only cost the banks a couple of pounds to administer the charge and loan the extra cash. Whether 15 quid for non-payment falls into a similar category I dont really know. Seems a reasonable amount to be honest.

Have you called them to have the charges taken off? They will at least remove one of the charges as a sign of goodwill. Its normally standard procedure so long as you havent already had charges written off in the past...

Burlesque_Babe

Treat it like a bank or credit card charge. Use the same template letter as the one for the banks. Have a look at the bank charges board if you haven't already done so.

It is a penalty charge and they are not allowed to charge you more than it costs them and if they can prove that it costs them £15 for the computer to add this amount to your account, well, they have a good case for charging it..... which is why they are refunding charges like this because it doesn't.

For a small amount they will probably refund it without quibbling if you send the first preliminary letter.

thewayitis_2

If you sent the cheques and they were lost then there is every chance they'll cancel the charges once you've explained. Really - just call them.