Sky charging for taking payment by debit card

Jim_AFCB

I am with sky having been forcibly migrated from BEUnlimited last year

I have just realised that they are charging me for taking my broadband payment by credit card when it is actually from my debit card.
I thought this practice (charging for debit card payment) had been outlawed.

Can anyone confirm this?

As it is, I am going to take them to task for creating a separate BB account when I was forced over (I am a Sky TV subscriber) and then charging me extra on that account for not being a Sky TV customer! They are supposed to have sorted that last year but I found today that they have not.

Thanks.

wealdroam

Jim_AFCB wrote: »

I have just realised that they are charging me for taking my broadband payment by credit card when it is actually from my debit card.

This needs to be pointed out to them.

Jim_AFCB wrote: »

I thought this practice (charging for debit card payment) had been outlawed.

Can anyone confirm this?

Regulations say that they shouldn't charge more than it costs to process the transaction.
This MSE news item may explain it better:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2013/04/credit-and-debit-card-fee-clampdown-begins

Jim_AFCB

Thanks.



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Chino

Jim_AFCB wrote: »

I have just realised that they are charging me for taking my broadband payment by credit card when it is actually from my debit card.
I thought this practice (charging for debit card payment) had been outlawed.

I don't know whether it's legal, but this is in Sky's terms and conditions:

"Continuous debit/credit card mandate costs 50p pm."

("http://www.sky.com/products/broadband-talk/broadband/facts/")

mije1983

wealdroam wrote: »

Regulations say that they shouldn't charge more than it costs to process the transaction.
This MSE news item may explain it better:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2013/04/credit-and-debit-card-fee-clampdown-begins

Chino wrote: »

I don't know whether it's legal, but this is in Sky's terms and conditions:

"Continuous debit/credit card mandate costs 50p pm."

("http://www.sky.com/products/broadband-talk/broadband/facts/")

So I suppose the question is does it cost Sky 50p per month for someone to process a debit or credit card transaction then?

talktalktobt

mije1983 wrote: »

So I suppose the question is does it cost Sky 50p per month for someone to process a debit or credit card transaction then?

I remember when I worked for them they said it was more cost effective for them to process payments by Direct Debit and as such they gave the DD customers a 50p discount. The issue was with the way they chose to show that they were charging a customer more for paying by credit/ debit card. They said the easiest way to show customers that they were paying more was to show it as a surcharge instead of having two different tariffs for DD customers and others.

In terms of whether or not it costs them 50p, I would imagine it would cost them about that on average (transaction fee is usually about 20p + a percentage of the bill amount). I do feel that these are moot points though - terms are freely available and if you dont like them you don't sign up/ cancel.

mije1983

talktalktobt wrote: »

I do feel that these are moot points though - terms are freely available and if you dont like them you don't sign up/ cancel.

You may feel they are moot points but Sky's terms cannot override the law. If it doesn't cost them 50p, then they can't (legally) charge that to customers.

forgotmyname

Jim_AFCB wrote: »

I am with sky having been forcibly migrated from BEUnlimited last year


Thanks.

Forcibly?
As soon as they gave me a date that i would be transferred to SKY i asked for my MAC and moved to Plusnet.

There was no reason or need to stay with them.

Jim_AFCB

forgotmyname wrote: »

Forcibly?
As soon as they gave me a date that i would be transferred to SKY i asked for my MAC and moved to Plusnet.

There was no reason or need to stay with them.

Yes, I know I could have left to go with another provider, but being with BT or Talktalk does even less for me than Sky. In any case, I was really pleased with BE, it's a shame they got bought up.
Worth me checking my exchange again to see if anything has changed.

My issue with Sky is that I was not told that I would be charged for a debit card payment, and offering me the option to switch to DD which I would have done.

talktalktobt

mije1983 wrote: »

You may feel they are moot points but Sky's terms cannot override the law. If it doesn't cost them 50p, then they can't (legally) charge that to customers.

It is likely to cost, on average, there or there about's 50p. Standing charge + %age of transaction cost + billing cost + equipment cost. There is also a staffing cost involved for some.

Like I say. You were informed that the cost would apply, so i cant see why you are complaining. It is a bit like being told that a 50p surcharge will be added to card payments in a cafe, agreeing and then complaining.

mije1983

talktalktobt wrote: »

Like I say. You were informed that the cost would apply, so i cant see why you are complaining. It is a bit like being told that a 50p surcharge will be added to card payments in a cafe, agreeing and then complaining.

For info, I'm not the OP so I wasn't informed of anything.

You do seem to be entirely missing the point though. Terms and conditions from any company CAN NOT override the law, nor infringe on your consumer rights. For example if a UK based company said it would not accept any returns on items bought online, and you then bought an item online from them, you would still be entitled to return the item as that is the law (as long as it wasn't an item specifically excluded by the CCRs). Law always trumps Ts&Cs.

The fact they were there when the OP signed up is neither here nor there. If it doesn't cost Sky 50p, then it is an illegal term. The problem in this case is that it would be near impossible to prove either way.

The same applies to your cafe analogy. If it didn't cost them 50p to process the payment, that too would not be legal.