Booking holiday using an Amex Card

Travel-buddy

I recently booked a holiday accommodation using a well known internet booking website, which offered a no credit card surcharge for using an Amex card. I went ahead and booked but was later emailed by the property owner who said they charged a 2.5% surcharge for settlement using an Amex card. I contested that the holday price offered did not attract a cc surcharge but the owner explained that it was an unresolved contractual issue with the internet booking company and i could either cancel, pay the surcharge or avoid the surcharge by paying with a debit card. Has anyone encountered this situation and worked out who is in the wrong here. In the end i elected to pay via debit card but feel the victim of sharp practice given that a credit card gives financial protection in certain conditions.

grumbler

I think all depends on the T&C of the "well known internet booking website".

blenz101

I think more information will be required into the site you have used and it's relationship with the property owners.

It would be normal practice that the site you have contracted with for the booking was paid directly by yourself under their terms and they would settle their suppliers under a separate arrangement.

As you rightly say, settling direct with the property owner via debit card (with whom you have no contract presumably?) removes many of your consumer protections.

If as you say this is a well known site and they advertise no credit card surcharges you could lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority to force them to change this wording.

Did you not go back to the booking company to dispute the 2.5% charge and question why you were making payment to a third party - presumably the internet booking site could have chosen to absorb the 2.5% into its fee if it felt you had a genuine case.

Travel-buddy

Thank you for your quick responses. I have approached Booking.com..pany via their website email form and supposed to receive their response by 19:00 tonight. As yet they have not got back to me. I will chase this line of enquiry and come back to the forum.

eskbanker

The protection people normally associate with credit cards is the joint liability enshrined in section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which excludes payments via intermediaries such as travel agents like https://www.booking.com anyway, see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases#exceptions.

However, are you actually paying https://www.booking.com (I'm pretty sure that I've made bookings through them where settlement is directly with the relevant hotel at the time of stay rather than in advance with the booking site)?

Edit: as Amex is a charge card rather than a credit card, section 75 doesn't apply anyway....

Edit2: as below, some Amex cars are charge cards, others are credit cards!

dzug1

eskbanker wrote: »

Edit: as Amex is a charge card rather than a credit card, section 75 doesn't apply anyway....

I don't believe all amex cards are charge cards - mine is certainly a credit card

Biggles

dzug1 wrote: »

I don't believe all amex cards are charge cards - mine is certainly a credit card

As is mine; AmEx have been into issuing CCs for some years.

grumbler

... if not decades.

zerog

I have found that booking.com often says properties will take Amex but they don't. Best to check with the actual website of the property. Also you don't need to pay until you get there.

Trading standards aren't going to do anything useful if the owner claims he has informed booking.com that he doesn't take Amex, but they won't amend their website.

Aquamania

Travel-buddy wrote: »

I recently booked a holiday accommodation using a well known internet booking website, which offered a no credit card surcharge for using an Amex card. I went ahead and booked but was later emailed by the property owner who said they charged a 2.5% surcharge for settlement using an Amex card. I contested that the holday price offered did not attract a cc surcharge but the owner explained that it was an unresolved contractual issue with the internet booking company and i could either cancel, pay the surcharge or avoid the surcharge by paying with a debit card. Has anyone encountered this situation and worked out who is in the wrong here. In the end i elected to pay via debit card but feel the victim of sharp practice given that a credit card gives financial protection in certain conditions.

Travel-buddy wrote: »

Thank you for your quick responses. I have approached Booking.com..pany via their website email form and supposed to receive their response by 19:00 tonight. As yet they have not got back to me. I will chase this line of enquiry and come back to the forum.

By making a reservation through Booking.com, you enter into a direct (legally binding) contractual relationship with the accommodation provider at which you book. From the point at which you make your reservation, we act solely as an intermediary between you and the accommodation, transmitting the details of your reservation to the relevant accommodation provider and sending you a confirmation email for and on behalf of the accommodation provider.

When rendering our services, the information that we disclose is based on the information provided to us by accommodation providers. As such, the accommodation providers are given access to an extranet through which they are fully responsible for updating all rates, availability and other information which is displayed on our website. Although we will use reasonable skill and care in performing our services we will not verify if, and cannot guarantee that, all information is accurate, complete or correct, nor can we be held responsible for any errors (including manifest and typographical errors), any interruptions (whether due to any (temporary and/or partial) breakdown, repair, upgrade or maintenance of our website or otherwise), inaccurate, misleading or untrue information or non-delivery of information. Each accommodation provider remains responsible at all times for the accuracy, completeness and correctness of the (descriptive) information (including the rates and availability) displayed on our website.

http://www.booking.com/content/terms.en-gb.html

chanz4

its not a contract until accepted by the accommodation provider