30 pounds sur charge to pay by credit card

martin22

Hi there
we called a travel agency on a Thersday 19 march and reserved 4 tickets to Turkey.they said you have 3 days to pay other way tickets would be canceled, then 2 days after on saturday 21 march they called we agreed on the prices.then they took our credit card details on the telephone to take payment.the credit card didn't work for some reason. at this time they said we will charge you 30 pounds extra if you pay by credit card , i argued and said this shouldn't be add on the agreed price because you never mentioned this before ,you should inform the customer in advance if there is a sur charge to use credit card or you should put it in your website.but they said is too late we booked the tickets already ,but i ignore them. later i contacted turkish air line myself. they informed us this travel agency booked and paid them on thersday 19 not saturday 21 and then the agency cancel these tickets on 28 march.any way they demanding their money and sending bils to our address.we are scared and confused.
many thanks and appreciate any advise:

hollydays

Who are they?

A company may not want you to pay by credit card as the credit card company will be able to get the money off them in the event of wrongdoing.

wealdroam

It's not clear, but did they take the money from your credit card or not?

The way it reads to me is that a) a price was agreed, then b) you offered to pay by credit card, then c) they said we charge £30 for credit card.

That sounds like they advised you of the credit card charge as soon as you introduced the credit card method of payment. I see nothing wrong with that.

The Consumer Protection (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 says something like:

A trader must not charge consumers, in respect of a given means of payment, fees that exceed the costs borne by the trader for the use of that means.

Is £30 excessive? I have no idea.

bris

I don't know any travel agents that don't cover their CC costs, please post a link to the website so we can see.


It is perfectly legal for them to do so and £30 for 4 tickets to turkey sounds about right.
I will be surprised if it's not in the T&C's.


Not sure what you are asking but it looks to me that your credit card was declined so you couldn't pay? You will still owe for the tickets if they have booked them for you, at the very least you will have to pay for their losses.

bod1467

Most travel agents charge between 2 and 2.5% surcharge for credit card payments. (In fact the legal maximum is 2.5% I think - The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012).

e.g. Thomson charge 2% up to a cap of £95 ... http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/legal/credit-card-payments.html

C_Mababejive

bod1467 wrote: »

Most travel agents charge between 2 and 2.5% surcharge for credit card payments. (In fact the legal maximum is 2.5% I think - The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012).

e.g. Thomson charge 2% up to a cap of £95 ... http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/legal/credit-card-payments.html

Do we know what the visa processing fee is per transaction for retailers?

bod1467

I certainly don't - that was just the result of a quick Google.

Keep_pedalling

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Do we know what the visa processing fee is per transaction for retailers?

A few pence per transaction + anything between 1.5 & 2.5% of the transaction value seems to be the norm, although I would have thought high turnover businesses would get better rates though.

Just renewed my annual holiday insurance and was quoted 2% for a credit card transaction so put it on the debit card.

bod1467

FWIW ... put a small amount* on the CC and the remainder on the DC. This means you still get Section 75 protection, as what matters is the amount paid for the goods/service, not the amount paid by CC.

* If you want to be double safe, put £100 on the CC so that way both the amount paid by CC and the total are £100 or more.

martin22

many thanks for reply
Travel agency : 30 pounds sur charge to use credit card to pay
the question is that does a travel agency should inform the customer in advance if there is sur charge for credit card?
In my case we agreed on a price (on the Tel) ,then they said i can pay by either cash or card , i said ok i want the tickets and i pay by card, and gave them my credit card details ,but when they tried to take money from my credit card , they said your card don't go through and dose not work .***AT this time they mentioned that there is a sur charge if i pay by credit card*** that i argued and said i don't want these tickets ,because the price going up and i can get it cheaper elsewhere . i believe they should informed me about credit card charge in advance,or at least mentioned on their website (apparently they have no website). so i said cancel them i don't want them. but travel agency said that they booked and paid for tickets before they take money from me .then i left ,booked somewhere else almost 300 pounds under their price. but now they sending me a bill to pay ???may i thank you in advance

wealdroam

martin22 wrote: »

many thanks for reply
Travel agency : 30 pounds sur charge to use credit card to pay
the question is that does a travel agency should inform the customer in advance if there is sur charge for credit card?
In my case we agreed on a price (on the Tel) ,then they said i can pay by either cash or card , i said ok i want the tickets and i pay by card, and gave them my credit card details ,but when they tried to take money from my credit card , they said your card don't go through and dose not work .***AT this time they mentioned that there is a sur charge if i pay by credit card*** that i argued and said i don't want these tickets ,because the price going up and i can get it cheaper elsewhere . i believe they should informed me about credit card charge in advance,or at least mentioned on their website (apparently they have no website). so i said cancel them i don't want them. but travel agency said that they booked and paid for tickets before they take money from me .then i left ,booked somewhere else almost 300 pounds under their price. but now they sending me a bill to pay ???may i thank you in advance

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say it is still not clear to me.

You talk about paying on the telephone (you say "on the Tel"), and during that very same telephone call it appears that they mentioned the surcharge. Is that right?

OK, they definitely should've advised you of the surcharge before trying to take any money, but it appears that due to circumstances, they actually did advise you before they took the money. You can argue about the exact order of the conversation, but I cannot see that as significant if it all took place in one call before any money was taken from the card.

You then go on to say that you told them you no longer want the tickets. Was that in the same phone conversation? I ask because somehow they appear to have managed to pay their supplier.

You say "then i left ,booked somewhere else almost 300 pounds under their price.". Sounds like you visited their office at a later date? Is that right?

When exactly did you tell then you wanted to cancel?
If it was in the same phone call when there was trouble taking the CC payment, then you may have a reasonable case for cancellation.

If however you cancelled sometime after that call, and between time they had taken you at your word and booked the tickets, then to visit them and surprise them with your cancellation request is, at best, unreasonable.