Local shop stopped Electric & Gas Cards unless you spend spend spend...

Kilty_2

BexTech wrote: »

Thought about having proper credit meters installed and paying less for your gas and electricity and not having the hassle of getting cards topped up / tokens?

Has it occurred to you that it might not be the OP's choice to have prepay meters before you take such a condescending tone?

The rented property I'm currently in has them and there's no way in hell I'm going to pay the deposits/installation charges etc so that the next tenant can benefit after my 6 month tenancy!

spiro

buxtonrabbitgreen wrote: »

i understand what you are saying here. I also have prepay meters. I don't have the problem the op has as there are 4 shops in our villiage to top up. I know how much i use and put that amount in for the month when I get paid. My problem is 4 weekly pay. If I could arrange to have it taken out on a 4 weekly basis I would. But rather than have yet another DD coming out a week or 2 before pay day when I haven't got enough cash to pay it, I would rather pay the extra for the electricity than the charges for going over my overdarft.

I used to have a problem like that. My solution was to open a 2nd bank account into which I paid money to cover the DDs and only used that account for DDs.

brightgirl

I`ll tell you exactly what gets paid to the retailer. Its 0.90% commission so thats 45p for selling £50 worth of gas/elec. Then, here goes the juicy bit, the bank charges the retailer approx 50-60p per £100 to pay into their business account and payzone/paypoint then take payments (minimum twice weekly) by direct debit. The retailer gets charged 50p approx for each direct debit by their bank also.

Do the maths and understand that the retailers dont make much. Consider the £10/month expense for the phone line, £1.00 each thermal receipt roll and going to the bank for FREE at PP/PZ`s expense, possibly daily. Camelot decided to try and get into the services industry and all hell broke out with PP & PZ saying camelot would have a monopoly because they have more terminals... Surely things might change for consumers & retailers.

When consideration is taken on staffing, bank charges and expenses. Each retailer actually makes a loss.

I hope this information helps some posters understand better. :-)

SwanJon

brightgirl wrote: »

When consideration is taken on staffing, bank charges and expenses. Each retailer actually makes a loss.

I hope this information helps some posters understand better. :-)

I don't have any figures to challenge you with, but I have heard that their commission is based on payment volumes rather than value - I've seen plenty of outlets put through two £20 payments instead of one £40.

Staffing - well, they'd be paying them anyway
Expenses - the cost of electricity for the machine will be small
Bank Charges - again no knowledge of that side

The reason shops want to be an outlet is the fact that it brings customers in. If you need to get milk and gas you go to the shop that sells gas and buy both - shop wins.
Even if there is a marginal cost to running the PP/PZ system this must be more than outweighed by the increased footfall - otherwise why do it?

dudley3012

We had the argument with our local store over the £1 top up. They won and it stands at £5. We also have the machines that plug into the PC so I can top up at home if need be with my debit card. I understand that this is not always easy to do at the end of the month but is helpful otherwise

hazelc56

money-4-nothing wrote: »

Our local Spar as a PayZone terminal, which they have had for years and years. Anyway popped in this morning to put some credit on my Electric/Gas cards (like i've done for over 10 years) only to be turned down by the Assistant.

I was told that unless you spend £10 in store you can't take advanage of the PayZone services. I asked why? and the manager who appeared said that THEY get charged by the Electric/Gas companies for each transaction.

Which is a load of rubbish because they get COMMISSION for each transaction, not the other way around.

Anyway I left.... it's not rocket science to understand what they are doing - they are pulling a fast one. Theres a post office next door and they take the GAS cards, but if I run out of electric credit it's a 20 min bus ride into town to the nearest PayZone/PayPoint.

Being the only shop in miles they are already cashing in on their over inflated prices.... £1.60 for a loaf of bread last time I checked.

Anyway rant over... :mad:

I know exactly what you are saying.There are many shops I go into where they make you spend either £5 or £10 at their paypoint terminal for electricity,gas and/or other items such as food etc.I would love to know if this is actually legal to do this.Many times i have had to spend £5 on stuff i dont need when i only need a loaf.This is scandalous as i cant afford to be spending money on wasteful items and every penny i have matters.We even have a very small pet shop where you cant use the paypoint unless you buy £10 worth of goods.I really feel this is a scam on the part of some of these shopkeepers.The ATMs at the banks dont help either as most of them have a minimum of £10 withdrawal amounts.The only shop i have found to actually allow you to spend any amount at their terminals is Boots Chemist,which in my opinion goes to show that it can be done,but which also raises the question, why is it that these mercenary shopkeepers can put a certain amount on these paypoint machines as they so choose.I wonder what the OFT(Office of Fair Trading)thinks of it.

eurmalian

hazelc56 wrote: »

why is it that these mercenary shopkeepers can put a certain amount on these paypoint machines as they so choose.I wonder what the OFT(Office of Fair Trading)thinks of it.

As has been said by a few posters above, they can't. It's against the rules of both Paypoint and Payzone. What the OFT would most likely think of it is that it's your own fault for not advising Paypoint/Payzone of what the shops are doing