Credit card charge

Worried_of_wakefield

Hi all, I've attempted to pay by cc a deposit for my daughters wedding venue 12 months hence. The lady informed me a 3% surcharge fee would be applied, I understood this to be now illegal?

The rate of pubs, clubs, hotels going 'bumpty' concerns me and was looking for some form of protection which I assumed a CC would provide

cheers in anticipation

[Deleted User]

It's not allowed if it's only charged on credit cards.

If it's an admin charge for all types of payment, that's ok.

BoGoF

You only need to pay £100 by cc to get protection.

[Deleted User]

In fact, you need only pay a penny by credit card, as long as the item costs more than £100.

Dobbibill

You need to ask what the 'surcharge fee' is for and is it applied if you pay by debit card, cash, cheque, bank transfer etc.

If the answer is that it's only charged on credit cards then the company can be reported to trading standards as this has been banned for a year.

SnowTiger

Would section 75 cover this?

Is there a direct link between the debtor and creditor?

Worried_of_wakefield

Googled section 75, didn't really understand it

The lady claims to be a sole trader and as described insisted a 3% surcharge would apply to any card transaction otherwise wanted the deposit paid by bank transfer or cheque. Whilst unhappy regarding the situation but subsequent checks on several review sites ( all 5 stars ) I have sent a cheque. The venue is an estate offering weddings, shooting parties horse events etc which makes me more uncomfortable given the cost of offering such events but not offering normal payment practices

Rock and a hard place! Daughter wants this venue but my ( Yorkshire) scrutiny with all things financial is 'tinkling' alarm bells

sambaird

Businesses are charged a percentage of a transaction when processed via card.
Being a sole trader, presumably she didn't want the processing fee to eat into her profit margin - hence the additional fee for card transactions. Obviously transactions by bank transfer or cheque incur no costs, therefore she doesn't charge an additional fee for them.

To be fair to the trader, she is offering your so called 'normal payment practices' - you just don't want to pay an additional 3% to use them...

[Deleted User]

It's still not allowed, though.

Worried_of_wakefield

Businesses are charged a percentage of a transaction when processed via card.
Being a sole trader, presumably she didn't want the processing fee to eat into her profit margin - hence the additional fee for card transactions. Obviously transactions by bank transfer or cheque incur no costs, therefore she doesn't charge an additional fee for them.

To be fair to the trader, she is offering your so called 'normal payment practices' - you just don't want to pay an additional 3% to use them...

So this is incorrect?
"Typically between 6-10p per transaction. There's usually a fixed fee of around £20 per month but that often gives you your first 300 transactions for free. Authorisation Fees: An additional charge for every authorisation on every transaction to test the payment method. Typically around 1-3p per transaction".28 Mar 2018

It's still not allowed, though.

My understanding also zx81

Takmon

sambaird wrote: »

Businesses are charged a percentage of a transaction when processed via card.
Being a sole trader, presumably she didn't want the processing fee to eat into her profit margin - hence the additional fee for card transactions. Obviously transactions by bank transfer or cheque incur no costs, therefore she doesn't charge an additional fee for them.

To be fair to the trader, she is offering your so called 'normal payment practices' - you just don't want to pay an additional 3% to use them...

Why should the OP have to pay 3% extra to use them when it's illegal for the trader to charge the fee.