Fees passed on to hirer by venue - legal? Moral?

neilrichy

I have hired a theatre venue who charge significant hire fees. They also have written into their contract a 5% commission on ticket sales taken. 

They also charge back to me a 3% a significant £s in credit card/debit card fees for taking bookings from customers who use their cards. Someone has told me this is unethical and I shouldn’t accept these charges? How true is this and where do I stand?

thanks 

BoGoF

Is this a business venture?

eskbanker

neilrichy said:

They also charge back to me a 3% a significant £s in credit card/debit card fees for taking bookings from customers who use their cards. Someone has told me this is unethical and I shouldn’t accept these charges? How true is this and where do I stand?

Ethics don't really come into it but I suspect that whoever you were talking to was referring to the fact that it hasn't been legal to levy card payment surcharges to consumers for the last couple of years, but that wouldn't affect the venue's ability to include such a provision into a contract with a hirer, alongside the commission.

jimbo26

You must decide if you want to hire the venue under the conditions they have laid out. If you don't like the conditions don't hire the venue.

neilrichy

it’s a community theatre group
The theatre in addition to a hire fee and taking a % of the box office success of our show also pass on the cc transaction fees as a % of final box office. This has amounted to over £800 
We sold 1650 tickets at ave £15 a ticket 
If every one of these tickets were purchased via cc the max fee that can be charged for a transaction by my reckoning is 3% but that is the top end. 

1650 x 3% of £15 is £742 max and that’s if 3% is charged!

jimbo26

Sounds like you have already signed the contract, in which case you will need to suck it up, unfortunately.

Legal - Yes
Moral - Yes, they need to make money to cover the cost of maintaining the theatre.

eskbanker

neilrichy said:

it’s a community theatre group
The theatre in addition to a hire fee and taking a % of the box office success of our show also pass on the cc transaction fees as a % of final box office. This has amounted to over £800 
We sold 1650 tickets at ave £15 a ticket 
If every one of these tickets were purchased via cc the max fee that can be charged for a transaction by my reckoning is 3% but that is the top end. 

1650 x 3% of £15 is £742 max and that’s if 3% is charged!

Does the contract say that they'll charge a fixed 3% for all ticket sales paid by card, or that they'll pass on actual costs?  If the former then yes, it sounds like they've demonstrably erred in their calculation, but if the latter then they should be able and willing to supply backup documentation to support their charge.

neilrichy

Thanks for replies - the general consensus is still it’s not illegal despite consumers being immune to charges - moral? I don’t believe with a high fixed hire fee & % of box Office (that more than covers these fees already) that further adds ons like passing on all cc transaction fees to the hirer is fair but this will only serve me to not use the venue again.
thanks all

BoGoF

It's not illegal in this instance.

Moral? Depends on your POV. I see no issue with it assuming it was all in the contract/T and C's. Assuming it was you made the choice to go with them.

phillw

neilrichy said:

Thanks for replies - the general consensus is still it’s not illegal despite consumers being immune to charges - moral? I don’t believe with a high fixed hire fee & % of box Office (that more than covers these fees already) that further adds ons like passing on all cc transaction fees to the hirer is fair but this will only serve me to not use the venue again.
thanks all

The way they do it now means that the people who make the most money at the venue contribute to the running cost the most.
I would have thought you benefited from that.