Electrician has added £20 charge for paying by credit card

Malkytheheed

Grumpy_chap said:

Is the card fee significant?  £20 on a job to fit one extra plug socket is quite different to £20 on a complete house rewire.

Illegal, so yes, significant. 

Grumpy_chap

I meant significant in the context of the overall value of work.  It may influence how the OP frames any next step or, sometimes, to shrug and move on.

macman

Malkytheheed said:

The problem with tradesmen (and taxi drivers) accepting card payments is that will have to pay some income tax for once! They don't like that! 

Since the alternative method offered was by bank transfer, the payment will be going through the books regardless, so neither offers the opportunity for non-declaration of income.
And that's a pretty cheap shot against all tradesmen (and taxi drivers).

maisie_cat

The costs of accepting credit cards are high for small traders and they do not have to take cards. I have never found a tradesman who took cards but most take bank transfers. He may not know it's illegal to charge but it's also legal to not accept cards and he may remove that option, you cannot force him. Did you tell him that you wanted to pay with a card when you contracted him?

MalMonroe

Well, it's illegal and here on this very MSE site, Martin wrote about it, part of which is here : "If a company tries to charge you a fee simply because you are choosing to pay by card, you can refuse and complain to the company saying this is not allowed. You can also report it to Trading Standards – and let us know at news@moneysavingexpert.com as we'll be keeping close tabs on any firms that flout the rules.

If you are wrongly charged a fee, you can complain to the company and ask it to refund the charge."

So it's up to you but I'm not surprised to see quite a few people here displaying the old, very British attitude of "suck it up, don't make a fuss and pay it". Don't pay it -because you don't have to. 

If he wanted to charge you something because it'll cost him to accept a payment via credit card then he should have called it something else on the invoice. As it is, now he's put it in writing, his illegal charge is there for all to see. And that's good for you.

Martin_the_Unjust

MalMonroe said:

So it's up to you but I'm not surprised to see quite a few people here displaying the old, very British attitude of "suck it up, don't make a fuss and pay it". Don't pay it -because you don't have to. 

I don't think anyone is saying 'suck it up, don't make a fuss' etc what I was trying to get across was that good reliable trades people can be difficult to find consequently, if this electrician is, it may well be worth paying the extra £20 and gently remind them that it's illegal to charge extra for credit card payments.

If he wasn't good and reliable then deduct the £20 from the bill and tell him to swivel.

i appreciate that it's illegal but there are nuances to take into account on how the OP should respond.

quackers82

A service/admin fee is legal so long as it is applied to all forms of payment, but since they are saying bank transfer is free the trade person is not playing by the newer and as usual stupid EU rules. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2018/01/cards-fees-to-be-banned-from-saturday/

Migster

Martin_the_Unjust said:

If he wasn't good and reliable then deduct the £20 from the bill and tell him to swivel.

But if you are paying by card, how can you deduct £20? The tradesman will be the one entering the payment amount.

dcfc67

How much are you paying for the job. Credit card fees are around 2-3% so if you have been presented with a bill of £100 then he will incur a processing fee of £2-3.
For him to add £20 your bill must be around £1000.

As another post mentioned most tradesmen will hide a fee in original price to cover card fees.

If you are happy with the work completed you could always ask for a cash discount 

jet01

dcfc67 said:

How much are you paying for the job. Credit card fees are around 2-3% so if you have been presented with a bill of £100 then he will incur a processing fee of £2-3.
For him to add £20 your bill must be around £1000.

As another post mentioned most tradesmen will hide a fee in original price to cover card fees.

If you are happy with the work completed you could always ask for a cash discount 

It would also be illegal to give a ‘cash discount’ because as far as the law is concerned that is ultimately a charge for paying by card by another name.