Paying by credit card for new windows

ItsComingRome

TELLIT01 said:

The alternative is to pay the surcharge and then complaint to the CC company.

Which runs the risk of getting their backs up when they're hit with a chargeback.

something I think I'd rather avoid over an expensive purchase that might need them coming back to tweak at some point down the line.

ItsComingRome

Perhaps. just to add, with the OP's figures they're perilously close to the £30k limit on S75.  Obviously, if the total cost exceeds £30k they won't have S75 protection.

If you're not interested in paying those fees perhaps a more reasonable approach would be to see if you can pay a pound on the credit card (and ask them to waive the 2p fee ) then pay the rest via some other method.

At least that way you're not likely to cheese them off with an "I know my rights" tirade or a chargeback.

zagfles

toolazyto said:

I'm getting new windows installed soon. Payment is made in 3 parts and I've already made the initial 25% by bank transfer a few months back.

The company sent the 2nd bill for 50% of the cost which I'm to pay before installation. The invoice says they're happy to take credit cards but when I called them to make the payment they've said it will incurr an additional 2% cost for credit card fees. I wasn't aware of this before and 2% works out to almost £300.

I'm wondering if the consumer protection a credit card offers here is worth the additional cost? The company states their worksmanship is guaranteed for 10 years. If for example the windows are bad and cause issues months/years from now what advantage is having paid by credit card, if any?

Would you trust a 10 year guarantee from a company that doesn't seem to understand the law, ie that credit card surcharges are illegal?

zagfles

ItsComingRome said:

I think the bigger question is why you're paying £30k for new windows?  Do you live in Buckingham Palace?

Probably after a 3 hour sales spiel from a saleman who refused to leave without getting a signature with all the usual pretend discount techniques, and promises about how it'd increase the value of the home and so they'd get it back...neighbour of mine got stung by one, almost identical house to us, paid £25k for new windows all round. We've just had a door replaced by our excellent local windows guy, mentioned the neighbour and he said he'd have done all their windows for £6k or so...

born_again

ItsComingRome said:

TELLIT01 said:

The alternative is to pay the surcharge and then complaint to the CC company.

Which runs the risk of getting their backs up when they're hit with a chargeback.

something I think I'd rather avoid over an expensive purchase that might need them coming back to tweak at some point down the line.

There is no chargeback for this.
In fact it has nothing to do with the credit card company.. It is a consumer rights matter that has to be taken up with trading standards.

But there is the fact that the co can legally impose a surcharge if the OP has a business credit card. Could be that the co are used to other companies paying that way & not retail customers.

toolazyto

Thanks all for the feedback. I wasn't aware S75 counted with a partial payment.

zagfles said:

Would you trust a 10 year guarantee from a company that doesn't seem to understand the law, ie that credit card surcharges are illegal?

No and it's something I'm worrying about now.

biscan25

A toolazyto said:

Thanks all for the feedback. I wasn't aware S75 counted with a partial payment.

zagfles said:

Would you trust a 10 year guarantee from a company that doesn't seem to understand the law, ie that credit card surcharges are illegal?

No and it's something I'm worrying about now.

The guarantee should be insurance backed. These are robust if the window company gets wound up, and are usually transferrable for a modest fee when you sell the house.