Claiming a Refund of Payment Following Cancellation of PCN By Landowner's Agent

patient_dream

Jenni_D said:

Looking at the Regulations and the Guidance Notes I can see that you are right - payment surcharges are banned for consumer transactions using usual payment methods available to a consumer. (If the payment was made using a commercial card - e.g. I have a company credit card - then the surcharge would be allowed but must a) be advised within the contract and b) not be more than the actual cost).

Try using your company card on Amazon or other such retailers, ..... no surcharge

Jenni_D

patient_dream said:

Jenni_D said:

Looking at the Regulations and the Guidance Notes I can see that you are right - payment surcharges are banned for consumer transactions using usual payment methods available to a consumer. (If the payment was made using a commercial card - e.g. I have a company credit card - then the surcharge would be allowed but must a) be advised within the contract and b) not be more than the actual cost).

Try using your company card on Amazon or other such retailers, ..... no surcharge

Indeed not - but that may well be a business decision by Amazon not necessarily a legal mandate. Easier and cheaper to have a common processing system rather than multiple.  

patient_dream

Jenni_D said:

patient_dream said:

Jenni_D said:

Looking at the Regulations and the Guidance Notes I can see that you are right - payment surcharges are banned for consumer transactions using usual payment methods available to a consumer. (If the payment was made using a commercial card - e.g. I have a company credit card - then the surcharge would be allowed but must a) be advised within the contract and b) not be more than the actual cost).

Try using your company card on Amazon or other such retailers, ..... no surcharge

Indeed not - but that may well be a business decision by Amazon not necessarily a legal mandate. Easier and cheaper to have a common processing system rather than multiple.  

With chip and pin and contactless there is no way of knowing and offers no chance for any add on.
It is a common processing system. With a company card, the card provider could place restrictions but doubtful.
I imagine you use your company card for fuel.  There is no surcharge and you pay the same as everyone else.
That includes Amazon

Jenni_D

I think we're saying the same thing - with a company card, they can if they want to, but there's no business justification for the costs of doing so vs what they have set up for consumer transactions.  

wheeles

I've now had a response from the landowner's agent.  The agent told me that her colleague had been asked to cancel it and has asked this colleague to confirm the cancellation.   It was also stated that sometimes the cancellation can take a little while.  I am now waiting on a response from the colleague.

Of course, this does not excuse GroupNexus (CP Plus) for claiming non-receipt of the payment made within the initial 14 days and sending out their second letter.

On the subject of chargebacks I have 120 days from 21 December in which to enact it.  The deadline is therefore 20 April 2022.  I will know long before then whether I need to chargeback.  As previously stated, I am waiting on a response from the agent and will get them to instruct GroupNexus to issue a refund.  Should GroupNexus fail to refund, I can then use that correspondence as evidence to the credit card company (along with my demand letter, which included a deadline, to GroupNexus) that all avenues for a refund have been exhausted.

It's only if the chargeback is denied that I would proceed to small claims court.

With regards to the admin fee of £1.50 for credit card transactions, that was mentioned in the initial letter sent to my mother.  It also states that if paying by cheque the admin fee would be £2.50.  I am inclined to believe that by mentioning these at the outset they are not considered hidden fees.  By offering other methods of payment, they are not adding a surcharge simply for using a credit card.  The fees could also be argued to be not in excess of the processing costs, so are not disproportionate.

Can someone tell me whether it is worth complaining to the BPA?

Coupon-mad

No, in most cases it is not but on the other hand it is good that the BPA receive lots of complaints about their members.

CP Plus are on the BPA Board of Directors though!

Jenni_D

wheeles said:

With regards to the admin fee of £1.50 for credit card transactions, that was mentioned in the initial letter sent to my mother.  It also states that if paying by cheque the admin fee would be £2.50.  I am inclined to believe that by mentioning these at the outset they are not considered hidden fees.  By offering other methods of payment, they are not adding a surcharge simply for using a credit card.  The fees could also be argued to be not in excess of the processing costs, so are not disproportionate.

Have you read the discussion between myself and @patient_dream? We are aligned that NO payment surcharges allowed for a(n alleged) consumer contract. Doing so is in contravention of the The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012. (Links are in my [quoted] reply at the top of this page).

wheeles

Coupon-mad said:

No, in most cases it is not but on the other hand it is good that the BPA receive lots of complaints about their members.

CP Plus are on the BPA Board of Directors though!

Thanks.  I won't hurry to lodge a complaint with them.

wheeles

Jenni_D said:

Have you read the discussion between myself and @patient_dream? We are aligned that NO payment surcharges allowed for a(n alleged) consumer contract. Doing so is in contravention of the The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012. (Links are in my [quoted] reply at the top of this page).

I just read it, and the guidance.  Unless I have misunderstood the legalese, it looks like they are charging fees which they shouldn't as the payment was from a consumer/retail customer and was not a business-to-business transaction.

I was wondering why any mention of refunds in the BPA code of conduct talked about refunding "fees" and not "charges".  Perhaps, it's the refunding of these dodgy admin fees that they are referring to, because they know they are prohibited.

As the regulations stand, my mother would be entitled to the refund of the fees, but it wouldn't make the whole transaction refundable.  Given that I am after a full refund, introducing that as an additional argument about fees may just muddy the water, and may give them an opportunity to try and offer a refund of the fee only.  

For the moment I'll keep that in my pocket.  I can always contact Trading Standards or use that as a lever at a later stage.  The same goes for a lack of planning consent for number plate recognition cameras on the site.

patient_dream

wheeles said:

Jenni_D said:

Have you read the discussion between myself and @patient_dream? We are aligned that NO payment surcharges allowed for a(n alleged) consumer contract. Doing so is in contravention of the The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012. (Links are in my [quoted] reply at the top of this page).

I just read it, and the guidance.  Unless I have misunderstood the legalese, it looks like they are charging fees which they shouldn't.

I was wondering why any mention of refunds in the BPA code of conduct talked about refunding "fees" and not "charges".  Perhaps, it's the refunding of these dodgy admin fees that they are referring to, because they know they are prohibited.

As the regulations stand, my mother would be entitled to the refund of the fees, but it wouldn't make the whole transaction refundable.  Given that I am after a full refund, introducing that as an additional argument about fees may just muddy the water, and may give them an opportunity to try and offer a refund of the fee only.  

For the moment I'll keep that in my pocket.  I can always contact Trading Standards or use that as a lever at a later stage.  The same goes for a lack of planning consent for number plate recognition cameras on the site.

The law is clear ..... every company in the UK who accepts card payments cannot add on charges to the transaction.

You mention the BPA, they are only an unregulated trade body who cannot write the laws and their code of practice is meaningless for the motorist.  

The dodgy add-ons is another thing, Whoever accepted the card payment and added an extra charge to the transaction must be reported to Trading Standards as it is illegal.

And you say ... Given that I am after a full refund, 

Hopefully, you will be within the time limits for a chargeback.  I would chargeback for the full amount on the basis that the charge is incorrect.
Whoever took the card will have to respond, what will they say ?  Will they admit that the extra amount is unlawful ?
The banks work with each other and this will send out an alert about the trader. They will normally look back on past transactions for the trader and each bank has the power to terminate them as a merchant.  This meaning they cannot accept card payments

Get on to it, the law is on your side