Which? super complaint over card surcharges

[Amethyst]

(mastercard one is useful for booking fights with ryanair as bizarrely you dont have a booking fee with it)

Funnily enough today Which? have announced they are entering a supercomplaint against various companies including Ryan air over card fee surcharges.OFT to probe rip-off credit card charges after Which? 'super-complaint' | This is Money

[leclerc]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Ryanair's scathing attack on Which? Magazine over 'super-complaint' to OFT - This is Money Blog

:Cry: was the reaction from Ryanair
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
"Before making ‘Super Duper Complaints’ the clueless clowns at ‘Which, Who or What’ magazine, should conduct some basic research. Ryanair does not levy any credit or debit card payment ‘surcharges’. Even our administration fee is avoidable by passengers who use our recommended MasterCard Prepaid. 'Isn’t it bizarre that this useless and irrelevant ‘consumer magazine’ is again complaining about ‘low cost airlines’ while, yet again, ignoring British Airway’s unjustified, unfair and unavoidable fuel surcharges. Perhaps this is why 78m passengers this year will chose to fly Ryanair while less than 30m will fly on fuel surcharging BA, and less than one man and his dog will buy the useless and irrelevant ‘Which, Who or What’ magazine.
'If it wasn’t for dentist waiting rooms or doctors’ surgeries it is doubtful whether anyone even reads the useless and frequently inaccurate ‘Which, Who or What’ magazine."




From the above article

[Amethyst]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

its hilarious isn't it...they seriously need some new PR guys as they have come out with some awful crap a couple (hundred) times before too.

[stevokenevo]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

i love the irish, who needs PR lol

[ed.]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

I don't see the humour Ame, sorry.

They do what we do, with the wage, yet say this?

Is this the Big Society in action? Clueless, reactionary idiots get to live a decent financial life?

Actually it is the Tories, what well paid qaungo can we get on eh lol

[Amethyst]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

In what ? which? brining the supercomplaint against card surcharges, no not funny just coincedental we were talking about the insaneness of such charges the other day, or what Mcnamara said ? that's funny - it's honest - if the banks talked like that it would be more truthful, they just don't give a flying sausage about their customers.

[ed.]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Sorry Ame I was about the uselessness of Which....I thought your comment meant Which were hilarious etc

Ignore me, I'm in one of those moods.

[WhichAction]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Hello,

Thanks to those who are supporting us! This campaign seems to have really hit home with some people, and I know the surcharges have been a bone of contention for a really long time. I just wanted to stop in and say that if you do want to support us, we'd really appreciate your signing our pledge - the more support we get the better!

http://www.which.co.uk/ripoff

Over 8000 people have signed the pledge so far!

If you have any other comments and suggestions, I'll be watching the discussion here and we've also posted a blog about the campaign here:

http://conversation.which.co.uk/cons...es-on-flights/

We'd love to know what everyone thinks, and we'll be submitting some consumer feedback in our super complaint to the OFT.

Nikki Whiteman (I work on the Consumer Action Team for Which?)

[EXC]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Thanks Nikki.

You can certainly count on our support on this. I don't know why the OFT haven't taken the lead on this issue yet.

We're big fans of Which? and over the years I've got to know Chris Warner from your legal department with whom we exchange information, and also Ingrid Gubbay who used to be with you but still proudly flies your flag.

[Amethyst]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Hi Nikki

A question if I may, in most of the information about the supercomplaint it is about unfair surcharges for card payment across ALL retailers, service providers and so on, including in your Blog that you linked to.

However on your 'Pledge your support' page it refers in the big text where you pledge your support 'I pledge support for the Which? campaign to put an end to unfair airline card charges'

Can you confirm it is everything and not just airlines ? If so I think the pledge text needs altering.

Just from my own experience of it; limited as I don't really use a card or buy services where it would be an issue, Ryanair don't charge a surcharge on the rare prepay mastercard (I only know because my father asked me to pay for his flights with it to avoid the charges). As I recall the card cost me £10 to get in the first place. Some are free based on you having another service (like o2) and some cost £29.99 upfront (cashplus business mastercard) - plus you have transaction fees for topping up and useage which vary greatly.

When I worked in a hotel we used to charge a 1.5% surcharge if people paid by Amex, as they charged us it, but all other cards were free. I have no idea what the position is now with Amex payments. What about surcharges on using cards where the transaction is under a certain amount, as you see in many smaller shops ?

Do we want all prices to go up to cover the cost to the retailer so people paying cash are effectively subsidising those who use cards ?


Ame
xx

[WhichAction]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Hi Ame

Good questions, I'll try and go through in a logical-ish way but let me know if you need more info:

Airlines vs all companies - yes, the super complaint will refer to all companies who charge over the odds for card surcharges (so essentially any company that adds a card charge *to the end* of your transaction), but we decided to focus on the airlines for the campaign launch (and the pledge) because they are the most common culprits and it provides an easy example for us to illustrate the issue.

Over the following months, while our complaint is going through the OFT, we'll be talking a bit more about how other companies use this tactic, but in the first instance it's useful for us to get a lot of support - and we're more likely to get it if we shine the spotlight on an issue that consumers can easily relate to (i.e. the airlines!).

Do we want all prices to go up to cover the cost to the retailer so people paying cash are effectively subsidising those who use cards? - Personally I'd like all the prices to go down, but I doubt that'd happen =) Essentially what we're asking is that the price you see is the price you pay. This *could* mean that providers inflate prices slightly to cover card processing costs (as most other retailers do), but at least you'd be able to accurately compare prices between different airlines/companies and know that you wouldn't have surprise 'transaction' charges added on at the end. Alternatively it could mean that they still add the charge, but break it down right at the start of your transaction i.e. instead of advertising £10 flights they'd advertise £11 flights (of which £1 is booking fee).

For debit card payments, that only cost 10-20p per transaction, we'd expect the retailer to absorb this cost as part of the cost of running their business - it's such a tiny amount.

Hope this is helpful!

And EXC - thanks for your lovely comments =)

Nikki (Which?)

[EXC]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

I've not had a chance to read up on the details of the super-complaint yet.

It seems to me they would fall into the category of ancillary charges and as they are neither the main subject matter or in exchange for goods and services supplied, they should fall foul of UTCCR.

[Celestine]

Re: Which? super complaint over card surcharges

Forgot to update this thread......

VICTORY!
Consumer victory as OFT uphold Which? super complaint
Companies must be upfront about card surcharges

28 June 2011

Many airlines charge consumers huge fees to make credit or debit card transactions.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced that it is upholding the super complaint submitted by Which? on unfair credit and debit card surcharges.
The super complaint, submitted in March 2011, called for the OFT to investigate excessive surcharges for paying by credit or debit card.
Today the OFT has responded to confirm they're introducing enforcement measures, under the Consumer Protection Regulations, to take action against companies who are not transparent about their surcharges for paying by card.
Debit card surcharge to be included in headline price
This means that customers will no longer be surprised by card fees at the end of their transaction, which our investigation showed could be as much as £40 for a family of four booking a return flight. The OFT has also said that debit card costs should be included in the headline price.
Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of Which? said: 'thousands of people have told Which? that hidden or excessive card fees are unfair, and it's a victory for consumers that the OFT supports this view.'
Cavendish Elithorn, senior director of the OFT's Goods and Consumer Group, explained that 'people are frustrated about being asked to pay for paying.' He added 'consumers find it harder to shop around and find the best deal if they have to invest time and effort in discovering surcharges. This also weakens competition between retailers which is bad news for the UK economy.'
They have also suggested HM Treasury amend the Payment Services Regulations, to force companies to be upfront and honest about their pricing, or face legal action.
Europe bans unfair card charges
There is also a longer term solution to the problem on the horizon. The Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) includes a proposed ban on excessive card surcharges, which means that companies will no longer be able to charge as much as £5 to process a debit card transaction.
This change comes after more than 2,400 people joined Which? in emailing Ed Davey, consumer affairs minister, to make sure that he convinced his European counterparts to keep the ban in the directive.
Make fast changes
Although the CRD could take up to two years to come into effect, the OFT's demand that companies be upfront about charges could begin straight away. Which? is urging companies to make the changes as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the OFT to start enforcing the ruling.
Peter Vicary-Smith said: 'we want to see the measures recommended by the OFT put in place as quickly as possible and finally put an end to the practice of card surcharging. While we understand that some of the regulatory changes will take some time, we urge the OFT to take steps immediately to ensure that consumers know the true cost of their purchase up-front.'
'Businesses can start to be upfront and fair over card charges today – there's no point waiting until the OFT forces action. Industry shouldn't drag its feet over this.'
Consumers pledge their support
Over the course of the campaign over 43,000 people pledged their support, with many joining in on Which? Conversation with examples of other industries which charge over the odds for card transactions.
Over 2,400 supporters wrote to Ed Davey to encourage him to support the ban on unfair card charging, and people came out on facebook and twitter too to tell us about their experiences and pledge their support for fair, transparent card fees.
Which? campaigns
Which? campaigns on a number of issues that affect consumers, across personal finance, energy, health and technology.
Visit our campaigns pages to see how you can get involved, or follow us @WhichAction on twitter or facebook for updates.


Read more: Consumer victory as OFT uphold Which? super complaint - June - 2011 - Which? News
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