‘‘rip-off’’ card SUrchargeS:

A which? super complaint 2011

coNSUMerS SpeaK oUT

airlines 3

HoliDaYs 9

eVents 16

otHer transport 20

motorinG 23

Finance 28

utilities 32

retail 36

HealtH anD BeautY 40

GoVernment 42

coNTeNTS

hen we announced

our intention to

submit a super-

complaint to the Office of Fair

Trading, we received over

1000 messages from Which?

members and the public, voicing

their support and to share their

experiences of unfair surcharges.

This dossier presents a selection

of the many comments we

received. Over a third of the

people getting in touch with us

referred to airlines in some way,

some telling us the amount they

have been charged per booking

– up to 33% of the ticket price in

one instance!

Many other examples were

shared about holiday operators,

buying tickets for the cinema,

theatre, music and sports events

and paying car tax. We were

also told about charges cropping

up in more unexpected places;

such as the dentists, shops and

even, from one respondent, burial

services.

In much of the feedback,

people understand that there

is a genuine processing

charge associated with using

cards, particularly credit

cards. However, people want

the charges to be fair and

proportionate to the cost incurred

by the company, not hugely

inflated as they so often are.

Many people objected to charges

being levied per ticket, and

for travel tickets, per leg of the

journey. Around one hundred

people also told us that they

objected to being told too late

in the transaction about these

charges.

Perhaps most tellingly, consumers

told us that they object to these

charges so strongly that they

have stopped using particular

companies as a result.

All the comments in this

document have been reproduced

verbatim.

W

“Well done Which? on tackling one of the dodgiest

practices currently afflicting a growing

number of British families and businesses.”

“I felt hood- winked and slightly cheated so will be

reluctant to use the companies

again.”

“ If I’m asked to pay a charge for using my card I just don’t buy!”

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.2

cLicK oN a TiTLe aBoVe To JUMp direcTLY To ThaT SecTioN

airLiNeS

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● I am a regular flier with Ryanair who charge £6

each way for using a credit card. This is a £12

charge for using your card once. This includes their

own credit card.

John

● Booking Aer Arann flights from London to the

Isle of Man, there is now a surcharge of £5 for

debit cards. This has been introduced since the

New Year.

Bernard

● The credit card charge is an absolute rip-off.

There is no justification for charging every traveller

for every leg when only one transaction takes place.

It is virtually impossible to avoid the charge. You

need plastic to buy a ticket and they charge you for

it. The fare should include the fee. I don’t care if it

raises the base fare. It would be a more honest,

open and correct way to do business.

● I travel quite often for family reasons. In January,

with Virgin Atlantic, one transaction fee for paying

with a credit card was £17.60. This is exorbitant;

although the cost is only made known at the end

of the transaction the credit card payment is so

convenient that one is forced into paying the

amount - but with great grudge!

Bernard

● I book most weeks with easyJet for business and

the credit card charges are simply a means for them to

take what appears to be a cheap fare and add to their

profit. I won’t fly with Ryanair for that reason. I am an

American Express user and often have the card refused

airLiNeS

as retailers claim that they are charged excessively: I

often get quoted 4 or 5% to use that card.

alan

● We use easyJet and we’ve come to accept the

high charge for a credit card transaction comes

with the reasonable flight cost. We use the credit

card because of the ‘insurance’ aspect and you

could argue that’s the premium to be paid - not

that we appreciate that because there doesn’t

seem any justification for the percentage rate

used.

● I’m a regular flier with Virgin Atlantic. I also have a

Virgin credit card issued through Amex. The irony

is when I want to use my Virgin credit card to pay

for my Virgin flight I have to pay a fee of around £13

as a service charge!! I find this absolutely ridiculous.

ChiCkoo

● I believe that credit card charges are an

operational cost of doing business and should be

absorbed by the provider. Such charging will

become particularly anomalous in the future when

there is no cheque payment option.

randolph

● When I wanted to fly to Aberdeen the only airline

offering the flight did not have the facility to pay by

debit card and charged for the use of a credit card.

I was furious!

MiChael

● A number of airlines can only be accessed

online therefore you are obliged to pay by credit

We have just booked an easyJet flight to Paris costing just over £60 and they wanted to charge us over £10 for paying by Visa. This was a whopping 17% of the cost of the flight. We paid by debit card but that was still over £5, an extortionate cost considering that it costs them so little to process the payment. Especially as the only way to pay is by card.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.4

there is the possibility that the credit card

company will provide reimbursement. Using a

debit card provides no such protection.

● Just a general comment with regard charges. I

believe companies like easyJet and Ryanair take

the biscuit with the price they charge which is far

more than it costs them. If supermarkets can take

any cards and not charge anything then it shows

you the price is too high particularly as the net

margins of the supermarkets are quite low.

Another issue with credit cards is the charges

Amex make which puts a lot of retailers off of

accepting them at all.

alan

● Have had extra charge for payment by credit

card from easyJet, Thompson and Monarch in

the last 6 months. I now refuse to fly Ryanair

unless absolutely forced to because of their lack

of transparency over extra charges (despite what

they say). But they are all as bad as each other.

rod

● My concern is that BMI then cancelled my flight

and so I got nothing for the credit card charge I had

paid. Assuming they paid the credit card company a

2% fee, this still left them with around £2.78 for

providing me with nothing. The amount is small but

is better off in my pocket than theirs, particularly

since they provided no service. If it is right, then it

leaves consumers very vulnerable.

● These charges should be shown next to

the product/service cost at the beginning of the

or debit card. There was a get out clause in that if

you paid by debit card or Electron card there is

no fee. However most banks have now deleted

the Electron cards and the airlines are no longer

having a ‘no fee’ option. Even if you pay by debit

cards (i.e. guaranteed payment within 24 hours),

you are still being charged an exorbitant fee.

You can not get around it if you want to carry on

business with the cheaper airlines.

● I recently bought two separate tickets with Ryanair,

each charged at £10 per transaction, working out at

13.5% and 15.6% of the fare’s price.

Salvatore

● Yesterday I booked 2 flights to London with

easyJet. When paying with my credit card I was

charged £10. If I had paid by my Visa debit card I

would have also been charged £10. I use my credit

card when booking flights, hotels etc in case

anything goes wrong and I have the extra cover.

liSa

● Booking flights online almost always results in a

‘surcharge’ when paying by credit card, far in excess

of the cost to the airline. This is a way of making their

flights seem cheap but not offering any option of

avoiding this charge because you can’t avoid using it.

John

● I am always confronted with a surcharge for

using a credit card when I book a flight on an

aircraft. This is not reasonable as using a credit

card gives the added protection that in the event

of some sort of failure as happens occasionally,

transaction. If you buy online, how else can you pay

except by debit or credit card? Is there any other

way?

roSie

● Just booked a flight with Monarch from

Manchester to Mahon. Got charged a £19.60

“booking fee” after adding credit card details –

which suggests that this may be a synonym for

credit card fee. Thought this was a bit rich; if they

are going to charge a booking fee should be

included in the quote up front.

anita

● easyJet charged me £5.50 for using a Visa

debit card for a £150 return ticket to Venice in

August. Using a credit card would have incurred a

charge of over £10. Given that the transaction

charge for a debit card is 20p, and that for a credit

card, the cost is 2% (in this case this would have

worked out at £3), there is no excuse. And the

Recently flew to India with BA. I tried to book the tickets with them & when I realised that they wanted extra payments for the use of credit card I tried other providers & found that I could book BA flights with Expedia without paying the surcharge. BA lost out as they must have paid commission to Expedia.SureSh

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.5

airLiNeS

charges only appear at the final stage of the

booking process. It should be outlawed and

exposed as disreputable business practice.

● I booked flights with Ryanair for December past

and I was charged £10 to pay with my visa debit

card. Every card had the same charge which is

ridiculous as a visa debit is like paying with cash.

Joe

● I purchased 2 tickets on a British Airways flight

and paid for them using a BA Amex card which

credits me miles. However, paying by even this BA

card cost me £9 just like any other card.

henry

● Obviously, the airlines use these payments fees

to produce profits. They tempt you in with low

fares, and then hope that by the time you get to the

“pay now” button you will just soldier on. The whole

thing is just cynical. I think as a minimum as soon as

you select a flight you should be alerted to the

payment costs. I know, the airlines will say they

cannot do this until you select a payment method,

but they could certainly show the cheapest and

dearest option.

● A single leg short flight on easyJet two days ago

for £30 charged over £10 for using a credit card.

That represents a 33% increase in the cost.

ChriS

● I think the point is with the likes of Ryanair they

charge per person, per flight. As far as I am aware,

any charge they may incur would be per

transaction only. Therefore I do not understand why

they are able to charge numerous times for what is

effectively one transaction.

● I have just booked with Flybe for a flight from

Newcastle to Gatwick. This not-so-cheap budget

airline charged £301 for two return tickets. I

booked online so had to pay with a card. They

said the cost to use the card would be £2. I was

therefore alarmed to see when the final figure

appeared that they had charged £321. On

checking this out, I found they had also charged a,

£18 “transaction fee”. I have no idea what this is

for, and have scoured their website to find out, but

there is no explanation. A total £20 charge to use

a credit card on tickets costing £300 looks like

sheer profiteering.

euniCe

● Ryanair keeps talking about avoidable fees.

Paying by Visa Electron used to be without costs,

but the fee free option has now moved to pre-paid

MasterCard. Probably when too many customers

start using that, it will become something else again.

Note also easyJet’s explanation that profits were

down, because not enough people were checking

in luggage any more. When too many customers

use the affordable option, the airlines will think of

something else. We will for ever be in a game of

hide-and-seek.

● My main complaints are about two airlines -

Ryanair and easyJet. The former has the biggest

charges. Neither tells you before you start the

purchase the cost of using a credit card. Ryanair’s

I paid a £4.50 surcharge when booking a flight with BMI. They then cancelled the flight and refunded the cost of the flight, but not the surcharge. My queries and challenges to BMI have met with no success. I am shocked that the surcharge is not refunded when they cancel the flight.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.6

airLiNeS

surcharge, ahem, booking fee. I detest Ryanair, but

sometimes don’t have any choice but to use them.

They charge £10 per leg which is quite outrageous,

with no realistic non-chargeable option.

Caroline

● I hate buying tickets for air travel from Ryanair or

easyJet because of the disgraceful debit card

charges. You only find out at the last moment and on

the journeys we want to make they are the only local

carriers. I would not object to paying the cost to them

of a card transaction but they charge what amounts

to theft.

● I am originally from Ireland and since moving to

the UK last year I have spent £100’s on excess credit

and debit card charges when using airlines to travel

home. Ryanair particularly charge me over £10 each

return trip more if there is more than one passenger.

They provide a cheap service but it would make me

much happier if the advertised prices were slightly

higher and our credit card charges reasonable.

Julie

● Flying with Ryanair I used to use credit card then

changed to Halifax Electron card to avoid “admin”

charges. Then with minimal warning they dropped

this card and had to use my credit card to cover a

flight Perugia last year, this incurred “admin” charge

of £20 for two us. It appears to me that Ryanair

encourages the use of one form of payment and

then changes the conditions to suit themselves and

to extract additional cash from its customers/mugs.

Given that have to book online and cannot pay by

cash or cheque, I think it’s sharp practice to offer

charges well outweigh the typical 2% or 3% add-on

that other companies charge for using a credit card.

A lot of the travel I do is on business and we are

encouraged to use the cheapest airline but I then

book using the credit card and the company picks

up the extra charges.

andrew Brown

● I am delighted to hear that Which? is launching a

super complaint into unfair charges. I was particularly

concerned by Flybe who charged me £18 for

booking a flight with their only charge-free option -

my Co-operative Visa Electron card. This was

particularly irksome as I only have this card to avoid

such charges.

adrian

● It’s not so much the fees charged as the

underhand method of applying them. All costs

should be stated BEFORE even considering making

a booking. After all if you are buying, say, a sofa,

you want to know what will be the total cost before

deciding to buy it.

● I have just booked a flight with Flybe from

Aberdeen to Birmingham for April who tells you that

you have saved £12 by booking on line. And then

they rip you of for £4.50 each way for using your

debit card.

harry

● I fairly regularly buy flights to Ireland. I have the

choice (sometimes depending on flight times) of

using Ryanair or Aer Lingus. I don’t think either of

them tells you until the point of payment about the

“cheap” seats then hit you with so called admin fees

on top.

roBert

● If a customer cannot avoid the charge, it should

be included in the headline rate for the goods or

services.

aliSon

● There is no doubt that flying is cheap particularly

if booking ahead. But it seems strange that one has

to pay £5 credit card fee each way unless paying

with a Visa electron card.

BoB

● Clearly the extra charges for using a card -

credit or debit - is actually part of the total air fare.

Just wish it was all added in at the outset.

tony

● Being told to pay not only a Credit Card

Surcharge but also a Debit Card Surcharge with no

real alternative, made me walk away from a booking

with Ryanair. Their petty penny-pinching lost them

my business. I accept that there ought to be an

admin fee to cover their costs of processing a card

payment but not at the usury rates they impose.

Hiding behind a front-loaded in-house card for “free”

is a disgrace. There is a card fee for that card and by

front-loading it you are also out of pocket sooner.

roger

● Once at Luton Airport, I was offered an easyJet

credit card, which I understood would enable me

to purchase easyJet tickets without extra charges.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.7

airLiNeS

However, that did not turn out to be the case and I

was charged the same as for other cards.

neil

● The worst culprit has to be Ryanair. First, we

acquired a Solo card to avoid the charges, then

Ryanair changed the only surcharge free card to a

prepaid MasterCard, so we acquired one of those -

anything but let them win! They only do it so that they

don’t have to include the charge in the advertised fare.

If they don’t accept the major cards without surcharge,

they should be forced to include the charge in the

advertised price.

paul

● I booked flights for four of us to Prague and

back with BMI Baby. I used a debit card as the charge

for this was going to be £3.00, what I would consider

to be the ‘normal rip-off’ level. The charge turned out

to be £24 as it was £3 per leg per person. As this was

a single transaction to purchase four tickets, I felt this

was a ‘Super rip-off.

igor

● Booking two return flights with BMI incurred a

debit card (not credit card) surcharge of £20 per

flight each way. A total of £80. The charge only

became apparent on finalising the on-line booking.

There is no alternative service provider on this

route. There is no alternative to booking on-line.

The only way to avoid the surcharge payment is if

the purchaser is able to use a Visa Electron card.

John

● bmibaby & Flybe both charge extra for using

credit cards and debit cards, but offer no free

alternative, so it must be a built part of the cost.

Both also refuse to accept my Amex card. I have

looked for alternative flights, but on the routes I

use I’ve had no alternative. I’m not sure how much

the fees were, but I think it was £5 per flight.

Craig

● My family have just booked peak time flights from

Heathrow to Barcelona with Iberia airlines, and were

delighted not to be charged a fee on the checkout

page for using our Amex card. We were

begrudgingly prepared to pay a surcharge – so we

had additional cover provided by payment through

a credit card – and will now look to fly with this

carrier again. It’s all about competition, so if

everyone votes with feet, airlines will ultimately have

to become more honest and open.

SiMon

● The ‘headline’ prices offered bear no

relationship at all to the true costs of the flight

ticket. We are all familiar with the ploy of

advertising a flight at £XX which you that have to

add on the taxes etc. To then add insult to the

process there is the little bit of wording that says

“By the way, if you wish to purchase the ticket

online then there is another surcharge”. Given that

there is no other way of paying for tickets on line

other than using a credit card or debit card then if

this surcharge is legitimate it should have already

been included in the headline price.

david

I recently bought 2 return air tickets from Heathrow to Belfast City in the BMI sale. The total cost of the tickets was £150. There was an indication that there would be a charge for use of credit card, but not the amount of the charge. This charge turned out to be £9 6% of the full price. As the cost was over £100 I did not want to use my debit card.Sue

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.8

airLiNeS

hoLidaYS

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● A holiday home company I use charges 2.5% on

top of the amount I’m paying which has been a

charge of £37.50.

kay

● I’ve experienced a more unusual difficulty with

Saga cards because Saga Holidays give a reduced

fee if you pay by Saga card. BUT I’ve found Saga

cards give too low a credit limit to allow payment

by a Saga card!

Brett

● Two UK holidays: from Farm & Cottage Holidays

in 2010 (charge for card = £8.46) and Welcome

Cottages in 2011 (charge = £4.20). No mention of

charge for credit card (or obligatory booking fee

and insurance) despite this being normal method of

payment. Felt hood-winked and slightly cheated so

will be reluctant to use the companies again.

However, they all seem to be at it to some degree.

BruCe

● I paid with my credit card last year to Richardson

holidays and it was only when I queried my credit

card statement I found out that they had charged

extra for using it. Debit cards are free.

Margaret

● Booked holiday through First Choice online. Prior

to booking I had tried to compare prices for the

same holiday with different providers. First Choice

did not appear to be making any charge for using a

credit card. It was only when I had nearly

completed the booking procedure that this became

obvious and by then I could not put up with the

hoLidaYS

Recently booked a holiday with Voyages of Discovery and found that credit card use is 3%. As a single traveller the cost of a cruise is quite expensive and 3% seems an excessive amount on my holiday cost of £2,700 plus excursion fees. I am left with a choice of using a debit card thus forfeiting credit card rights.Mary

hassle of starting all over again. Charge for using

the card for a holiday costing approx £5,500 was in

the region of £80.00.

Steve

● Paying for a holiday at a branch of Co op Travel

we were only told at the end of the transaction

that a “penalty” would apply if I used my Amex

(which would have given me some “rewards”). We

paid by Debit card, then rushed home to transfer

the funds to our current a/c (thank goodness for

telephone banking). They were looking for 2% on

a Holiday at £2,000).

david

● The main culprits, as you are probably aware, are

holiday companies. Not only the international ones,

like Thomson, but companies which operate

holidays in Britain. I recently booked a holiday

cottage in the Lake District through an agent (part

of Hoseasons) and had to pay a surcharge. The

same applies when booking caravan holidays on

sites such as Parkdean. They also impose a credit

card surcharge which can add considerably for a

family booking a holiday caravan during the

summer school holidays.

Stuart

● Booked two holidays with the same company

Sunrise Holidays had to pay each holiday separate

and each time incurred a charge. Does not seem

fair or right.

Sandra

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.10

When I pay the balance I will once again be charged

a premium for using my credit card. The travel

companies make a sufficient margin to absorb any

small costs of card usage.

John

● In 2009 I booked a cruise with Thomas Cook and

wanted to pay by credit card to get maximum

protection. The agent told me if I used my own credit

card Thomas Cook would charge me an extra 2.5%,

which I think added up to about an extra £50, which I

thought was extortionate. However, they said if I

took out their own Thomas Cook credit card I

wouldn’t have to pay the percentage fee. They also

said that I would earn “travel pounds” not only on

the holiday but also on any currency I bought with

the credit card. So I was particularly annoyed to find

when I bought the currency a couple of weeks later

that the travel pounds offer had expired. I really felt

conned over it and I had a lot of trouble getting any

sort of refund for my missing travel pounds.

liz

● All Travelodges now make a charge when using a

credit card. It is difficult to make a booking any other

way.

Booked accommodation with Premier Inn in

Birmingham and was charged £2 to use credit card.

Could not book any other way as cheques not

accepted.

Booking Travelodge rooms on line now has a £2

charge for credit card payments. Yes, I have been put

off making a purchase.

Club Med is charging 5% of any amount paid by credit

card – this is obscene. They make no charge for

● I recently bought a villa holiday with Thomas

Cook. If I paid by credit card there would be a

2.5% charge, so I used a debit card instead. It is

wrong to be deterred from gaining the benefits of

paying by credit card by the surcharge

demanded. This appears to be a way of

exploiting consumers.

ronald

● We cruise once or twice a year and for a long

time both the cruise lines or the travel

companies which sell the cruises impose extra

charges of final payments (not usually the

deposit). We found with Celebrity that debit

cards too attracted an extra charge; this is

usually 2%. But if Amex, it may go up to 33%. As

we are paying thousands of pounds for these

holidays it amounts to a sizeable amount so we

pay by cheque, thereby reducing the length of

time we have to save up. Some ordinary holiday

companies such as Saga impose these charges

too but at a reduced rate if paying with a Saga

card. For long haul flights we book with

Trailfinders who do not charge for credit cards,

even Amex.

Margaret

● I booked my summer holiday with Thomson

Travel for my wife and myself and had a

significant charge added to the cost of the

deposit, for using my MasterCard. I complained to

the travel agent but told that if I wished to use a

credit card to pay, I would have to accept the

charge. If I paid by cheque I would forfeit the

protection offered by the credit card company.

I paid £5,363 for flights, hotel and transfers to lowcostholidays by telephone. When the time came to pay they said there was a £24 charge for using my Visa debit card. I have never paid a charge for using my debit card before. I wanted to scrap the deal and go else where but it was for our grandchildren and they were with us so against my better judgement I booked it and paid the charge.

edward

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.11

hoLidaYS

was wrong. The assistant said that I should take

into account the amount I has saved as that should

more than compensate for the charge. I think this is

wrong: the assistant was made fully aware of my

budget prior to looking for me

viCki

● Only today I booked a flight with lastminute.com.

The airfare was £808 and the credit card charge

was £15 which is almost 2% of the cost. This charge

was not mentioned until the final page after I had

put in my credit card details. I cannot believe the

card costs the company anything like £15. This is

the highest credit card charge I have ever paid.

John

● We have just booked our family holiday to Turkey

and decided better to pay by debit card as they

usually sting you for credit card surcharges. I was

shocked that lowcostholidays still charged us

£10.15 when paying the initial deposit and a further

£32 when paying the balance. That’s over £42 in

surcharges! However on my invoice it states

‘Credit card charge’. I am disgusted and have

never been charged a fee for using my debit card

before. A big rip off!

I am being charged 2.95% in fees by On The

beach to pay for my holiday with my Visa debit

card. I am very angry about this but it seems there

is nothing I can do but pay it. I have used this firm

many times before and this has not happened

before.

ChriStine

● Almost all holiday companies charge when using a

credit card - I have yet to find one who does not.

The average charge is 2% although some have

charged more and this can add on quite a lot to

what is already an expensive holiday. Also, Jet2

puts on a surcharge per person when using a credit

card even if they are all part of the same booking. I

am not sure how much as I have stopped using

them because of their ridiculous charges.

I recently booked a holiday for 6 people with Co-op

Travel. I expected to pay a few hundred pounds

deposit which I would have done using a cheque or

debit card. However as it was a tailor-made trip I

was required to pay for flights up front so the

deposit was £3,649 which was more than I had in

my current account. I paid by credit card to give me

time to transfer money from various savings

accounts. I was informed and agreed to the credit

card surcharge, I think that the amount of 3% far

exceeds the administrative costs.

geoffrey

BACS payments or payment with debit cards.

I recently part-purchased a holiday at Thomas

Cook by credit card. They charged a 2.5% fee.

Subsequently they cancelled the holiday due to

insufficient numbers and refunded all but the credit

card fee, which they absolutely refused to do; they

suggested I recover it from the card company. I

spoke to the card company who said as the refund

was made to the card the fee would have been

refunded to Thomas Cook and they should have, in

turn, refunded it to me. I’ve complained to Thomas

Cook HQ (no response) and Trading Standards

We have saved for a holiday in Florida and wanted

to pay by credit card to ensure protection of our

purchase in case there was any last minute

disruption – we were charged 8% by Virgin Atlantic

holidays – this equated to over £100 just for the

privilege of paying the bill.

SaMantha

● Went to Thomas Cook to book a holiday. Told

the assistant that I had a £2,000 budget. After

in-depth searching found a holiday for £2,175.00

which was £175.00 over my budge but with careful

juggling decided that I could manage this. I paid

£1,000.00 cash and handed the assistant my credit

card. It was at this stage that I was told that I would

be charged £29.00 cost for using my card to pay

the balance. I asked if I could be the difference by

cheque but was told no as I had purchased a

holiday on a special deal which was due to expire

at 4pm that day. Basically if I wanted the holiday I

had no choice but to pay the charge. I told the

assistant and manager that I felt that I had been

hood winked into paying this charge and that it

If I pay for a SAGA holiday with my SAGA credit card, they will charge me 1% of the cost, which for the full amount will amount to approx £23.00. If I did not have a SAGA cc then the charge would be 2.5% or, if I paid by cheque, there would be a £3.00 administration charge.peter

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.12

hoLidaYS

● The travel company ‘Real Africa’ demands a 4%

surcharge for using a credit card to purchase a

travel holiday. We are buying a holiday from them

but will have to use an internet transfer as they

even demand a 2% surcharge for a debit card. They

claim that the credit card companies demand an

additional insurance fee from them because of the

high number of fraudulent holiday purchases.

CharleS

● I recently booked a cruise through Thomas Cook.

At the point of payment it became clear that the

charge for using a credit card would be £50. I paid

by debit card without the protection offered by

using a credit card.

I was buying a holiday from Virgin Holidays and I

was going to pay with my Virgin credit card until I

was told at the point of sale that I would be

charged an extra charge for paying with a credit

card. I found this particularly galling as it was their

own credit card. The credit card charges were high

so I thought that I would pay with my debit card

which you are not usually charged for doing and I

was told that there was a charge for using this

card - albeit less. I regard it as sharp practice as I

had no other way of paying since this was all being

done on the phone and by choosing another form

of payment I was also forfeiting my protection

using a credit card. I will avoid anywhere that

charges me what I regard as a superfluous fee on

top. It is the cost of a business doing business and

should be absorbed into the overall price

structure. By charging an extra fee at the end of a

transaction it makes it hard to compare prices for

value for money.

● In two cases when buying package holidays I was

permitted to use my credit card without surcharge

for the deposit, but would have been charged 3.5%

for the final settlement of the bill. In each case I paid

the major part with a debit cad to avoid this

excessive charge.

Joan

● Saga holidays impose a significant additional

charge when paying by credit card. For example

on a recent booking for an Italian holiday, after we

had paid the £240 deposit by debit card without

surcharge, the balance due was £1,5700 for

payment by debit card, whereas by credit card the

cost was £1609.25,a surcharge of 2.5%. Needless

to say we paid by debit card.

Thomson holidays wanted to impose a charge for

using my credit card to pay my holiday balance.

This charge would have been 2.5% of the balance

outstanding. I therefore paid by debit card at no

additional cost to myself. With Thomson’s huge

volume of high value transactions I doubt whether

they are charged more than 1%.

John

● We had booked a holiday to Australia. Having

completed the booking and paid by credit card for

the said amount, we were then told by the travel

agent that we had to pay over £70 for the pleasure

of using our card. The travel agents did not tell us

before we booked but insisted that we paid nearly

the full amount for our holiday, which meant that

the only way we could pay was by credit card.

I booked a holiday in Florida for three people. The cost was in excess of £3,000. Thompson travel agents accepted the 10% deposit by credit card with no surcharge but when I went to pay the final payment I was told there would be a 2% or 3% charge for paying by credit card. I refused to pay the surcharge and instead drew out the money from my bank and paid in cash. deniS

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.13

hoLidaYS

credit card, but at a cost of £44.90, which

equates to 2.5%. Paying by debit card would

cost nothing. In order to give me extra

protection, I have paid a low cost deposit of

£150.00, but with a charge of £3.75, on my credit

card, but will pay the balance when due on a

debit card.

grahaM

● I pay for my annual holidays at Thomas Cook

travel agents by credit card and get charged a

fee of 2% on top of the cost of my holiday. I use

my credit card so that I m also covered by

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. If I had

paid by cheque or cash I would not have paid a

fee at all. As the firm would get charged by its

bank for paying in either cash or cheques I feel

that the travel agents should either not charge

or charge the difference between paying by

cash/cheques and paying by credit card.

John

● It has happened too many times for me to

remember, but I will now make a record. Many

holiday companies now charge on all cards unless

paying by debit card. SAGA for example clearly

state that for a cheque, debit card or Maestro there

is no additional charge. For the SAGA credit card:

“due to charges imposed on us, we have to add a

1% transaction fee to the balance”. For any other

credit card: “due to charges imposed on us, we

have to add 2.5% transaction fee to the balance”.

david

● We have travelled with the same travel operator

since 2004 (Carrier). Last year they introduced a 2

per cent credit card surcharge. I wasn’t happy as I

had booked prioe to the introduction of the fee -

received a reduction in the holiday price to

compensate. However, this year we will have to

pay it. I know that I could save the 2% by paying by

debit card but I like the extra protection provided

when paying by credit card. This year they will

charge us about £200 for the privilege of paying

by credit card.

Booking with Travelodge it was not until the

payment page that charges were made known. If I

use debit card to avoid the charge there’s then no

protection from the card company.

Premier Inn charged £2 for paying by credit card.

Only told me when booking in. Whenever you

book a holiday with travel agents they always

charge a percentage when paying by credit card.

Have just booked a holiday with Shearings and

they charge £2 per person when paying deposit

and will do same again when paying final bill.

hedley

● Holiday companies invariable charging for use of

credit cards, which deters users from taking

advantage of the protection offered by credit card

sales.

Martin

● It is holiday companies that are the main

culprits here. Especially when booking holidays

online or on the telephone as they charge an extra

2 to 3% for the privilege. I personally think I am

owed hundreds of pounds for booking these

I regularly book holidays with Noble Caledonia.

They charge for payments made by credit card, 1%

or 2% of cost of the holiday. So to keep this charge

to a minimum, while retaining the benefits of

paying by credit card, I pay the deposit with my

card and the balance by cheque. Irritating and

unnecessary I feel as the holidays are quite

expensive enough.

Annually we have a cruise holiday which we

generally purchase from Thomsons. As we pay by

credit card we have to pay a surcharge. On the

final bill we end up paying the maximum charge:

last time it was £65. The only good thing is it does

give you some insurance in case you holiday

company fails but that is really not going to

happen with P&O Cruises. It is a little off putting

but as we want the holiday we reluctantly pay it.

harry

● I have just booked a holiday with First Choice on

the internet, total cost £1795.95, for a half board

hotel in Corfu in June, for 2 people. I was offered

the privilege of paying the whole amount on my

Just booked a holiday with lowcostholidays at approx £1,000. I paid by debit card and was charged approx £15. Why am I charged a percentage of my spend when the company is charged a fixed fee per transaction by the bank?gary

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.14

hoLidaYS

my local branch of Thomsons, because they offered

the best local rate of exchange at the time. I paid

using a debit card, assuming that it was the

equivalent of a cash transaction and that I would not

be charged for using, for example, a credit card.

When the bank statement came through the

following month, I noticed an extra charge of £4.50

had been levied by the bank. When I queried this,

RBS said that they always charged this if foreign

currency was purchased from the Post Office, or

from Thomsons. They said that I could have obtained

the money charge free from themselves. When I

pointed out that they were offering an inferior rate of

exchange and that I felt that what they were doing

was at least sharp practice and possibly illegal, in

that they were being discriminatory in how I spent

my money, they said that they had no plans to

change their practices, despite some complaints

which they had received.

riChard

● Really annoying when you’ve agreed a price

and then they add a credit card surcharge. This

applies to holiday companies as well as airlines.

Highest charge was £11 per booking with Ryanair,

as compared with £4.50 each transaction with

Cantabria holidays. If you booked ski hire separate

from main holiday, it was charged per transaction.

Also really annoying to be charged by Flybe,

EasyJet and Ryanair for using a debit card, quite

unjustified.

CharleS

holidays online or by phone over the years. It’s

another instance of being ripped of by companies

that are not properly regulated for these abuses.

John

● On our recent holiday with Kuoni, I paid the deposit

by debit card and the balance by credit card and

was charged the sum of £95 for the privilege. What

a rip off.

● Unfair card surcharges are not just found with

airlines. I was going to book a holiday with

alpharooms and only at the end did they tell me

they’d charge £33.16 for paying with a Mastercard

and £21.79 for Visa - the sooner this is stopped the

better.

● I booked a holiday to Israel in April 2010 and

paid a deposit of £250. This incurred a £7.50 (3%)

charge for using a credit card. I wouldn’t normally it

was just convenient, as I booked it over the phone.

I was supposed to pay the balance of about £4,000

on 15 August (even though the flight didn’t leave

until October). I phoned to find out who to make

the cheque payable to and where to send it. They

told me that it had been paid. In fact, they had

taken the payment from my credit card (which I’d

used to pay the £250 deposit) and added a 3%

charge for using the card (about £120). I sent them

a cheque and asked them to refund the card

charge (which they did). The booking form did say

that the payment was due on 15 August and that

there was 3% for using a credit card. It did not say

that payment would be taken without asking.

In December I purchased £500 worth of Euros from

Recently booked a 2011 holiday through Preferred Travel Services. They state on their booking form that they will add £8.00 per person for credit card payments. I query (a) the excessive charge of £8 and (b) why this is per person and not per booking.frank

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.15

hoLidaYS

eVeNTS

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● Cinema tickets from Odeon. Charge only came

up at the end. Thomas cook wanted a handling

charge for booking with a Credit card (not debit),

holiday was over £7,000 so the deposit was almost

£800 - still wanted to charge 2%.

grahaM

● I bought tickets for the cinema online

for a film at the odeon union st bristol. they cost

£50.00 and I was asked to pay £4.50 “handling

charge”. I thought that was an excessive markup

ann

● We were about to purchase 2 tickets on line for

the local independent Little Theatre Cinema in Bath

and for 2 pensioners’ tickets @ £3.90 each total cost

£11.80 a booking fee of £1.60 was added to the basic

cost so we declined to proceed. This fee is over 13%

and in our opinion unreasonable. This is excessive

even allowing for the credit card company fees of 2%

or so to commercial outlets. The fee is included at

the point of sale but it would be possible to proceed

and inadvertently pay it as there is no big flag saying

there is a fee. So we think more could be done to

highlight the payment, and better still to reduce it.

● When purchasing tickets online for the local Vue

Cinema there is a 70p per ticket card handling fee.

The surcharge is always 70p, no matter what type of

ticket one buys. For a family of four ticket for regular

seats (£21.60) the fee is just under 3.25% of the

ticket price but for a bean bag (£5.40) the fee is just

under 13% of the ticket price.

graeMe

eVeNTS

● It’s mostly London theatre and Odeon cinema

tickets which tend to charge a few pounds per

booking. I buy very little on line but sometimes there

is a charge for credit cards but not debit cards -this

means you are not entitled to any protection if

anything goes wrong-I lost £75 when a wedding

present company went bust.

MauriCe

● Booking a cinema seat, a 70p convenience charge,

parking a car in Westminster where telephone is

only option, a 10-20p convenience, charge and

Ryanair a £5 card fee for processing

laurie

● Handling charge on cinema tickets from Vue and

Odeon booked on-line, which add £1.50 to a pair of

£7 tickets! Then on arriving at the cinema to find

that the automatic ticket dispensing machine isn’t

working and having to queue anyway to collect

tickets. Needless to say, no refund of the booking

fee offered. I was also surcharged for paying utility

bills and subscriptions in cash rather than by direct

debit (EDF Energy and the CSMA)

roBert

● I think it’s a racket, particularly when the charge is

added per ticket in one credit card traansaction (cf

Odeon cinama tickets) The amount of the charge

should be shown clearly before you request tickets,

otherwise you are are psychologically forced to

complete the purchase (cf Odeon cinema) Free

tickets, but a £1.40 CC charge for each

Booking six tickets with Vue Cinema, Newcastle-Under-Lyme. Each ticket cost £5.50p when I saw that there was a card handling fee of £4.20p (70p per ticket) I terminated the transaction. In their favour what I believe are excessive and unfair charges were clearly stated prior to making the purchase.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.17

My dentist charges 2.5% for credit cards, nothing for

debit. The Grand Hotel Brighton 2.5% for credit cards

NCP Car parks 2.5% for credit cards

And as for Ryanair...

paul

● Buying from the website Getmein - over £15

handling on a £89 ticket, Order Total, subtotal:

£ 88.19, Processing fees (inc 20.0% Vat): £ 15.96

wendy

● Cineworld charge 70p per person on any cinema

booking made on line. It makes me cross every time I

do it!! So do Eastbourne Theatres, in fact, I believe

many of the Theatre booking lines do.

andrea

● Why do you pay and additional charge of £1.50

per seat when booking a cinema ticket Ticket £8.50

cost using Debit card £10.00 each. Not a credit card

just a Debit card so transaction is instant funds,

booking assured and days before viewing.

JiM

● Buying cinema tickets from the Odeon online.

They charge 75p for each ticket even though it’s only

one CC transaction. Although they advise of the

charge, it’s not at the start of the transaction, and

there is no alternative cheaper way of paying.

Brian

● I recently bought tickets from the Leicester

Square Theatre, and the ‘booking fee’ for both credit

and debit cards was £7.50 for £12 tickets - what a joke!

Miranda

Odeon Cinemas impose a card fee of £2.25 per

transaction to pick up cinema tickets ordered on line.

As a percentage of the cost of even 2 tickets, this is

extremely high.

● Every time I book to see my football club play

football (Queens Park Rangers) I am charged a

booking fee of £3.50, This in spite of the fact that I

pay £30 a year to be a club member to get a £2

discount for every match I see.

On top of this I do not get issued with a ticket, my

entrance is electronically made possible by using the

membership card that I get with my membership

pack (alternatively I could print off a ticket at my own

expense if I do not want to use my membership

card).

paul

● Cineworld charges 70p per ticket [up to a maximum

of £4.20 per transaction]. Why do they charge 70p for

EACH ticket when there is only one transaction?

● Most recently at the Odean cinema I think they

wanted £1.50 per ticket. We refused and bought

them at the cinema that same evening instead.

freny

● Just today I was charged £3 for buying tickets online

from Odean Cinemas. I have also been charged for

the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton.

ChriS

● My grievance is with theatre tickets when on top

of a credit card charge, there is a booking fee,

normally per ticket and then postage on top!!!

● I was interested in the Neil Diamond concerts at

the O2. I found that the cost of tickets was quite

high at £65 and £75. However this was shown in

light writing. In bold the total cost was shown with

£8.25 and £9.25 added as “fees”. However badly I

wanted to go to the show I was not prepared to pay

this unjustified premium.

● When buying tickets from Tottenham Hotspurs, I

hold 5 season tickets, and therefore have all my

details registered with the club, but when buying

extra tickets for Cup Matches, I still have to pay a

handling fee, and card charge for every ticket, even

though they are all requested using one format/

action. Costs are normally £6.00 per ticket, or £30.00

in total. All for one transaction, that does not involve

any human action.

It’s a disgrace.

John

The Theater Royal Bath charges an extra £3 for booking seats by phone. We were told this after we had chosen our seats and were about to give card details. The worst offenders otherwise are travel agents who add a percentage which can amount to a substantial sum. ian

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.18

eVeNTS

● The worst fee I have seen is the £26 surcharge

from UEFA for the Champions League final - it’s

a joke!

● Buying tickets for gigs and for football matches

both incur charges. For football matches at

Southampton FC whether ordered on-line or over

the phone the charge is £3, against a ticket of face

value £20. There is a statement warning of this

charge but it is rather cursory. As I have wanted to

attend events it hasn’t put me off but it is very

irritating. I have contacted Southampton FC but

have not had a satisfactory reply as to why the

charge is being levied. The charge is against debit

and credit cards although some organisations only

charge against a credit card.

Mike

● If you try and book tickets for any event that is at

the NEC or NIA + other venues, if you order on line

there is a booking and transaction fee. You are

informed of the fees at the time of commencing the

booking process but not how much. It is only when

you have placed the order for tickets at a specific

price do you find out how much will be added to

the total

derek

● The Palladium in London wanted to charge

£6.00 per ticket admin charge when purchasing

tickets for the Wizard of OZ. It was cheaper for me

to take the train to London and buy the tickets

directly saving myslef £30 on seven tickets.

● Every time you book tickets for theatres etc with

websites such as Ticketweb, there is a hefty

“service charge” well above face value - if you

query this, you will be told that this is largely

because of servicing the credit card payment.

Bernard

● Using ents24.com I went on line to book ticket for

Crosby and Nash at the Bridgewater Hall; the tickets

were priced at £55 and on one of the early screens

it said there would be a transaction fee of £2.75,

which did not seem too bad, however when I had

chosen the seats and got to the payment stage

there was another booking fee of £6.60 per ticket!!

grahaM

● I was purchasing theatre tickets for the Kings

Theatre in Glasgow. I tried to buy them by phone

and online but was going to have to pay almost £10

extra to pay by card. I refused to do so, on

principle, and had to travel into Glasgow to

purchase the tickets at the theatre.

● When buying ‘gig’ tickets for my daughter

through ‘ticket master’ we are always charged a fee

on top of the ticket price. if we opt to pay for

theatre, cinema or other events by credit as

opposed to debit card, there is always an extra

charge. paying for various services by credit card

nearly always adds to the bill

Just bought a ticket to the Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain for £10.90 with a debit card from their own website, only to find I paid an unexpected extra £1.50 “transaction charge”. That’s an extra 14%. Surely it’s cheaper for them if I buy online, saving their labour costs at the box office. adrian

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.19

eVeNTS

oTher TraNSporT

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● Buying rail travel tickets online. This is a new

development as I seem to remember many

inducements to go online. I now terminate the

connection if a card charge appears & phone a travel

agent & get ticket sent to my email address without

extra charges.

paula

● Rail tickets from TheTrainLine costing £42. I think

the charge was £1.50 and I was not informed until

right at the end. So had to go back to the beginning

of paying by debit card. There was no warning at the

beginning of paying for the fares.

kenneth

● Purchase of two 1st class tickets. Total cost £269.

Cost of using master card payment £3.50. No charge

levied if debit card used.

JereMy

● I was charged £190 by Great Rail Journeys for a

£9.5k holiday (for four). That was 2% which might be

normal but is substantial. I’d paid £22 on the deposit

but was shocked that there was going to be nearly

another £170 charge when it came to paying the

remainder.

trevor

● I used to buy rail tickets via TheTrainLine website

until they started charging for credit card transactions.

None of the train operators charge so I use the East

Coast website now. The Virgin website has lost my

business for good. I no longer pay off holiday

balances with credit card now as tour operators tend

to charge 2%, which on a £1,000 - £,4000 payment is

oTher TraNSporT

I often buy from KLM and Eurostar, and find it annoying to be charged for paying with a credit card. Of course, customers are given the choice of paying with a debit card and not be charged, but as a consumer I know I am better protected by my credit card in case something goes wrong, so there really is no choice, and I’m afraid the company knows it.gaBriela

a hefty fee (£20-80), which must be way in excess of

the cost to the operator. I refuse to pay credit card

fees so I either use debit card or seek another

company that does not charge a fee.

lyn

● Great Rail Journeys charge an automatic 2% when

you pay by credit card. This can add a large amount

to the holiday cost. This now seems to be common

practice among travel companies especially.

penny

● The trainline want £3.50 for Mastercard usage on

£8.80 of tickets.

gray

● On TheTrainLine you only find out about it very late

in the process. Aware of it I use the operating

companies, e.g. Arriva, Pennine. I can afford not to

use the credit card so avoid them where possible if

I am to be charged.

tiMothy

● Trainline charges £3.50 for using a credit card.

Virgin cruises were going to charge 2.5% for cc use.

Mike

● I use TheTrainLine a lot and it can charge you

£3.50 for using a card plus a booking fee. It does make

you aware when you book BUT when you collect your

tickets at the station and get a receipt it doesn’t include

the fee. Net result my expenses didn’t include the fees

for years. Until 2011 in fact. You book a ticket X weeks

ago, you are not going to remember what its costs.

gary

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.21

reached the paying screen. Realising that I had

insufficient money in my current account and did

not want to loose the booking I decided to pay by

credit card. I knew this would cost more but did not

realize that it was a percentage of the total until it

was too late. This cost me around £17.50. I was

extremely angry with myself and had I known this I

would have exited their web site and gone to my

bank account and transferred some money

electronically, butr of course I would have had to

start all the booking procedure again. It is a pity that

you cannot save your booking details while you sort

out any problems. I realize that the fault was mine

but I don’t usually get caught out like that and I felt

duped. I will not book with DFDS again.

Margaret

● It always seems to be payments that involve

travel, train, coach and holiday companies. It’s

usually 2%, so I pay with a debit card which for

some reason does not attract an extra charge.

P&O charge £4.00 for an online channel crossing

with a credit card.

MiChael

● Just booked a car for the weekend with EasyCar.

Not bad at £38. But the unavoidable £3.99 or £4.99

card charge adds more than 10% to the cost.

When I hired a van from Brisco Swansea and went

to pay with a credit card I was told there was a

charge of £2. I used my debit card which didn’t have

a charge.

grahaM

when booking on their web site. If travelling one-way

this could be more than 7% of the fare. The web site

clearly states the charge. Generally, if any company

makes a charge for the use of a credit card I will use a

debit card or cash.

anthony

● Booking channel ferry crossing, very economic

fare of £48 but then charged £4.50 for using credit

card. There was even a charge for using a debit

card!

gordon

● P&O ferry charges Hull/Zeebrugge where they give

a percentage charge if using a credit card and a £1

surcharge if using direct debit.

Used direct debit as ‘least cost’ thereby waving any

benefits from using credit card. Brittany Ferries

charge £5 when you use a card (6.5% on a single foot

passenger fare). I would suggest that a very large

number of bookings are done on line, and you have

no option, therefore, but to used your credit card.

nigel

● Brittany Ferries wanted £5 to pay by credit card;

last year it was £3, an extra 66% increase in 12mths

I paid by Debit Card.

John

● I was booking a return sea trip, with cabins, from

Newcastle to Amsterdam plus two nights

accommodation in a hotel, from DFDS Seaways. I

had spent more than an hour choosing dates,

comparing cabin prices and then choosing hotels

from a number of choices. Having decided all this I

● We cannot now travel without paying to pay.

Legislation has ensured that travel costs now include

all taxes; they should also include any payment

transaction costs. As far as I am aware this only

applies to the UK.

alBinSon

● This January I bought 7 multi-trip crossings from

Norfolk Lines Ferries as I have done for the past

three years. These bookings have to be purchased

over the phone. This last purchase there was an

extra charge of £1 for using my debit card. Is there

any other way of paying over the phone?

williaM

● Always try to avoid charges by using a debit card.

Brittany Ferries charge £5 per booking, even if the

fare (on one of their special offers) is as little as £45.

No charge for debit card. But Norfolkline Ferries

charge £1 per booking, even for a debit card. This

charge is clearly stated at the end of the booking

process but is unavoidable.

Booked a ferry and campsite vouchers total bill £1,100

PLUS 2% credit card fee i.e. £22. Will not be doing

that again.

Steve

● I bought a return ferry crossing from Britain to

France with Brittany Ferries and was charged £5 for

paying by credit card which I was not told about in

advance.

Martyn

● Travelling from Holyhead to Dublin via Irish ferries

incurs a £5 charge for the use of credit or debit cards

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.22

oTher TraNSporT

MoToriNg

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● Advised from the start of the transaction that

there is a £2:50 charge for Credit card by DVLA for

buying road tax. Needless to say I did not use my

credit card.

dJ

● I have to pay £2.50 extra to pay my £125 vehicle

license fee (car tax) with a credit card, but paying my

£145.50 television license doesn’t cost any different

no matter how I pay it. How does this make sense?

One of the worst offenders I have come across is

the DVLA who make this extra charge easy to miss

on their website.

hal

● Purchasing a motorcycle in 2009 I had to pay by debit

card to avoid a surcharge of 2% on £4,000 total price.

Barry

● The most common charge is made by DVLA. We

are encouraged to purchase car tax discs on line

and get charged £2.50 for the privilege.

keith

● I was taxing the car online - a Government

department! The additional charge for using a credit

card was not mentioned till the end.

angela

● The DVLA impose a Credit Card surcharge on

Vehicle Tax renewal. Although they state at the

beginning that it will cost 1.5% extra using a Credit

Card, the fact is that using a Debit Card (cash) does

not incur a charge. All cards should be treated

MoToriNg

Renewing one’s car tax disc online is an excellent facility. However, the government make an extra charge if a credit card is used [£2.50]. If the government can make a charge is it any wonder the rest of service providers are getting in on the actCharleS

equally! Imposing a charge on a credit card in this

way may mean some people will not be able to

drive at all until they raise the cash, or will be

penalised to by Vehicle Tax on a Credit Card which

they then have to pay interest on also. So the

surcharge is indirectly, but effectively, putting people

more into more debt using this payment method.

dean

● Perhaps the worst is actually the annual car tax

disc via the government site. This is very convenient,

but why do we have to pay a fee to use a credit

card? After all we are helping to reduce government

costs by not sending by mail to the office or to a

local car tax office.

When I bought my last car, from a reputable dealer, I

paid the deposit by credit card but it was not

volunteered to me that I would not be able to pay

the balance by crdit card even though I have a large

enough limit, impeccable credit history and clear my

credit card balance monthly. Paying by credit card

was required by me for convenience. When I wished

to pay by credit card I was told that this was not

allowed as “the charges by the bank are much too

high and are set against the business amount not

per transaction”. I was not allowed to pay by cheque

and a bankers draft would not be issued on the spot

by my bank. Apparently the bank issued bankers

drafts centrally and sent by post, meaning yet more

delay. I finally had to pay by direct bank transfer into

the car business account and pick up the car the

following day. I do not blame the car business but I

do question why businesses are charge a

percentage of the cost of the item rather than a fixed

or stepped fee by the credit card supplier.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.24

Aberdeen airport short stay car park, payment by

credit card is subject to an additional 50p processing

fee on displayed tariffs up to & including 1 hour &

£1.50 processing fee on all displayed tariffs

thereafter. So for a simple pick-up from airport by a

family member - unless it can be planned to the

minute, cost me £4.40 (this made up from £3.90

+50p extra to pay by credit card). This is assuming

my lift was at the airport over 30 minutes but less

than 1 hour before flight arrived, which is not

unreasonable given the time to disembark & for

luggage to be offloaded & available to collect before

returning to the car park. As a business traveller, my

employer requires me to pay (as much as possible)

by corporate credit card - as such I consider this a

major rip-off as those picking someone up from the

airport have little choice.

george

● Purchased a car from Skoda, paid by credit card

and they added on a charge for doing this.

Cynthia

● DVLA charges £2.50 to renew your tax disc

online by credit card. Government agencies are

equally culpable.

DVLA Vehicle licensing online is the only provider in

my experience where a charge of £2.50 is made if a

credit card is used to pay for a licence. I always use a

debit card.

Even the DVLA charge for using a credit card.

Amazon would be out of business if they did!

Martin

● Why stop at companies? I have to pay an

additional charge to the DVLA if I use my VISA card

to renew my road fund licence. It is not safe to use

debit cards online, as you don’t get the same

protection against fraud, so there is no real option

but to pay an additional charge - or queue at the

post office.

dainiS

● I renewed my car tax yesterday using the

internet… £155. The fee for credit card payment

was £2.50, for debit card zero. This is a small

amount in comparison with some airlines but

nevertheless annoying!.

MarJorie

● We need to start with Government agencies! The

DVLA place a surcharge if you us a credit card to

pay for vehicle licence renewal; although they do

not charge for debit card.

david

● We have an ‘energy efficient’ hybrid car [Honda

Insight]. The Road Tax for such vehicles is £10 per

annum. Renewal of our Road Tax last week via the

DVLA website was £10 PLUS £2.50 charge for

using a credit card. The road tax office are

charging 25% for customers using a credit card!

JiM

● When seeking to renew my Car tax earlier this

week, I was told that using a credit card would cost

an additional £2.50 but there would be no charge

for using a debit card. I cannot see that a tax disc

costing £180 justifies a charge of £2.50?

I saw on the website for Road Fund Licence that there was a surcharge for credit cards so used my Visa debit card, it refused to recognise the card as a debit card and still charged me the surcharge. If there is a surcharge then I look at whether I have the cash to hand to use a debit card or whether the cost will outweigh the credit card surcharge.ian

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.25

MoToriNg

● I settled a finance deal early from Toyota finance

on a car purchase, the debt was settled using a

debit card and I was charged an additional fee. I

was told that a charge was levied on all card

transactions, debit or credit. I complained to Toyota

and the finance ombudsman, but had had no

redress. I just didn’t understand why the debit card,

as good as cash, carried a fee, but a cheque didn’t. I

was unable to wait for cheque clearing process,

during subsequent car purchase.

alan

● I went to buy a 1300cc Suzuki motorcycle for

£9,000. With trade-in for other bike it left me with

£7000 to pay. I wanted to pay with my credit card

and the company wanted to charge me 2.5% for

doing so. I politley told them to get lost. They told

me that the bank charges them for the transaction.

Barry

● NCP parking now adds 2.5% to fees if a credit

card is used. This is a deterrent to use of their

service, and adds risk by requiring customers to

carry cash.

● In October 2010 I decided to replace the exhaust.

When I emailed for a quote, I was told “this will

cost £344.99. This is fully inclusive of fuel discount

(£25), VAT & fitting”. There was no mention of a

credit card surcharge. I drove the 135 miles to have

the exhaust fitted. After the work was done, I read

the notice on the wall about what payment

methods they accepted - no mention of a

surcharge. I was then told that they had added

2.5% surcharge for paying by a credit card. I

protested that I had not been warned of this and it

was unfair. They said it was in their quote - it

wasn’t. I pointed out there was nothing on their

payment method sign. The employee said it was

on a sign on the front of the counter. He then came

round and lifted up an A4 piece of paper

advertising a deal on an MOT that was taped along

the top edge and there it was - hidden underneath.

I laughed and told him he must be joking as that

did not constitute a legal notice. He pleaded that

he had to pass the cost on to the customer. If I had

not driven so far I would have told them to remove

the new exhaust and put my old one back on!

Ieventually paid 50% of the charge and told them I

was most disappointed in their practice.

david

● Recently tried to buy a used car and was told that

to use a credit card which gives me more protection

than a debit card, would cost me 2% of the

purchase price.

● Wanting to pay the Congestion Charge in

advance at my local corner shop ‘Pay Point’ a

couple of years ago, I proffered my credit card

and was told that I would be surcharged two and

a half percent extra for using it. Naturally I paid

cash!

Brian

● I was picking up some family members from

Luton. I researched the charges before I left home

and decided on the short term car park which was

£3 for 15 mins. Because there was no room near

the entrance, I had to run to and from the terminal

to collect my brother in law and his wife, and then

hurry back to the car park (it is almost impossible to

get there and back in the 15 mins parking time). I

got to the exit after 14 mins but I could see

nowhere to deposit money, only a slot for a credit

card. I therefore had to use the card and then

found that I had been charged £4.50 - £3 for

parking plus a £1.50 credit card fee - an extra 50%!

I had tried to book in advance but the website

would not let me do so for such a short period.

John

● Manchester airport car park: why do they need

to charge £1.50 credit card charge on £39.99? 2%

would be 80p.

East Midlands airport charges £1.50 for the use of

credit cards for parking whatever the fee but not

for debit cards. This could double the charge.

adrian

Last July I part exchanged my car for a 3-year-old Toyota. The balance to pay after part exchange was £5,000. I decided to pay by credit card and was charged £75 extra for using it and told that this is what the bank would charge.terry

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.26

MoToriNg

by which we can pay, why does there need to be a

handling charge? Is there a discount or facility for

paying by cash or cheque which would

circumnavigate the need for a handling charge?

Even the DVLA charge when you want to pay your

car tax on line.

I also object to variable charge rates or refusal to

accept certain cards such as American Express.

Where ever possible I go out of my way not to give

business to those who refuse to take my American

Express card.

peter

● The government do it when you pay your car road

tax by E-mail. In fact they actively encourage it.

I don’t like using my debit card over the Internet so

when I renewed my road tax I had to pay over £2

more.

norMan

● Clover Leaf Honda in Reading charge 1% extra to

buy a car, spares or servicing on a credit card rather

than a debit card. Yes it does put me off buying

from this firm.

Mark

● I recently bought a new car. I said that I

would be paying by debit card but would have to

delay collection for another week until I had

another £7k in my current account to cover the

cost. The salesman said not to worry as I could

pay this additional amount by credit card. It was

not until I went to collect the car that I was told

there would be a £70 charge for using a credit

card. This amount was reduced to £50 after I

complained but I did not expect any additional

charges after paying £17k in part exchange.

John

● We recently traded in our car to buy a newer

one. Part of the balance was paid by credit card.

We were told the day before we had to pay that

there would be a 1% transaction fee: i.e. £30 added

to our £3,000 bill!

A Honda garage in Reading charge 1% extra to buy

a car, spares or servicing on a credit card rather

than a debit card. Yes it does put me off buying

from this firm.

Mark

● For me it was the shock of booking the car park

at Manchester Airport. After getting to the final

page I am told that the fee of £27.99 would once

I’d put my card number in make Total Price:

£29.49 “Including a £1.50 handling charge”. I was

staggered (maybe a little naively). Following an

email drawing their attention to inadequate notice

or information in FAQs I received the reply: ‘Please

be advised the handling charges applies to all

bookings whether paid by debit or credit card’. My

response was that as these are the only methods

I wanted to buy a car with my credit card and I would have the cash ready to pay it off when due. But the dealers said that I could only pay £500 off with the credit card and the rest had to be cash or debit card. Is there any point of trying to make large purchases with a credit card? Steven

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.27

MoToriNg

fiNaNce

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● I was charged £3 extra by Saga for paying by

cheque for car insurance

ken

● I only use my credit card if there are no charges

imposed, but I recently came up against a strange

demand for payment by either credit or debit cards.

When re insuring my historic vehicles which I own

the firm I had changed to said, payment by credit or

debit cards would involve a 2% charge, so I said,

can I pay by cheque in the post? Yes they said no

charges to pay by CHEQUE, Hurrah! for cheques

once more.

● Recently renewed Home Emergency response

insurance with Automobile Association Insurance

services. Charged a fee for payment by credit card.

The “methods of payment” clearly state a fee of up

to 2% of your payment is charged if a credit card is

used. alan

● My house and contents insurance provider,

50plus Insurance Services, charges £5 for the using

a credit card in addition to their £5 administration

fee. There is no such charge for using a debit card.

Their renewal information however does clearly

state the options. I would never pay a surcharge for

using a credit card.

david

● I recently had quote for a car insurance quotation.

The quote was for £693.00. The car insurance

company is Admiral. When I was requested

payment, I wanted to pay by Visa credit card, and

was told it would cost me £5.99 I had to ask the call

fiNaNce

handler to ring back, while I transferred money

between accounts so I could use a debit card, which

has a free cost.

lee

● I was asked to pay a charge for using a credit

card by an insurance company, but not if I used

a debit card. So I paid by debit card.

● I phoned to buy travel insurance from ETA and

was told the price was £50 for my age group (68).

Fine. Then she said I must pay by direct debit or a

credit card would have a £10 fee! I asked why, and

she said that was what it cost the company. and I

remarked that it did not - but she said the card

supplier plus their admin was £10. The direct debit

would be renewed each year. This survey is timely

because I was going to report this to you anyway.

Janet

● I was going to pay for my car insurance over the

telephone from Swinton recently. I had a choice of

debit or credit card. However, the credit card would

have attracted a huge 2.5% surcharge, so I opted

for the debit card method, which for this supplier

had no surcharge. I also booked a room at

Travelodge by internet. Use of a credit card would

have attracted a 2% fee, but fortunately I was able

to use a debit card free from surcharge. alan

● In the past Saga would charge for credit cards but

not for their own credit card. Then they started

charging for their own card as well. Now they even

charge if you pay by cheque.

House and contents Insurance from Saga - told at end of quote wanted 9.7% (22.9% APR) to pay monthly by Direct Debit this was on top of them hiking their prices 24.8% . Result was we moved to AXA at a better price and no charge for monthly DD. DD’s cost the company virtually nothing to process in the 21st century.Martyn

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” SURCHARGES.29

● Withdrawing cash from Nationwide Bank within

Europe! For Hungary it charges you £1.00 GBP

AND 2% of your withdrawal amount!!! As a student

I withdraw money to pay rent and it costs me 2%

more rent now!!! My withdrawal limit is about

£210.00 GBP so it costs me £5.20/month extra!

That’s £65.00/year JUST for rent! It puts me off, but

I have no other choice! As ALL UK banks charge for

withdrawing money abroad!

Last May I bought foreign currency from the Post

Office using my LloydsTSB DEBIT card. The Post

Office did not make a charge but LloydsTSB

charged me £4.50. After complaining LloydsTSB

pointed out their small print showing there would

be a charge.

peter

● On 30 April 2010 I used an online currency dealer

(ICE) - NOT MY BANK - to buy Euros and travellers’

cheques amounting to £2532.66 including the

dealer’s charges. I used my Debit card issued by my

bank Alliance & Leicester (now Santander) and they

charged me £50.66 simply to pay the dealer. The

bank was not providing anything other than to pay the

money just the same as paying any other retailer with

a debit card. Indeed, I have paid for a new car

(around £26,000) using a debit card without incurring

a charge. This appears to be a cartel type of

arrangement between financial organisations. Note

that putting a statement in the bank’s terms and

conditions stating that such a charge would be made

does not make it a reasonable charge, but is the

evidence needed that such an unjustified charge

exists.

terenCe

● I’ve just reinsured my Volvo & on line I have to

pay a £2.50 surcharge for using a credit card.

Why?

niCk

● Recently took out a new car insurance policy with

Marks and Spencer with two payment options - pay

monthly with the usual added interest, or pay the

whole premium by card. Opted for the latter and

discovered at the very last minute that there is a £5

charge for paying by card. So in fact the premium

you have agreed to pay for the policy is not the

actual cost at all!

● When paying for my car insurance with

Swinton they wanted 2.5% extra if I paid with a

credit card, but not if I paid with a debit card

John

● Most recent - searching for car insurance. Paying

in full, on card, to avoid increased premium

charges for paying monthly. Then noticed that I’d

have to pay a fee for paying on a card. Chose

another company!

franCeS

● The most recent charge I had to pay was

withdrawing £40.00 {or any amount} from a Lloyd’s

cash machine using a Lloyd’s credit card; although

I had already discussed this withdrawal with them

they did not warn me about this charge. No

wonder they have just made a profit AND get

about 1800 complaints a day.

eriC

● I was buying Euros from the post office and

paying by debit card. The cost of the Euros (in

£s) was given to me and I inserted the debit card.

The payment slip confirmed the exchange rate

and the amount I had been told. When looking

at my on line bank statement some days later. I

noticed a charge of £3.50, directly after the euro

cost, marked ‘cash cost (or charge)’. I went back

to the post office, told the story and said ‘I never

authorised that charge on my debit card’! The

lady said ‘this is a standard charge when cards

are used’! To which I replied ‘firstly you never

told me, and secondly, if I had know there would

be a charge I would have used you as a bank to

withdraw money and then paid for the Euros with

that’! The lady made no comment.

Brian

● Buying Euros from Travelex at Gatwick £679.36

was charged to my Barclaycard, the handling

charge was £16.36 – this is the most I have paid in

charges.

John

● For years I have used my “Maestro” card to buy

foreign currency and had no surcharge. Nat West

have now replaced my debit card with a “Visa”

one. They make a charge for buying foreign

currency but not other items. So if I buy a shirt from

Swinton insurance wanted to charge £36.00 to pay by credit card on a £550.00 car insurance.roBert

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.30

fiNaNce

M&S I pay the price on the label but if I buy Euros I

get an extra charge!! There is no charge if I buy the

currency from Nat West but the exchange rate is

poorer!! Hmmm

roBert

● I object to paying an extra charge to the bank to

buy foreign currency with a debit card when If I go

and get the cash and use that to pay there is no

extra charge. How does that work?

franCeS

● NatWest changed debit cards from Maestro to

Visa-Debit about 15 months ago. Last summer

when I bought Euros for a foreign trip, I found (too

late) that I had to pay extra because Visa chooses

to treat this as a “cash advance” (or something like

that) just as though it were a credit card purchase. I

am still looking for a way to order foreign currency

online without paying this Visa commission.

Paying for foreign currency cash in sterling with a

debit card should not carry a 2.5% levy. How is it

different from any other sterling transaction.

paul

● When I first took out cards, retailers were not

allowed to charge. If one was reported they could

be struck off. Now even to use a debit card there is

a charge at M&S travel money. But if I go to next till

and get Cashback I can use that. Travel agents

charged for holiday but I used card for protection.

● It is well known that, if you use your credit card

(CC) to draw cash abroad you are loaded with

charges. What never seems to get publicity is that,

if you order currency on the internet from (say) The

Post Office or Travelex, you are charged by your

CC as if your CC provider has supplied the cash.

All they are doing is settling a CC debt - the same

as if I had bought a TV online. On two occasions in

the last two years (Lloyds and Nationwide) I have

bought currency this way. I have been charged

interest at 27% from the date of the transaction

plus a “Cash Advance Handling Charge” even

though they have not advanced me cash. Their

argument is that it is the “equivalent of drawing

cash or a loan”. This is true of all CC transactions

until settled and they are looking at what you are

buying to justify the fee and not their transaction

with the customer. Each time I challenged this and,

after threatening to take it all the way to court, they

immediately refund the charges. The last

conversation I had with someone from head office

at Nationwide, was quite illuminating. When I

asked how he justified charging 27.9% for a cash

advance they had not made, he admitted he could

not justify the rate and admitted they had not

advanced me any cash. My last reply to Lloyds,

when they refunded me the charges, was that I

regretted the fact they had as this needs to be

tested in the courts. Lloyds actually suggested

settling the Travelex bill was the same as settling a

gambling debt !! The banks always give in quickly

on this because they know, legally, they have no

case. They then state that, if I try to do the same

again, they will charge me again. When I wrote to

Nationwide, they phoned me rather than reply in

writing because they don’t want any response or

admission of fault in writing. You can’t use a debit

card to settle a currency transaction online

because of the £200 limit so the good rates online

are effectively blocked by the cartel unless you pay

all the unjustified charges. My first experience was

actually buying currency to pick up at a future date

from the airport so it was not even drawing cash

from a third party immediately. In their attempt to

charge me for a service they had not provided,

Lloyds was charging me on guesswork of what the

transaction represented. This must be stopped as I

am sure it is illegal in law to charge for a cash

advance you have not made

ken

● I attempted to purchase some Euros at Thomas

Cook and presented my Lloyds Visa debit to make

payment. I was told that Lloyds would charge me for

this transaction using my debit card to pay for

currency from my own (Lloyds) current account.

You suggest that the true cost to the card issuer of

processesing a card transaction would be 2% of the

value of the goods. Surely the processing cost are

the same no matter what the value of the goods?

tony

● To get Travel Insurance with my credit card I

obviously have to use it to pay the Balance of a

holiday. The Charge is usually 2% which on 3

holidays per year, say £8,000 is £160.

peter

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.31

fiNaNce

UTiLiTieS

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● I entered into an 18month contract with AOL for

Phone and broadband. After about 12 months

they unilaterally imposed a £1.99/month charge

(albeit after notice) for payment by credit card

which I had been doing by direct charge since I

took the contract out. I complained that I did not

think it reasonable to add this charge midway

through a contract they referred me to their terms

and conditions which do allow them to change

payment method but unclear whether a charge is

actually valid though.

howard

● I was charged an extra £4 for using a debit card

by energy supplier First Utility on a bill of £77. I

wasn’t told about the charge beforehand.

Brian

● Southern Electric and many others. Not told

about charge early on. I think it was 2.5%. Charges

have put me off making a purchase many times.

What do we do when there are no cheques

around!!!???

eSMond

● I think you should also go for BT who charge for

not paying by direct debit

fred

● BT charges me £18 per year because I won’t

sign up to pay by direct debit.

Carl

UTiLiTieS

I object strongly to being charged £4.50 extra by British Telecom because I wish to pay my quarterly accounts by cheque rather than setting up a direct debit. penelope

● BT encourage you to use an online service to

view you bill an become paperless but then charge

you £4.50 + vat to pay your bill

tony

● I rang around for quotes for central heating oil.

The lowest quote was from Cranfield Oil Company

so rang them back to place the order but when I

asked to pay by credit card they said there would

be a 1.5% surcharge! They were no longer the

lowest quote so I placed the order elsewhere. I’ve

bought oil from this company before with no

surcharge so was a bit surprised by their omitting

to tell me when they originally quoted of the

surcharge.

keith

● Suffolk Coastal charged an additional £4.26 on

£213 Council Tax when I paid on line by Mastercard

in error. Bearing in mind this payment is made in

advance I feel it’s excessive. I phoned straight away

but was told I couldn’t change to Switch payment.

John

● I was purchasing Central Heating Oil from Sivey

Ltd. At the checkout stage I was notified that there

would be a 3% charge for using my credit card on

a purchase of over £1000. I have also experienced

a similar problem when paying for holidays with

Newmarket Ltd. When faced with this charge I

tend to pay by debit card which I dislike doing as it

does not provide me with the same level of

security.

When my broadband was with Tiscali the slight

penalty for paying monthly by credit card was that

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.33

● Dear Sir

This is not a specific example of the problem but I

hope my comments might help. I remember in the

early 1980’s that when the price of petrol started to

increase and more people started to pay using credit

cards the petrol stations started to charge extra to

use a credit card to pay for fuel. This caused an

uproar and I remember that a law was introduced to

stop petrol stations charging extra for the use of a

credit card. My observation is does this law still exist

and if so does it cover other transactions other than

the purchase of fuel?

Kind regards

John

● Heating oil for c/htg chandlers oil & gas charged

£5.00 for using credit card approx cost of oil was

£630.00 NO charge for a debit card which don’t

have.

Mr roBert

● I buy heating oil for a dozen or so houses locally and

we individually get charged 2% if we pay by credit

card but nothing by debit card.

I signed up for an AOL Phone/Broadband package

and they started charging £2 per month to pay by

credit card.

Stuart

● BT raises a charge of £4.50 if you pay by card, BT

IS TRYING TO FORCE customers to have direct

debit or use the bt credit card to pay bills.

keith

I paid a few days earlier than if I had paid by bank

debit card. Now Talk Talk has taken over Tiscali

they have introduced a monthly charge of £1.99

for using credit card. My monthly bill is about £30,

so I am paying about 6.6%. I shall probably switch

to a debit card for which they do not charge.

keith

● Southern Electric charge me an extra 1.5% of my

bill to pay by Master Card on line.

Have been with Tiscali for Broadband for 6 years,

paying by credit card monthly with no charge. Talk

Talk recently took them over and have introduced

a monthly charge of £1.99 for paying by debit or

credit card. No reason for the new charge has

been given.

Mike

● BT hold my card details & debit the required

amount for my quarterly phone bill, but charge me

about £5 for this, I even get charged VAT on it

apparently!

Jayn

● Talktalk have now introduced a £1.99 monthly

charge for paying your bill by Credit/Debit Card. I

don’t like Direct Debit, so what choice do I have?

neSta

● Another industry who rip people off for the

convenience of using a credit card to pay a bill are

the utility companies, the company I have just left,

Southern Elec/Gas, charge 1.5% to pay online by

card - 1.5% TAX to pay a bill Scandalous!

Barry

● TalkTalk have just started to charge a whopping

£1.99 a month for payments made by credit card.

This was the normal way to pay when a customer of

Tiscali.

Within the last few days I have received a bill from

Talk Talk which is imposing a £2 annual fee for using

a credit card to pay the monthly rental for broadband.

As a customer of Tiscali originally, I do not recall such

a charge ever being made. Consequently, it must be

an easy way of raising extra revenue.

grahaM

During the December freeze the unregulated heating oil companies cashed in on demand by increasing their prices for 1000 litres of heating oil from £450 (November) to over £700 in December (yes there are some of us in rural areas who don’t have gas mains or a choice). Some people were forced to choose between heating their homes and eating. When I phoned a heating oil company in January to order some oil as prices were slowly recovering, they slapped on a £9 credit card surcharge. This has never happened before. alan

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.34

UTiLiTieS

● My partner and I received our Electricity Bill for the

balance of £701.35 from Southern Electric a few

days ago and I wanted to pay the whole amount

with my credit card and was informed there would

be an additional charge of £10.50. I asked why this

charge was applied and was informed “he wasn’t

sure but thought it was because it was considered a

cash transfer!!! I then asked who was applying the

charge i.e. Southern Electric or Mastercard, he said

he didn’t know. My parter and I decided to pay with

our debit card instead. We were only told about the

charge after completing all the details with their

customer services person and had to start over

again with all our details, etc. I use my creadit card

to pay for everything (loyalty points being the

reason for this practice) and pay the entire balance

avoiding any charges. However, I begrudge using

my credit card if it means I have to pay a surcharge

for anything other than bookings holidays or hotels

rooms. The most recent are as follows:-

1. Laterooms.com £2.50 transaction fee was

charged against my credit card and the website did

inform me that this charge would apply.

2. Page & Moy holidays, a £4.10 has been applied

against our depost of £209.10. Their telesales

person informed me that this charge applied only

when it came to actually paying the deposit over

the phone, however, on receipt of the invoice it

does state in “small print” a 2.1/2% handling fee will

be included on any balance payments made by an

American Express credit card and a 2% handling

fee will be included on any balance payments made

by any other credit card. The norm for me is to pay

with my debit card if it means I would incurr an

additional charge for using my credit card.

However, with holiday bookings I only pay the

deposit with my credit card, because I am able to

make any claim through my credit card company

(being a third party) should anything go wrong with

the tour company. I would not, therefore, consider

paying a 2% charge on the balance. The most I

recall ever making for using a credit card is 2.1/2%

but cannot produce an evidence of this now.

JaCky

● I am personally far more concerned by the

charges applied by telephone and other utilities for

not paying by direct debit. These bear no relation

to their costs. They are a pressure to use direct

debit and are all about stopping the user looking at

how much they are paying and perhaps going on

to check other suppliers charges.

Regarding the costs of processing debit card

payments. There is NO excuse for any charge for

using a debit card. The cost of processing a debit

card payment is far less than the costs involved in

handling a cash payment.

Matt

Solar PV installation by EVO Energy deposit of £3,875 paid by Credit card incurred a 3% surcharge of £116.25. david

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.35

UTiLiTieS

reTaiL

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● I think Credit card issuers make huge profits as it

is - and that in spite of the high level of fraud they

allow to proliferate - ultimately charged to the C.C.

user in the form of unjustifiably high interest rates.

alan

● I occasionally buy items like jewellery, glass,

porcelain etc from a shop in Stratford upon Avon.

They do charge extra for using a credit card, but

both prices are always clearly marked and the

difference is probably about 2 1/2 %. Having said

that, I have shopped there for a number of years

and so they usually waive the extra charge, even

if I use a credit card. I think a small charge is

acceptable, provided that the customer is made

aware of it at an early stage. I do not think a large

percentage should be charged.

nina

● A couple of months ago I purchased flat-pack

furniture from IKEA. After queuing at a checkout

for some time I reached my turn and only then

became aware that I could ONLY pay with a credit

card AND I would be charged extra for that

privilege. I then found a sign to that effect which

was only on view from side-on to the queues

having reached the checkout!

tone

● My wife wished to purchase new curtains for

our lounge. A company called Plumbs (of Preston)

measured everything and worked out a price. The

rep asked for a deposit of £250 which I wished to

pay by Credit card. The rep asked for £4 extra for

payment by credit card. I would have cancelled the

reTaiL

IKEA in Thurrock, last time I bought furniture from them (6 months ago), charged extra for using the credit card. Interestingly, I was not charged extra for a similar purchase around the same date in Manchester. kaSh

order but my wife wished to proceed, so we used a

debit card.

derek

● When I first applied for a Credit Card I was told

that charges were NOT to be applied & were to be

reported to the Company. This has gradually

changed to all retailers charging for credit cards.

In recent years they are also charging for Debit

cards. With the Banks withdrawing Cheque

facilities and reducing cash transactions this is a

very unfair Bank driven levy on the public. I have

on occasion booked theatre tickets only to be told

that a charge applies to each ticket instead of the

one financial transaction. Charges for both Credit

and Debit cards DO put me off making a

purchase. I would prefer to deal with someone

who does not charge.

ian

● A builder’s merchant I visited refused to take

certain credit cards because they said the charges

were too high and it took too long for them to

receive their money. He then charged me 1% for

using one of their approved credit cards. A travel

agent I have used charges 2.5% for the use of any

credit card and £1 per transaction for the use of a

debit card. Another travel agent that I have used

only accepts debit cards for which he charges a

flat fee of £2.50 for each transaction. In all cases

the charges were divulged at the time of payment.

I would not object to a small fee for the use of a

credit card (say £1) to cover the cost of processing

the transaction (which used to cost less than 12p)

after all I am having an interest free loan for one

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.37

● Why is it that Costa Coffee does not charge for

items purchased with a card? They are all small

amounts and presumably more expensive in

percentage terms. If Costa can do it there is no

excuse for others to charge.

● We all know about booking tickets etc online

but I was staggered the other day to be ordering

something on the Internet and when I got to the

final paying stage the “agency” that were acting as

the money handlers for this company put an extra

£3 onto the bill as a surcharge with absolutely no

warning. Needless to say I baled out.

riChard

● Main problem is on-line when ordering items and

the surcharge for using credit card doesn’t appear

until the last window.

ken

● In any case where I find credit card charges, I

use my debit card, which carries no charge. I do

agree that some charges are greater than I think

necessary, but I can’t remember which companies

do this – I always ask, and refuse if the charge is

high. Good luck with the campaign.

John

● I have simply given up paying by credit card

when I feel that the surcharge for using a credit card

is more than I think reasonable. This now applies to

Rail tickets, as well as airline and ferry companies.

ronald

to fifty six days for the cost of the goods that I

am buying. However, I strongly object to paying

anything for the use of a debit card as the money

is removed from my account within 24 hours and

the processing of the transaction is a part of the

cost of doing business for the banks. If we accept

debit card charges then soon all suppliers will start

charging for using a cheque and then for having to

take their day’s takings to the bank each day or for

having “Securicor” collect their day’s takings and

take it to the bank for them.

alan

● IKEA and Thomson holiday both charge for a

credit card but not for debit - as for Ryan air!

elaine

● Makro have now applied a charge of £1 to use a

credit card for any purchase. David Madden

Netto and Lidle charge extra if one uses a credit

card but ok with a debit card.

k roCk

● I believe that all retailers should factor in card

acceptance fees in their normal business costs

and price their goods and service to include that

(including accepting American Express and Diners

Club). After all, as an operator of a small business I

know it’s not free for retailers to pay in cash or

cheques because cash has a transport pick-up/

delivery cost even assuming there are no other

cuts taken by the bank, and cheques delay money

receipt as well as soon becoming non-guaranteed

so open to fraud for retailers that will still take

them after 30th June.

● I support the action you are taking because the

unaware are being taken for a ride. This is what

offends me. However to be truthful, I rarely buy

with a card (credit or debit) that is going to cost

me extra money. I have rarely found times when

you are not aware in advance so I have time to

make a decision - charge or convenience.

Nonetheless, I am angry when the buyer is

actually being made to pay more for the privilege

than it actually costs the trader.

ewan

On a couple of occasions I have purchased foreign currency from Travelex, and used my Barclays debit card. I am amazed that Barclays had the nerve to charge me for this - it was a sterling transaction between me and Travelex. It was Travelex that provided the currency service, not Barclays. This type of charge should be illegal.

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.38

reTaiL

● This is not an additional experience, simply a

comment you might wish to take on board. Given

that debit and credit cards are the more typical

method of payment for most things these days;

I agree that there should be no surcharges for

using them, especially now that many retailers are

phasing out payments by cheque. Also, internet

shopping increases week by week, making card

payments even more necessary. However, as we

know, the credit card companies not only charge

high interest rates to their customers who use the

credit facility, but they also charge businesses high

fees for enabling credit card payments. I suspect

that businesses factor such costs into their product

prices, meaning that the consumer pays more in

the end, whichever payment method they use. I

would say that card surcharges are unethical in

today’s society, but then certain companies could

be regarded as unethical in their pricing policies

anyway (e.g. a certain Irish airline) and if surcharges

are outlawed, they will use other methods to

charge their customers more. Whether businesses

can afford to absorb the costs or not, most won’t

and are likely to pass on the cost to customers,

either through other charges, or raising prices. In

the end, it will be the end user, the customer, who

will pay and we are unable to escape this reality.

I still favour an end to these surcharges in order

to bring transparency, clarity and fairness into the

purchasing process, but I won’t hold my breath on

any cost savings overall.

alan

● All my card payments are generally made using

a Debit Card as I have never been asked to make

extra payments; it only seems to occur when using

my Credit Card which I now very rarely use

because of this.

ian

● Simple things like the on-line purchase of a Road

Fund Licence does not attract an added charge

IF a debit card is used, but does if a credit card is

used; but I feel much safer using a credit card for

internet transactions.

There is no reason whatsoever for levying a charge

for credit card payments as banks charge for all

credits to Business Accounts, including cash and

cheques.

philip

● Times when I choose to pay with credit card, even

though it costs extra, from £5 to a % of the total,

because (a) I get better cover against anything

going wrong and (b) I dislike the idea of someone

whipping money off my bank account without the

additional “gate” of a credit card bill which I can

question - and get the credit card company on my

side if necessary.

Sandra

I have on a few occasions beenmade aware that there is a charge for using a card. I will not accept this so I send a cheque or find an alternative supplier. I regard the practice as illegal and anti-customer and I support your approaching the Office of Fair Trading. I was charged £1 extra to send flowers through Interflora to my daughter in America. I didn’t know right until the end and I just accepted it, but I didn’t like it Brenda

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.39

reTaiL

heaLTh & BeaUTY

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● When I paid Parkwood Leisure Services for a years

swimming pass I was told there was a charge if I paid

monthly - £30 to set up a DD on card. I chose to pay

by debit card as I thought this would not incur

charges. I was told the total amount, but this was not

broken down. I subsequently learned that £5 had

been added to the annual charge as I had paid by

card. I asked about paying with a cheque and was

told this was not possible. I rang trading standards as

I had never been charged to use my card before, and

was told that as long as I had been told the full

amount, the company were not breaking the law.

peter

● When attempting to pay my bill in the hairdressers,

I was told that an extra charge would be made

although I only ever use a debit card, and there is no

risk of non payment. I only ever pay cash now.

● My dentist charges for using a Debit Card. I take

a cheque book, but after dental treatment you can be

a bit shakey, and it would be much easier to just hand

over a card.

Colin

● I recently visited the Botleigh Grange Hotel & Spa,

near Southampton. The spa day was good value,

but I paid cash for our lunch when I saw the notice

to advise that every credit card transaction was

subject to a fixed fee of £3.95!!! Not so bad if paying

a large hotel account, but would have been around

a 30% addition to our bill.

Stephen

● I had a private consultation with a Doctor

and when I went to pay by Amex I was told there was

a 2.5% surcharge if I paid by Amex, but no surcharge

if I paid by Master Card

roBert

● I was paying for exercise classes at a private

clinic called the Sherwood Clinic in South Harrow,

the amount being £120. There was an unexpected

fee for paying by credit card so I paid using my debit

card.

Sheila

● The Hospital Group charges: No charge for the

first £1,000; then with AMEX it is 7% and

Mastercard?Visa 3%. My bill would have come to

£172 extra on Mastercard. Is it fair?

katie

● I went to pay my bill at my dentist’s surgery.

I wanted to pay by credit card and I was charged £3

for this. Is this a fair amount or is it in fact legal? I

know that it does not cost £3 to process a

transaction.

● I cannot believe how many are jumping on

this bandwagon, my dentist charged me a surcharge

of £15 on a £250 bill last week and that was a debit

card. Fee for credit card was £30!!!

Falltricks hair salon, Romford, have started imposing 3% surcharge for payment by credit card. I do resent paying surcharges, unless for small independent shops, and use debit card instead. Sarah

heaLTh & BeaUTY

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.41

goVerNMeNT

A which? super complaint 2011

STOP ‘RIP-OFF’ CH

AR

GES

● I was charged online by HMRC for paying my tax

with a credit card.

patriCk

● Charged by HMRC for paying my tax with a

credit card.

Janet

● Check out the billpay system on the

HMRC website- a charge for paying your tax by

credit card!

● Government Departments do this Tax by Phone or

online by credit card and 2.5 % added.

● How about the Government HMRC charging a

fee for paying taxes by credit card - so who is

poacher and who is gamekeeper?

Jane

● It is not just companies making unreasonable

charges for the use of credit cards, it is the

government itself. When you renew your car tax

online (which is the easiest way), they charge

£2.50 for the pleasure of paying by credit card.

grahaM

● Taxing you card on line using a credit card costs

£2:50 free if you use a debit card this is a

government department. I used the Post Office

until I had a debit card a holiday company wanted

to charge 2% of the cost of my holiday (over

£5000) but accepted a cheque for free.

peter

goVerNMeNT

One of the worst culprits is the government. It should cost far less to tax a vehicle on line than if one stands in line for ages at the Post Office, yet it costs more to do it on line. If you want to pay your income tax on line, the Revenue charge a fee of 1.25% if paying by card.riChard

● What about HMRC itself? The Government Tax

Collector. Do a Self Employed online return, which

is nice and easy. And then if you want to pay by

the easy method of a Credit Card, Santander nails

you for a percentage of your tax return!! That

could be huge amount of money. Especially bad

for people who are paying a lot of tax. Why on

EARTH do they think they have the right to that

much money? Is the tax office not paying them

enough already to take the payments? Or is this a

Spanish tax on the UK tax payer?

Mark

● I have had to pay HM Revenue and Customs

£2.21 to settle seld assessment tax bill.

● Arun District Council delegate garden waste

collection to Verdant Group Ltd who charge

£58.21 a year for renewal by direct debit or online

but £66.38 for renewal by post or telephone.

Verdant’s telephone number is 01903734520. I

appreciate that this is not simply a charge for

using plastic but I find it more offensive than a

requirement to pay £2 for using a credit card for a

hotel booking.

doug

● South Somerset District Council / Somerset

Waste partnership Renewal Form 2011/2012 for

Garden Waste Collection Service.(£42,50 pa) ...

(please note that if you wish to pay by credit card

you will incur of 2.26%) An odd method of

encouraging recycling and green credentials!

harry

WHICH? “RIP-OFF” CARD SURCHARGES.43

for more information contact:which.campaigns@which.co.uk020 7770 7353www.which.co.uk/ripoff