Government to ban card surcharges

[slowcoach]

LINK
This news is long overdue, cards bring in extra business and any cost to the supplier should have been absorbed as a normal business expense. Is this the turning point for the Coalition, are we, at long last, going to have a Government putting the people first, I certainly hope so.

[Hugh]

tbf, i wouldn't have an issue with the actual card transaction cost being charged, it's the excessive amount that's charged that is the problem, and the fact that some airlines charge per person, rather than on the one card transaction.

[Russ]

I disagree with the charges being removed completely as that's how concert ticket companies make their money, however the government wants to remove excessive charges which in theory is great but that's just another ambiguous word which they'll present as being in our favour but in reality could mean anything.

[Hugh]

And of course, Ryanair are saying they don't have credit/debit card surcharges, just administration fees....

Reminds me of the old riddle/joke attributed to Abraham Lincoln -

Q: If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?

A: Four, because calling a tail a leg doesn't mean it is one.

[Rob]

If it costs a business to handle a transaction that cost will be passed to the consumer in some form. At least by having a specified transaction fee for cards it is only bourne by those who choose to pay that way. Now it's likely that all prices will rise to cover the cost, or that plastic will be less widely accepted.

[Chris]

The charges I find hard to stomach are the ones added to a cinema ticket when booking on line at the cinema's own website.

You can make exactly the same purchase, with a card, in person without penalty but online there's a booking fee that amounts to about 10% on top of the ticket price. It's indefensible that cinemas are charging more for use of their online services when just about every shop on the high street is undercutting itself online.

[martyh]

I started a thread a while back about this when Which magazine started the campaign .They started a super complaint with the OFT .It's nice to see these things actually get sorted instead of just brushed aside once the media has finished reporting .
It is interesting to note that the ban was going to happen anyway accross the EU in 2014 ,we get ours a couple of years early

A European Union ban on businesses including airlines from imposing above-cost surcharges was due to come into force in mid-2014.
But Mr Hoban said the Government was keen to act sooner, saying it was "leading the way in Europe by stopping this practice".
Consumer champion Which? submitted a "super-complaint" backed by tens of thousands of supporters to the OFT earlier this year.

http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16135920

[Taf]

I bought concert tickets at the venue in cash and saved £34% compared with online or over the phone!!

I also avoid a few local shops that charge a minimum of £2.50 for each credit card transaction.

[deadite66]

it's funny because the DVLA did this themselves.

[nomadking]

If somebody has 100 tickets to sell, then it costs them the same to man the phone lines etc, whether they are sold to 100 separate people or to 10 people in blocks of 10 at a time.

Ticket Agencies are just acting on behalf of the venues. The ticket price will go to the venue, leaving them with these charges. As I have pointed out, their costs remain the same, regardless of many separate orders there are. If any charges are based per order, then those buying just 1 or 2 tickets will bear the brunt of the increased charges.

[DaiNasty]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Ticket Agencies are just acting on behalf of the venues. The ticket price will go to the venue, leaving them with these charges. As I have pointed out, their costs remain the same, regardless of many separate orders there are. If any charges are based per order, then those buying just 1 or 2 tickets will bear the brunt of the increased charges.

If the venue benefits from not having to employ staff and set up systems to handle ticket sales then surely the venue should discount the tickets to the agencies and enable them to make a profit without lumping an extra charge on the buyers.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

If the venue benefits from not having to employ staff and set up systems to handle ticket sales then surely the venue should discount the tickets to the agencies and enable them to make a profit without lumping an extra charge on the buyers.

Then any charges would be completely hidden and would be per ticket, which is what people are complaining about.

[Threepints]

Originally Posted by slowcoach

LINK
This news is long overdue, cards bring in extra business and any cost to the supplier should have been absorbed as a normal business expense. Is this the turning point for the Coalition, are we, at long last, going to have a Government putting the people first, I certainly hope so.

I doubt it. They would have to implement this anyway as it is part of some new European wide legislation.

Dare I say a bit of Government spin?

[DaiNasty]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Then any charges would be completely hidden and would be per ticket, which is what people are complaining about.

But the buyers would still be paying the listed price for the ticket without any added charges. Surely that gives the same result as buying at the door so everyone wins.
I guess it's down to the concert organisers to take a wee loss on bulk sales, which seems fair enough to me when the prices are as high as they are these days.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Then any charges would be completely hidden and would be per ticket, which is what people are complaining about.

It's not quite the same. If any genuine admin costs are included within the ticket price, it means the true cost of the booking is visible up-front, rather than only being revealed at the very end of the transaction.