JamieMacdonald

Hi there,

Does anyone know if a company is allowed to pass the fee they are charged for taking payment by credit card on to the consumer?

I am supposed to be picking my new car up tomorrow from a performance car dealer. I paid a £500 deposit last week on my credit card and the car was being MOT'd this week and is ready to be collected tomorrow.

I have taken out a loan to add to the cash I have to buy the car, it has been approved but hasn't come through yet. When I spoke to the dealer today he asked how I was going to pay, I replied 60% on my debit card, 40% on my credit card. He advised that they get charged 2% for all credit card transactions and they don't normally pay this on large transactions i.e. I would have to pay it. He said they CAN do it though, and if I still wanted to then they would try and work something out to lessen the charge on me (I'm assuming they will offer to pay half of the charge).

Can they do this? They never mentioned anything when I paid the deposit on my credit card. I think when they call tomorrow I might just say I am not happy about paying the charge so they will have to wait until my loan has come through and I am back from holiday. If they had mentioned the charge earlier I could have made alternative arrangements .

It would help if I could quote to them 'The consumer act 1994' or something if they legally can't do this!

I think if it comes to it I will just wait until I get back from holiday as I would only have the car for 2 days before I go anyway. But they would be 2 days of FUN!

J

The Rani

Don't know whether this is still up-to-date but smaller companies were at one time allowed to add the charges on to the price for credit card transactions. Most supermarkets and the like include a percentage in their prices already.

ScoobywagonGl

Rani supermarkets still charge this but as you said it is within the price you pay! not added on
Jamie I didn't think they were allowed to do this your best bet is calling the credit card people or stop being impatient and wait an extra couple of days.
Hope your well
Tams

davegtt

Your buying a car, use it as a bargaining tool. tell him they pay the charge or hes not interested in the sale anymore, see what reply you get. Chances are he'll say go on then we'll pay it. He says owt else just say OK no problem if you can hold the car for an extra week or so I'll give you the cash when I get back off my holiday.

Job Done.

Scooby Soon!

Yes they can do it if the margins very slim I also do it (but not on cars), i only pay 23p for debit cards but credit cards cost me about 1.37% . Hence the reason why the dealer doesnt want to lose 1.37% to 2% commision charges out of his profit. Tell him to hold on to it until you get your loan sorted out, he may jsut change his mind but I doubt it!

David Lock

Yes they can but call their bluff - I bet they'll stand the charge. Doubt it's 2% though so you could question that.......

A call to Trading Standards will confirm if dealer can do this.

PS. Not always the best idea to post on Internet that you are getting new car and then off on holiday?

The Rani

Sorry, my punctuation went to pot - should have had a new paragraph there

JamieMacdonald

Cheers guys. Sounds like they are within their rights then.
I think I'll go with your suggestion davegtt - what's the point in losing the best part of £100 in charges just to get the car for a couple of days and then go away for a week. Chances are they might offer to cover the fee for the sake of their cash flow??

Good point David, although my car is kept 'elsewhere' when I go away, where it benefits from 24 hr surveillance.

mart360

I'll watch it for 24hrs as agreed jamie, but remember i want paying before you go on holliday, and i want the money in sterling, otherwise *cough* i might be distracted for a while *cough*

lol


Mart

john_s

iTrader: (1)

The reason shops and supermarkets include a 2.5% charge is because they can claim that to be a financial transaction, and it's not subject to VAT, so they save 17.5% of all those 2.5%'s.

John.

GC8

Yes they are; definately and certainly and they have been for years.

Simon

MattW

If your loan is via your bank, ask them to extend your overdraft temporarily, until the money is credited.

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Ok ... yes the dealer is allowed to add this if he or she likes.

BUT if you have already paid deposit on your credit card then he is now obliged to take the remaining settlement from your card, as he didnt mention to you about the payments hes not allowed to add them to the final value of the car.

Have a word with the C/Card company to back this up

Dick Cheese

LOL, this is officially known as "taking the ****", and you should tell them you're not interested.

Peanuts

iTrader: (15)

Jay, while the car sounds sweet, the dealer sounds like a cvnt.
walk away, tell him your not happy with late charges being added and you want your monkey back.

See how quick he plays ball then!

If he doesnt? Well buy another car elsewhere when your loan comes through

Phil

Have this every year when I pay for my Holiday

Do the deal then they say about the 2% charge

I just say oh I don't want it then

They cave in every year

Tiggs

why should the dealer pay the 2% because you are buying a car you dont have funds for?

JamieMacdonald

why does the dealer offer that facility, say you can pay the deposit on the credit card (surcharge free), leading you to the assumption that they take payment by credit card (surcharge free), then (the day before you collect the car) advise they don't accept payment by credit card unless you pay the 2% charge?

Bad business practice IMHO. I'm telling them I'm not paying the charge, they'll have to wait. Not having the funds is not the issue here - if I hadn't been given the impression that they accepted credit card payments, I could have made alternative arrangements to pay for the car - I don't have time to arrange this now before I go on holiday.

Lum

The car dealer is not taking the **** and what they are doing is perfectly understandable to me.

How much you get charged for card processing depends on the volume of transactions you put through and it can be anything up to 5% if you only put a small amount through.

Car dealers traditionally don't sell cars on a credit card, and while losing a tenner by putting the deposit through is reasonable, losing £200 (assuming a £10000 car) is taking the **** a bit. They could have just refused to take the credit card at all.

Mark Miwurdz

Because he's got margins elsewhere and this is a negotiation. It all depends how badly our friend want the car and how badly the dealer wants to sell it.

Cheers
Kav

Alas

Normal dealer practice to take a small deposit on CC. They then ask how the remainder will be paid which you must have told them cash/debit. If you had said CC they would have told you then it would cost. Try to get them to stand it if you like but if they say no, and you tell them to stuff the car - will your deposit be refundable??

Diablo

This cracks me up.

You didn't organise the finance on time.

You then tell the dealer with minimal notice that you are sticking a whack through on a credit card.

So for YOUR convenience, you expect the dealer to stump up the charges?

LOL

Some people.....

JamieMacdonald

Erm, excuse me - where did I say I expected the dealer to pay the charge?

Not that it's any of your business, but I applied for a small loan on the day I agreed to buy the car, and I am expecting the money to come through tomorrow.

Some people...

Tiggs

margins?????

he has money he can afford to go without and so does the buyer - as its the buyer who wants to pay in a way that will cost the dealer ££££££ the buyer should pay him back for it.

anyone that expects to pay for a car on CC and not have to deal with this issue is very naive.