Allotments 4 All

at the local shop if you pay by debit card a charge of 70p to £1.50 IS  ADDED
TO THE TOTAL COST OF GOODS.i can shop at ada,morrisons,lidl ect and pay no charge. my Q is is this legal for smaller shops- or ars we  being ripped off by the smaller retailer ?

I don't know if it's legal or not but Ikea used to do it.

It's legal.  The banks charge the retailer a flat fee (20p I think) for processing a debit card transaction and the retailer is choosing to pass it on to you rather than put prices up across the board to cover it as the larger shops do.  It sounds as if they are profiteering from it though by having a range of charges when it only costs them 20p.  They should tell you about the fee in advance though, not after you have purchased.    Credit card charges are different, it's a percentage of the value of the transaction so it will differ from purchase to purchase.

The Consumers Association has been campaiging on these charges recently by online retailers (airline tickets, theatre bookings etc) arguing that excessive charges are unfair and that there is a lack of transparency.

I have never quite understood how retailers can justify card charges v. charging for paying by cash.  Banks charge retailers for processing cash deposited and it costs a business more to insure the premises if they have significant amounts of cash together with the increased security required.  Odd.   

I know what i would do the next time i shop there. When they have put every item through the bar code scanner, take your coin jar with you and pay for it all with loose change. :P

Our local supermarket have a minimum Debit card transaction of £5.  They are normally very pleased if your take in a stash of loose change.

If a shop or service try to charge me for anything else other than what I am buying, I use two words one of them is off

Quote from: ACE on September 30, 2011, 06:52:26
If a shop or service try to charge me for anything else other than what I am buying, I use two words one of them is off

The other is "I'm"  ?

Its not rocket science you pay with cash, I never pay with a card whats the point when your pockets are lined with cash. I bought my missus some vouchers at christmas from a shop she uses, when I payed the bird in the shop looked surprised and said all our lady customers pay with a card, the blokes always seem to pay cash, thats cause were not thick.   :P ;)

Quote from: cornykev on September 30, 2011, 07:40:35
lady customers pay with a card, the blokes always seem to pay cash, thats cause were not thick.   :P ;)

Oh dear Kev you dropped in it now cos the ladies will say the guys pay the card bills and the cash they use for personal treats we do not know about ....  ;D ;D ;D