The Anonymous Widower

Charges for Credit Cards

A super complaint is going to the Office of Fair Trading about excessive credit card charges by companies, such as budget airlines and on-line retailers.

The only time I’ve paid one lately was with theTrainLine. I don’t use them, as they overcharged me by £9.20 to get to York.

These charges should be banned, as if I use my card in Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Carluccios or Pizza Express,  they don’t charge, so why should an airline or an on-line retailer?

February 11, 2011 - Posted by | Business, Finance, Transport/Travel | , ,

2 Comments »

  1. I recently bought tickets from Odeon for a film and found the experience quite unpleasant, including the sting in the tail when I fnally went to pay. The website was very difficult to navigate as it was full of content trying to divert me to read about how wonderful the experience would be if I decided to visit one of ther cinemas or even better join the Odeon club. At one point I decided to give up and I phoned them, only to be charged 50p a minute to listen to a long explanation of how I could get various benefits from joining their club, one of which was not saving the cost of telephone calls. Even when got through I was told I was in a queue, and after £2.50 I eventually got through to someone who couldn’t tell me whether the film I wanted to see was still being shown on the following Friday (it was a Saturday when I called). I would have to call back on the Tuesday. I went back to the website on the Tuesday and finally managed to find the ticket sales. On deciding to pay by debit card I was told that it would cost me an extra £3.50 which they referred to as an online payment surcharge. Surely it is cheaper for them if I buy online. Their sale conditions told me that I would have to take with me the credit/debit card used to pay, as otherwise I would have to pay again. Why? what would happen if the card was lost/stolen? I had the ticket printout. It works for airlines. The only thing in their favour was how good the staff were when I got there. I took my 91 year old mother and they were really helpful; allowing us to use the staff lift and a rear entrance so that she would not have to walk up the auditorium steps. So they get 1 out of 10 instead of 0.

    Comment by John Wrght | February 11, 2011 | Reply

  2. In the centre of London there are quite a few friendly cinemas, that aren’t part of large chains. You just give over a piece of paper with the Queen’s head on it and they give you the tickets and some change.

    Comment by AnonW | February 11, 2011 | Reply


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