The OFT has warned it will take action if companies do not comply Thursday, June 30, 2011
Hidden card charges to be banned
The OFT has warned it will take action if companies do not comply Travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card.
Airline, ferry and rail passengers typically have to click through four to six pages of an online booking before the charge is added to the price.
Now the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has ordered them to make charges for using a credit card clear immediately.
It also wants the law changed to abolish altogether charges for using debit cards.
The OFT said travellers spent £300m on card surcharges in the airline industry alone.
What is a super-complaint?
A designated consumer group can make a super-complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) if an issue is "significantly harming the interests of consumers".
The OFT has 90 days to respond by stating what action, if any, it plans to take on the issue and the reasons behind its decision.
It warned that if travel firms did not comply, it would take action against them, using the consumer protection laws.
"You can't buy online with cash and people are frustrated about being asked to pay for paying," said Cavendish Elithorn of the OFT.
"We will take enforcement action against any businesses that do not respond to today's announcement and instead continue to use misleading surcharging practices."
The OFT's announcement comes in response to a super-complaint by the consumers' association Which?.
Earlier this year it had called for customers to be told upfront about charges.
It had also argued that charges to customers should be the same as the cost to retailers, and that retailers should absorb the cost of debit card payments.
Which? had pinpointed low-cost airlines as the worst offenders, with cinemas, hotels and even some local authorities starting to copy them.
A family of four booking a return flight with one budget airline would be charged £40 to pay by card - much higher than the cost of processing the payment, it said.
In December, the OFT warned retailers about tricking customers with misleading price offers, including "drip pricing" which involves adding compulsory delivery costs.
Businesses must include any compulsory extras in their headline price on their website.
For example, if an airline charges customers a fuel duty surcharge, this must be included in the advertised price of the flight.
Super-complaints have been in the armoury of consumer groups since 2002.
Examples so far have included complaints about bank charges, payment protection insurance, prison call costs and doorstep lending.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-13932299
ratatouille drop dead diva hancock united nations just dance edu valkyrie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.