Online agent's payments

[Ray66]

A few months ago I paid the initial deposit by credit card to my agent online and then in November I paid the remainder of the deposit also by credit card online. Today I came to pay the balance of the cruise through the agent's website portal but there was nowhere shown to be able to pay by credit card this time. They wanted me to pay by either electronic payment, bank transfer or cheque in the post.

 

So is this a way round for agents to not have to pay credit card fees because as we know, it is not now legal for them to pass the credit card fees on to us.

 

But using a credit card gives you some sort of insurance I think.

[MicCanberra]

I am not sure of the laws in the UK but here they can pass on the credit card fees as long as it is stated that they do.

As for paying by credit card for insurance, it all depends on the credit card as some only require a deposit of at least $250 or $500 (not sure what the pound limits are) and some require the full payment. You will need to check your CC Insurance requirements. Also read the insurance PDS as you may finds you are not covered for things you want cover for.

[Tothesunset]

Section 75 of the Consumer Act dictates that a CC (not debit card) payment for all or part of a good or service where the card payment is between £100 and £30,000 renders the credit card company jointly and severally liable to provide the good or service in a reasonable condition. 

 

In the OP's case he needs to pay over £100 and less than £30,000 to the agency (with whom he has the contract for them to provide the cruise)  to be covered by section 75.

 

Should the agency go bust then any services or goods they have contracted to supply will become the responsibility of the CC company to reimburse to the customer. 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Tothesunset

[John Bull]

How strange, never come across that before.

 

I'd be interested to know the name of that TA.

Since naming TAs on Cruise Critic is a no-no, perhaps you could at least say whether it's a UK agency and whether it's a well-known one or perhaps a small local one.

And are they members of ABTA or IATA (which have compensation schemes) ?

 

Under UK law they definitely can't  charge for using a card.

But I don't think there's anything illegal about declining to accept payment by card 

If they accept card for a deposit, it's beyond my ken whether they have the right to then decline the balance by card without that being declared before they accept the deposit.  It's time to dig out a powerful magnifying-glass and go thro' the small-print 

 

For the security of your money, Mic's law down-under seems to be the same as in the UK.

I don't know the minimum payment by credit card (somewhere around £100) but if a proportion of a purchase is by credit card then the card issuer is liable to compensate for the entire purchase if things go belly-up. There are terms - for instance it must all be for the actual purchase, not a subsequent add-on. Details widely available on the web. 

 

We've booked a safari in Tanzania direct with a (well-reviewed operator). We leave in a couple of weeks time whoopee . 

Everyone in Tanzania charges anywhere between 3% and 6% for paying with plastic - that's debit cards as well as credit cards.

That was made clear by the safari operator from the outset, long before any payment.

So we paid the deposit by credit card, and the bulk by bank transfer. 

Before fixing the bank transfer we double-checked with our card issuer and Visa, and both confirmed that we were covered.

It saved us about £150 in card fees, altho the bank transfer cost a £20 fee.

 

JB 

 

 

[Ray66]

25 minutes ago, John Bull said:

I'd be interested to know the name of that TA.

Since naming TAs on Cruise Critic is a no-no, perhaps you could at least say whether it's a UK agency and whether it's a well-known one or perhaps a small local one.

And are they members of ABTA or IATA (which have compensation schemes) ?

 

It's a very well-known UK online one. They didn't actually "decline" a credit card - there was just nowhere in the portal to use one when paying the balance. Whereas there was when I paid the deposit online. This is the first time I've used this particular agent.

 

The thing I should have mentioned for people to look out for is you might think you have around a month (until you get your next credit card statement) to find the balance amount but now you need to make sure you have this amount available in your bank account on the due date.

[John Bull]

40 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

It's a very well-known UK online one. They didn't actually "decline" a credit card - there was just nowhere in the portal to use one when paying the balance. Whereas there was when I paid the deposit online.

 

Hi Ray,

Not suggesting that you're as dumb as me when using websites*, but are you sure the option wasn't there via a different icon on the page, or on a totally different page? 

 

Or can you phone the agent to check this out?

 

JB 

*Actually I guess it's kinda obvious that I am 

 

[Ray66]

The agent sent an email with a reminder that the balance was due and there was a link on it to the payment page, just as there had been when the remainder of the deposit was due. I did have a good look round the payment portal and eventually found a link to pay by debit card, but not credit card. (I still have on my computer the screenshot I took when I paid the deposit balance with clear credit/debit card options).

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, John Bull said:

We've booked a safari in Tanzania direct with a (well-reviewed operator). We leave in a couple of weeks time whoopee . 

Everyone in Tanzania charges anywhere between 3% and 6% for paying with plastic - that's debit cards as well as credit cards.

That was made clear by the safari operator from the outset, long before any payment.

So we paid the deposit by credit card, and the bulk by bank transfer. 

Before fixing the bank transfer we double-checked with our card issuer and Visa, and both confirmed that we were covered.

It saved us about £150 in card fees, altho the bank transfer cost a £20 fee.

 

JB 

 

 

Enjoy your safari. We also usually use the Credit card for the deposit and pay the rest by bank transfer.

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, Ray66 said:

The agent sent an email with a reminder that the balance was due and there was a link on it to the payment page, just as there had been when the remainder of the deposit was due. I did have a good look round the payment portal and eventually found a link to pay by debit card, but not credit card. (I still have on my computer the screenshot I took when I paid the deposit balance with clear credit/debit card options).

 

 

 

 

I'd be inclined to give them a bell

Perhaps starting off with "I don't have access to a debit card. Where do send my cheque?" or "My travel insurance is provided by my credit card supplier".

 

Or if you don't fancy that call and your bank account can stand the cost without that 5 to 8 weeks' credit, just pay by debit card - since you paid the deposit by credit card your full fares are covered  as per the posts above.

And since it's one of the major on-line cruise specialists, presumably you're safe because they're members of ABTA. Are they?

 

JB 

[Ray66]

This is getting a bit out of hand if you don't mind me saying. 🙂

 

I have paid the balance by debit card (as I said in my last post, I eventually found how by looking round the portal). I have got travel insurance. (wish I'd never mentioned that bit now).

 

And like I said, it's a very well known TA - you may even have used it yourself. Of course they're members of ABTA.

 

My post was meant as a warning to people that even though you might have paid your deposit by credit card, you may not be able to pay the balance by credit card.

[MicCanberra]

16 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

This is getting a bit out of hand if you don't mind me saying. 🙂

 

I have paid the balance by debit card (as I said in my last post, I eventually found how by looking round the portal). I have got travel insurance. (wish I'd never mentioned that bit now).

 

And like I said, it's a very well known TA - you may even have used it yourself. Of course they're members of ABTA.

 

My post was meant as a warning to people that even though you might have paid your deposit by credit card, you may not be able to pay the balance by credit card.

Cheers, it is appreciated I am sure.

[yorkshirephil]

I wonder if this is the TA we are using on our next cruise, it will be the first with the TA. I couldn't pay online so I phoned and was told that they only take payment by cheque or bank transfer for the final payment, I paid the deposit by credit card so was covered by the card insurance as well as my travel insurance. The company is a well known sea cry??

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

I wonder if this is the TA we are using on our next cruise, it will be the first with the TA. I couldn't pay online so I phoned and was told that they only take payment by cheque or bank transfer for the final payment, I paid the deposit by credit card so was covered by the card insurance as well as my travel insurance. The company is a well known sea cry??

Aha me hearties, never heard of them😛

If only I had a Hoy.

[Ray66]

16 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

I wonder if this is the TA we are using on our next cruise, it will be the first with the TA. I couldn't pay online so I phoned and was told that they only take payment by cheque or bank transfer for the final payment, I paid the deposit by credit card so was covered by the card insurance as well as my travel insurance. The company is a well known sea cry??

 

I had to work that one out 🙂. Never heard of them. So no, not the same agent. Maybe there's a few of them trying it on then - so that they don't have to pay credit card charges now that they can no longer pass them on to their customers.

 

You can pay for your deposit in the following ways:

• Bank Transfer

• Credit Card

• Debit Card

To pay any remaining balance, you can pay in the following ways:

• Bank Transfer

• Cheque

• Direct Debit scheme which can be accessed online

 

[MicCanberra]

Well I cannot see what else they can do if they don't want to cover the costs and cannot pass it on

[2BACRUISER]

Reading this the first thing I would check is did the email reminder definitely come from them as you or they could have been hacked. I never follow links sent in emails as they could be sending you to a fake website where they want debit card details as they're easier to SCAM than cc and any address to send cheques is likely fake too so I open a new browser page and go to the agents website direct and then take it from there. 👍