The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has told travel companies that they must change the way they charge customers paying by credit or debit cards or face legal action.
Following a super-complaint by Which?, the consumer magazine, the OFT has published its findings on booking surcharges. It also calls for the law to be brought up to date to stop consumers being charged for paying with a debit card.
The investigation, which lasted for 90 days, focused on the transport industry and found evidence of companies using “drip pricing” practices, ie, adding charges to the price after the customer had worked through several web pages.
The airline sector has come under particular scrutiny as the OFT estimates that British consumers have spent £300 million on payment surcharges during 2009.
The OFT is calling for traders to stop charging for paying with any debit card, which, it says, is “the online equivalent to cash”. However, surcharges for paying with a credit card should stand as there is a cost in processing these payments.
Cavendish Elithorn, Senior Director of the OFT’s Goods and Consumer Group, said: “You can’t buy online with cash and people are frustrated about being asked to pay for paying.
“Consumers find it harder to shop around and find the best deal if they have to invest time and effort in discovering surcharges. This also weakens competition between retailers which is bad news for the UK economy.”
Mr Elithorn went on to say: “We will take enforcement action against any businesses that do not respond to today’s announcement and instead continue to use misleading surcharging practices.”
See what the leading airlines are currently charging for paying with plastic on www.cheapflights.co.uk and read Cheapflights’ response to today’s news.
(Image: MoneyBlogNewz)
