Plus £1.50 charge to pay by credit card

[#1]

Following PlusNets annoucement that they are to charge £1.50 to pay by credit card even though many have paid this way for many years without charge, and they still do not make a charge for one off payments, do you thinkk it's fair?

[#2]

seems like an incentive to use direct debit doesn't it?
have noticed other bills are slightly cheaper if you make a d/d

[#3]

I thought this was a bit off until I saw Bob's post stating the failure rate for card payments. Having seen that I can see why they are doing it.
One off payments are a bit different as they are generally paid in advance and there is an immediate check for success - if the payment fails Plusnet don't provide what the payment was supposed to be for.

[#4]

I don't see why those of us who pay by DD should subsidise those who don't.

[#5]

How do you come to the conclusion that because you pay by DD you are subsidising anything?

[#6]

I don't.  But if it costs Plusnet more to service debit card payments than DD payments, then I think it right that those who pay by card should be surcharged. That's all I meant.
Chris

[#7]

Have to say I don't like the sound of using my debit/credit card for recurring payments - where is the security?
When I make a one-off transaction; I enter my details, including the CVS(?) code and are then sent to my "verified by visa" login page.
Using it for a recurring transaction; what details are stored - presumably it includes the CVS code and goes through purely as a customer not present transaction?
What happens then if PN muck up and charge the incorrect amount?  I've got no guaranteed way of getting the money back have I?

[#8]

Quote from: jelv

One off payments are a bit different as they are generally paid in advance and there is an immediate check for success - if the payment fails Plusnet don't provide what the payment was supposed to be for.

Perhaps PN should automatically send a 24 hour cut off warning and charge a £15 reinstatement fee for repeat offenders.

[#9]

I think £1 would be a fairer monthly fee, but I can see too many people wouldn't quibble about paying that, and that would defeat the object..... As I don't think this is a money making exercise for Plusnet, I think it is a genuine desire to move people away from Credit Card payments. Therefore it had to be high enough fee to act as a strong deterrent without taking the micky, so I actually agree on this occasion that £1.50 is probably about the right balance...
It also nearly brings them into line with their Parent company BT's own non-DD fee which has been £1.50 since 2007.
For those complaining, just imagine that the 2.5% VAT had been added in line with the expected rise, and you'll see the  added CC fee is more reasonable on top of this!
The answer is simple, move to Direct Debit payments... and make the maximum saving!
Mike

[#10]

Quote from: xpcomputers

... The answer is simple, move to Direct Debit payments... and make the maximum saving!

Of course there are no badly organised finances among Plusnetters. Nonetheless it is good to make sure one has the money available.

[#11]

Quote from: xpcomputers

For those complaining, just imagine that the 2.5% VAT had been added in line with the expected rise, and you'll see the  added CC fee is more reasonable on top of this!

How so?  If I pay by DC/CC at present, it's £11.49.  If I pay by DD it's £11.49.
From January it would be £12.99 by card and £11.49 by DD (as opposed to £11.73 with the new VAT rate)
At no point does the card handling fee become more reasonable than simply upping the cost to take the VAT increase into account.

[#12]

Quote from: geofftswin

Quote from: xpcomputers For those complaining, just imagine that the 2.5% VAT had been added in line with the expected rise, and you'll see the  added CC fee is more reasonable on top of this! How so?  If I pay by DC/CC at present, it's £11.49.  If I pay by DD it's £11.49. From January it would be £12.99 by card and £11.49 by DD (as opposed to £11.73 with the new VAT rate) At no point does the card handling fee become more reasonable than simply upping the cost to take the VAT increase into account.

So why not save yourself some money and pay by direct debit then?
Remember you have more control with direct debit, have you ever tried to stop a continuous card authorisation!

[#13]

Quote from: grudkin

Remember you have more control with direct debit, have you ever tried to stop a continuous card authorisation!

I agree!  I cannot see any reason why someone would want to use a continuous card authority over a direct debit.  A direct debit can be cancelled and refunded immediately by your bank, whereas with a CCA you are at the mercy of the payee and your bank's dispute department.

[#14]

Quote

I cannot see any reason why someone would want to use a continuous card authority over a direct debit.

This is definitely an argument of principle and an understandable one at that.

[#15]

I've always paid my PlusNet account by credit card, I chose to do this after a bad experience with a building society who took £70 instead of £7.00 out of my account; to get my money back I had to jump through hoops and it cost me a lot of time. However, after reading the pros and cons concerning paying by DD and saving £1.50 a month I've decided to take a chance and pay PlusNet by DD.
When I went to make the change the procedure wasn't that clear. First I filled in the on line part then I printed out the form  for PlusNet to take out my payment every month. I'm assuming that I fill out the printed form and send it to PlusNet. Is this the correct procedure?
Also I can't remove my credit card details for some reason. Would they be removed once PlusNet receive the confirmation from our bank  that DD is in force?
One other thing, and although not related directly to the DD thing, it's the first time I've looked into my account details only to find that the promised £4.00 postage on a router PlusNet sent me to try and sort a line fault hasn't been credited back into my account. Now I was promised that this would be done but seeing as it's not, there remains a nagging doubt that paying by DD may result in more problems further down the line.
How do I get my £4.00 back?