Well it seems the Office of Fair Trading may have some teeth after all, in todays announcement that Travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card.
For those who are pained with the filling in booking forms, we all know at the page before “buy”, some airlines will decide to levy a fee for the use of a credit card or Debit Card.
This is not reflected in the Headline price, but the final price.
The Office of Fair Trading thinks this is a shame, and has ordered companies (that’s airlines, travel agents, ferries, and anyone else who levys a fee for using a card) to make charges clear from the outset.
More importantly, the Office for Fair Trading wants the law changed so that fees are not levied when paying with a Debit Card, representing a saving for the consumer.
This comes with a threat from 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,”
Whilst this enforcement to display cost from the outset, it does nothing to address the stupidity of the cost of credit card fees, of which the OFT is not doing anything about at this time.
Expect the Low Cost Carriers to throw their toys out of the pram, and in six months time for prices to go up so the fees are covered…..
