goldngirl

I am pricing out charges for using a Transfer/Tour company for an upcoming trip to Italy: Rome to Naples, Sorrento to Positano, and Positano to Naples. I was quoted a cash price with a note that there would be a 5% surcharge for using a credit card. Their prices are the same if not higher than some other pricing I've seen so interested to know if this is a common practice or if anyone else has experienced same. Thank you.

janisj

That isn't unusual -- I've seen it in London, in Paris and in Rome.

flanneruk

Why are you surprised?

Credit cards cost merchants more. Are merchants in your country so feckless they don't try to recoup their costs?

Or has your country been bullied by the credit card lobby into passing protectionist legislation to allow Visa and Mastercard to continue ripping us off?

In Europe, we don't hold with featherbedding fat bankers

anniemaki

And in Europe it is that much harder and definitely riskier for tourists to carry wads of cash. We are already paying higher prices for hotels, restaurants and other services at tourist sites. That is why it is difficult to swallow what on the outside looks like yet another version of price gouging. For me, it not a question of fat bankers. Instead, this is one more thing I need monitor and avoid along with those nasty DCC surcharges.

--Annie

goldngirl

Thank you @janisj - answers my question!

WoinParis

Ryanair did it at a time.
It is true that CC cost to the supplier - something like 2% or less depending on the power of négociation but in the other hand supplier is sure to be paid in time. So my merchants are maybe just smart instead of feckless. (Seems our good Flanner is in a very good mood today).
However some people do give a price increase when paying with CC. I would do the same !
Some also decrease price if you pay cash - just ask.

bilboburgler

Just be aware of some of the other italian scam. By law every service in Italy has to give a receipt, which you have to carry for 100m before discarding. If the village knows the tax police are out of town then receipts will not appear and cash will be king.

Equally, the famous, "my card machine is broken", where they have specified the same price for cash or card but the machine does not work I've had to extract my BIL who was fumbling for every last penny of cash to pay a bill, all the machine needed was to be plugged in.

xyz123

It's certainly not unheard of. Is it common? Depends on many factors so it is impossible to give an absolutely precise answer. There are no regulations against surcharging in the eu to the best of my knowledge.

bilboburgler

not common

Surfergirl

I do not think it all that unusual . . . I've seen this practice for years. Not in all instances of course, because credit card companies (particularly AmEx) charge businesses for the privilege of using the card, but in some, there is the tax avoidance reason. This can be somewhat blatant in EU countries that are struggling, such as Greece.

I've seen bilboburgler's card machine not working ploy all over the world, even in sunny L.A. where I live. There's some joker at our local hospital car park who constantly pulls this nonsense. He stands at the machine to "help" you put in your ticket, then credit card. He also has the power to lift the arm to let you out of the car park by pushing a button. The first time it happened, I told him I had no cash, so open the gate and let me out for free since the credit card machine wasn't working. Suddenly the machine miraculously started working again.

hetismij2

The EU rule is that a surcharge may be charged, but no more than the cost of the transaction for the retailer.
That varies according to how much card payment traffic they have, the more card payments made, the lower the fee.

Even just renting the payment machine costs around €60-100 a month, plus the internet costs - not everywhere is on broadband and a dial up collection is slow and expensive - some even have to rely on satellite internet which is really expensive.

It is very rarely a question of price gouging poor innocent tourists. As for paying more for hotels etc at tourist sites, it is simply a question of supply and demand.

bvlenci

<i> By law every service in Italy has to give a receipt, which you have to carry for 100m before discarding. </i>

This hasn't been true for over ten years. And it's certainly possible to give a receipt for a cash payment, anyway, so it's irrelevant.

There is a law now in Italy that payments of €3000 and over can't be made with cash. Until recently, the limit for cash payments was €1000. Also, all merchants, except where it's not possible for technical reasons, have to accept electronic payments of some sort.

A B&B we stayed at used an app on a phone to accept our credit card payment. I'm not sure what the app was.

goldngirl

Thanks everyone for your input. Clarification from vendor is, as most everyone noted, to recoup cc expenses. In this particular case cc payment is made via PayPal - so the 5% charge is understandable. Basically leaves the option for me to choose cash discount or the convenience of cc payment (as you indicated #WoinParis). Triple points on my Chase cc for travel related charges make using a credit card the better option. Thanks again for info.

Dukey1

Yes, vendors do have to pay the expenses related to accepting a credit card. Here are some of the things those vendors GET as a result.

Increased foot traffic because they DO accept a credit card

No worries about debt collection since the moment the CC issuer approves the sale the burden of collection is removed from that vendor

Pretty much instant revenue almost as good as cash in hand

But some vendors want those advantages AND they want the purchaser to PAY for them, too.

Now, who is getting so-called "ripped off" here?

crefloors

When I was in business it was not allowed to charge more for a credit card being used which is one reason I never took American Express and a lot of other small merchants didn't either.

If vendors in Europe can charge a fee, good for them.

hetismij2

American Express is still not widely accepted in Europe because it is so expensive for the vendor. The vast majority of vendors do not charge extra for credit card use, but they are allowed to. It is usually very small shops and companies (and cheapo airlines!) that do charge, usually because they do not get enough card payments to get the cheapest rate.
In the Netherlands it isn't unusual for webshops to charge for credit card use, but that is because we have an excellent electronic banking system which allows for instant transfers (it is called Ideal).

When we used a locksmith recently he had an app on his phone for accepting credit card payments. It worked together with a plug in card reader. It was an expensive option for him, but so few people have any cash here, and certainly not the amounts needed to pay him, that it was better for him to accept payment that way. I offered to do an instant bank transfer to him, but he preferred the credit card option.

xyz123

I have a small sideline business and take credit cards using an app called square. They allow me to take all cards including amex and if I swipe the card in the free reader, the fee is 2.7%. Keying in the number increases the fee to 3.5% with a 15¢ per transaction swipe fee so the Dutch example is something quite similar. The free card reader goes into the headphone jack of the mobile phone. Sto;; swipe cards. Have not sprung for the reader that does emv chips (no pin) and contactless. Get the money the next day.