Anna Glypta Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 I refer you to DFS again, all our sofas on 0% finance for 4 years and pay nothing for the 1st 3 years. We actually went round all of the local furniture specialists in Rotherham, Chesterfield, and Darley Dale and couldn't find any that offered anything other than 0% finance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 By rescinding previous credit offers on said item? Or offering the same items on credit terms that are equivalent to the same cash (sale) price? Right, so we're basically agreed I think. They could give a discount to a customer, they 'rescind' the previous offer (possibly upsetting the guy who bought it 5 minutes ago, but tough) and sell at the new price (for either credit or cash, but this customer already said they want to pay cash). So long as they offer the same price for credit as they are offering for cash then they're within the law. Someone who bought previously on credit has no grounds for complaint at the price changing. Whatever, I'm not here to argue.. i'm just re-itterating what Trading Standards told me, and frankly I'd bow to their expertise on the matter. If they were telling you that the store could charge more for cash if they wanted then I'm not arguing with them. It's the way you put it across, that law made them do it, rather than allowing them to do it that I was questioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Thats an agreement between the two companies not the buyer and the store. If i stood next to someone getting £'s discount for cash i'd be complaining if i was paying by credit card or using 0% finance. Yet many companies charge a credit card surcharge... Paying for flights and holidays are the ones that come to mind immediately, normally an additional 2% for using a credit card! How does that work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We actually went round all of the local furniture specialists in Rotherham, Chesterfield, and Darley Dale and couldn't find any that offered anything other than 0% finance.Considering the current (ongoing) economic climate, and the fact that these stores specialise in big-ticket household goods, stagnating/regressing income levels and accrued inflation levels...does that really surprise you? Yet many companies charge a credit card surcharge... Paying for flights and holidays are the ones that come to mind immediately, normally an additional 2% for using a credit card! How does that work?Didn't that practice get abolished/outlawed very recently? That's what CC companies were offsetting the cost of chargebacks against, amongst many other things. And what retailers pay banks for CC processing facilities (and what banks then pay to CC Schemes, upstream). CC payment is very complicated, 'under the bonnet'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampster Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 If they were telling you that the store could charge more for cash if they wanted then I'm not arguing with them. It's the way you put it across, that law made them do it, rather than allowing them to do it that I was questioning. No they were saying they could NOT charge LESS than the credit amount for cash, and the law makes them do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willman Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Yet many companies charge a credit card surcharge... Paying for flights and holidays are the ones that come to mind immediately, normally an additional 2% for using a credit card! How does that work? Then thats an agreement between the buyer and the seller,its an option. Just like it is for the companies they either hide or absorb the % they pay.BUT the point was the customer pays the whole amount just like the cash customer. We sell via credit card, customers take 30 days interest free credit,some pay by cheque.But the price is the same to everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 No they were saying they could NOT charge LESS than the credit amount for cash, and the law makes them do that. It was your example Basically a 3 piece suite for sale at whatever price it was on credit, and it was actually more expensive for cash, which to me sounded completely bonkers.. and wrong. I argued with the store but they were adamant there was nothing they could do about it, so I checked with Trading Standards.. and they were indeed correct. Trading standards confirmed that the store were not obliged to sell you the sofa for cash for the same (lower) price as it was on offer for with credit. I'm sure you're also correct that they cannot sell it for cash for cheaper than it would be on credit. None of which stops them negotiating a different price with each customer, so long as that price is not dependent on how they are paying (in law). In reality, if someone has already stated that they wish to pay cash, they can then negotiate a lower price (which is to satisfy the law offered to that customer only on either cash or credit terms (they already know the customer wishes to pay cash). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Then thats an agreement between the buyer and the seller,its an option. Just like it is for the companies they either hide or absorb the % they pay.BUT the point was the customer pays the whole amount just like the cash customer. We sell via credit card, customers take 30 days interest free credit,some pay by cheque.But the price is the same to everyone. If i stood next to someone getting £'s discount for cash i'd be complaining if i was paying by credit card or using 0% finance. If you were paying by credit card you would be paying more (in the example of the surcharge). Why would you only complain if it was presented as a discount for cash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygardener Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 If you were paying by credit card you would be paying more (in the example of the surcharge). Why would you only complain if it was presented as a discount for cash? I think the difference is the store is not offering the credit on specified terms so the negotiation on credit terms is nothing to do with the store, it's between the customer and the CC company. The store is simply saying we get charged say 2% on CC transactions, we pass that cost onto you. It's not the store offering to arrange credit so it's just a cost, like a delivery charge. Where the government have changed things is companies like you mentioned airlines, holiday cos etc levying cost+ CC processing fees where they are charging large sums to make their headline price look better. eg £50 for 2 weeks holiday and then when you get to the checkout as well as half a dozen levies and duties and allowances that they've added they they charge £80 for paying by card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampster Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 It was your example Trading standards confirmed that the store were not obliged to sell you the sofa for cash for the same (lower) price as it was on offer for with credit. I'm sure you're also correct that they cannot sell it for cash for cheaper than it would be on credit. None of which stops them negotiating a different price with each customer, so long as that price is not dependent on how they are paying (in law). In reality, if someone has already stated that they wish to pay cash, they can then negotiate a lower price (which is to satisfy the law offered to that customer only on either cash or credit terms (they already know the customer wishes to pay cash). I think you're being pedantic for the sake of it.. instead of arguing the toss, phone up trading standards. Here's the situation I encountered.. in a little more detail The 3 piece suite did cost more in cash than it did on credit. I thought that sounded bonkers and tried to get a bargain by offering cash... ie can "you [the store] give me a discount for paying cash rather than credit?" They could give me a discount, to match the price that was being offered on credit. They couldn't discount any further! Nor for that matter could they throw in anything extra like delivery/scotchguard. The reasoning they gave was becasue they were not allowed legally to sell an item for less 'cash' than a currently advertised amount offered on interest free credit. I thought they were just giving me a load of bull and trying to simply flannel me out of a good deal. So I called up trading standards to get to the facts.. they confirmed everything the people in the store told me. Can't see why they'd lie to me.. It's fairly straightforward logic when you think about it... if they charge less for something than the currently advertised price available as interest free the difference could be construed as a charge for the credit (i.e not interest free). As I said previously I don't know which specific statute it is, but as vinyl suggested I wouldnt be surprised if it was the Trades Descriptions or Consumer Credit Acts (or both).. so go have a read of them. I don't know how much simpler I can put it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.