Charging extra for credit cards

shelly

I was asked by my travel agency to pay 5% charge for using my credit card. Since I was paying via internet I could not not pay cash so I had to fork ot the difference. What I was very annoyed about was a credit card scam when I went into a shop in Jaipur and bought something from downstairs and paid by credit card. Then my partner and I went upstairs to another section of the shop and we bought some other stuff which he paid for in cash. I just received my credit card bill with the amount we already paid in cash showing up on my bill! I wonder how they did that! I would recommend using credit cards as little as possible in india. I only used it about 3 times and got scammed 1 out of 3!

chappal

Sorry to hear about your experience in Jaipur. Did you try disputing it with your credit card company? Most credit cards have a guarantee not to have to pay unauthorized purchases. It is also helpful for future customers to complain since the credit card company will deal with the merchant if they are causing problems. I think it is unfair to to say you were scammed about the 5% charge though. As has been pointed out, most travel agents are operating on slim profit margins and tight competition and cannot afford to offer the same price for cash payments as for credit.

shelly

Hi chappal yes I did dispute it with my credit card company and I am awaiting their reply. The thing is that they are going to charge me $30 for the investigation so if their findings are inconclusive I lose my money plus the $30.
Re the travel agent I dont think I paid a very low price at all. I know they must have made a huge commission on what I paid as I later compared the prices to what I would have paid if I went alone. Therefore I thought the 5% was unneccesary.

chappal

Wow, $30 for the dispute? I've never heard that before. Citibank has never charged me for a dispute, though mine have both been in the U.S.

crvlvr

Shelly,

I have never had a problem using cards in india. However, I do use it in only more established places like hotels. I usually use my ATm and then pay cash for the smaller purchases. Often small stores do not even have a credit card machine. They send the errand boy running away with your credit card who them returns with the approprate slips to sign. Most countries allow merchants to charge extra for cards. In india I have noticed it only in gas stations and other places where their margins are slim. One shouold develop a habit of asking if there will be an extra chrge, especially if you have been bargaing. In the US we don't have to pay for disputing charges either.

nomadelmundo

one way of trying to balance that cost is trying to get a card that gives you rewards... chase have visa and mastercard that give's you 1% on all purchases, citibank offer's similar... or those travel award cards... i use directmerchant banks' m/c which gives me airlines tickets (roughly comes to about 2% of my purchases) which makes me feel not so bad when i am surchaged.
will

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shelly

The excuse for charging me $30 for the dispute is that from europe to India they will incur costs such as phonecalls, faxes etc. I still thought I should follow it up even just to make my point. I did my best to be careful with my card in India but in the case of the fraud I bought a carpet and did not have enough cash to pay for that. Subsequent purchases from next door though were paid for in cash and I am still wondering how those bills ended up on my card since by that time my card was back in my purse! Will let you guys know what comes of the inquiry!

joki

100% agreed w/the poster.
Moreover, as a cc user you MUST KNOW, as the cc Co KNOWS, this things HAPPENS EVERYWHERE!
There is little you can do. Take it or lived. Unless, the dispute is laughable...you lost.And please, don't follow any of the crook practices above posted. It could be worst for you, period.

sillylilly

I have bought round trip tix from USA to India at least 8 times from Indian travel agents and have ALWAYS been changed from 3% to 5% extra. Only once there was no charge for using Amex (which is not a CC). Travel agents specializing in tix to India always give heavily discounted fares and do charge for using CCs.

shelly

yay I just received a letter from my bank with a copy of the supposed statement with my signature forged really badly! The person I spoke to at the bank could clearly see it was not my signature so the payment is going to be reversed! I am glad because even though it is not a huge amount I hate feeling cheated. I just hope the cheater doesn't get the money anyway as I believe sometimes the bank has to fork out the money in some cases. If that is the case I would not really have made my point with the nasty thief! The bank also suggested I destroy my old card and order a new one just in case.

chappal

Congrats Shelly. I totally agree with you about teaching the lesson. There may still be a lesson in here for you too... You just mentioned bank card, and I don't know about in Malta but for me "bank card" sets off alarm bells. Under US law, credit cards issued from US banks do not have the same guarantees and protections as regular credit cards. If I use my Mastercard, there is a guarantee for protection against unauthorized purchases, and there are laws and procedures which favor the consumer in the resolution of this. Not so with a bank card. Even if someone obtains my PIN and withdraws my money, I have no guarantee of receiving my money back in a timely manner. And there will be bank fees. The same applies even if it is a "credit" transaction without PIN on a bank card.

I read one response saying someone usually uses his ATM. I would not recommend doing this in stores. It is not difficult to record your PIN either with video, or keypad recording. In one supermarket in the US, a friend even saw her PIN on the cash register screen. Personally, I do not use my bank card anywhere except at a reliable bank ATM. Even then, you should shield your input from video recorders. Unlike a credit card, it could be very difficult to get reimbursement from your bank for your wiped out savings, and there will definitely be fees for research.

Sillylillly, in addition to the Amex charge cards, which must be paid every month, Amex does offer credit cards too. For example the "Blue" one is a credit card. It has a fixed credit limit and can carry a balance, unlike the "Green" one, which seems to have no fixed limit and is expected to be paid every month.

Joki, whose posts are you calling crook practices? I think you should read more carefully before you call people names... Shelly purchased a carpet in a shop and paid with credit card. No problem. In the next shop, she purchased something else and paid cash. But the second shop owner obtained her credit information from the first shop owner and forged her signature and charged the amount to her credit card. She had to pay a $30 fee to get this fixed. Who is the crook?

crvlvr

Just wanted to clarify a few things on Chappal's post.. In the US, ATM cards are regulated by the Eletronic Fund Transfer Act. Although the consumer has some protection, it is not as good as credit cards. The fundamental difference is with ATM card fraud, the money is taken out of your account and you have to fight to get it back. you can read more here.

In the US there are fundamentally three types of cards:

1. Credit/Charge Cards -- Visa, Mastercard, Amex
2. ATM Cards - used with a pin to witdraw money out of your account
3. Debit/Bank Cards - Cards that use the Credit Card network to debit money of your accuoout. Most of these accounts have a Line of Credit that kicks in if you have no money in your account (like a credit card)

I have not seen any merchant in India accept ATM cards. It is only accepted at ATMs. "Bank Cards" that have the VISA M/C symbol on them operate through the credit card network. So for the merchant, it operates like a credit card, and for you like a debit card. Such transactions will be protected as a credit card.

chappal

Crvlvr, Thanks for the clarification, more accurate terminology, and the link. To my understanding that is all accurate except the last line.
I don't think this is true. They are governed by your bank agreement, which does not carry the same protections as your credit agreement. In the event of a problem with a Debit card, you are much more likely to pay fees to resolve the dispute and wait to get your money bank.

crvlvr

Chappal,

I just double checked with my friend who runs the program for Chase and he confirmed that bank cards when used as a credit card (without the pin) can be disputed as such. The bank will have to credit your account and then take the dispute up with the merchant. However, if you happen to key in your PIN during the transaction, then its posted as an ATM transaction.

shelly

Chappal the card I used was a mastercard but it is provided by my bank HSBC. I am protected against fraud as happened in this case, but I guess with a bank you get bank charges as I did. We dont have many credit card options in Malta being a very small market. Re the ATM fraud, I have heard of that happening in many countries, not only India and the US where people manage to obtain your pin with video or keypad recording. I have heard of many cases in the UK and it even caught on here in Malta for a while but they seem to have solved that problem here at least.
Anyway I thought I should let you all know the name of the shop where my credit card froud took place. Shop no.1 was JalMahal textile and carpets, Jaipur and shop no. 2 was Textiles Fair Jaipur. Do not get out your credit cards in these two shops! Better still with crooks like that buy your stuff from somewhere else! They is no shortage of shops anywhere in India!