In July,
the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS),
as well as Visa/MasterCard/Amex stated in the media
that merchants are not allowed to pass on
any form of surcharge/swipe fees/administration charges to consumers
when they make payments with credit cards.
As the holiday season approaches,
it is disappointing
that many tour operators are still passing on their merchant fees to the consumers
via surcharges of between 1 and 6 per cent.
Separately,
there is also the 10 per cent "administrative charge"
for payment via credit cards by taxi companies.
I had the experience of buying a notebook from Sim Lim Square some years ago from one of the retail shops. The retail shop advised me to pay in cash even when I wanted to pay by credit card. They said that the selling price for the notebook is for customers who pay by cash and should I insist on paying by credit card I will be charged a slightly higher price on the notebook. I had no choice but to pay by cash, but I was not very happy why there is a different standard in charging their selling price. They should have made known this earlier and not wait until I was about to commit to the purchase and put me into a vulnerable position (after already spending much time in the shop to decide on the brand and model of notebook to purchase) to make my choice. I was also inconvenienced as I had to withdraw cash from an ATM to make the payment on the notebook.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr Tan again for highlighting cases of unfair treatment of customers by various businesses. Now, the public can be more informed of the ongoing regulations and seek necessary recourse for any unfairness through relevant bodies such as CASE.