Company refusing credit card payments - would this put you off making a purchase for £2000+?

[00982ruser]

I have had a quote from a company for some work in my home, which I was planning to accept. The quote is for £2000+, and the company has asked for a 50% deposit to be paid by bank transfer.

Just wondering how other mumsnetters would feel about this? I usually make big purchases on my credit card because of the consumer protection you get with card payments, however the company does not accept credit cards. I feel a bit reluctant to transfer this money as I have not dealt with this company before (they were recommended to me by another business, so not a personal recommendation as such).

Am I being over cautious, or should I go back to the drawing board and start looking for another contractor?

I've done bank transfers on paypal and have been able to use my credit card as the source, its there as an added layer of protection.

Offer Debit Card, that offers protection as well as CC.

You get consumer protection in your debit cards nowadays too. Check your banks tax and cs.

I run a similar business and we don’t accept credit cards because it costs us an absolute fortune. If we accepted them we’d have to put our prices up then you’d moan about how much it was. Even debit cards payments come with fees but they’re more manageable. We’re not allowed to pass the credit card transaction fees on anymore and a lot of businesses just stopped taking credit cards at that point because it’s unaffordable. To protect yourself, make sure there is a written agreement in place before making any payment.

Offer to pay the bank fees. If they're still reluctant, I wouldn't deal with them.

I think it's reasonable to want to protect yourselves via a credit card.

Id find a personal recommendation tbh and check them out. I would not pay upfront for a door.

It's not a simple as that, they have to set themselves up as a merchant to take credit cards in the first place, it's a whole process

Some of the responses on here! "Never pay upfront for anything" - it's surprising some of you ever get any work done at all. You're all worried about cowboy builders, but my husband (a builder) can testify that there are plenty of cowboy clients too. Items like doors and windows usually have to be custom ordered, and at least a 50% deposit paid at that time. There's no way he would order these items and pay the deposit himself without getting the funds from the client. Too high a risk of getting ghosted by the client and being stuck with items he can't use.He doesn't take card payments because the fees he would have to pay are astronomical, and it's a huge hassle for the amount of transactions that he would have. He's a well-established "local builder" and can pick his clients now fortunately. If the OPs contractor is similar and has good independent reviews then it sounds like a totally normal situation.

My dads been self employed for 25+ years, never accepted card always been cash or bank transfer. The fees they charge are ridiculous. Doesn’t mean he’s a con artist tho?

That’s a lot of money for a front door …

It might be a lot money but it's a fairly standard price for a good fitted front door

If course you'll be able to get cheaper ones but it doesn't seem like that's what the OP needs

DON'T DO IT
We had exactly that this year. We ordered £5k of windows and doors and sadly the firm went bust. We were able to reclaim every penny as we'd put it on credit card. If we hadn't done that we'd have lost the money.

If you really want to use that company you could use paypal to give you that protection.

As mentioned up thread, paypal does not give the protection of a credit card.

We’re a family of builders - 5 star google reviews which we hold sacred.
Not interested in accepting credit cards / paying the fees / another level of bookkeeping.
Plus - and I’ve got my hard hat on for this bit - we’re not interested in the type of customers who need to use a CC.
“S.75 protection or not” we don’t ask full payment until the job is done.

@Brumhilda 😁 I’ve never used a builder but probably wouldn’t expect to pay a builder by credit card. For clarity, I don’t need to use a credit card, but I am cautious about paying £1000+ up front and it’s a no brainier to use a payment method that will protect me if there are any problems with the purchase or installation. As demonstrated by some PP, people do lose money they have paid to contractors in good faith when things go wrong. Equally I understand that some contractors do not accept credit cards and that is obviously up to them.

@Aposterhasnoname no, not first glass.

You can buy a car on a credit card without issue.

i think for this it would depend on the size of company. If it’s a smaller company then it’s not that unusual - they have maybe previously had charge backs and trying to cover themselves

Seriously? I've almost never paid by card for building work.

Although, funnily enough, I did just pay for a new front door and window by card!

I just had my kitchen redone and I paid with bank transfer to have my kitchen custom made. I never considered it to be strange, most small traders don't accept cards. Especially credit cards.

You’re right to be cautious. Once bitten, twice shy. That’s a huge deposit considering you’ll have nothing to show for it, personally I wouldn’t accept these terms.

I pay by card for fruit and veg at my local market. A small independent local pizzeria is card only.

OP is talking about credit cards, not debit cards.

Credit card companies take very high fees. It would cost the trader a lot out of that £2000 to accept payment like that.

I absolutely wouldn’t expect them to take a credit card. See what protection you can get by paying by debit card.

We had the same. Paid 50% upfront then had to claim back from the credit card company when the company went bust. This was a company recommended to us by a friend.

I'd be put off by the high deposit now, other places either take a smaller deposit or just payment on completion. High deposit may suggest a problem with cash flow. If I went ahead with a high deposit I'd ensure at least £100 went on credit card.

Zero!