quote:Withdrawals of under £50 to a UK bank will cost 50% less or £0.25 and fees will be eliminated completely for withdrawal amounts of £50 and above.
quote:Originally posted by Mrs.M: I assume that is because the UK either has a law that allows the surcharge or it lacks a law that affords Paypal the authority to stop it!
I don't think there has ever been any problem in the UK with any seller quoting any price he wants for anything and varying that price according to methods of payment. However it used to be the case that credit card companies contracts with their sellers would insist on no surcharges being applied for credit card transactions. Since 1991 such 'no discrimination' agreements have been illegal for credit cards (the act only dealt with credit cards, not charge cards or debit cards) though agreements limiting such surcharges to actual costs incurred in the transaction could still be made.
It is a legal requirement in the UK that any surcharges are made clear in advance. So any seller on eBay who tries to hit you with a PayPal surcharge, for example, after the event is breaking the law.
Quite what the full legal situation is with PayPal where the source of funds could be debit cards or a 'balance' isn't clear to me. It might be that they would be entitled to insist no surcharges were made if the payment wasn't taken from a credit card, however I can't see any practical way they could work it even if they wanted it to.
One of my sons is interested in international business law. I can see why that is an up-and-coming field, with so much commerce done trans-nationally now.
By the way, I know those we call attorneys or lawyers in the States have different titles in the UK. Do solicitors handle civil matters and barristers criminal? Or is it some altogether different system? (Just curious. ) Thanks.
*Very roughly* (because I don't really understand the full ins and outs of it myself)...
Solicitors are the lawyers you go to for legal advice and to act on your behalf in legal matters. So where I believe you would say go and see an attorney or your attorney will be in touch, we would say solicitor (or sometimes we'd say lawyer, but he would actually be a solicitor).
I believe in the States your attorney can also do the Perry Mason bit for you in court. Over here a solicitor can represent you in the lower courts but when it comes to the higher courts he has to engage and 'brief' a barrister. They are the ones in the wigs (they'll be referred to as "counsel" in court).
After the 6th of this month no UK seller can legally surcharge for the use of PayPal but I have noticed a few hardened sellers are now not offering PayPal...
) Thanks.
