Forced Utilization of Credit Card for Deposit of a Car

LSunnyKami on 12/03/2024 - 22:54
Last edited 12/03/2024 - 22:58

Recently, I signed a contract with a dealership to purchase a car for the first time.

When it got to the stage of putting down a deposit of $1000 and was planning to deposit by cash, the business manager informed us that there was no cash option to put down a deposit.

The options she pointed to were only credit card payments which had a transaction fee of 1.16% for Visa and Mastercard. When I suggested the possibility of a bank transfer for the deposit, she also mentioned no as it would take 3 business days to settle the deposit transaction as the reason why she is unable to accept bank transfer.

After we paid by credit card with the extra $11 dollar for the transaction fee, she handed us the paperwork for the processing of payment of the remaining outstanding fee. On the paperwork written, there was an option for payment in cash (max $3000) for deposit.

I can't help but speculate that "cash payment was possible, she, as the business manager did not want to receive it in cash".

Feeling a bit annoyed at why is it even legal to not have a transaction-fee-free payment option available for large purchases. I would imagine if the deposit was $3000 or more for some higher-end vehicle, the transaction fee would be close to 35 dollars +.

Posting to ask if anyone had any recent purchases of vehicles and had a similar experience with the deposit payments. If anyone works at a dealer, please let me know if your dealer is still accepting cash for deposits or if the whole automotive industry is switching to electronic payments for all payments.

Poll Options

  • 60
    Cash was okay
  • 0
    Cash was not okay
  • 0
    I had some other options
Automotive Credit Card

Comments

  • pegaxs on 12/03/2024 - 22:59
    +13

    And you couldn’t negotiate another $11 out of the final price?

    And what was with the 3 days? Osko is instant, and even if it does take 3 days, it’s your 3 days, not hers.

    I would have told her to wake up, take the cash, do it via Osko or take $11 off the price of the car, or you walk. Simple as that.

    Last vehicle I purchased I just did it via EFT and it went in instantly, contract signed and I came back 4 days later to pick up the car.

    • SunnyKami on 12/03/2024 - 23:17

      I couldn't negotiate at all. The sales say their brand locked its price across Australia.
      (In hindsight, I really should have just walked out instead of accepting)

      • kerfuffle on 13/03/2024 - 06:27
        +1

        So you bought a Honda or a Mercedes?

        • pegaxs on 13/03/2024 - 08:27
          +1

          Or a Tesla or BYD.

          Either way, doesn’t matter if it is “fixed price”, if they think they are going to lose a sale over an $11 deposit transaction fee, watch how quick they will fix it if you tell them you are going to walk.

          If it is a fixed price sale, that means any other dealer or outlet will be happy to take your money and forego the transaction fee for the sake of closing the deal.

          They really don’t want a pissed off customer this early into their ownership, especially over $11. OP 100% needs to take this up with the dealer manager that they were given no option to avoid the fee, that they are not happy about being forced to use a payment that incurred a fee and see what the manager says.

          If the manager says “oh well, that’s how we do it here.”, then OP can slaughter them on their new owners survey which will hurt the dealer more than the $11, or they can take their car and have it serviced elsewhere, which again, will cost the dealer more than $11.

    • bcarp on 13/03/2024 - 00:27
      +5

      Osko is instant

      Not necessarily for new payees.

      • pegaxs on 13/03/2024 - 08:16

        I pay “new payers” all the time and have never had a problem with it going through almost instantly (5 mins at worst).

        I could understand it going into a random account, but not stalling out an Osko payment to a legit business account for 3 days.

        • Sleeqb7 on 13/03/2024 - 10:05
          +3

          Commbank will randomly 'halt' most new PayID transactions I make for 24 hours for 'security'.

          • Chandler on 13/03/2024 - 13:11

            @Sleeqb7: Osko ≠ PayID

            • Sleeqb7 on 13/03/2024 - 13:34
              +1

              @Chandler: Ahh, that's true.

              But a lot of people use the two terms interchangeably when referring to 'instant payment' stuff, so that's my bad chief.

              • Chandler on 13/03/2024 - 13:49

                @Sleeqb7: All good! Your statement was correct, but not (necessarily) relevant to this particular case :)

      • payless69 on 13/03/2024 - 13:04

        Ubank's is but not every sheep is this quick.

    • Jake D on 13/03/2024 - 11:55

      Osko isn't always instant. New payees, or amounts over an arbitrary limit can delay the payments depending on your bank.

  • askbargain on 12/03/2024 - 23:02
    +12

    always walk when you're about to close.

  • Unorthodox on 12/03/2024 - 23:05
    +11

    I'm pretty sure they would have been more than happy to knock off $11 if you told them you were going to have to unfortunately walk away given the surcharge.

  • bcarp on 13/03/2024 - 00:29

    The last time we bought cars in person, the sales guy recommended putting the deposit via Amex to get the credit card point & since they didn't charge a transaction fee. However, the balance needed to be via bank transfer or bank cheque or equivalent. The same person has told us the same thing this year again while looking at a new car… still no transaction fees.

  • Euphemistic on 13/03/2024 - 05:01
    +2

    Bank transfer. If it tales 3 daya for them to recieve it makes no difference if its only a deposit. They still register your interest in the vehicle.

  • Sterio on 13/03/2024 - 06:56
    +13

    So you’re worried about $11 after dropping $30k+ on a car purchase? Time to skip your cappuccino today.

    • Broke-Ken on 13/03/2024 - 23:29

      Or should have ordered a couple of cappuccinos from the dealership cafe while they waited for the CC transaction to process. ;)

      And don't forget to order some more coffees when it's time to pick up the car too.

  • Sye on 13/03/2024 - 07:09

    I would have paid the deposit with eneloops or lifetime supply of condoms.

  • Brian McGee on 13/03/2024 - 07:59
    +4

    You forgot the first rule of the New Car Dealer, evertime they speak it is 'bullshit o'clock'.

    The FM probably forgot the key to the safe that day, their problem, not yours.

  • JimmyF on 13/03/2024 - 09:16
    +2

    The options she pointed to were only credit card payments which had a transaction fee of 1.16% for Visa and Mastercard

    If they are only accepting credit card, then you can't charge a surcharge unless you offer a no fee free payment option.

    • CrowReally on 13/03/2024 - 09:42

      The rule is if they only accept credit cards they need to list a price that's inclusive of the surcharge (as in the actual cost it would be total, not a "you do the % math" bit of text).

  • Dollar General on 13/03/2024 - 09:23
    +1

    It’s been a very long time since I’ve done it, but they did refund me the deposit when I made full payment.

    Ask for a full refund including fee when you settle full funds

  • AustriaBargain on 13/03/2024 - 10:05
    +3

    Not accepting cash is smart imo, dealing with cash is a hassle. But if it's in their written material that they do accept cash then they should have accepted cash.

    • djsweet on 13/03/2024 - 10:27
      +5

      They still need to provide a fee-free option whether or not they accept cash though.

      • jjjaar on 13/03/2024 - 10:37
        -3

        No they don’t. If they accept cash, that’s the fee free option. If they don’t have a fee-free option (cash or otherwise), then they need to include the cost of the fee in any advertised price.

        If there is no way for a consumer to pay without paying a surcharge, the business must include the minimum surcharge payable in the displayed price for its products.

        https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-servic…

        • djsweet on 13/03/2024 - 10:50
          +3

          Pretty sure we are saying the same thing.

          • CrowReally on 13/03/2024 - 11:46

            @djsweet: Not at all.

            If they only have credit card as an option, they're required to list the surcharge fee as part of the price.

            There's no requirement to provide a fee-free option.

            • djsweet on 13/03/2024 - 11:52

              @CrowReally: surchage-as-part-of-the-price == the-price == no-surcharge
              Surcharge is a charge on top of the price. If the price includes the surcharge then it isnt a surcharge. Its just the price.

              • CrowReally on 13/03/2024 - 12:01

                @djsweet: Sure, but that's just sophistry. With a 5% surcharge, the cash only cafe sells coffees for $5 and the identical credit card only cafe sells their coffees for $5.25

                (Taps card) Glad I'm not being charged a surcharge for this, clearly the equivalent option to the cash only cafe! Etc

                • djsweet on 13/03/2024 - 12:09

                  @CrowReally: Well yeah, I get your point. But most (probably all) pricing for any item takes into account overheads and a desired profit. Cost of transacting is just another overhead to the business.

        • jv on 13/03/2024 - 13:33
          -1

          then they need to include the cost of the fee in any advertised price.

          The don't 'need' to…

          • jjjaar on 13/03/2024 - 13:41

            @jv: The quote says “must”. “Must” = “need to” in this instance.

  • pharkurnell on 13/03/2024 - 12:27
    +1

    If I went to pay with cash and they said no, I'd walk out the door… their attitude would change in less than a nano second

  • Baysew on 13/03/2024 - 12:28
    +2

    Could you have used EFTPOS (like you would do at Aldi)?

  • payless69 on 13/03/2024 - 13:10
    +1

    Dunno NSW but in QLD regulated industries need to offer 2 free forms of accepting money.
    This could be bank transfer or eftpos but if the contract says cash to 3k it needs to be told first.
    Rent for example is the most disputed. It is perfectly fine for an agent to either take eftpos or bank transfer. Cash can be refused for rent. Many agents use Stripe, they extract money from banks even when the accounts are empty.

  • spackbace on 13/03/2024 - 14:01
    +2

    This is strange, every dealership I've worked at has offered multiple options, and usually waive the fee on the first $2,000 on credit card (for the purpose of deposits).

  • deme on 13/03/2024 - 17:50

    Report to ACCC

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join