A FURIOUS car-buyer has told of their disgust at being charged $55 (£28) to pay in cash at a Sydney car dealership.
A local shopper, named Peter, was shocked to see the list of transaction fees at Sydney City MG in the inner southern suburb of Alexandria.
2GBA Sydney car dealership has been slammed for charging customers $55 dollars to pay in cash[/caption]
The car dealer has since back-pedalled after their shocking display of fees went viral and sparked outrage.
Peter snapped the list before sharing it on social media, where surcharges of between 0.5 per cent and two per cent to pay with various types of cards are included.
Next to the cash or cheque option, it is noted that $5,000 (£2,609) is the highest amount payable in notes.
This works out to be a 1.1 per cent surcharge – an even worse deal than the 0.5 per cent charged for paying with a MasterCard debit card.
However, it was the final surcharge which sparked the online outrage.
If customers want to pay with cash to buy their car, then they will have to fork out an extra $55 as a result.
Ironically, paying by cash should prevent you from making a surcharge payment.
But Peter told 2GB Radio that it has now been jeopardised by the additional fee.
As reported by news.com.au, he said: “If you’re going to go in there with cash, you’re going to do a bargain and you’re going to want a discount anyway for cash because it’s legal tender, there’s no fees.
“And then they slug you with that? It’s an insult in any transaction.
“[It’s] just so over the top and a bit ridiculous.”
It was also found that Sydney City MG charge $226 (£117) on average for a basic car service.
That’s according to car insurer Canstar, which means a basic service would rack up a 24.3 per cent surcharge, if it were paid for in cash.
However, the car dealership made an attempt to cover their tracks by claiming the surcharge was a “handling fee” to cover the internal costs of managing cash.
Furthermore, they said the listed $55 cost was “incorrectly labelled” and will now begin absorbing the cost.
“Our customers come first,” Sydney City MG general manager Ian Zammit told Yahoo.
“If anyone has been charged the fee in the past, they will be refunded,” he added.
The debacle comes amid the growing fears over the looming possibility of a “cashless society”.
Groups of Aussies are concerned that this will negatively impact low income households and the elderly.
As a result, there is the fear that people will have less physical control over their money.
“Aussies are being charged to use our own money and I have a lot of concerns over the precedent that this cash surcharge might set,” Jason Bryce, of advocacy group Cash Welcome, told Yahoo.
RBACash payments are declining in Australia amid growing fears of a ‘cashless society’[/caption]