You want to pay by card ...........

So after much deliberation I had decided I was a bit too busy to fight the council on the Smoking Fixed Penalty despite the fact that the FP Notice was flawed in a number of ways, from how it was issued to the details contained on it.

So I picked up the Fixed Penalty, the phone and my debit card and called up the number on the back to get it over and done with. However on calling through I was advised that I had to pay a £0.25 processing charge for payment by Debit Card or £1.00 for payment by Credit Card. Now call me a penny pincher but depending on the method of payment and whether you are paying within 14 or 29 days this amounts to an additional charge of between 0.5% and 3.33%

On the back of the form where the payment options are and the phone number there is no mention of this charge, so I declined the offer to pay extra and decided instead to go to the trouble of contesting the charge. Meanwhile I emailed the Environmental Services Department to complain about this additional charge :

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to complain about the lack of accurate payment information on the back of your Fixed Penalty Notice - Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005.

When phoning up to pay my Fixed Penalty notice I was advised that there are charges of £0.25 for the use of a debit card and £1.00.

It is therefore misleading and poor practice for the Council to fail to note on the form that when paying by telephone "A charge will be made for all payments by credit or debit card".

Please respond with the reason for this as hidden charges are at best morally wrong and at worst a penalty charge for persons unable to go in person to pay their fine.

Imagine my surprise then when a matter of only 6 hours later a Council employee who obviously works quicker and harder than most sent me the following reply :

I have referred your complaint to the Legal Department of the Council who
were involved in the layout and format of the fixed penalty notice.
My understanding is that anyone phoning to pay by credit or debit card is
advised of the charge before proceeding with the transaction, however I
take your point that the information could be on the notice. Irrespective
of the reply from legal I will arrange for the instructions on the form to
be changed when they are being reprinted.
I trust this will be sufficient.

Not bad in terms of speed, and a swift passing of the buck to legal who only 1 working day later gave this response :

Complaint re information on Fixed Penalty Notices

Thank you for your e-mail of 7 June 2007, sent to Environmental Services in
connection with the information contained on the reverse of the fixed
penalty notice. This communication has been passed to Legal Services as the
District Court is responsible for recovery of the sum due.

I would advise that the District Court has no statutory obligation to offer
the facility to make payment of fixed penalty notices or any other type of
notices or fines by Debit or Credit card. The Court offers this facility
along with telephone payments as options for customers who can then decide
which method is most suitable for them.

I confirm that when the Fixed Penalty Notices are issued for reprinting we
shall consider adding details of charges which may be incurred on available
payment methods.

Thank you for your comments regarding this matter.

So we will wait and see if it changes or whether it is the usual lip service offered by the council when you complain about something. Interesting to note however that they hide behind the legal jargon of not being under any statutory obligation to offer the facility to pay by Debit or Credit Card.

Mind you given the rate they are handing out these fixed penalties it shouldn't be too long until they need to print up some more.