Deposit?

[Skyway]

It says debit/credit as long as it’s chip and pin

[GWL]

When I bought my Approved Used GTS in May this year, I was sent a list of payment options by the OPC (Porsche East London). Here's an extract :

Option 3 : Debit Card and Credit Card
Payment by either option must be in person using PIN verification. Your dealership will advise which cards are accepted.
Cardholder not present : remote payments can be accepted only for vehicle deposits up to £5,000.

[2japs]

I paid my original deposit via credit card and received my money back on same credit card when I cancelled, at OPC Newcastle, it wasn’t an issue at all. Placed new deposit on credit card for the current car I purchased with OPC Teeside.

[andreas]

It says debit/credit as long as it’s chip and pin

It's not clear, as it says "The only exception to this is for deposit payments up to a maximum of £5,000, for which we will send you a Pay-by-Link (valid for 24 hours) via email to pay by debit card." This could mean that deposits have to be paid by debit card, not credit card.

[Moriarty]

It’s nothing to do with money laundering. That’s complete nonsense. They must just be trying to suppress card payments at the moment because they don’t like the card processing fee (and steering you away from paying by card is a breach of their card acceptance agreement, incidentally).

I think you should insist on paying by card. And by all means report the suppression to your card provider if they refuse, so they can take it up with the dealer and remind them of their obligations if they wish to continue to be able to accept any cards for any part of their business.

If it was me I would be tempted to turn up at the dealership and pay my deposit with a wheelbarrow full of pennies. But that’s me.

Always remember that a Porsche dealership is just a shop. Nothing more. The sales execs are shop assistants. I don’t know who they think they are sometimes.

[wab172uk]

I used credit card for my deposit.

[SanPorMGTS]

It says debit/credit as long as it’s chip and pin

It's not clear, as it says "The only exception to this is for deposit payments up to a maximum of £5,000, for which we will send you a Pay-by-Link (valid for 24 hours) via email to pay by debit card." This could mean that deposits have to be paid by debit card, not credit card.

I think the exception piece relates to the line before. I’ll copy below. The excerpt in the original post is point 2 of the document, so point 1 refers to when you do the payments via your bank account.

I’ve checked the wording for my first order in 2022 and it’s the same as 2023. Credit card should be accepted … in my opinion…

If you are unable to visit our Centre or your card is not Chip and PINcompatible please arrange for a bank transfer as per number 1. The only exception to this is for deposit payments up to a maximum of £5,000, for which we will send you a Pay-by-Link (valid for 24 hours) via email to pay by debit card.

[SanPorMGTS]

It’s nothing to do with money laundering. That’s complete nonsense. They must just be trying to suppress card payments at the moment because they don’t like the card processing fee (and steering you away from paying by card is a breach of their card acceptance agreement, incidentally).

I think you should insist on paying by card. And by all means report the suppression to your card provider if they refuse, so they can take it up with the dealer and remind them of their obligations if they wish to continue to be able to accept any cards for any part of their business.

If it was me I would be tempted to turn up at the dealership and pay my deposit with a wheelbarrow full of pennies. But that’s me.

Always remember that a Porsche dealership is just a shop. Nothing more. The sales execs are shop assistants. I don’t know who they think they are sometimes.

Oh interesting- so if Mastercard/visa not accepted - they’d be breaching a term in place with them? That’s just good to know generally - thank you!!

[Moriarty]

It’s nothing to do with money laundering. That’s complete nonsense. They must just be trying to suppress card payments at the moment because they don’t like the card processing fee (and steering you away from paying by card is a breach of their card acceptance agreement, incidentally).

I think you should insist on paying by card. And by all means report the suppression to your card provider if they refuse, so they can take it up with the dealer and remind them of their obligations if they wish to continue to be able to accept any cards for any part of their business.

If it was me I would be tempted to turn up at the dealership and pay my deposit with a wheelbarrow full of pennies. But that’s me.

Always remember that a Porsche dealership is just a shop. Nothing more. The sales execs are shop assistants. I don’t know who they think they are sometimes.

Oh interesting- so if Mastercard/visa not accepted - they’d be breaching a term in place with them? That’s just good to know generally - thank you!!

Yes. All card acceptance agreements include a term requiring welcome acceptance of all cards on that payment network (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Amex networks). Suppression happens but the card networks are all active in addressing it when it’s reported and would follow up. Just call the customer service number on your card. I’m sure no Porsche dealership wants to have their acceptance agreement terminated, and the card company will know if this has been reported for the dealer in the past and they are a repeat offender.

I’m sure you’ve experienced card suppression in many forms, like if they say the card machine isn’t working (rubbish, and they have a manual card imprinter that they can use if it ever happened), or they try to add a surcharge for card payment.

Card payment is convenient for both the vendor and the customer, and you might want the air miles, purchase protection, possibility to defer payment, etc. that your card offers. It’s much harder to deal with an issue or dispute if you paid with a bank transfer, and your bank can’t help much if you have a problem.

I’m less clear how the card networks would respond to the Porsche dealer not accepting cards for the remainder of the car purchase price. I’d guess they would allow that if it’s reasonable and they apply the same rule for all cards. But there’s no way any card company would allow the dealer to accept card payment for servicing but not for a car deposit that’s a similar amount.

I once paid for a new Audi with my card and it caused all sorts of problems because the transaction timed out while I was answering the card company’s verification questions - they debited my card but the dealer didn’t receive the money for two weeks while this was being sorted out - that was a Visa debit card. But I know it’s not uncommon for people to buy Ferraris and the like on their Amex cards because they like to get the air miles, and sometimes that gets Ferrari some good free publicity.

[crockers]

Personally I think you’re overthinking it. Just call them and ask why won’t they accept a credit card for the deposit. Then wait for their answer. Then thank them and say you’ll have to use a different OPC as they will accept CC. I bet they suddenly make an exception for you.