Credit card surchage

He then said he would waive the visa surcharge. I insisted that I was withdrawing from the deal, as was my legal right.
Wrong - by waiving the surcharge the retailer has offered to complete the original contract so you have no entitlement to a refund of deposit (unless you explicitily agreed that the deposit was refundable when you paid it).

The retailer was in the wrong not to flag the "surcharge" originally. The card schemes don't like surcharges and try to forbid them in the merchant agreements but in practice merchants seem to get away with applying them via other means (separate card processing fees, cash discounts, etc.).
 
Or in the case of Ryanair, fully out in the open.

The only places I have seen credit card surcharges are travel agents and airlines. In the case of small retailers they sometimes might add a nominal charge of €0.25 if a sale is under €10 which I would have no problem with.
 
Auctioneers impose a credit card surcharge.

Aldi and Lidl don't take credit cards.

There are lots more examples.

The guy has every right to impose a surcharge, but he is obliged to tell you about it upfront. He didn't so he waived the charge.

You have now got the original contract you signed up to. You have a legal and moral obligation to complete the contract.

He should not have been rude to you. But being rude is not illegal. Put up with it. Buy the product and enjoy it. Tell your friends not to deal with this guy anymore.

Brendan
 

Hi Brendan, that is your opinion and you're entitled to it. What happened here is the guy engaged in sharp practice. He was trying it on. He insisted there was no way he would waive the credit card surcharge, the surcharge he omitted to tell me about in the first place. The surcharge that he never charged me on the deposit. He said there was nothing he could do. He left me with no choice but to reject the contract. Only then, when I rejected the contract did he decide to change the contract again - that brings the number of changes he made to the contract to two. I have no contract with, and owe no legal or moral obligation to this retailer. In fact he has the legal and moral obligation to return my money. I don't have to put up with sharp practice.

Again I ask if anyone has a similar experience, I'd like to hear about it.
 
I think you will find that legally you are still committed to the contract and have no right to your deposit back....

you checked you legal right , and he has complied with them.... it would only void the contract if he refused to...
 
I guess no one has had a similar experience to share, but I appreciate everyone's input. Thanks all for your comments.