Costcutter retailer Romesh Perera has stepped up his dispute with PayPoint after it suspended his terminal because he surcharged utility customers 10p per transaction (The Grocer, Jan 24, p5).
Perera said it was costing him money to provide the PayPoint service to utility customers because of the low rates of commission and published figures on a website - www.msp-group.co.uk - to back up his case.
And this week, when PayPoint wrote to him disputing his figures with a detailed breakdown of his transactions, he said the commission was even worse than he thought.
He set up a page on his website for retailers, and on it said the PayPoint figures showed he was earning 0.62% commission - not 0.75% as he previously believed.
Another vocal campaigner on PayPoint commissions, Scottish Grocers’ Federation president Jim Botterill, said he was surprised at PayPoint’s decision to suspend Perera’s terminal. He warned: “I don’t think PayPoint could do that if a large number of people in one area took similar action.”
The SGF is in talks with PayPoint over utility payments. Botterill said: “We have acknowledgement from PayPoint that the transactions are loss making and it understands why retailers are reacting in the way they are. We are still talking to it but have not found a solution.”
Botterill said he lost more than £600 a week on PayPoint sales at his 36-store Spar chain, which is ranked number 21 in The Grocer’s Top 50 list of independents.
Botterill said: “We have got to get to the point where PayPoint is not costing the retailer money. It will never be profitable.”
>>P24 Letters
Perera said it was costing him money to provide the PayPoint service to utility customers because of the low rates of commission and published figures on a website - www.msp-group.co.uk - to back up his case.
And this week, when PayPoint wrote to him disputing his figures with a detailed breakdown of his transactions, he said the commission was even worse than he thought.
He set up a page on his website for retailers, and on it said the PayPoint figures showed he was earning 0.62% commission - not 0.75% as he previously believed.
Another vocal campaigner on PayPoint commissions, Scottish Grocers’ Federation president Jim Botterill, said he was surprised at PayPoint’s decision to suspend Perera’s terminal. He warned: “I don’t think PayPoint could do that if a large number of people in one area took similar action.”
The SGF is in talks with PayPoint over utility payments. Botterill said: “We have acknowledgement from PayPoint that the transactions are loss making and it understands why retailers are reacting in the way they are. We are still talking to it but have not found a solution.”
Botterill said he lost more than £600 a week on PayPoint sales at his 36-store Spar chain, which is ranked number 21 in The Grocer’s Top 50 list of independents.
Botterill said: “We have got to get to the point where PayPoint is not costing the retailer money. It will never be profitable.”
>>P24 Letters
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