The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) has expressed disappointment after PayPoint withdrew from a social media page following ”aggressive” behaviour from members.
The nature of some of the social media posts made by retailers has prompted the payment services company to pull back from engaging directly on the PayPointPayFair group page set up by Gloucester retailer Marcus Bergin.
The NFRN campaign is currently facing a struggle following PayPoint’s implementation of a reduction in caps on commission paid to retailers.
NFRN chief executive Paul Baxter called the reductions “tantamount to exploitation” at the time.
But the online behaviour of individuals was, an NFRN spokeswoman admitted this week, sabotaging the campaign.
“Unfortunately that [Facebook] page hasn’t anything to do with us. It’s something Marcus Bergin set up. With social media there’s no way we can police it. It’s individuals making comment. They are doing themselves no favours.”
Bergin, who owns Supernews in Eastgate Shopping Centre, confirmed on Tuesday after speaking with Simon Lambert, PayPoint’s head of UK sales, that “because of the personal attacks, bad language, inappropriate videos, aggressive behaviours of members towards PayPoint, they [PayPoint] are no longer interested in this group.
“I warned people that this behaviour was not appropriate and that we needed to remain professional at all times. Well, as a result, it would appear that members have managed to destroy one of the only hopes they had.”
A spokesman for PayPoint said the company had “no further comment at this stage.”
Meanwhile, the NFRN is progressing its submission to the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), calling for a full market investigation into the over-the-counter payment and collection services market.
A spokeswoman said a meeting was planned in the next few weeks with the PSR to discuss what specifically the regulator was looking for.
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