How to answer tricky questions about surcharges

Posted by Team Timely on 10 Jun 2024

Passing on card payment fees – better known as surcharging – is becoming more and more common these days. Despite that, introducing a surcharge can make even the most seasoned salon owner nervous about what their clients might think. Here’s how to tackle any tricky client questions.

When you add a surcharge to a client payment, you’re simply passing on the card processing fees to your client. This small fee usually ranges between 1% and 2.5% and is a small charge to pay for each individual client, but can add up to a lot of money for your salon over the course of a year.

Surcharging is legal in Australia and New Zealand with regulations and guidelines in place by respective governments to make sure that it’s fair and transparent.

With the introduction of surcharges to TimelyPay terminals it’s important to understand that this is not mandatory for businesses. You can decide whether to pay the card processing fees yourself, or to switch on surcharges and pass them on to your clients.

If you decide to turn on surcharging, you might get a few tricky questions from clients about the reasons behind it. So, we’ve put together a handy FAQ guide that you and your team can download, print out and refer back to when you’re in the salon.

Tricky questions and how to answer them

Q: How much is the surcharge?

A: Let your client know that the surcharge just covers the card processing fee. You’ll be able to see the exact amount at the checkout screen, look at the ‘terminal card processing fee’ above the total price displayed on the payment screen.

You could say:
“The surcharge covers our card processing fees. It’s only (e.g. $1.20) on top of your service.”

Q: “Why do I have to pay a surcharge now? I’ve never had to before!”

A: Gently explain that the new surcharge policy has been introduced to help the business cover card processing fees.

Let them know that it’s been communicated by the business, through signage, or any other ways you’ve shared the change – like on your website, email booking confirmation or social media.

Make it clear that there will always be an alternative payment method – if they don’t wish to pay the surcharge, they can pay with cash.

If you want to, you can decide to waive the surcharge for this appointment by removing it from the transaction, and let them know to bring cash for their next appointment.

You could say:
“This is a new policy we introduced (e.g. two weeks ago) to help our business cover the card processing fees. We’ve let clients know through our email booking reminders and with this sign here. If you don’t want to pay the surcharge, you can always pay with cash.”

Q: Is it legal to surcharge in a beauty business?

A: Assure your client that adding a surcharge is legal in Australia and New Zealand, and Timely’s surcharge feature meets all government guidelines and regulations.

You could say:

“Yes, it’s absolutely legal to surcharge in salons across Australia/New Zealand. There’s information on the Timely website we can share with you if you want to find out more.”