Dhamecha is ‘reviewing’ its plans to charge shop owners for paying with business cards following a major protest at its Hayes cash and carry on Friday 13 June.
The uproar was sparked by plans to charge 1.25% on business credit card transactions, 0.7% on Business Mastercard debit cards and 0.2% on Business Visa Cards, with the latter capped at £2.50, from July onwards.
One video of the protest shared with our sister website Better Retailing showed at least 50 retailers gathered outside the depot. Retailers are reported to have picked their usual purchases from shelves in depot before leaving their trolleys at the checkout in protest.
Read more: Dhamecha enters north west region for the first time
Responding to the protests and negative feedback to the charges, a statement from Dhamecha’s directors seen by Better Retailing on 16 June stated: “We value your feedback and are in the process of reviewing the proposed rates… Whilst our peers have stopped card payments or raised prices, we believe a clear handling fee for certain payment methods is the fairest option.” Dhamecha’s statement promised a ‘final fee structure’ would be revealed by 22 June.
A Facebook event created by Hayes shop owner Raj Singh titled “Boycott Dhamecha! Say No to unfair charges” urged stores to attend the depot at 3pm on 13 June.
A statement from Singh read: “As if running a business wasn’t hard enough, now we have to factor in an extra charge just to do our essential cash and carry shopping. This isn’t just unfair, it’s a direct hit to our already tight margins.
What’s even more frustrating is their ‘solution’. They’ll tell you to download and use their app to avoid the fee. This isn’t about convenience, it’s about forcing us onto their platform and into their ecosystem. This predatory practice needs to stop.”
