Switch cards and Morrisons - charged twice for my shopping

[Blaze]

Went into Morrison's yesterday and spent £40 using my switch card. The check out lady said it didn't go through first time so would I re enter my pin. On checking my bank account the money has been debited twice and Morrison's say I have to wait until at least next Tuesday for the cash to be recredited, so beware if it happens to you.

 

It's a bit thin when a pensioner has to lend Morrison's £40 interest free so I have sent an email to their head office, much good it will do.

[tonyp5467]

i doubt their head office will be bothered my son who was 6 at the time tripped over a part open drawer in the bottom of one of the display stands and banged his head on the floor leaving him with a big bruise

the store staff was really apologetic and put the incident in the accident book

i was fuming at the time so i contacted the head office and got a reply saying a manager was going to look into the matter and would get back to me

that was the last i heard

[cgksheff]

It takes 30 seconds for them to recredit your money.

 

If you can get a print off of your account showing the double debit, take it and your Morrisons reciepts and go to see the store manager. Threaten the manager with fraud charges or a civil claim against him in person!

[Andy]

What has probably happened is they have two authorisations, not they have your money twice. They probably don't even have your money once, if you only paid yesterday.

 

When you pay by card, the till contacts your bank and says "Can you authorise £40?" The bank says either "Yes" or "No". If the bank says yes, the bank earmarks £40 to cover the transaction. If there was a problem with the link between the bank and the store (happens from time to time), the bank will have authorised the payment, but Morrison's never got the "Yes" message. After a while it will timeout and default to "no" - although this does not mean the transaction is declined.

 

When Morrisons have then put the card through again, the same process has happened and the bank has earmarked another £40.

 

The money doesn't actually move until Morrisons claim it, which they will do in bulk. They should only claim 1x340, so the other authorisation should drop off. In the "olden days" when they used the manual imprinters (remember those?) this claim was done by sending the voucher to the bank. Now it's all electronic.

 

They are right that it usually takes 3 working days for a bank to expire an unclaimed authorisation, although this depends on the bank.

[Cynic]

What has probably happened is they have two authorisations, not they have your money twice. They probably don't even have your money once, if you only paid yesterday.

 

When you pay by card, the till contacts your bank and says "Can you authorise £40?" The bank says either "Yes" or "No". If the bank says yes, the bank earmarks £40 to cover the transaction. If there was a problem with the link between the bank and the store (happens from time to time), the bank will have authorised the payment, but Morrison's never got the "Yes" message. After a while it will timeout and default to "no" - although this does not mean the transaction is declined.

 

When Morrisons have then put the card through again, the same process has happened and the bank has earmarked another £40.

 

The money doesn't actually move until Morrisons claim it, which they will do in bulk. They should only claim 1x340, so the other authorisation should drop off. In the "olden days" when they used the manual imprinters (remember those?) this claim was done by sending the voucher to the bank. Now it's all electronic.

 

They are right that it usually takes 3 working days for a bank to expire an unclaimed authorisation, although this depends on the bank.

 

That is what I thought too. If they did an instant refund they would probably end up without any money as the other one will expire.

 

I would have thought any shop would do the same.

[Andy]

Even a refund isn't instant, you normally have to wait a couple of days for it to appear. The refund goes through the same system as a purchase, but in reverse.

[Blaze]

What has probably happened is they have two authorisations, not they have your money twice. They probably don't even have your money once, if you only paid yesterday.

 

When you pay by card, the till contacts your bank and says "Can you authorise £40?" The bank says either "Yes" or "No". If the bank says yes, the bank earmarks £40 to cover the transaction. If there was a problem with the link between the bank and the store (happens from time to time), the bank will have authorised the payment, but Morrison's never got the "Yes" message. After a while it will timeout and default to "no" - although this does not mean the transaction is declined.

 

When Morrisons have then put the card through again, the same process has happened and the bank has earmarked another £40.

 

The money doesn't actually move until Morrisons claim it, which they will do in bulk. They should only claim 1x340, so the other authorisation should drop off. In the "olden days" when they used the manual imprinters (remember those?) this claim was done by sending the voucher to the bank. Now it's all electronic.

 

They are right that it usually takes 3 working days for a bank to expire an unclaimed authorisation, although this depends on the bank.

 

That may be so, but it has been deducted from my bank balance twice so the money is no longer available to me.

[HeadingNorth]

That may be so, but it has been deducted from my bank balance twice so the money is no longer available to me.

 

It isn't Morrisons who are to blame though. It's probably not the bank, either, which leaves you with nobody much to complain to.

[watchcoll]

What has probably happened is they have two authorisations, not they have your money twice. They probably don't even have your money once, if you only paid yesterday.

 

When you pay by card, the till contacts your bank and says "Can you authorise £40?" The bank says either "Yes" or "No". If the bank says yes, the bank earmarks £40 to cover the transaction. If there was a problem with the link between the bank and the store (happens from time to time), the bank will have authorised the payment, but Morrison's never got the "Yes" message. After a while it will timeout and default to "no" - although this does not mean the transaction is declined.

 

When Morrisons have then put the card through again, the same process has happened and the bank has earmarked another £40.

 

The money doesn't actually move until Morrisons claim it, which they will do in bulk. They should only claim 1x340, so the other authorisation should drop off. In the "olden days" when they used the manual imprinters (remember those?) this claim was done by sending the voucher to the bank. Now it's all electronic.

 

They are right that it usually takes 3 working days for a bank to expire an unclaimed authorisation, although this depends on the bank.

 

this is exactly right. at the minute morrisons dont have any of your money. your bank will have just earmarked it. the first £40 will not get cleared and will be credited back to your balance. and the the second £40 will go to morrisons. if you look on your internet banking which is (im assuming) how you came to believe the money has been taken twice, then it will have a disclaimer showing that some transactions are subject to confirmation and may be reversed. if you're at all unsure call your bank.

[Andy]

That may be so, but it has been deducted from my bank balance twice so the money is no longer available to me.

 

It will have been deducted from your "available balance" - so you're right, you can't spend it. But it won't have been deducted from your actual (interest earning) balance. It's still there and if a couple of days it will look as though it never happened.

 

I understand your frustration but as the person above has said, it's not Morrisons fault. It's one of those things that happens from time to time with the Visa/Mastercard networks. Unfortunatly you'll not find anyone to blame and not get any compensation. My advice would be to put it down to experience,

 

Of course, if the rouge transaction doesn't vanish, then you do have cause to complain. Easiest solution is to ask your bank for a Chargeback - reason duplicated transaction. But they won't do that til the initial transactions have both debited fully.