New to the Forum and Just been sick with worry

[pipistrollers]

Hello everyone,

I have just found the forum actually through a shock which has just made me sick .. sorry about to much information.

I am very good with money. I have a rule that I never go past my overdraft limit and never have.

About 15 minutes ago, I logged into internet banking to check my balance as I wanted to go out tomorrow. I knew I had some money still left until Thursday when I get paid. I had the shock of my life when I found out that my balance is past my overdraft limit but it's not my fault. I know what it is and don't know what to do.

I did my grocery shopping online for home delivery with one of the big supermarkets (don't know if I'm allowed to name them). As you know when you checkout, you receive an email to tell you how much your estimated bill will be. It was fine and reached a total of £72.61.

When the groceries arrived, a lot of my ordered items were missing (they were supposed to substitute them but didn't). The bill receipt which came with the groceries didn't look right to me so I added it up and I was right - it was wrong. The bill receipt said £68.00 but it should have read £56.50. I called the store and the home shopping manager went through each item with me. He agreed that I had been overcharged. He gave me £1.50 by means of compensation which I was disgusted with. He told me that my total bill would be £50 and not the original £72.61 which was emailed to me when I checked out. He told me that £50 would be the only amount taken from my debit card.

I checked my online banking later in the day (yesterday). My account indicated that the full £72.61 had been put into witholdings. I called the bank and told them the situation and that I was afraid that something would happen as this £72.61 should not be in witholdings. I was told by the bank that I could not cancel the debit card payment but that the store could only take what they were entitled to. He assured me it would be fine.

I logged into online banking a short time ago and have found out that my balance is now past my overdraft limit. The £72.61 is still in witholdings and another £50.00 has joined it. This can only be from the supermarket. They have put both amounts into witholdings so instead of charging me £50 for my shopping, they have put £122.61 into witholdings.

I have used my debit card on one more occasion which has not shown anywhere yet - if that goes in, I will be in even more trouble.

What do I do? I have had a panic attack and been sick. This is not my fault. It is the supermarket who are at fault. Even if they don't take the other amount of £72.61, they have still caused me to go past my overdraft through their incompetance.

Please can someone tell me what to do and who to contact first?

Thank you and sorry to have posted so much

pipistrollers

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.
From what you are saying it looks like the errors with the groceries-the overcharge took you over limit ?
You need to put the complaint in writing to both the supermarket AND the bank.
Its ok to say here who they are-since it may assist users to give help.Keep things together so that you have a way of navigating a response.
Your bank has discretion to waive the charge or refund it-Have you been hit with charges recently on this account ? explain to the supermarket that their actions have caused you to incur charges-they are likely to want proof of this if they are to consider covering the charges.We can probably assist you with a letter.Its unlikely that any supermarket would want to face small claims action for something they would likely lose-based on what you have said...and particularly in relation to the amoount we are talking about.

[pipistrollers]

Thank you so much for your reply. Sorry for rambling so much last night but I was in total panic. Yes the overcharge took me overdrawn. The overcharge when I sat down last night and looked at it calmly, was the original £72.61. Because of all the mistakes the store had made, including the bill receipt which arrived with my groceries which was wrong, the store gave me my shopping for a straight £50. Instead of processing a refund of £22.61, they charged me the original amount + the amended abount so the total they charged me for £50 of groceries was £122.61.

Thanks for clarifying that I can name the store - it was ASDA.

I have never been overdrawn before which is why I went off the deep end last night. I have not been hit with any charges on my bank account.

I am going to call the bank now - took sleeping pill last night was so worried and just woke up!!

pipistrollers

[pipistrollers]

The problem with the bank has been sorted out. There is still the problem in that ASDA did not keep their promise by substituting goods. Also, the manager I spoke to on the telephone told me that the total amount of my shopping should have been £44.91 and NOT the £56.91 the manager calculated it at. The original amount emailed to us was £72.61, the receipt which came with the groceries read £68.61, the home shopping manager recalculated this amount on the telephone to be £56.50 so reduced it to £50 for the trouble I had been put to but the actual proper amount should have been £44.91 so they have still overcharged me and taken the money from my bank account. No one at ASDA will help me, they have even suspended my online shopping account!!! I have emailed a formal complaint to their comments section on their website as customer services refuse to give any email address to contact anyone.

[legalpickle]

Originally Posted by pipistrollers

The problem with the bank has been sorted out. There is still the problem in that ASDA did not keep their promise by substituting goods. Also, the manager I spoke to on the telephone told me that the total amount of my shopping should have been £44.91 and NOT the £56.91 the manager calculated it at. The original amount emailed to us was £72.61, the receipt which came with the groceries read £68.61, the home shopping manager recalculated this amount on the telephone to be £56.50 so reduced it to £50 for the trouble I had been put to but the actual proper amount should have been £44.91 so they have still overcharged me and taken the money from my bank account. No one at ASDA will help me, they have even suspended my online shopping account!!! I have emailed a formal complaint to their comments section on their website as customer services refuse to give any email address to contact anyone.

I recommend that you write a detailed complaint letter threatening to issue court proceedings against them for the amount they owe you plus interest if the matter is not rectified within 14 days. Also demand compensation and that you will report the issue to Trading Standards.

Send it to:

The Directors Office,
ASDA STORES LIMITED,
Asda House,
South Bank,
Great Wilson Street,
Leeds,
LS11 5AD

Send it by special delivery [not recorded delivery or first class], demanding also that they compensate you that expense [costs £4.60].

If you draft the letter and post it here [minus the personal information], I'll try and proof it for you.

Good Luck & Please keep us posted.

[noomill060]

As you bought this stuff online, it comes under distance selling regs, which allow you to reject any or all of it within 14 days of delivery for no reason and the seller must reimburse you without question.

Suggest you now do so.

[noomill060]

Also, remind them that you can buy this carp anywhere.

[noomill060]

Obviously, if youve used any of it, or its gone off in the mean time you cant reject that and expect a refund, but anything thats unopened and can go back on the shelf could be rejected under DSR 2000

[legalpickle]

Originally Posted by noomill060

As you bought this stuff online, it comes under distance selling regs, which allow you to reject any or all of it within 14 days of delivery for no reason and the seller must reimburse you without question.

Suggest you now do so.

Why? The OP obviously wants the items he received, so why should he go through the trouble of returning the stuff and having to buy it elsewhere? The problem is only with the overcharging.

[noomill060]

Thinks- do Asda have a policy for accidental overcharging?

Tesco will refund double the overcharge.

[noomill060]

For instance, I bought a 4 pack of tinned beer-priced on the shelf at £3.98. (Tanglefoot Bitter)

When i got to the checkout I was charged £3.98 PER TIN.

Total paid £15.92 Total over charge - £11.94

I went to customer services and was refunded £23.88 and obviously kept the beer as it had been paid for.

[legalpickle]

noomill060: If you want to add something to a post and nobody has posted in response to it, please edit the post, as opposed to adding more posts to the thread and confusing matters. If somebody has responded to it, either post a new post only in response to that, or edit the post and write "ADDITION" before the added part.

This would make life easier for everybody including the OP and cut the size of the thread. If a mod could merge all the posts of "noomill060", so far on this thread, as they are not anything new or in response to any new posts, it would be appreciated!

I wouldn't be surprised if half - at least - of your 3,650 posts since joining the forum are like this!

[noomill060]

The next day I went back and bought four more 4 packs of the same beer.

The same thing happened- charged £3.98 per tin.

Total price paid £79.60 Total over charge £59.70


Went back to customer services and after the manager had stopped shaking and crying, I was refunded £119.40 and walked off with my 20 cans of Tanglefoot Bitter.

[noomill060]

legalpickle is suggesting that legal action be started for a grocery overcharge of £23.70 which would entail a possible court hearing, extra court costs and postage.

Suggest you get things in proportion. Court should always be the last option.

[noomill060]

Correction-

legalpickle is suggesting that legal action be started for a grocery overcharge of £5.09