Unauthorised charge of £1,600. Where do I stand legally?

[lukeirving6]

I recently tried purchasing a £1,600 laptop through Dell (28/12/12), however it wouldn't go through as my bank wouldn't release the funds for this transaction. Dell didn't receive any money, so the whole order was cancelled on Dell's behalf (it said "Cancelled" on their website, so the proof is there), and it was left at that.

 

Knowing that the order was now cancelled and my bank wouldn't release the money to them, I had another think about it and decided I wouldn't attempt to make another order as there were a lot of sales going on after Christmas and thought my money could be better spent, even though I did need a high end laptop for my animation work.

 

Roughly, 2 weeks later (08/01/13), Dell had made a completely new order without me knowing, whatsoever. I only found out because I got an email through telling me my order was now "In production". I looked at my bank account and noticed nothing had been taken out, so I thought it was a glitch on their system. Perhaps, I might even get a laptop for free out of it?

 

A couple of days later I then receive another email from a Dell rep informing me that there was indeed a glitch in their system and gave me a link to track the order, which has now been shipped out to me. I again, look at my bank account and notice they haven't taken any money from it. I thought great! It has gone past the payment verification stage, all the way through to the shipping stage without them charging me. I thought this was karma for them as they completely screwed me over on my last purchase of a Dell computer earlier that year.

 

Anyway, I tried purchasing some food yesterday and my card got declined. I've been without food since last night and it was incredibly embarrassing at the time! I've looked at my statements and can now see Dell has taken out a massive sum (the original price of the computer) out of my account which has caused me to go well into my overdraft, and now probably incurring interest charges as well!

 

The order was made without my knowledge, and the charge was made without me authorising it!

 

How do I approach Dell about this? Where do I stand legally?

 

A simple refund won't do, if they have indeed broken the law and have caused me an overwhelming amount of stress with the possibility of interest charges made to my account.

 

I am supposed to be receiving the computer today. Should I keep it and demand a refund?

What is my position in this?

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

I'll move your thread to the General Retail forum and leave you a short term link here. The guys should be able to help you.

 

My best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have something to say your order was cancelled, then Dell cannot start a new order contract without your consent.

 

Was it the payment that shows as being cancelled or the order ? Dell may say that the payment was cancelled, but the order was never cancelled.

 

Suggest that you make a complaint to Dell customer services urgently. Perhaps they can organise for their courier to take the laptop back and credit your account urgently. They can then look at the bank charges, once you supply the details, if it is found they have made a mistake.

 

In regard to Dell laptops etc. I don't rate them, as I dealt with them for a company and spoken to service engineers. Some of the parts they fit are not the best. For that amount of money, there are many better makes/models available.

[lukeirving6]

If you have something to say your order was cancelled, then Dell cannot start a new order contract without your consent.

 

Was it the payment that shows as being cancelled or the order ? Dell may say that the payment was cancelled, but the order was never cancelled.

 

Suggest that you make a complaint to Dell customer services urgently. Perhaps they can organise for their courier to take the laptop back and credit your account urgently. They can then look at the bank charges, once you supply the details, if it is found they have made a mistake.

 

In regard to Dell laptops etc. I don't rate them, as I dealt with them for a company and spoken to service engineers. Some of the parts they fit are not the best. For that amount of money, there are many better makes/models available.

 

Thanks for your response. The actual order and payment including, was cancelled before they made another one without my consent.

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks for your response. The actual order and payment including, was cancelled before they made another one without my consent.

 

You need to make an urgent complaint by phone and follow it up in writing (get an email address for UK executive complaints when you phone). They cannot restart a cancelled order, without your consent.

[lukeirving6]

Thank you kindly unclebulgaria.

 

It has forced me to also consider changing my bank. They did not notify me at the time I made the original purchase as to why it got cancelled (when I had funds to actually make the transaction), and again, not informing / suspecting / declining it when I didn't have enough money in my account to carry out the transaction and that I didn't even agree to. I believe there is a security flaw there. Firstly, for not informing me about any of this through an automated system, or other alternative. And secondly, allowing an organisation to use your debit card details if and when they please.

 

I am currently taking this up with the bank. I believe they should be made aware of this flaw that has caused me so much grief.

Both Dell and Halifax I believe to be in the wrong here. More so Dell, but partly Halifax too.

 

I've been told I'll be waiting up to 2 weeks to receive a refund. I literally can not afford anything, and it seems like no-one is helping!

 

There must be someone I can go to regarding my complaints. I've tried talking to a Dell rep and explaining what they've done wrong. However, all they would do is give me a refund upon receiving the computer back, which I must sign for and arrange collection for. I certainly don't deserve this in my current financial situation, along with the stress and lack of food I have at the moment. Let alone direct debits that I will get charged for on top of that, and generally just making my life a living hell!

 

Should I pursue this with the bank and ask them to refund me for the security hole in their system, and have them dispute it with Dell? Proving, that the first order from which I authorized, and money didn't go out, was made by me. And, that a separate order was made by Dell, which had nothing to do with me, yet the money got released, and I didn't authorize it. And, all of this being done behind closed doors and I'm not being informed about any of it by the bank.

 

Or, should I take this to court and prove quite simply that Dell made a new order without my consent?

 

I know what I'd prefer to do...

Edited January 17, 2013 by lukeirving6

[ericsbrother]

Problem with chasing bank is that once you give your card details to a person or company the bank will pay any amount asked for. Yes, you can easily recover the money via a chargeback but it take about 6 weeks unless they know the charge was fraudulent so you are reliant on the bank being understanding and putting you in a position where yo can do your normal shopping etc. I would take up the matter with Dell regarding the proof of cancellation of the order and the misuse of your personal data that should have been destroyed amd tell them you expect to be compensated for you actual losses. There is new international codes of practice coming in in April that will make it harder for them to justify their foul up and possibly get them a massive fine but that doesnt help you as the wronged individual.

[lukeirving6]

Thank you ericsbrother,

 

Your help has been appreciated. The trouble with Dell, however, is that the customer service is beyond terrible, and I've explained my current situation with the customer care showing no interest in compensating me and just getting their item returned back to them.

 

I thought I would have a better shot with the bank. Although, I will be phoning both the bank and Dell up within the next hour to try and get this all resolved.

[unclebulgaria67]

If they placed an order and this failed, as the payment was rejected, then they are entitled to believe the information they were given i.e that the order was cancelled. If Dell were going to try to collect the payment again, they should have sent an email confirning this. As they don't appear to have done this, then the customer was entitled to believe that the order was cancelled and spend any money in their account as they wished.

 

Dell do make some laptops to order, but mostly they are standard. Personally I would touch any Dell product, as they have been known to suffer from reliability issues.

Edited January 22, 2013 by citizenB

[porkyp1g]

Any update on this?