Where's my money and appology? help! asda

[kayliecat]

Hi,

 

To cut a long story short,

 

I paid for my shopping (£55) via debit card at asda.

 

The card declined and the check out lady told me I had taken the card out too soon (I hadn't) and asked me to try again.

 

It declined the second time and she said accused me of not having the funds to pay!

 

Feeling really embarrassed in front of some nice college girls that had packed my shopping and a long que,

I ran to the cash point in the store to get the cash out.

 

To my horror it showed the £55 had been taken/wasn't available!

 

I got a reciept and showed the check out lady who said it hadn't gone through and the money hadn't been taken.

 

After paying with the only cash I had til this week,

I called for someone to come and explain what was going on and to get a reciept that said the card had declined

to go to my bank and find out where my money was.

 

The woman kept walking off and dealing with other things and made me feel like a pest.

 

I was told the reciept was the stores copy and the funds where "floating" and would be back within 24 hours.

 

5 days later and my money is still not in the bank. I have spent the whole easter holiday with my one year old son and no money.

 

Asda replied via email saying there was a problem with the payment terminal and said it should take 5 - 10 days to get my money back. I then recieved a voicemail from asda that said it's my bank not returning my money and have asked me to go to my bank and get a authorisation code and take it into the store.

 

I'm really annoyed that I have to go out of my way to have my money returned because asda's payment terminal was broken.

 

I have recieved no appology for the inconvinience this has caused me or the terrible costumer service I received in the store.

 

Maybe asda are not to blame for the delay in returning my money,

but it still doesn't excuse that fact it was thier faulty payment terminal that caused all this and the poor costumer service.

 

Anyone had an experience like this?

[citizenB]

This appears to be happening quite frequently with the large supermarkets and it is unnacceptable. I think you should make an official complaint to their Head/Registered office. .

 

They seem to ignore the fact that people can be left without any funds because of their errors.

[kayliecat]

Hi citizenb, thank you for replying.

Do you have any suggestions about what I could say?

 

I have tried to be polite and to the point just explaining that blaming a techinal error does not excuse my treatment in the store

or for ruining my easter weekend, but they don't seem to want to listen or show any sympathy.

 

The fact I have heard from two different people and neither have appologised is the most annoying part!

 

I haven't complained before and I'm obviously not very good at it!

 

Thanks again, Kaylie.

[dx100uk]

pers i'd be writing to the ceo

by pass the store totally

 

you should have done a chargeback with your bank immediately

 

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/

 

dx

[kayliecat]

What's the CEO? I have sent one last message to ASDA, if I don't get a satisfactory response or my money, I will be taking it futhur!

[renegadeimp]

Actually guys it really sounds like a pending charge. This isnt the supermarkets fault but the banks, who place a hold on the money until the transaction actually fails. This normally takes 3 days to bounce back to the account, but since its Easter it will take a little longer.

 

I've heard the "faulty payment terminal" speech dozens , if not hundreds of times in the course of my work. Almost every single time its not a fault with the terminal but with the checkout operator not having a clue what is going on and simply saying that to get you to go away.

 

One thing that people seem to be picking up on though ( and its a little off topic) is the code you can input on the terminals that reset them and essentially reboots and locks them out of use for 5 mins. It seems to be more prevalent in the midlands, especially around peak trading times.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Something else to remember here is that your money went into the Bank of ASDA so in those 5-10 days stated your money is gaining Interest for the ASDA during that time, what will you get back from ASDA is probably just that £55 but not the interest its gained while in the Bank of ASDA for 5-10 days.

 

Something to bear in mind when dealing with them.

[renegadeimp]

If its a pending charge, the money doesnt go to asda. It's basically held in limbo for a few days until asda get around to telling the bank the transaction failed, or it bounces back on its own after the time limit expires. That means during that time, nobody is gaining interest as technically the money doesnt exist during that time. It's just flagged as a pending charge.

 

It's a relic system that the banks really need to get a grip on. In 2013, there is absolutely no need for such a thing as a pending charge system. If the transaction fails, the money should bounce right back without fail. Every. Single. Time.

[citizenB]

Imp, there are some stores that have a pending charge.. mostly online stores. If you shop in a Supermarket.. Tesco/Asda etc the money is taken immediately from your account.