HELP!!! Asda have charged me for petrol 2 months late!!!

[streethawk101]

I cant believe this. I checked my balance at an ATM machine today, expecting to find about £10 of my £100 overdraft facility available, only to find i am overdrawn by £210.

So i checked my internet banking, i noticed three Asda Petrol station transactions today, one for £30, one for £40.02 and one for £50. I havent had any petrol since Saturday last week.

So i called my bank (the co-op) to report fraud, they told me it wasnt fraud but there had been a considerable delay in Asda presenting the "vouchers" for payment. One of these transactions had been on 09/05/08, one one 23/05/08 and one on 06/06/08. I couldnt believe they were allowed to do this.

So i headed straight to Asda and asked to speak to the manager. She explained that is "wasnt their fault" and that the people running the card transactions "Streamline" had made an error and have debited thousands of transactions late. She was no help at all and very rude to be honest. The most she did was give me their head office phone number and they're not open evenings so thats no use.

I'll probably be charged £35 by my bank for each of these transactions tomorrow, leaving me £215 out of pocket from where i thought i was. I was due to go away for a long weekend on saturday, but have had to cancel the trip as i cant even nearly afford it now.

Where do i stand? I dont dispute owing the money, but surely this is unethical at least, is it even fully legal? I'm furious to be honest, but i want to know if i have any options open to me?

Thanks for your input,

Steve.

[goldspanners]

surely its up to you to keep an eye on your own finances?

[streethawk101]

Maybe, but this slipped by me, i have a lot of fairly small transaction like these amounts. I think its a pretty awful way to treat your customers.

[tomstickland]

I'd suggest phoning up the bank and asking them if they can "do anything" about the fees. Politely explain the problem and they'll probably cancel the fees.

I don't think that your "furious" attitude is going to help TBH. They essentially loaned you the money in the time before paying and being charged.

[MYLITTLESISTERLOLA]

I may be wrong but I think these transactions can be processed up to 6 mths after the purchase, you could try to appeal to the banks better nature, be nice, explain the situation, explain that you realise the bank aren't at fault but you would appreciate any help they could give you, if you go in shouting the odds in my experience ( I work in a bank ) they will be less kind, human nature ! Good Luck

[streethawk101]

Thanks, might be able to wriggle out of the charges i suppose. Still pretty upset about having to cancel the holiday, but i suppose i have no options.

[anewman]

I always thought the money was automatically secured from your account (taking it away from your available balance) but charged properly from your balance later?

[streethawk101]

Thats pretty much how i thought it worked, and why i have "available balance" and "account balance" on my internet banking screen. Transactions pending seem to lower the available balance.

[Thunderbird]

I had this as well. I have purchased petrol from ASDA once, but, they debited my account nearly 8 weeks later. Mind you, I was waiting for this transaction to appear on my online banking.

Good luck with the banck charges!

[Markyt]

They have just done this to me as well. As a result, I now have an unauthorised overdraft on a closed bank account!

[kazwookie]

Well I guess you are not going to be the only person this has happened to.

But in your mind you should have allowed for the money to be out of your bank account even if it was still in your account, so in effect you actually spent money on something you didn't have.

You should check your statements off against the reciepts you get for items you have bought.

I would suggest a calm phone call to your bank and explain what has happened and see what they can do to help you.

[dzug1]

Maybe, but this slipped by me, i have a lot of fairly small transaction like these amounts. I think its a pretty awful way to treat your customers.

So how would you treat them? Not bother collecting the money at all?

They have no way of contacting you to warn it's happening.

Unfortunately if you don't bother to keep close track of your bank account things like this can creep up and bite you.

[G-G]

I'm not one of these angels that checks off every single thing I buy against my statements.. so I really do feel sorry for you as you probably expected that money to have come out of your account ages ago..

Why do people have to instantly slate someone for not checking their account properly.. in this day and age there are hundreds of transactions a month on your account, and some people simply do not have the time to check everything off like an accountant..

Stop being so hard on him.

[markelock]

Ring up your card company and ask ASDA to prove it was you that spent the money.

I had one 6 months late from a n other company, and questioned it.

[dzug1]

I'm not one of these angels that checks off every single thing I buy against my statements.. so I really do feel sorry for you as you probably expected that money to have come out of your account ages ago..

Why do people have to instantly slate someone for not checking their account properly.. in this day and age there are hundreds of transactions a month on your account, and some people simply do not have the time to check everything off like an accountant..

Stop being so hard on him.

No I'm not being hard on him. It's a perfectly valid decision not to check everything off on the grounds that you do not have time.

I'm pointing out that that decision is not one-way - it has a consequence. Knowing and accepting that consequence should be part of the decision making process.

[Markyt]

As to the above, even Natwest checked before I closed the account to ensure there were no due or pending transactions. There weren't - money hadn't even been reserved, let alone requested. This is a serious system flaw.

[iolanthe07]

I find Microsoft Money very good (there are probably lots of programs like it) because you can keep a daily track of every transaction. Thus, this money would have gone out of your 'virtual' account, even if it had not had gone out of your real one, and the problem would not have arisen.

[soolin]

Ring up your card company and ask ASDA to prove it was you that spent the money.

I had one 6 months late from a n other company, and questioned it.

Hardly useful is it?

OP admits buying petrol why on earth would she wish to deny it later and cause herself problems.

When we use debit or credit cards we authorise them to take a payment, however nowhere on that authorisation does it state that they are required to do so within a certain time frame.

[Inactive]

Easy cure, pay cash, I do.;)

[carol_a]

I have one of those little old fashioned red cash books (pocket size) everytime I spend anything or pay anything in I enter it in the book and deduct it from my running total balance, tick the receipt to show it's entered and then file receipt away (in the bin if you want)

Next to the transaction in my little book I put o/s for outstanding. Then, when I check my statements or online, when the item appears I cross out the O/s, or tick it or whatever to show it's gone through. That way I always know the minimum that I have in my account and any extra in there for items pending is gaining interest but not tempting me to spend it.

Sad maybe but effective. I would second ringiing the bank and begging to get the charges reversed, plead ignorance. I used to work in a bank too, old habits die hard!!

[maniac886]

This has happened to me before.

Basically when the transaction takes place the money is taken out of your available balance, however if the company does not claim the money off the bank after a certain number of days the money is put back into your account until the company reclaim it.

Luckily I check my statements online quite often so knew the money was gonna come out of my account eventually..which it did, three weeks after the transaction was made.

Best bet is to politely ask your bank to refund the charges.

[LandyAndy]

I'm not one of these angels that checks off every single thing I buy against my statements.. so I really do feel sorry for you as you probably expected that money to have come out of your account ages ago..

Why do people have to instantly slate someone for not checking their account properly.. in this day and age there are hundreds of transactions a month on your account, and some people simply do not have the time to check everything off like an accountant..

Stop being so hard on him.

The OP's bank account is in a position where he is operating within a gnat's crotchet of his limit. I he can't be bothered keeping a simple record of what he's spent then I have little sympathy.

I do keep a close watch on what I've spent and whether it has hit my account. It takes me about an hour a month. Perhaps that's why I don't go overdrawn any more:rolleyes: .

The OP should see it as a lesson learned.

[kittie]

m/s money is the one. I use it every time I make a transaction and I know to the nearest £ how much I have left in my account. A difficult lesson op but we all learn from our mistakes

[cyclonebri1]

Its easily avoided by keeping a higher account balance. I know it's easy to say but it's a better bet than running the risks by running from redline to redline every month. As you've found you will slip up.:money:

[kittykat100]

Cylonebri,

I found your last post quite patronising...... some people have to live on the breadline to survive and don't have 'spare' cash to keep the account higher as you suggest.

Kitty

[Inactive]

Cylonebri,

I found your last post quite patronising...... some people have to live on the breadline to survive and don't have 'spare' cash to keep the account higher as you suggest.

Kitty

Well they need to ask themselves if they can really afford to run a car, if that is the case.


;)

[cyclonebri1]

Cylonebri,

I found your last post quite patronising...... some people have to live on the breadline to survive and don't have 'spare' cash to keep the account higher as you suggest.

Kitty

Sorry, not intended to be patronising, more the voice of experience, BUT, what could be simpler than keeping £100 in front? As Inactive said in a roaund about way, if you own a car you have to be able to fund the unexpected let alone the expected fuel bill.

Simple solution keep in front not behind then these issues will not arise:cool:
Edited I did say "It's easy to say" to avoid your comments:confused:

[economiser]

Easy cure, pay cash, I do.;)
Even better use a cash back credit card.

[Inactive]

Even better use a cash back credit card.


I prefer using cash at filling stations, there are far too many cases of fraud that seem to start at filling stations, I simply don't trust them.

I do use a cash back CC for other uses.

[jackieb]

Easy cure, pay cash, I do.;)


Our nearest Asda petrol station only uses cards. It's self-service. Good luck trying to get petrol if you only have cash.

[Inactive]

Our nearest Asda petrol station only uses cards. It's self-service. Good luck trying to get petrol if you only have cash.


I don't put Supermarket petrol in my car, I don't shop at Asda either, so safe there.

[jackieb]

I don't put Supermarket petrol in my car, I don't shop at Asda either, so safe there.


Congratulations.

[Lakeuk]

I noticed back in June that Asda were taking 2 weeks to put through my petrol purchases and thought great 2 weeks extra interest benefit to me, made a point of getting my petrol from Asda for 6 weeks until they'd got their act together.

It's the OP's responsability to manage their bank account and what they're purchasing with the card, especially when so close to the breadline. In this day and age it's very important to keep a check on your accounts (lots of fraud going on), it's not very time consuming 10/20mins per week, there is software available to help with this, I use MS Money but free software like GNUCash (link below) is available.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GnuCash

[callansdad]

OMG

I cannot believe how harsh some of you are being ... this forum gets worse all the time!

People put posts here about MONEYSAVING and to accuse someone of knowing they hadn't paid and hoping they wouldn't get caught is astounding.

The OP was asking for help not an instant slagging! I too have been caught out with this ASDA problem and maybe i should have checked my accounts but the reason i use a debit card is because you can only spend what you have available and i expect the money to be taken straight away. I must have missed the economics lesson where these people are legally obliged to take the money upto six months from the date of purchase. I will be more vigilant from now on.

Thanks to the helpful suggestions from some of the posters about contacting the banks and asking for help.

The only other suggestion i have is for the OP to do as i am and write to Andy Bond (ASDA Boss) and outline your concerns and hopefully if enoughpeople make a fuss about it ASDA may help.

[Inactive]

The only way that you can guarantee that the money will be taken " straight away " is by using good old fashioned cash.;)

[cyclonebri1]

I don't think the OP got an "instant slagging", more a mixed view of how to avoid this situation. No one called anyone a ********* idiot or any such abuse.
Expect the unexpected is my motto, and if you suddenly find a bonus in your account, well ying and yang:rolleyes:

[benjus]

I think LandyAndy has nailed it. I am fortunate enough to have an account that is normally in credit and has a fairly large overdraft facility to absorb anything unexpected. As a result I don't pay that much attention to my account (perhaps not as much as I should).

This is certainly different to back when I was a student and needed to know exactly how much I had available. At that time there was no online banking so I used to rely on keeping records of all transactions, and checking them against mini-statements from the cash machine.

Anyone who needs to know how much they have available to spend to the nearest £10 should not be relying purely on the account balance reported by the bank.

[MrsE]

I don't put Supermarket petrol in my car, I don't shop at Asda either, so safe there.

I put whatever is cheapest in my car, I though everyone did:rolleyes:

Even my very fussy DH puts supermarket diesel in his, but he won't use one brand of station (they are independant - can't think of the name) but he will use anyone else.

[dzug1]

Cylonebri,

I found your last post quite patronising...... some people have to live on the breadline to survive and don't have 'spare' cash to keep the account higher as you suggest.

Kitty

True, they may not have the spare cash. All the more reason to keep a very close eye on transactions going through the account and not be part of the 'can't be bothered/don't have time to check them off' brigade. If you want that luxury then it's wise to have a buffer in case of errors, etc.

[Inactive]

I put whatever is cheapest in my car, I though everyone did:rolleyes:



Following the " Supermarket Fuel " fiasco of last year, where lots of people had their vehicles ruined by using Supermarket Fuel, I choose not to run the risk, in any case filling stations near to Supermarkets only charge the same price.
;)