stitched up by airline

al-209

didnt see a debit card section of the forum so posting here.

OK, heres the situ:

on 27th Oct i used my Halifax Visa Debit card on Thomas Cook airline 3 times for in-flight drinks. 3 transactions of £6 each. These payments went out fof my account 4th Nov as expected - no probs.

then

15th Nov, 2 more transactions of £6 come out of the account, taking me over my overdraft limit, hence the bank are charging me £35 for each transaction, plus an additional £28 for going over my agreed OD limit. Im £110 down now.

I did not authorise the last 2 payments. I have contacted Halifax to report the fraudulent/accidental use of my card, to which they replied that the charges stand and it will be up to me to reclaim the money from Thomas Cook including the charges. I suspect that is easier said than done.

What i want to know is

a) how can anyone use my card without me putting the PIN into the terminal? If its possible to take funds from a terminal without a chip being present or PIN being entered, what is the point of chip and PIN?

b) If i do not have sufficient funds in my account, why was the payment not declined? Halifax say they paid the 2 £6 payments to "avoid embarrasment for the customer", which is convenient for them as they get to charge me £98. I wasnt there to be embarassed!

c) where do i stand with reclaiming the monies from Thomas Cook? How do i prove i didnt authorise the transactions?

d) are the banks charges lawful? Can i refuse to pay? I know there has been a lot of hoo-ha lately about bank charges, what was ultimately decided? I dont need to use this account for anything, i have another account with halifax which my wages are paid into, can i just leave it to rot? which leads me to my final question

e) can halifax legally take money from one account to cover charges incurred in a different account at the same branch?

Thanks

Alan

cifpower

With regards to (e) - yes they can.

Thomas_Crown

al-209 wrote: »

didnt see a debit card section of the forum so posting here.

OK, heres the situ:

on 27th Oct i used my Halifax Visa Debit card on Thomas Cook airline 3 times for in-flight drinks. 3 transactions of £6 each. These payments went out fof my account 4th Nov as expected - no probs.

then

15th Nov, 2 more transactions of £6 come out of the account, taking me over my overdraft limit, hence the bank are charging me £35 for each transaction, plus an additional £28 for going over my agreed OD limit. Im £110 down now.

I did not authorise the last 2 payments. I have contacted Halifax to report this

Presumably you phoned Halifax to make your initial complaint. Given their unhelpful response it's now time to make an official complaint in writing. Don't forget to keep a copy. Follow Halifax's complaints procedure until such time as you get your money/charges refunded. Only then would you be able to refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman if they didn't pay up.

For future reference, debit card problems would come under ''Budgeting & Current Accounts''.

robpw2

i have had something similar this week with halifax authorising a payment off 87.10 when i only had 8p in the account apparently its my fault that the company took payment without my knowledge and i should take better care of my finances - this is what the lady said, and the fact i have a visa electron card which should only authorise electronically does not matter.

they wont let me spend 10p over in sainsburys but some company shows up with 87.00 and they authorise it . i am not happy to say the least

Sooler

a) may be it's an just an error by T Cook, or see c)

b) that's how debit cards work, they don't check your balance before authorising the purchase.

c) Ask T Cook where and when the £6 purchases were made.
If they were made on a flight, obviously you won't be on the passenger list for the flight. So impossible for you to have made the purchases.

d) better to pay the charges then argue your case why you think you shouldn't. only make things worse by not paying.

e) as said, yes

kazwookie

I would also be on the phone to T Cook asking what is going on....

mancini601

Maybe the only way to stop future unauthorised transactions from Thomas Cook is to cancel your debit card and ask for a replacement?