Card Ripoff in Bar - Advice Needed!

fraseman

Hi there

I visited a bar in Southampton [Orange Rooms] about 10 days ago. I ordered a round of drinks and paid by debit card using my pin. I thought I had checked the amount [and I wasn't drunk] and typed in my pin. Last night I was looking through my receipts for the month and I find that they added £100 to the bill [the round was £12.86. they charge me £112.86]. I only have my card receipt [not itemised].

What are my rights in this instance? How should I proceed?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Best regards

Fraser

pin

Contact the bar?

Also contact your card provider and take it from there.

RoCas

Hi Fraser,

A similar thing happened to me some years ago, though not in a bar. Contact your card provider immediately and ask them to put a freeze on the item and confirm with them that you will settle your next statement minus this £100. They should contact the bar on your behalf and try to sort it out for you.

Of course, there's nothing to stop you speaking with the manager of the bar in addition to this. If it's part of a chain, contact their head office customer services.

RoCas

fraseman

Thanks for the replies so far. One important piece of information I should have mentioned is that it was a debit card transaction, and thus the money was taken out of my account [3 days later].

I'm speaking to the manager this evening. I'll post an update tomorrow.

Fraser

hjb123

So have you got the receipt that says 12.86 or 112.86? Thats quite important!

fraseman

My receipt said 112.86, but did not contain any itemization.

I went to the bar last night, spoke to the manager and he agreed to give me a refund on the £100. Nice chap, resolved in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Fraser

peter_the_piper

Yes but why did he give so easily? It leads me to assume that it is a common occurance or is it just the paranoid in me.

pin

peter_the_piper wrote:

Yes but why did he give so easily? It leads me to assume that it is a common occurance or is it just the paranoid in me.

Maybe the bar made an honest mistake?

geo555

I'm sure at the end of the night, the takings would show that £100 had been over paid. You are fortunate that you spooted the problem quickly. It would be much more difficult going back 6 weeks later.

wobbley

peter_the_piper wrote:

Yes but why did he give so easily? It leads me to assume that it is a common occurance or is it just the paranoid in me.

I am always suspicious when this happens and people refund quickly without really checking thoroughly.
Years back at our local petrol station in Leeds one of the cashiers used to give change for £10 if he was given a £20 note. When challenged he would just go "Oh, sorry" and give the £10 owed. It happened to me twice in the same week so I became vigilant as I thought he was doing it on purpose. It happened again to me a few weeks later and although I didn't say anything it was obvious what was going on. Talking to some friends, two of them said it had also happened to them with the same cashier. The next time he tried it with me I waited until the kiosk was empty and had a few words with him. Never saw him again after that.
I'm sure it's commomplace in the retail industry and with people in a rush all the time or minds on other things it's easy to get fleeced. I know we are all supposed to check the amount before entering our PIN or signing but how many of us can say we do it 100% of the time? Unfortunately there are people out there willing to take advantage of this. Saying this, it could have just been a genuine mistake in the OP's case and the till was £100 over.

RoCas

Well done, Fraser. A reminder to us all to check the amount before signing!

RoCas