Be Aware of Asda & Electron Cards!

k2nga

Hi All,

3 weeks ago i did a shop with Asda online and on recieving my shopping it had gone down a bit and i was pleased as i like saving pennies nowadays.

2 days later i went to my account and it showed i only had £10 availible balance which i could understand as i had more than that i thought. I called Co-op and they informed the amounts out of my account. Well Asda had taken the lower amount but still had a hold on the previously larger amount so they must have checked that i had the money in my account before processing my order. So with this hold in place i could not get to my money and the very nice lady from Co-op said for me to contact them and get it taken off hold if i dont owe it to them.

So i called Asda who told me that they would get it taken off hold but it will take 7-10days :mad:. I could not believe it so i called Co-op back and another really nice lady said she would unlock it for me but if they then took it which they could as they had an authorisation code it would go out of the account and it i did not have enough in there i would go overdrawn......

Well i contacted Asda who said there was nothing more they could do and apoligised. I asked why this happened and the girls mumbled she did not really want to say and said it should not happen again....

You know its coming.....................

Yep again last week it happened again. Saturday morning i went to the bank and again to not get to my money. I again called Co-op who confirmed this again. I asked the lady if she could unlock it again but she informed that she could not as Co-op had changed there policy and this was happening alot with Asda.

I said i was really concerned as because this was in place it meant that come monday morning when i had a direct debit going out i would be over drawn and get a black mark from Co-op for doing so. The lady was great and called a Manager who said she would do it this once but after this time no more.:o

So i decided that i would email Asda a full on complaint. After 4 days of silly phone calls and passing it on a lady rang this afternoon to say that she would get the hold released now in 7-10 days this is after 4 days of messing around. Crap Customer Service :mad:

I argued that the service was shocking and when it comes to complaining even me who is crap most things can hold a great arguement. Eventually she informed that they way they do payments have changed since the new year. Apparently there bank used to fax authorisations to be taken off hold with 2 days but they would no longer do this meaning it will now take 7-10days.

So i will not be shopping with Asda again as i cant afford to not be able to get to my money or to get black marks on my account.

Just a warning.....................................Asda "Keeping your money everyday" 7-10 to be exact.

Im off to try Aldi & Lidl.

startagain_2

K2nga - this is a joke.....

Is the problem specific to Electron cards or is it the online payment system?

SA

skylight

I have never had this with Asda and my Natwest Step Solo card. But there is always a £2 deduction on my account for a week which only appears when I buy at Asda, so it must be them.

So I would guess that its a mix of Asda and Co-Op as to what Asda do, but what Co-Op display???

Still flippin annoying though!

MercMan

I seem to remember hearing this about Asda before about 2 years ago. K2nga I shop at Lidl and find it really good. Love the German cakes!!

k2nga

Yeah Merc Man i am looking forward to the shopping German style.

I pointed out the lady that as i am on benefits that money is all i have but she could not really care i did ask if it was just electron cards but she said she could only talk about my account.

I have asked them to cancel my account with them as i really wont be shopping with them again as i cant trust them i really cant.

k2nga

Plus for those who are yet to go BR and get a co-op account they operate a 3 strikes and you lose you bank account and i cant afford to lose that for one min.

peachyprice

A similar thing happened to me with Ocado and my pre-pay Mastercard.

I had JL vouchers for xmas that I wanted to use for food shopping, I was only going to go over the voucher amount by a couple of pounds so stuck £10 on my Pay Pal mastercard (I knew they didn't take electron). Their system wouldn't accept the card, I tired it as a visa debit and a visa credit, then my OH tried it incase I'd put the number in wrong. All together we tried it 7 times, but although their stooopid system said it didn't recognise the card it was capturing £1 each time, but because the transactions weren't completeing the £1 weren't being released. It took 2 weeks for the money to go back on my card. :mad:

blue_monkey_2

I have heard of this happening before with Asda home shopping and I will not use them for that reason. When you book the delivery online your card is debited and then again when you shop and one is refunded - maybe once you have ordered a few times and are a regular shopper this stops.

For this reason I will not use them as I do not think it is a fair system and not everyone keeps 'spare' money in their account in this way, I refuse to pay overdraft charges for something I have not had!!

MercMan

I'm almost a cash economy anyway and this make me even more so. I just want a bank account for my wages and DDs.

fiveyearplan

Was that just with Asda online.
What makes an electron card different than a normal debit/credit card is it is authorised before each transaction and a hold put on the account.

blue_monkey_2

I've heard it is any card that is why I will not use them. I get home delivery as my son is disabled and it is easier for me to do a big shop online. I know Asda are cheaper but I do not like the way they take 2 lots of money. Maybe it happens when you are a new customer.