Between Natwest and Shell Petrol Station

stclair

shayward wrote: »

They phoned me and said that they would not look into it.

The guy who phoned me back said they could have done a chargeback if it was a visa debit card, but not on a maestro.

I would log it with them as fraud then in that case.

Unless the process has changed in last 3/4 years but the bank used to look into duplicate debit card transactions and they was called point of sale disputes.

jambosans

stclair wrote: »

I would log it with them as fraud then in that case.

I would have assumed that NatWest, like other banks, would not regard this as fraud. The OP confirms using their card in a Shell garage, regardless of the number of transactions, this is simply a dispute between the OP and Shell.

Just a question to the OP:-
Have both amounts debited (i.e. showing on your statement), or are they still pending/ earmarked/ reserved/ authorised against your available balance?

If the answer is the former, then you will need to prove to Shell that the amounts have debited twice. NatWest are under no obligation to dispute the transaction (seeing as chargeback rules don't appear to apply) and you will need to take this up with the merchant (Shell). Like stclair has mentioned repeatedly, there should be a debit card dispute process - it is a pretty common practice within most banks, therefore I find it strange NatWest deny the existence of any such process. Problem is though, you have a Maestro, and I'm not familiar with any chargeback service similar to the one provided through the Visa network.

If the answer is the latter, then one amount should drop off after x days (varies from bank to bank), and only one amount should show debited on your statement. Some banks will remove duplicate transactions, but again, they are under no obligation to do so.

The long and short of it is, you have provided your card details to Shell, and as far as NatWest are concerned, you have authorised these payments. The burden of proof lies with yourself, not NatWest, and the dispute (and direction of anger) is with Shell.

shayward

Just thought i'd provide an update.

I have managed to escalate the problem to the head office of the petrol station. I should point out that though the station is branded Shell and sells Shell Petrol they are actually called Sectorsure Ltd.

I gave the station a copy of my bank statement with the two transactions highlighted which they have then faxed through to their head office.

I phoned their headoffice who have assured me that they will inveestigate where the error has taken place.

I would recommend that any-body who still has a maestro card get it replaced with a visa card so that they do have the chargeback facility should they need it.

molerat

As others have said the dispute is between you and the petrol station as the bank have paid the 2 transactions that you authorised. The petrol station are being difficult as anyone who knows what they are doing (speaking from experience here) should be able to spot the error very quickly. If the petrol station don't get back to you today tell the bank that you have been the victim of card fraud by deception. This would also be a police matter !!

dzug1

But it's not fraud, it's a mistake. And mistakes can sometimes take a while to put right particularly if there's an idiot or two somewhere in the process.

You do sound as though you are getting there though

shayward

Success!

Have just had a call from the head office who confirm that it was a mistake on their Merchant Services side, are very sorry for all the inconvenience and that if I go to the petrol station tonight they will refund the money.

I do find it frustrating that head office did exactly what I told the manager of the petrol station to do. Phone up their merchant services with the 2 authorisation codes. The manager of the station needs to be told how to handle this kind of issue in future so that customers don't have to escalate things all the way to head office.

Thanks for all the advice I have recieved.

Very glad to finally get my money back :-)