overcharged on debit card, no receipt

Dave_Vader

Is there anything at all I can do about this? I checked my bank balance online last night, only to find out that my local garage has charged £50 to my card on petrol. I never put more than £15 in my car at any one time, but I also don't bother getting a receipt, to save on bits of paper cluttering up my life. I know this is a stupid thing to do now, but is it worth me even going down there to ask? I don't think I have a leg to stand on, but I could really do without losing £30-£40 for no reason.
Any help would be much appreciated.

natc

First thing id do is go to petrol station and see if they can do anything first. They may surprise you and just refund you straight out. Take a copy of your statement with you, its a long shot but maybe they might be able to look back on records at the time you purchased and see your £15.00 fuel. Surely their banking wouldnt stack up either?

TFD_2

You should always check the value on the screen before entering your pin.

No harm in speaking to the garage, but without a receipt, unlikely your bank will help. You verified the £50 transaction and entered your pin.

TFD_2

natc wrote: »

First thing id do is go to petrol station and see if they can do anything first. They may surprise you and just refund you straight out. Take a copy of your statement with you, its a long shot but maybe they might be able to look back on records at the time you purchased and see your £15.00 fuel. Surely their banking wouldnt stack up either?

As the petrol station EPOS systems are usually linked to the pump, most likely explanation is he paid for a different pump. I've seen this happen. Chances are their banking adds up just fine.

izools

Are you sure it's not a £50 pre-auth?

If you "Pay at Pump" they pre-auth £50 to the card, allow you to put up to £50 in your car, and the cancel the £50 pre-auth replacing it with a claim for however much petrol you bought. The £50 should never appear on your statement, just your pending authorisations. Is that where you're seeing it?

sharpy2010

TFD wrote: »

As the petrol station EPOS systems are usually linked to the pump, most likely explanation is he paid for a different pump. I've seen this happen. Chances are their banking adds up just fine.

And even if it didn't, the forecourt attendant is simply going to pocket the additional £35.

Tixy

Did you fill up on that date?
Are you certain you checked the amount of the pin machine as you entered your pin?
It could be a genuine error in that they have charged you for the wrong pump (has happened to me in reverse).
Although if there is a charge of say £15 followed by a £50 it could be fraud by the assistant, knowing that as you didn't take a receipt you can't prove it, that said they should be able to check their till rolls to see that no pin or signature was entered.

I thought they had to give out a card machine receipt, do you tell them to bin it?

Can't hurt to go and talk to them about it, in future always keep receipts for any card transaction, I have had several occasions where I have been overcharged/double charged and got the money back.

TFD_2

sharpy2010 wrote: »

And even if it didn't, the forecourt attendant is simply going to pocket the additional £35.

That's a bit of a generalisation!

natc

sharpy2010 wrote: »

And even if it didn't, the forecourt attendant is simply going to pocket the additional £35.

No honest ppl these days! Prob true :eek:

Dave_Vader

Tixy wrote: »

Did you fill up on that date?
Are you certain you checked the amount of the pin machine as you entered your pin?
It could be a genuine error in that they have charged you for the wrong pump (has happened to me in reverse).
Although if there is a charge of say £15 followed by a £50 it could be fraud by the assistant, knowing that as you didn't take a receipt you can't prove it, that said they should be able to check their till rolls to see that no pin or signature was entered.

I thought they had to give out a card machine receipt, do you tell them to bin it?

Can't hurt to go and talk to them about it, in future always keep receipts for any card transaction, I have had several occasions where I have been overcharged/double charged and got the money back.

I was in quite a hurry, and never ever had a problem with my debit cards before, so I slapped in the PIN, expecting it to be alright (little petrol station in a little town in Devon, usual attendant lives round the corner from me) and zoomed off. There may be a receipt somewhere I forgot about, but I don't think so.
There is just the £50, on my bank statement, dated to the tuesday after I was in there, card transactions tend to take a few days to come through, and I don't remember anyone else being there at the time, might be operator error.
Definitely not a pay-at-pump pre-auth, as I've never payed at the pump before.

I will try and go in and talk to them, but it's just come under new ownership, and I've not heard pleasant things about the new owners.