Help! Credit card misuse by shop

creditcard123

Hi

I hope someone can help this is my first post.

I bought my daughter a bracelet and charms for her birthday from a reputable jeweller on 15th Oct for £166
I was checking my credit card statement only to find £45 taken the next day from my credit card from the jewellers
I have phoned the jeweller and was told that they discovered later that 1 of the charms hadn't been charged and they still had my details from the receipt so charged my credit card with £45.
Are they allowed to do this ? I didn't give any authorisation for them to charge my credit card again.
They say they were only charging me for goods I had received.
What are my rights.
Please can anyone give me advice
Thanks

NekoZombie

Have they charged you correctly or not? You don't mention if it is. Assuming the charge is fair, it is my understanding that shops are allowed to do this. Like they say, they have only charged you for goods received.

creditcard123

Yes I checked my receipt and they had only charged me for 4 charms but I didn't think they could use my credit card without my authorisation.

ILW

creditcard123 wrote: »

Yes I checked my receipt and they had only charged me for 4 charms but I didn't think they could use my credit card without my authorisation.

You could dispute it with your CC company but the chances are they would agree with the merchant. You have not lost anything.

eddddy

I guess it depends what the people in the shop said to you at the time. If they said something like "this bracelet with all the charms is £166", you accepted their offer and bought it - and they cannot change their minds afterwards.

If they said something like "this bracelet is £166, if you want an extra charm it's another £45", then charged you £166 including the extra charm by mistake, they can reasonably charge you the £45 to correct the mistake.

Either way the £45 transaction will be a "card not present" transaction, as it was done the next day (and you didn't enter your PIN). So you can probably persuade your CC company to reverse it.

However, if the shop feels that you genuinely owe them £45, they can persue you for the debt, ultimately through the courts.

creditcard123

The shop assistant rang up the individual price tags and told me it would be £166 i then handed over credit card paid and left shop
I never looked at my receipt until after I discovered the extra credit card transaction and phoned them

redpete

If the cost is more than you expected and more than you would have spent then you have a good argument to return the bracelet and charms for a full refund - no problem. Maybe they would give you a small discount off something else for the inconvenience.

If you are happy with the total price then you have the bracelet and charms you wanted and the shop has the money they expected - no problem.

If you want to get away with paying less than the shop had them priced at - I don't know the legalities and I wouldn't help you get away with it.

If it's just an academic interest in the legalities, I still don't know the answer.

ru20205

Whilst i do not know the legalities of whether the shop can charge you after the transaction has been processed based on details they already held from your CC, i do know the following:

If you buy something from a shop, and get home to discover that you have received something else in addition, like buying a bracelet and charms, only to discover you have only been charged for 4 charms, as in your case, by Law you are required to go back to the shop and either return the additional charm or pay them for it, otherwise it is classified as Theft under Section 1 Theft Act, of appropriating property belonging to another with the intent of permanently depriving the other of it. Sounds a little extreme i know, but that is how it is viewed in law. It is ultimately Theft.

Ultimately if you chose to go through your CC company for a refund etc, the shop could prosecute you for Theft, as now you know about the additional item you are legally obliged to either pay for it or return it to the shop.

I would therefore hazard a guess that the company could use your details to process an additional payment, and would guess that this would be perfectly lawful, otherwise it could be deemed as theft in the eyes of the law.

I wouldnt like it to happen to me, so i can understand your frustration. Im just looking at it from a legal stand point as a former police officer.

bengal-stripe

creditcard123 wrote: »

Yes I checked my receipt and they had only charged me for 4 charms but I didn't think they could use my credit card without my authorisation.

You did give your authorisation to charge the correct price for the merchandise, when you said: "I'll take the bracelet and those five charms!" If you don't want to pay for that particular charme, take it back and ask for a credit.

What made you think you could keep it without paying???

callistris

I'm wondering how the shop processed this customer not present transaction without the last 3 numbers from the back of the card;) as we need these where I work to perform this type of charge!

dave030445

bengal-stripe wrote: »

You did give your authorisation to charge the correct price for the merchandise, when you said: "I'll take the bracelet and those five charms!" If you don't want to pay for that particular charme, take it back and ask for a credit.

What made you think you could keep it without paying???

didnt take long for the silly coments to start the OP was not saying she wanted it for nothing.