Declined Chosen Payment Method by USC

Browner75

Dear Forum Members

I would like to say between USC,USC Customer Services and Transax (certegy Transax) I have never been so humiliated in all my life, just for
trying to purchase an item by way of a cheque. I selected at coat to the value of £75.00 on the 18th October at the USC store in Cardiff. The sales agent asked if i would be interested in a store card, to which i replied i'd rather not waste mine and your time, as i wouldnt get accepted, she kept on as they do, so Iagreed...and as expected it got declined that transaction finished with. I then proceeded to pay for the item, to which i presented a
cheque, with a cheque guarantee of £100. The assistant stated they are required to ring for authorisation, she did so, and your company gave her
an 04 code, and that i had to ring to a number to clarify some security questions or at least i thought. When eventually i got through i had a very rude assistant on the phone who didnt introduce who she was or what company she was working for....who asked me for my address details, current and previous, for a CREDIT CHECK it turns out. Why do you need to do a credit cheque to pay for an item by cheque, what is the need for it! As a result of that she refused my payment by cheque and just hung up on me before I could question or get an full explanation from her. I was furious and still am now, for one i thought i was just being asked random security questions to check who i was....I didnt give authority for a credit cheque to be conducted and i was mislead into agreeing this. That now means I have a record on my file that is going to sit there for 6 years which i didnt give
permission to do. secondly, What gives Transax:mad the right to refuse me a payment method that i choose to pay by, knowing I have enough money in my account to pay that way, which is also guaranteed by the card for more
than the item was! they took a card payment no problem, which believe it or not was from the same account as the cheque....Explain It please!!
I went to the abbey who are extremely concerned by this transaction, I have forwarded this to the Head of complaints at both USC and Transax the FSA who rang me today to advise its not their remit to deal with this. I look forward to hearing from any of you who can offer advice! Hope your all still awake after reading this

Paul Brown:mad:

r.mac_2

Please write to USC head office and complain!!! That's no way to be treated.

This is hideous. To pay by cheque - surely your cheque card guarantees it? Is that not their function?!!!

Browner75

You Would Think the Cheque Guarantee would be enough. I am wondering if this is their way of phasing out cheques. I feel though I am badly being descriminated against.

*!*HIBS*!*

Also in your letter, tell them that you kept on refusing to sign up for the store card and gave in under unwanted pressure, to try to continue with your transaction, stating that you told the sales agent in advance that you weren't gonna get accepted! This is a serious incident as a failed credit check will be stuck on your credit file and may even damage your credit file even more, maybe making it harder for you to get credit in future. :mad: You should get USC and/or people dealing with the store card to get that credit check deleted from your file!!!

jakemuk

the store card has nothign to do with it,

shops use transax to cover them for cheque payments, transax thought the customer was a risk and didnt gaurantee the cheque for them

dazco

That is no way to treat any customer. However I can tell you, as a retailer, that a cheque guarantee card guarantees nothing.

molerat

dazco wrote:

That is no way to treat any customer. However I can tell you, as a retailer, that a cheque guarantee card guerantees nothing.

Correct ... a cheque card is not worth the plastic it is made from. The banks will, and do, find a way to squirm out of paying up if they can. This is why many retailers use transax. My company transax every cheque, even for £5. It has cut our cheque losses to virtually nil.

marty1888

surely when you sign up to a storecard they run a credit check on you??
Is that not the reason why you were credit checked???

smartie1976

as OP stated she did and it got declined.

This was a second check on the cheque guarantee card.

davet_3

Is this in the right forum?

Kzlnd

My experiences with USC aren't great, I've always found their staff to be rude and unhelpful so I'm not surprised :rolleyes:

but.. From reading your post, you say you finally agreed to the store card account which means you agree to a credit check.
The sales agent asked if i would be interested in a store card, to which i replied i'd rather not waste mine and your time, as i wouldnt get accepted, she kept on as they do, so Iagreed ...and as expected it got declined that transaction finished with.
I'm a bit confused, how did you know you had been declined at that point?

The assistant would have had to call someone to authorise your store card application. Which may be what you mean when you say..
The assistant stated they are required to ring for authorisation, she did so, and your company gave her
an 04 code, and that i had to ring to a number to clarify some security questions or at least i thought. Maybe?

If you agreed to the sales assistant asking if you would like a store card, you did agree to the credit check..
.I didnt give authority for a credit cheque to be conducted and i was mislead into agreeing this. That now means I have a record on my file that is going to sit there for 6 years which i didnt give
permission to do.
I don't think I have ever been told that a credit check will be carried out though but I'm fully aware that a credit check is done.

I would complain about the rudeness of the person on the telephone but I'm nit sure about the store card/credit check?