Argos Duplicate Order Blunder

DigitalDaz_2

I don't know how big this is but on the 17th Argos online duplicated orders.

I only discovered this when I had two 32inch TV's delivered today instead of the one I had ordered. The driver also pointed out that he had just delivered eight mirrors to someone who had only orderd four.

What leads me to believe this may have happened to a substantial number of people is that when I called them, they immediately acknowledged there had been a 'glitch' that had resulted in duplicate orders. They then arranged a refund and collection, rather than the other way round.

Trouble is my bank account was by now over £200 overdrawn!

What is really annoying is that why didn't Argos inform its customers that they were potentially about to have their accounts overdrawn?

nashly

I agree with you, if you incur any charges because of this Argos would be liable to pay them and to compensate you as well.

DigitalDaz_2

On another note, I use this "Verified by VISA" that I thing many of you may be familiar with.

My understanding was that this would give me a little extra protection against this sort of thing happening, which it clearly doesn't.

The Verified by Visa is obviously to protect the merchants.

Techhead_2

How can verified by visa prevent a glitch/mistake? I don't see how they could have informed you before the glitch, if they knew it was going to happen they would have corrected it.
I think it would be better if your energies were spent trying to sort out your current problem, rather than speculating on what happened and why. Make a formal complaint to Argos, detail the charges/expense you have incurrred because of it and ask them to refund you those charges.

DCFC79

DigitalDaz wrote: »

On another note, I use this "Verified by VISA" that I thing many of you may be familiar with.

My understanding was that this would give me a little extra protection against this sort of thing happening, which it clearly doesn't.

The Verified by Visa is obviously to protect the merchants.

verified by visa is a way of making sure the cardholder is the 1 who is making the purchase, well thats my opinion of it

molerat

I ordered on Friday and my card is showing 2 pending transactions at the same time with different auth codes. Quidco has tracked as the correct amount of sale but with double the expected cashback. Only one e-mail has been received with one auth code. I thought this may have been the usual dummy transaction followed by the real one but am now wondering what is going to come off my card and what I will receive on Tuesday.

DigitalDaz_2

Techhead wrote: »

How can verified by visa prevent a glitch/mistake? I don't see how they could have informed you before the glitch, if they knew it was going to happen they would have corrected it.
I think it would be better if your energies were spent trying to sort out your current problem, rather than speculating on what happened and why. Make a formal complaint to Argos, detail the charges/expense you have incurrred because of it and ask them to refund you those charges.

My wrong assumption with the "Verified by Visa" was that was what generated the transaction authorization number. This would prevent merchants from putting orders through twice.

No one said they should have informed me before the glitch but they certainly didn't inform me after it either. As is the case now with molerat, he just has to simply wait and find out whether they have doubled the orders.

A simple phone call or email from Argos explaining their mistake would have been much more palatable than me going into a shopping center and being embarrassed at the checkout because my card was declined. Thats my point.

Pound

DCFC79 wrote: »

verified by visa is a way of making sure the cardholder is the 1 who is making the purchase, well thats my opinion of it

Yes, but that's still more to the advantage of the merchant rather than the customer.

Before VbV was invented, the merchant would have to take the hit for any online transactions that turned out to be fraudulent, whilst the customer would get the mild inconvenience of having an extra line appear on their statement which their bank would immediately reimburse.

Now that VbV has been brought in it's less likely that a customer's card will be used fraudulently because of the extra protection which will benefit both the customer and the merchant, but the financial benefit will only be for the merchant. But if a fraudster does manage to find out the VbV password then the merchant can argue that the customer is responsible as they must have given out their password.

DCFC79

Pound wrote: »

Yes, but that's still more to the advantage of the merchant rather than the customer.

Before VbV was invented, the merchant would have to take the hit for any online transactions that turned out to be fraudulent, whilst the customer would get the mild inconvenience of having an extra line appear on their statement which their bank would immediately reimburse.

Now that VbV has been brought in it's less likely that a customer's card will be used fraudulently because of the extra protection which will benefit both the customer and the merchant, but the financial benefit will only be for the merchant. But if a fraudster does manage to find out the VbV password then the merchant can argue that the customer is responsible as they must have given out their password.

yes i know that, i never said anything to the contrary

molerat

My CC has updated and 2 amounts have been charged Spoken to Argos CS and 2 orders have been placed and will be delivered. They will not refund until I have refused delivery of one of them and phoned them but have refunded the original delivery charge as a gesture of goodwill. They may also consider another gesture of goodwill at the next call.

Not really a big deal as my CC statement date is not until 7th March and it takes me nowhere near my limit but the fact that they have taken an unauthorised amount from my card and will not refund until I have complied with their instructions is annoying to say the least.

stukie99

I've had a bit of a nightmare with all this,

I ordered a wardrobe, A wardrobe being ONE. Two were delivered, at first I thought it was flat packed as two separate boxes. I took time in laying out the contents of both parcels, started to put together after following the instructions and soon realised I'd been sent two. I checked my invoice which stated one. I checked my bank statement which however showed TWO transactions.

I contacted customer services who surprisingly reassured me that they would come and collect the parcel within 48hours, and rather than waiting between 10 and 14 days for a card refund I could go to the store and collect cash.

I take time from work to go to the store, ask for my cash refund, who tell me "we're sorry but we have to refund via the method you used to pay". I explained, why was I asked to go to store when it was a home deliver via the internet, and a card refund could've been made over the phone? The person did not know.

It's been since the 17th now, still no refund so I decided to call and complain further. I managed to get someone from my nearest store phone me, confirming that they WILL give me a cash refund now the item has been collected. I am going later today with some ID.

Just thought i'd make you all aware,

Did anyone get any compensation or discount because of this? I emailed complaints, customer service and spoke to different people over the phone but only managed to get a cash refund at store