Barclays Bank

Bellohed_2

My Son needed to hire a car from Hertz (Auto Travel Ltd Ellesmere Port) for 4 days from New Years Eve. He didn't have a credit card so my wife used a debit card to pay £340 as a deposit if the car was damaged when returned. She was told by the staff member that the money would be returned to her account as soon as the car was returned in good order, however, we consequently found out it would not be returned for 10 days from date of return. The manager said it was the banks fault and he had since told his staff member the rules. Is there anyway I can force them to return the money sooner?

Bellohed

Astaroth

Generally not.... companies are far too aware of fraud these days and so will not give money back in another format than how they received it... if they give you cash then you could do a charge back on the debit card and they would have no way of getting money back.

Card transactions have to go through even longer clearing processes than cheques and whilst they may have keyed the refund as soon as the car was returned it doesnt mean that it shows in your account instantly... some companies will even wait for the money to show in their account before keying the refund because otherwise there is a risk again of them losing twice the money

Bellohed_2

Thanks
Money came back yesterday don't you just hate these big banks, I think that guy who started up a bank for beggars etc in Bangladesh is a hero, and should start one here.

MarkyMarkD

I can't see why you would imagine it's the bank's fault - just because the car hire company choose to blame the bank doesn't mean it's true.

The refund transaction should clear exactly as quickly as the original debit transaction. It is the car hire company choosing to delay the refund.

Astaroth

There is also a big difference between you swiping your card and seeing the money having left your account the next day when you check your account online and the money actually having made it into their account.

Likewise it is all to easy for a company to blame "the system" for delays rather than just say they have lax processes themselves