Authorisations against a Credit Card - What can I do about this?

Simon7685

I wasn't sure if this is the right place for this or not but here goes anyway:p

In January I set up a regular Top Up for my daughters mobile through Tesco Mobile, who use Mi Pay. This involved me setting up a direct debit every month for £15, the benefit of doing this is a 10% discount so the top up only costs me £13.50:T

Anyway they asked me to supply a credit card as well to act as a back up in case there was ever a problem with the DD, which I had no objection to. When I initially set this up they credited here with £15 straight away and as they required to submit the DD to my bank before they could take the money they placed an authorisation for £15 against the credit card. This seemed logical and fine to me, they need to cover their backs in case of people trying to rip them off.

This happened on a Saturday, the emailed me and advised the DD would be taken the following Friday or thereabouts. So the Friday came the DD was set up and the amount was duly taken. The following Monday when I checked my credit card online the balance and available credit didn't add up. As it was Capital One I was able to see that it was a pending transaction to Mi Pay for £15. So despite having taken the money by DD they were still holding an authorisation against my card:mad:

I thought this all just because it is the first month, it will settle down and be fine next month. The authorisation fell off my card 5 days later........

So the top up was due on 20 Feb (Monday), Tesco credited my daughter with £15 and an authorisation for £13.50 was placed against my Credit Card. I also received an Email to say the money would be taken by DD on 20 Feb or thereabouts. It was actually 22nd Feb when they took the money from my bank.

When I checked yesterday there was still a pending transaction for £13.50 on my Credit Card, which had been there since Monday 20 Feb. So I decided to ring Tesco Mobile.
After a long time on hold (at 6p a minute) and a long discussion with the Tesco Rep, she said she would have a look to see what they could do. Another long delay passed (terrible music grating down the line) and she returned to say she had spoken to Mi Pay directly and they said not to worry about as I wasn't being charged twice and the pending transaction on my card would drop off:eek:!!!

I explained to her that I realised that I am not without intelligence but the point is, if I am paying by DD, they should only use the back up if there was a problem with the DD. Also they were in effect depriving me from using the held amount on my card and it wasn't right. If the DD is returned unpaid then fair enough charge the card. Not take the money by DD and hold it against the card as well and then expect me to sit and wait for it to eventually drop off the card. She just did not see it from my point of view and kept saying but you aren't actually being charged twice! Eventually she said well Mi Pay had said if I wasn't happy I could go and remove the card from the account and that would resolve the problem.

So I logged onto Mi Pay and tried to remove the card - you can't do it. You have to have a credit card linked to the account to act as back up. I have checked with my card online today and the money is still taken from my available credit and being held in pending transactions 3 days after the DD was taken and 6 days since the top up happened.

Now I do not think this is right, or fair, I have never known a set up like it when paying by DD. I can't contact Mi Pay direct instead having to go to Tesco Mobile, who obviously don't care or even get the problem.

Can anyone suggest what I can do about this and if Mi Pay can actually do this legally, as it's got me mad as hell:mad::mad::mad:

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get all the info in!

Look forward to hearing some of your thoughts and ideas, thanks in advance.

chanz4

It will drop off in a few days, dont worry

camuk81

Sounds like you have been back and forth with this, is there no contact info for mi pay even an email address to log this with them?

meer53

Thats how authorisations work. It will drop off your account but it will happen every time a payment is taken. I wouldn't worry about it, unless you're close to your limit it shouldn't cause any problems. There isn't anything Mi Pay or Tesco Mobile can do about it.

Simon7685

I know it will drop off, that isn't the issue. What is the issue is the fact that despite me setting up a DD to do this, they are also placing the authorisation against the credit card as well. I understand that I only pay once but they should not be doing this.

My Cap One card has a limit of £200 on it, I pay in full each and every month. I use the card for making regular payments and sometimes a few online purchases. This month I knew I had £150 go out off the card and yesterday I wanted to order something online and as far as I was concerned I should have £50 available credit to us, when in fact because of this carry on I only had £36.50 available. Now if I had just gone ahead and spent say £40 it would have put me over limit, incurred a charge and affected my credit rating. All because this company is doing what it is. Now I am asstute enough to always check my balances on a regular basis and especially before I use the cards. If that wasn't the case this situation could cause all sorts of problems and I would suffer when in fact I had done nothing wrong.

So it's not about the fact that it will drop off but the fact they put it there in the first place. No other company that I pay by DD does this, so why should Mi Pay?

Simon7685

meer53 wrote: »

Thats how authorisations work. It will drop off your account but it will happen every time a payment is taken. I wouldn't worry about it, unless you're close to your limit it shouldn't cause any problems. There isn't anything Mi Pay or Tesco Mobile can do about it.

Surely this can't be the case??
I have opted to pay for this service using DD from my bank account, so why should they also place a hold against the money on my credit card??

No other company does this that I pay with DD, it can't be right surely?

meer53

Where is the £13.50 debiting ? Is it your credit card or your bank account ? If it's your bank account i can now see your problem. The only think i could think to try is to report your credit card as lost to see if that resolves it.

Simon7685

The £13.50 is taken by DD from my bank account. At the time they apply the DD - 20th of the month, they are in addition placing an authorisation for £13.50 against my credit card.

Poosmate

Could you swap it so that the payment is made from your credit card and then DD the £13.50 from your bank acct to your CC?

Simon7685

I think that might be an option I have to look at. If I could find a way of getting to Mi Pay I would take it up with them directly, I might put a letter together and send off to Tesco Mobile as a complaint, I am so annoyed over this though. It's a bit like going to Tesco to do my weekly shopping and paying by debit card, then having to leave a cheque for the same value in case there is a problem with the card.

nick74

How about getting a prepaid card, linking that to your Mi Pay account instead of your credit card, but leaving a zero balance on it? Let them try authorising £13.50 off that every month !