Please help me transaction taken from store with out authorisation!!

jonesMUFCforever

loz8705 wrote: »

My issue isn't about the refund that took place my issue is asking if it is illegal to take the payment before checking the signature

As you have been told more than once - NO it is not illegal.
Please move on this is getting boring - as someone else has advised you - pay cash next time.

meer53

callum9999 wrote: »

What exactly would be the point in signing for it at all if the money is going to come out regardless? I guess the money may be reserved for a few days (maybe that's what happened here?), but I can't see why it would be physically taken without authorisation.

I do agree they are being utterly ridiculous though.

Not all transactions need authorisation, depends on the floor limit of the retailer. The original point of signing for a transaction was so the retailer could check that the signature matched, not used much these days. The retailer in this case did the correct thing by refunding the wrong amount and debiting the correct amount. Can't have been for much, i can imagine the OP having a genuine complaint if they'd been buying a car, but a fast food meal ??

Ben8282

As is so often the case, I believe that this story is not complete and the OP has omitted relevent information.

I find it rather strange that a drive-through take away does not use chip/pin these days. It must be an awful lot of trouble for the staff to have to hand pens and charge slips through car windows for signature all the time.

The requirement for you to sign (or enter your PIN) is more for their protection than yours simply because if the charge is not accompanied by a signature or PIN it would make it very easy for you to dispute it. There is no legal requirement for them to make you sign although they would be very foolish if they did not due to the large number of chargebacks that unsigned transactions would allow to be successfully made.

The staff do appear to be somewhat incompetent due both to their original error in entering the amount and their lack of knowledge in how to deal with the situation, although lack of knowledge in how to deal with a situation is hardly uncommon amongst fast-food counter staff these days. It may be that the staff did 'rush' the transaction through by allowing it to complete before pulling out the receipt and handing it to you for signature. But it is unlikely that staff at their level are taught to check signatures or are paid enough to take the responsability for checking a signature.

Once the transaction went through though, I'm surprised that the management (who must have got involved to process the refund as the normal staff would have no ability to do that) didn't simply offer to refund the, presumably small, difference in cash rather than putting themselves to all the trouble of processing a refund and a new debit. Was all this done through the car window? Were you asked to sign the refund and the new charge and did you?

You say you were out of pocket for 5 days. How? Are you saying that the two debits went through together then the refund was received 5 days later?

You are very concerned about asking about the legality of this. Assuming we tell you yes, this is illegal then what? Do you expect the police to go to the drive-through take-away and arrest the staff?

Just out of curiosity, how much were you actually overcharged by?

sharpy2010

This is just someone who wants to be given compensation for a problem that never existed.

leicsmarkyr

I think you should speak to your local MP and request him/her to bring this up at the next Prime Minister Questions. :T

ILW

loz8705 wrote: »

If you read above we were out of pocket for 5 days

But no more, the problem has been solved.
What are you going on about?