unrecognised debit card transaction

treecol

Hi all. We had a really nice meal in the pub last week. The only bad bit was that they got our bill mixed up with someone else who had one for a similar amount. So after paying once by debit card, it was refunded & the correct amount paid again by my card. Both times I used my pin. Then upon checking my statement a few days later, I noticed another amount I have no reciept for or knowledge of had been debited from my acount by the pub. I asked at my local branch how this could be done if neither me or my card & pin were present. They said they had no idea & gave me a number to ring. They card fraud dept of my bank has confirmed that it was an unauthorised transactio ie: no pin, but they also said they have no idea how the pub can do this. They are refunding the amount.
But they must know how this is done. Why won't they spill the beans so I can protect myself in future? Do you guys know how it's done & how to avoid it? Thanks if you can shed light on it.

InsideInsurance

What do you mean "how its done"?

Your bank would be able to see what sort of transaction it was and what security it went through. Given they didn't have your card and you werent there it presumably was put through as a cardholder not present transaction using the card details on the merchants copy of the other transaction.

Have you actually spoken to the pub to find out why they have put through this additional transaction?

floopnoodle

They can do it really easily by putting it through as a 'cardholder not present' transaction, like they would do with a phone booking/deposit.

treecol

Thank you for your answers. What I mean by how it's done is, that I (perhaps in my ignorance) thought that your card had to be either in the machine, or you had given them your card number over the phone. I didn't realise that the merchants copy of the transaction had all the card details on it. I presumed their copy would be like the receipt I get with all but the last 4 numbers showing on it - to prevent fraud, just like this.
That's basically what I was asking the bank - how is it done. I was also under the impression that if the card holder wasn't present, then the merchant had to have the last 3 security numbers from the reverse of the card, again to prevent cases like this.
I expected the bank to be able to give me the answer to this as they were involved in the transaction. I just wanted clarity from them before I go to the pub and get their explanation.

meer53

If your bank are refunding you, why are you going to the pub ? It will be a mistake, they will have input your details by mistake.

tabby_cats_mum

It happened to my MIL because the pub has left her tab open and then charged someone else's bill (from the same table) to her card at the end of the night. In her case the pub admitted it and refunded her.

InsideInsurance

The merchant copy has the full card number in case something goes wrong in the process etc

There technically is no requirement for the merchant to enter the CCV number for any transaction, actually there isnt even a requirement for them to get authorisation from the bank prior to requesting the money but the less of these things that they do the higher the transaction fees they have to pay due to the higher fraud risk they run.