Phones4U Cancelled order won't refund me!

blackguy52

Hi everyone..I decided to join this site as I need some help with a very complicated situation.
Basically on January 3rd I ordered a Blackberry 9320 for 109.95 from phones4u for my brother..i ordered it to a different delievery address than my billing address and so the order was rejected for security reasons.
Basically i got told by phones 4u customer service, a refund will happen in 10 days.
It's now the 23rd january and i had no refund, so contacted customer services again who asked me to send proof that i hadnt had a refund in bank statement form.
I did this and got told this:

'Phones 4u do not actually receive a payment for any order until the order is complete and the handset despatched. The funds are taken from a customers account as a “ghost transaction” and are held by the bank in a holding account.

The funds are put back into a customers account within 10 working days of the bank receiving confirmation the order has been cancelled, but as per our conversation on the telephone, you will not see this on your statement as an incoming payment from Phones 4u.

The bank will be able to confirm this for you, and I apologise for any confusion that has occurred and for our customer service team requesting a bank statement.

Please accept our apologies for any disappointment you have experienced due to this. Should you wish to discuss this further, please contact me on 08448 712 244. This line is available Monday to Friday from 9am-6pm.'

- I went to the bank (halifax) who told me that i can't chargeback as phones4 u have to authorise that for a refund. And according to them theyve given me a screen statement print out which says phones4 u debited me..
am so confused..where do i stand? what can i do?
The way i see it is..no phone was dispatched..but im not refunded??

railbuff

Hi

sorry for your issue

how card payments work

you make a purchase online, payment will be authorised, but this does not means the seller has your money, this means your card provider has authorised the transaction.

the money will leave you bank account (it will show removed from avaialble balance but not from actual amount in bank account) and placed in a holding account by your bank, this will sit their until the sellers bank asks for it. if you cancel or the order is cancelled before this is requested by the seler bank then it will just sit in this holding account for about 10 days and then eventually your bank will just sit this back into your available balance, so the seller has never had your money so how can you chargeback when the seller has not had your money.
speak to your bank and ask then to trace this payment and see where it ended up.

wealdroam

Blackguy52, does your bank statement show that £109.95 leaving your bank account?