Still waiting for refund from Maplin

barbiedoll

My husband reserved an item online, for collection in-store at our local Maplin store. When he went to collect the item he paid for it before the assistant got it from the storeroom. When my husband saw the box, which was tatty and had been badly re-sealed with parcel tape, he insisted on inspecting it before he brought it home. Inside, the item was missing several leads and was clearly a return. He said that he didn't want it as it was obviously faulty and the assistant put his debit card through the machine for a refund, this was less than 10 minutes after he had paid.

He was told that the refund wouldn't be put back into his account immediately but would take "between 1-3 working days". This all happened last Friday (18th Jan), and three working days would have been on Wednesday 23rd. The money is still not in his account so today he phoned Maplin, who told him that "it's not us, it's your bank that's holding onto your money,it could be up to 5 days" He called the bank who told him that the sale had gone through but they have had no request for a refund sent through yet.

What is going to happen here? Does he need to chase Maplin again? What is the actual timescale for these refunds? I know that they don't go through straight away (although it's strange how they can take your money quickly enough :mad:) but should we be worried yet? It's so annoying that he didn't even take the item out of the shop, yet Maplin (or someone?) still have his £70!

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Fosterdog

Did he get a receipt showing that the money was refunded?

A refund to card can take up to 10 days although 3-5 is the norm it can take longer.

I know you said they took the money straight away but they didn't have it straight away. When you pay by card the money is ring-fenced by your bank, it then has to get from your bank to the shop's bank and then to their account. It can be 3-5 days before the money even hits their account. Then they refund and the whole process starts again (ring-fenced, their bank to yours, your bank into your account).

As long as there is a receipt showing the refund I'd personally wait until the ten days is up then contact Maplin or your bank again. If it's still not there contact Maplin's head office, if no luck there you can take things further.

While it is very annoying waiting it is still within a reasonable time for a refund to be finalised.

halibut2209

It's completely mental that in this day and age money transfers take so long. Earlier today, Mrs halibut wanted to take out £10 from a cash machine, but the machine wouldn't take her card. So I used my phone to transfer £10 from her account to mine and I could withdraw it within seconds

barbiedoll

The banking system is crazy, I agree. I know that these money transfers take a while, I can see on my bank statement that even cashpoint withdrawals don't actually leave my account for a couple of days.

I think my husband's big mistake was paying for the item before he had seen it. I always tell him to check the things first, I've been caught out before like this. But in somewhere like Argos for instance, they're not always very accommodating if you want to inspect an item before you have paid for it. I've never been to Maplin so I have no idea what their system is in-store.

Thanks for the answers anyway, we do have all of the receipts including the refund slip. We'll give it a few more days and will follow up if necessary.

dalesrider

barbiedoll wrote: »

the assistant put his debit card through the machine for a refund, this was less than 10 minutes after he had paid.

Did he enter his PIN?
Did he get the reciept?

barbiedoll wrote: »

so today he phoned Maplin, who told him that "it's not us, it's your bank that's holding onto your money,it could be up to 5 days" He called the bank who told him that the sale had gone through but they have had no request for a refund sent through yet.

Typical retailer responce... never their fault and always the banks.

Your bank won't hold the payment up. As soon as they get it it will be in your account.
It could be Maplins merchant bank.
My guess is the guy on the till did not process the refund.

barbiedoll wrote: »

What is going to happen here? Does he need to chase Maplin again?
Any help/advice would be appreciated.

I would go back to store and get them to put it through again with him using his PIN and getting a reciept.

wealdroam

dalesrider wrote: »

Did he get the reciept?

Your answer is here...

barbiedoll wrote: »

...we do have all of the receipts including the refund slip. We'll give it a few more days and will follow up if necessary.

Fosterdog

dalesrider wrote: »

Did he enter his PIN?
Did he get the reciept?

OP has already said that there is a refund receipt

dalesrider wrote: »

Typical retailer responce... never their fault and always the banks.

It is the typical response because it's the truth, once a payment is reversed it is then down to the bank's timescales which is why it only takes a day for some people and 10 for others.

dalesrider wrote: »

Your bank won't hold the payment up. As soon as they get it it will be in your account.

Banks do hold up payments all the time, haven't you ever had your account showing £x balance £y available? It's because the banks haven't finished processing and it works with both credits and debits.

dalesrider wrote: »

My guess is the guy on the till did not process the refund.

I would go back to store and get them to put it through again with him using his PIN and getting a reciept.

Again there is a refund receipt so it would have been processed on the till. As for entering the PIN, most places don't need a PIN entered to refund only to debit money.

I process refunds daily in work and we don't need a PIN entered. I have had refunds in Tesco, Argos, Asda and Wilkos recently and never needed to enter my PIN. The only place I ever remember needing to was Primark.

Refunds to card/accounts genuinely can take this long. With the level of technology in the world there should be a quicker process but there isn't, plain and simple.

railbuff

i think banks will catch up sometime and make these instant. look how long it took them to sort out bank to bank transfers through internet banking. this used to take 3 days for bank to bank transfers now its instant but they still state it will happen within 24 hrs.

dalesrider

Fosterdog...

As the OP bank CANNOT see the refund. Then THEY are not holding it up.
It is held by the retailers processing center..

NOT repeat NOT by the OP's bank. If they can't see it, then they have not recieved the money....

haven't you ever had your account showing £x balance £y available? It's because the banks haven't finished processing and it works with both credits and debits.

Yes... everytime, I purchase something.

That is because the retailer/processing center has not fully requested the funds...
NOT the bank the debit is coming from holding things up.

I process refunds daily in work

So you do not work in a bank and fully understand the background process then...

You may process that refund at the terminal, but it is then sent to your processing center... They may sit on it for a few days...
NOT the recieving bank.

Techhead_2

dalesrider wrote: »

Fosterdog...

As the OP bank CANNOT see the refund. Then THEY are not holding it up.
It is held by the retailers processing center..

NOT repeat NOT by the OP's bank. If they can't see it, then they have not recieved the money....


Yes... everytime, I purchase something.

That is because the retailer/processing center has not fully requested the funds...
NOT the bank the debit is coming from holding things up.



So you do not work in a bank and fully understand the background process then...

You may process that refund at the terminal, but it is then sent to your processing center... They may sit on it for a few days...
NOT the recieving bank.

The person in the OP's bank will only be able to see it if it is imminently to be credited to the account. It does genuinely take several days for any card transaction to process and with some bank/card type combinations even longer.

(Out of interest - what do you mean by “ That is because the retailer/processing center has not fully requested the funds...
NOT the bank the debit is coming from holding things up.“ Do you mean that at point of sale the bank places an authorisation hold and then the retailer claims the money perhaps when doing reconciliation?

railbuff

Techhead wrote: »

(Out of interest - what do you mean by “ That is because the retailer/processing center has not fully requested the funds...
NOT the bank the debit is coming from holding things up.“ Do you mean that at point of sale the bank places an authorisation hold and then the retailer claims the money perhaps when doing reconciliation?

I think what he means it depends on who processes the retailers cards.
If the card terminals are managed through the retailers bank it will not take as long to process refunds etc. while if the card processes through 3rd partiues like streamline,worldpay, cardsave etc. then it will take longer as it goes through their processing center first