lastminute.com took unauthorised payment

chubbina

I am having a bit of bother with lastminute.com.

We booked a short break with them earlier this year and the return flight was cancelled meaning we had to stay longer. After we wrote to Easyjet they agreed to refund us our accommodation costs but paid this amount directly to lastminute.com. Didn't bother to tell us this is what they'd done either. So when we realised we still hadn't received it Easyjet referred us back to lastminute.com who confirmed that THEY had received the payment (and weren't going to tell us!) but they would refund it to our account. Bizarre and annoying but at least we got our money back, or so we thought until we checked our bank statements.

Lastminute.com had taken it upon themselves to take that amount back out of our account with no explanation and no warning. I have rang them today to be told that they need to see proof of this before they can investigate it further! Surely they can see that they have taken our money off us for no reason!

I am fuming. I think it's appalling that they can do that. It's a large sum of money missing from our account which we desperately need. To make matters worse they state that they will be able to respond to us within 4 weeks! That money is ours and we need it now!

Has anyone else had a similar problem - does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

Dave_Brooker

chubbina wrote: »

I am having a bit of bother with lastminute.com.

We booked a short break with them earlier this year and the return flight was cancelled meaning we had to stay longer. After we wrote to Easyjet they agreed to refund us our accommodation costs but paid this amount directly to lastminute.com. Didn't bother to tell us this is what they'd done either. So when we realised we still hadn't received it Easyjet referred us back to lastminute.com who confirmed that THEY had received the payment (and weren't going to tell us!) but they would refund it to our account. Bizarre and annoying but at least we got our money back, or so we thought until we checked our bank statements.

Lastminute.com had taken it upon themselves to take that amount back out of our account with no explanation and no warning. I have rang them today to be told that they need to see proof of this before they can investigate it further! Surely they can see that they have taken our money off us for no reason!

I am fuming. I think it's appalling that they can do that. It's a large sum of money missing from our account which we desperately need. To make matters worse they state that they will be able to respond to us within 4 weeks! That money is ours and we need it now!

Has anyone else had a similar problem - does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

Does the direct debit guarentee come into play?

Have you talked to your bank?

chubbina

Our bank has advised us to take it up with lastminute.com first. It's not a direct debit so they said any company who we've given our card details to can do this although they shouldn't! How reassuring!!

RadoJo

I would continue to pursue this through the bank as well if it looks like lastminute are going to take ages - they shouldn't have allowed an unauthorised transaction on your account and should accept some responsibility. Try the financial ombudsman for advice - they can tell you what a bank can and cannot do with regard to payment, and if they agree that the payment shoudn't have been made, then you will be better armed when you speak to them. I mentioned the ombudsman to my bank when they mysteriously paid my money into a stranger's account and they went from 'not my problem' to 'how can I help you madam' in about 12 seconds flat!