mattressonline co uk "Fraudulent transaction", took money refuse to refund

avaratz

Hello everyone,

My mother in law ordered three mattresses (total order of £1000) from this website on Saturday. Unfortunately she did not read any reviews from this website as I can see they seem to be universally disliked.

The company happily debited the card, the money reflects as being taken out of the account yesterday.

My MIL received an email from the company today stating that they have been flagged as "fraudulent" and as such the order has been completely cancelled. When they phoned, mattressonline.co.uk refused to refund the money and told my MIL to ask HSBC (her bank) to refund it.

HSBC state that she has to wait minimum 14 days before even opening up a claim to return that money, despite the fact that the company has stated that the order will not be fulfilled.

This doesn't seem fair? The company could easily be claiming people are "fraudulent" and holding on to money for 14 days, pocketing interest for free. Is there anything we can do?

Thanks for the help.

pinkshoes

Write to the company to cancel the order under distance selling regulations within 7 working days (to cover your backs), giving them 28 days to refund, then if no refund is forthcoming, contact the bank.

visidigi

avaratz wrote: »

Hello everyone,

My mother in law ordered three mattresses (total order of £1000) from this website on Saturday. Unfortunately she did not read any reviews from this website as I can see they seem to be universally disliked.

The company happily debited the card, the money reflects as being taken out of the account yesterday.

My MIL received an email from the company today stating that they have been flagged as "fraudulent" and as such the order has been completely cancelled. When they phoned, mattressonline.co.uk refused to refund the money and told my MIL to ask HSBC (her bank) to refund it.

HSBC state that she has to wait minimum 14 days before even opening up a claim to return that money, despite the fact that the company has stated that the order will not be fulfilled.

This doesn't seem fair? The company could easily be claiming people are "fraudulent" and holding on to money for 14 days, pocketing interest for free. Is there anything we can do?

Thanks for the help.

It's unlikely they 'took' the money, but merely reserved the amount as an authorisation, which will drop off within the usual period, anywhere up to 10 days. This ties in with the retailer asking you to contact the bank as its them who could, potentially cancel the hold, although rarely do.

Unless the bank shows a completed transaction? That's not entirely clear from your post.

As for pocketing interest, does anyone make interest out of £1000 in 10 days anymore!?

avaratz

visidigi wrote: »

It's unlikely they 'took' the money, but merely reserved the amount as an authorisation, which will drop off within the usual period, anywhere up to 10 days. This ties in with the retailer asking you to contact the bank as its them who could, potentially cancel the hold, although rarely do.

Unless the bank shows a completed transaction? That's not entirely clear from your post.

As for pocketing interest, does anyone make interest out of £1000 in 10 days anymore!?

The transaction shows as completed, and HSBC confirms it is completed. The company did take the money. So they mistakenly labelled my MIL as "fraudulent", yet still took the £1000 out of her account.

With regards to pocketing interest, whether or not they make much off of it is irrelevant. It is still completely wrong. They have placed the emphasis on my MIL, an innocent party, to get HER money back, because THEIR system decided she was fraudulent - and then still took the money!

Whether they are making interest off it or using it for other reasons, its ridiculous that they are allowed to do this. And my MIL has to fork out another £1000 to another company to get her beds in the meantime.

halibut2209

Just be aware that a lot of companies will refuse to refund mattresses under DSRs for health reasons. This has yet to be tested in court, but be prepared for a struggle.

ThumbRemote

halibut2209 wrote: »

Just be aware that a lot of companies will refuse to refund mattresses under DSRs for health reasons. This has yet to be tested in court, but be prepared for a struggle.

I don't think this will be an issue, as the retailer have cancelled the transaction rather than sending any goods.

visidigi

avaratz wrote: »

The transaction shows as completed, and HSBC confirms it is completed. The company did take the money. So they mistakenly labelled my MIL as "fraudulent", yet still took the £1000 out of her account.

With regards to pocketing interest, whether or not they make much off of it is irrelevant. It is still completely wrong. They have placed the emphasis on my MIL, an innocent party, to get HER money back, because THEIR system decided she was fraudulent - and then still took the money!

Whether they are making interest off it or using it for other reasons, its ridiculous that they are allowed to do this. And my MIL has to fork out another £1000 to another company to get her beds in the meantime.

Thanks for updating the state of affairs. You need to go back to the retailer again, being mattresses shouldn't make any difference as the goods were never delivered.

The point blank refusal to refund is an odd one, I can't see any reason why they would think you should not be refunded, just what was said to them when you asked for one? It seems like there is some other reason why they would refuse - it just doesn't make sense to say speak to the bank.

You need to calm down a little, this scenario isn't unique - it happens, just approach them calmly and re-request a refund.

If this doesn't work then you would need to go down one of two routes. Either an LBA to the retailer or you can request a chargeback from the bank, but expect to do paperwork either way.

pmduk

visidigi wrote: »

The point blank refusal to refund is an odd one, I can't see any reason why they would think you should not be refunded, just what was said to them when you asked for one? It seems like there is some other reason why they would refuse - it just doesn't make sense to say speak to the bank.

A mentioned before, it's unlikely that the transaction has even been processed, just an authorisation earmarked. As such the co have received no monies and there is nothing to return

visidigi

pmduk wrote: »

A mentioned before, it's unlikely that the transaction has even been processed, just an authorisation earmarked. As such the co have received no monies and there is nothing to return

If you read the thread the OP confirmed that when I asked if it shows as debited it does. The retailer according to the OP has the money, its not merely just an authorisation (I already asked that question).

frugal_mike

pmduk wrote: »

A mentioned before, it's unlikely that the transaction has even been processed, just an authorisation earmarked. As such the co have received no monies and there is nothing to return

The OP says that HSBC have confirmed the transaction has completed.

keyser666

avaratz wrote: »

The transaction shows as completed, and HSBC confirms it is completed. The company did take the money. So they mistakenly labelled my MIL as "fraudulent", yet still took the £1000 out of her account.

With regards to pocketing interest, whether or not they make much off of it is irrelevant. It is still completely wrong. They have placed the emphasis on my MIL, an innocent party, to get HER money back, because THEIR system decided she was fraudulent - and then still took the money!

Whether they are making interest off it or using it for other reasons, its ridiculous that they are allowed to do this. And my MIL has to fork out another £1000 to another company to get her beds in the meantime.

Well if them not making much off of the interest is irrelevant why have you mentioned it twice?

Quite a standard procedure for companies to do fraud checks and look for characteristics when taking online payments, wait and get the refund in due course