Asda: ongoing holding on to my money after a home shop problem!

newdave1975

hi i need some opinions/advice please. ill try to keep the problem short as i can. basically we did an online shop with Asda last friday (3rd) .. our bill came to £119, all well and good. upon the delivery (next day) some items were unavailable so the total amout was adjusted by Asda, to £109, this is the amount that was debited from our nationwide bank account.
now the initial "holding amount" of £119 is still floating around in limbo, its taken me over my overdraft limit, hence no money for me until its readjusted back into the account. also to compound this, several direct debits have bounced, 4 in total, each attracting a nice unpaid item charge of £15 from the kind people at Nationwide. plus no doubt a futher fee for going beyond my agreed overdraft. im probebly looking at around £65 just for doing my weekly shop online.

I emailed Asda's CEO and was contacted by the executive relations department giving excuse after excuse, nothing to do with them, they dont tell the banks to do this??? and to go back to my bank to claim the charges back. (ive since found a link to a forum on the which website that Asda admits its a problem they have been dealing with and are looking to fix) .... oh and just to add they offered me a £10 E-voucher for my troubles... so thank you Mr Clarke CEO that will cover my £65 loss, and im certain im going to be happy using your online shopping again, i think not!!!....

so where do i go from here? Advice and suggestions very welcome thanks in advance!

Dave

KatieDee

You could always try speaking to your bank...years ago when I was a careless teenager, I allowed my account to go into my overdraft and was given a £25 charge for the privilege. I spoke to them, explained I was rubbish with money and on a low income and they said they would refund the charges. I suppose Asda have already given you their response, so I can't see them budging.

Also, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit dull here but am I right in thinking that if all the items you ordered had been in stock and the original amount of £119 had been taken, you would have been in your overdraft anyway?

Edit - or, are there two separate amounts being held? £119 for the original amount they thought would be debited, then £109 for the shopping which was actually delivered? That would make much more sense (and is very hard to budget for if you're on a limited income!).

Chances are it will be sitting with your bank, currently unclaimed by Asda as they have already received their money and as you put it, "sitting in limbo". I seem to remember that the company have to give your bank the permission to release the funds, or they are automatically released after a certain period of time (although I appreciate this is not helpful to you at the moment).

wealdroam

newdave1975 wrote: »

hi i need some opinions/advice please. ill try to keep the problem short as i can. basically we did an online shop with Asda last friday (3rd) .. our bill came to £119, all well and good. upon the delivery (next day) some items were unavailable so the total amout was adjusted by Asda, to £109, this is the amount that was debited from our nationwide bank account.
now the initial "holding amount" of £119 is still floating around in limbo, its taken me over my overdraft limit, hence no money for me until its readjusted back into the account. also to compound this, several direct debits have bounced, 4 in total, each attracting a nice unpaid item charge of £15 from the kind people at Nationwide. plus no doubt a futher fee for going beyond my agreed overdraft. im probebly looking at around £65 just for doing my weekly shop online.

I emailed Asda's CEO and was contacted by the executive relations department giving excuse after excuse, nothing to do with them, they dont tell the banks to do this??? and to go back to my bank to claim the charges back. (ive since found a link to a forum on the which website that Asda admits its a problem they have been dealing with and are looking to fix) .... oh and just to add they offered me a £10 E-voucher for my troubles... so thank you Mr Clarke CEO that will cover my £65 loss, and im certain im going to be happy using your online shopping again, i think not!!!....

so where do i go from here? Advice and suggestions very welcome thanks in advance!

Dave

You ask: "so where do i go from here?"

Surely the answer to that question is to your bank... as suggested by Asda.

The fact that Nationwide is not really a bank is not Asda's problem either.

newdave1975

KatieDee wrote: »

You could always try speaking to your bank...years ago when I was a careless teenager, I allowed my account to go into my overdraft and was given a £25 charge for the privilege. I spoke to them, explained I was rubbish with money and on a low income and they said they would refund the charges. I suppose Asda have already given you their response, so I can't see them budging.

Also, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit dull here but am I right in thinking that if all the items you ordered had been in stock and the original amount of £119 had been taken, you would have been in your overdraft anyway?

Edit - or, are there two separate amounts being held? £119 for the original amount they thought would be debited, then £109 for the shopping which was actually delivered? That would make much more sense (and is very hard to budget for if you're on a limited income!).

Chances are it will be sitting with your bank, currently unclaimed by Asda as they have already received their money and as you put it, "sitting in limbo". I seem to remember that the company have to give your bank the permission to release the funds, or they are automatically released after a certain period of time (although I appreciate this is not helpful to you at the moment).

hi thanks for your reply, yes sorry it was the 2nd option, the 2 amounts. it was the "pending" that had taken us over our limit. As for requesting it from the bank, well nationwide have already said the issue and responsibility lies with Asda and i should seek money back from them. Asda blame the bank, im in a situation, being out of pocket by the tune of £65 through no fault of my own, nor could i have done anything about it. it must be someones responsibility? I myself blame Asda, it was their transaction that started this process.
As for release of funds yes i went through the sending them a release of funds procedure and the money has been "put back" so to speak, but not before ive incurred those charges.

newdave1975

wealdroam wrote: »

You ask: "so where do i go from here?"

Surely the answer to that question is to your bank... as suggested by Asda.

The fact that Nationwide is not really a bank is not Asda's problem either.

the "bank" blame Asda so suggest i go back to them, Asda blame the bank, im stuck between the two of them out of pocket by £65. this cant be right? why do i loose out because of their arcane systems and processes.
i know nationwide are a building society, i guess bank is easier to type lol

unholyangel

What caused the overdraft? The fact they took the 2nd amount or the fact they didnt release it again? Does their T&C's say anything about taking the amount twice? Not sure if its something that would be allowed to be buried in T&C's since it relates to financial detriment of consumers but worth having a look to see if they have tried to cover their butts.

The easiest way would be if its not in the T&C's - breach of contract by taking 2 payments, liable for losses causes by their breach.

pelirocco

I did a shop with asda a few weeks ago , the 'ghosted' money took 10 days to show on may bank account as cleared funds. My bank said if I had contacted them earlier they could have requested a clearance code from asda, and it takes about 2 days to clear then . I can quite easily see how this could cause some people huge financial pressure, I've never had it with any other online supermarket orders.I will never do an online shop with asda again

halibut2209

Unfortunately ASDA are well known for doing this, and it seems to be unique to them. Happened to me once as well. Never used them since.

newdave1975

it happens because they take a pre authorisation payment on the day of delivery, so they sort of ring fence that amount. then after delivery they take the actaual amount from your bank account. the ring fenced amount should then be released as available funds. this can take up to 10 working days!!!.. you can speed up the process by getting Asda to submit a "release" code (which the bank give you), Asda then have to Fax, yes fax this code and state they no longer require the amount back to the bank to complete the process.
its arcane and its stupid and very dubious.... like i said the "holding" amount had put me over drawn, using up my overdraft, hence no money until Asda release it. i got it sorted using the code but not until 4 direct debits had bounced and will no doubt incur a further charge for you into unauthorised overdraft.
its all wrong why should i loose out financially to due THEIR processes, it should be transparent to the customer. a relationship between the retailer and the bank. it should not directly involve me and i certainly shouldnt loose out because of it.
but as it stands, Asda blaming the bank and bank blaming Asda... but yes ive read this particular issue seems to be prevalent with Asda particularly, my bank has said this and it tallys with what ive read on several forums, particulally from Which who have been trying to get to the bottom of it for the last 4 years.
yes their terms and conditions do state that this can happen, but who reads those, i know we all should but in reality who does. this is what they say....
taken from asda t&c’s
3.3.5 For Your protection and security, and in order to verify the debit or credit card details provided, We will contact Your card issuer on the day You checkout Your order to request a pre-authorisation of 1p. We will verify Your card for 1p each time You amend Your order. It is important to point out that this pre-authorisation is NOT a charge to Your card and will not be billed to You. Your card issuer may hold this amount for a short period, but this will never be taken from Your account.

3.3.6 On the day of Delivery or Collection We will request another pre-authorisation for the full order amount. We do this to ensure that the card details are still valid and that You have sufficient funds to complete the transaction. We take NO payments from Your account before Your order is Delivered or Collected, so You will only be charged for items once they are Delivered or Collected as stated in 3.3.7 below.3.3.7 We will debit the price, plus any Delivery or Collection charge, from Your debit or credit card once We have Delivered Your goods or You have Collected Your goods (and for any dry cleaning services ordered by You in accordance with paragraph 13.4 below, We will debit the price of this service upon Delivery or Collection of Your order, when the garments to be dry cleaned are collected by Our driver or Collection colleague). Sometimes card providers hold the full pre-authorisation amount for a period as well as the full order amount. When this occurs the pre-authorisation amount is NOT debited from Your account and paid to ASDA (i.e. we don't get paid twice).

peachyprice

This is the way Asda online groceries operate and this is why so many people refuse to use them, me included.

It will take up to 10 working days for the money to be automatically released by your bank, if they are not willing/able to release it manually there is nothing you can do. That is not the fault of Asda, they don't have your money, it is the fault of your bank.

newdave1975

the bank are blaming Asda, stating this is a common issue with them, surly its Asda taking the FULL amount as some sort of reserve thats caused the initial problem? even if it had been one day my account would still have went over my funds due to one them taking the correct amount ie from the shop AND them ring fencing the other amount, even if they havent "taken the cash" its still unavailable to me to use, so its like its been taken even if it actually hasnt.
this too and frowing dosnt help my situation though, both blaming the other party, im still going to owe £65 through no fault of my own.