How Halifax deal with my credit card fraud call, is this normal?

isayhello

Recently I noticed on my statement a charge for a few hundred pounds from a well known retailer, for an item e.g. a washing machine which I didn't order. I called Halifax and explained the situation to their customer service person who put me through to the fraud team.

They asked some standard questions about whether I'd given my card to anyone etc, then they told me, I need to contact the retailer myself and find out who had ordered that item and get the details of that transaction and where it had been delivered. I thought this would be what the bank would do as another bank took the investigation on themselves when this happened to me once before.

In this situation, I had to then call up the retailer, explain everything to them and get the details from them about the transaction, and then call Halifax back again to pass on the message. In the end I'd probably spent up to an hour being passed around and getting the information back to Halifax.

This was a real hassle compared to the other bank? and I wondered if it's allowed for a bank to say they won't do anything without the customer chasing up the retailer first?

Thanks for any comments

grumbler

They fobbed you off - and you can formally complain about this. No way you have to contact the retailer and investigate anything.

The standard procedure is
-You report the unauthorised transaction and the bank refunds the money.
-After the investigation the bank can take money back from you, but only if it has serious grounds to believe that you authorised the transaction.

isayhello

Really?

I kind of felt this when I was on the phone to them. I thought it weird that they're asking me to do all the investigation before taking it on themselves.

The point they made to me was that they needed proof that I hadn't or someone I knew hadn't actually ordered the item.

In fact they said, if the delivery address was mine, then they wouldn't be able to do anything else as it means I must have picked up the package.

It would be good to hear some other experiences that people have had when dealing with banks fraud teams and processes.

Thanks

SuperHan

It's also likely that the retailer won't divulge this information to you. It's not your order (in theory), and you don't have any details other than the credit card charge. Data protection will stop them handing out somebody else's address and details to you, most likely.

littlemissbossy

grumbler wrote: »

They fobbed you off - and you can formally complain about this. No way you have to contact the retailer and investigate anything.

The standard procedure is
-You report the unauthorised transaction and the bank refunds the money.
-After the investigation the bank can take money back from you, but only if it has serious grounds to believe that you authorised the transaction.

I had unauthorised transactions on my Halifax c/card last year and this is how Halifax dealt with it, a replacement card was sent out the same day and the transactions refunded within a day or two.

isayhello

Thanks guys.

Super Han, I did actually get the retailer to give me the delivery address and it was different to mine, I explained to them on the phone that my Bank had asked me to get this information.

The bank told me if the retailer refused, then I would need to let them know but that I had to try at least first.

It was just a real hassle and felt like they didn't believe me until I did what they said.

I'm thinking of taking it further but not sure how to.

Thanks for replies.

SnowTiger

isayhello wrote: »

It was just a real hassle and felt like they didn't believe me until I did what they said.

I'm thinking of taking it further but not sure how to.

Halifax gave you the run-around.

To be fair, I guess quite a lot of these cases tend to be forgotten purchase; or purchases made by a family member who borrowed the card and the card holder doesn't want to take the matter further.

You can complain to Halifax: http://www.halifax.co.uk/contactus/how-to-complain/.

Lunchbox

Someone used my Halifax credit card to spend almost £500 with a well known online electricals retailer. The retailer wouldn't supply any information about the transaction at all, not even what was purchased.

Halifax promised to investigate, then sent me a letter stating that as the 'verified by Visa' had been passed, only I could have made the transaction and they wouldn't refund it.

I phoned them (irate!) and told them I'd never even set up the code as I'd never used the card online. They then refunded the money straight away. They do try it on!

jonesMUFCforever

Lunchbox wrote: »

Someone used my Halifax credit card to spend almost £500 with a well known online electricals retailer. The retailer wouldn't supply any information about the transaction at all, not even what was purchased.

Halifax promised to investigate, then sent me a letter stating that as the 'verified by Visa' had been passed, only I could have made the transaction and they wouldn't refund it.

I phoned them (irate!) and told them I'd never even set up the code as I'd never used the card online. They then refunded the money straight away. They do try it on!

Banks try it on but so do some customers.
Verified by visa is so easy to set up and re-set as to be a joke - some credit card lenders no longer use it.

SuperHan

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Banks try it on but so do some customers.
Verified by visa is so easy to set up and re-set as to be a joke - some credit card lenders no longer use it.

Most interestingly, Halifax don't use it. It just bypasses the screen and doesn't require you to set up a password. On occasion it will ask some security details (DOB, card expiry and security code) but again, doesn't ask to set up a password. So it's even less reliable as a verification for Halifax customers!

PeacefulWaters

SuperHan wrote: »

Most interestingly, Halifax don't use it. It just bypasses the screen and doesn't require you to set up a password. On occasion it will ask some security details (DOB, card expiry and security code) but again, doesn't ask to set up a password. So it's even less reliable as a verification for Halifax customers!

It probably generated more complaints (and cost) than it saved in fraudulent transactions.

I have a couple of credit cards I don't use online because "verified by" software is a pain. Extra income for Halifax for bypassing it.