Charged 59 Days After Transaction?!?

lisyloo

You maybe correct (I'm not a lawyer), however I find the concept of applying a law about statute of limitations about how long a credit card authorisation is valid for a bit of a leap

It's definitely correct and you can check what the law is.
The leap is that the DEBT is valid regardless of whether you paid for it or not. As others noted you made no proactive attempts to make payment when it was clear something had gone wrong.

So I should carry a little book and pen with me and write down every chip and pin transaction?

You should record every transaction yes.
Most people use an ipad, iphone etc. these days.

This is madness as a consumer I should be protected from the need to keep external credit card statements, I should be able to trust my online statements are correct.

No, No and NO.
What if there is fraud? or theft?
How are your card company supposed to know it's not you if your card was cloned?
It's your responsibility to check, the only way you can do that is by recording every transaction.

I mean what stops a company from saving up my transactions for a year or 6?

In practice most companies want their money ASAP so they have pretty efficient systems to do that which work 99.9% of the time.
They are entitled to their money up to 6 years.
If it's a small amount it shouldn't cause you hardship, if it's a large amount you should have noticed (even if you aren't recording transactions). The best you can hope for is a payment plan.

If you don't like the terms of the service why don't you cancel the card and pay cash, then it will done and dusted at the point of payment.

Karnage

SuperHan wrote: »

I think it's disgusting that you used this service and at NO POINT within almost 60 days of the transaction did you pay for it, or did you try to contact the company to offer your payment when it looked as though they hadn't taken the money.

I mean, there was clearly an error somewhere and that they hadn't taken your money. You should have tried harder to pay it, knowing you used the service. As a consumer, you know you are required to pay for things where you have contracted to.

And as a consumer, it's still your responsibility to look after your finances. And of course the statute of limitations comes in to play. You said you would pay. For whatever reason, you didn't, and they have up to 6 years to claim that payment from you.

Nope.

I did pay for the service at the point of sale, I had no reason to question not paying for it as it was a self service train ticket machine. Which doesn't even print a receipt unless you press an on screen button.

I have no idea how many card transactions you do within in a month, however for me its in the hundreds. And I expect a merchant that I have "paid" to claim their funds within 14 days. I personally see no reason why they would need longer.

Any financial organisation is expected to treat customers fairly. I don't find the idea of having funds claimed 59 days later to be fair.

k3lvc

Karnage wrote: »

I don't find the idea of having funds claimed 59 days later to be fair.

And you appear to be in a minority of 1 - if you don't like the rules then pay cash - problem solved

lisyloo

I personally see no reason why they would need longer.

Just because you don't understand how computers work, is not everyone else's fault.
What if a file fails to be transferred e.g. disk storage full?
In the old days the paper visa slips might get pushed to the back of the drawer and are re-discovered 2 months later.

I don't find the idea of having funds claimed 59 days later to be fair.

You've been given EXTRA time not less.
As others have said if you don't like it pay cash.
It seems you're at risk from fraud/theft as you are unable or unwilling to keep your own records so can't check whether your statements are correct.
Seems like anyone could clone your card and providing their spending pattern wasn't too high you wouldn't notice.
Reminds me of a joke

Visa Call center: Sir I think your cards been stolen
k3lvc: That's fine, they're spending less than my wife.

Karnage

lisyloo wrote: »

It's definitely correct and you can check what the law is.
The leap is that the DEBT is valid regardless of whether you paid for it or not. As others noted you made no proactive attempts to make payment when it was clear something had gone wrong.

I did not notice the merchant hadn't charged my account.

lisyloo wrote: »

You should record every transaction yes.
Most people use an ipad, iphone etc. these days.

Never going to happen.

lisyloo wrote: »

No, No and NO.
What if there is fraud? or theft?
How are your card company supposed to know it's not you if your card was cloned?
It's your responsibility to check, the only way you can do that is by recording every transaction.

I pay by credit card for this exact reason, I am spending the credit cards companies money, not mine. Fraud and Theft I can see on my statement. However, a transaction which hasn't appeared for 59 days is a little difficult to notice.

lisyloo wrote: »

If you don't like the terms of the service why don't you cancel the card and pay cash, then it will done and dusted at the point of payment.

Cash is risk and I avoid the stuff.

k3lvc

Karnage wrote: »

Cash is risk and I avoid the stuff.

In which case I'd lock yourself in a darkened room with a tin hat on and avoid 'life' - it all seems a bit much for you

Karnage

lisyloo wrote: »

Just because you don't understand how computers work, is not everyone else's fault.
What if a file fails to be transferred e.g. disk storage full?
In the old days the paper visa slips might get pushed to the back of the drawer and are re-discovered 2 months later.

I'm not sure how this is relevant to me trying to find out the consumer protection laws on credit card authorisations and how long they are valid for but just for you... I'm a software engineer that works in the financial services (not credit card processing).

lisyloo

I'm not sure how this is relevant to me trying to find out the consumer protection laws on credit card authorisations

You said you didn't understand why they needed longer to process a transcation?
If you are a software engineer you should understand rather well the possibilities of multiple points of failure in a computerised system. You've been given examples of failures on both paper and digital systems now.
You have NO consumer protection against a company taking a little longer to charge you.
You've been told the limits now. If you don't believe the free advice your getting here then I would suggest you do your own research or get your own independent advice. The paid kind from professionals is obviously the most reliable.

dzug1

Karnage wrote: »

I'm a software engineer that works in the financial services (not credit card processing).

Aah - that explains a lot

Stevie_Palimo

Wow just wow, I am at a complete loss as to why you are being so silly about this does it really matter how long it takes to deduct a payment from you and also do you really think the credit card people give a hoot about your whining here ????


Seriously if you dislike the way this is done pay by cash and stop using a card it really is as simple as that, I've seen people moaning about things on here plenty of times but the award for moaning about such a trivial thing certainly goes to yourself hands down.