Can they do this?

liuaq

Saw a cruise I liked on cruisenation.com one evening at a really good price.I'd booked with them before by phone and been ok so I clicked book online.
The site took all my details including all my debit card details and a booking reference.
Didn't get any confirmation email and none had turned up the next morning so I emailed them to ask what was going on and checked my bank balance; no money taken.
A couple of hours later they said that they hadn't completed the booking because the price had risen and did I want to contact someone to discuss it or get a refund.
I emailed back to say do not take any money out of my bank or refund me asap.
Checked my bank the next day and they had taken the money out THAT DAY.
I phoned them and said that I wanted the money back and had to give them all my details again and won't see my money for 3/4 working days.I've lost interest and phone costs.
I've told them that this is rubbish service and they should not have taken money before confirming within their organisation that they could honour the deal...water off a duck's back.Is this legal? I feel little confidence in this company now but maybe they don't give a stuff as their deals are good!
Theytried to tell me that they couldn't stop the payment because it was in the system but in past experience a debit card payment hits your account really fast and delays usually occurs with credit cards.
p.s; was slightly nervous because of the good price which had been up and down like a yo-yo on their website:rotfl:you can live in hope!

agrinnall

Unless you were actually buying the cruise ship the interest you'll have lost over a few days is pennies.

Unfortunately what you think you know about how debit cards work isn't what is actually the case, there's absolutely nothing to say it has to come out fast. Where I think you do have a complaint is that they told you that the booking wasn't complete but still took the money anyway. If it wasn't complete then I think there's an argument to be made that it was an unauthorised transaction, which should be repaid immediately. You might get a goodwill payment if you make a formal complaint, but I wouldn't expect it to be much as you will soon be put back in the position you started from.

leylandsunaddict

Have they actually taken the payment, or has it been ring fenced so resulting in your available balance being reduced? It's quite normal for companies to do that because they have to know that the funds are there before they attempt to book anything. If it's the latter the money should just drop back into your account in a couple of days.

I doubt you're losing much interest from a current account given the interest rates at the moment though.

callum9999

agrinnall wrote: »

Unless you were actually buying the cruise ship the interest you'll have lost over a few days is pennies.

Unfortunately what you think you know about how debit cards work isn't what is actually the case, there's absolutely nothing to say it has to come out fast. Where I think you do have a complaint is that they told you that the booking wasn't complete but still took the money anyway. If it wasn't complete then I think there's an argument to be made that it was an unauthorised transaction, which should be repaid immediately. You might get a goodwill payment if you make a formal complaint, but I wouldn't expect it to be much as you will soon be put back in the position you started from.

Though I think it's still unclear whether they actually did take the money out after they told them the booking wasn't complete. I would assume they took payment at the time of booking - it makes no sense for them to wait for manual intervention to take the payment when they must have known it wouldn't cover the cost by then.

It wouldn't surprise me if the day after this interaction was actually the settlement date, not the transaction date.

liuaq

Hi;
no, the money has really gone out of my account and i've had to contact them and give them all my details to get it back although they told me they wouldn't fulfil their price.
i know that the interest is peanuts but my phone company charges a lot per weekday/office hour phone minute.if i was their accountant i'd be a bit peeved if someone gave me a direct debit and it took two days to get the cash..poor cashflow.
i'm sulking because they are offering a package including flights from gatwick which is £200 lower than the cruise only price which they would have offered as an alternative but not everyone in the uk wants to fly from gatwick at "silly hours" o'clock in the morning.

callum9999

liuaq wrote: »

Hi;
no, the money has really gone out of my account and i've had to contact them and give them all my details to get it back although they told me they wouldn't fulfil their price.
i know that the interest is peanuts but my phone company charges a lot per weekday/office hour phone minute.if i was their accountant i'd be a bit peeved if someone gave me a direct debit and it took two days to get the cash..poor cashflow.
i'm sulking because they are offering a package including flights from gatwick which is £200 lower than the cruise only price which they would have offered as an alternative but not everyone in the uk wants to fly from gatwick at "silly hours" o'clock in the morning.

It's a good job you aren't an accountant then as that's exactly how debit card payments (not direct debit) work! I just went on the cruisenation website and there's a freephone number in large print at the top of the page - did they refuse to talk to you on that number? Though if your provider is charging a lot for a simple landline call then why are you with them at all?

Well that's most likely why it's cheaper. If it was at a time that everyone wanted to go on then it would rather obviously cost more - you need to choose price or convenience!