Asda have taken my money but not delivered!!!

balloonatic

Hi everyone,

On Saturday I got a phonecall from ASDA saying they could not deliver my online shop that I was expecting 2 hours later and they couldn't reschedule until Tuesday. I was annoyed that I wouldn't have any food and cancelled the shop. I then wasted more time repeating the order with Morrisons and it promptly arrived the next morning.

It was a bit inconvenient but I thought nothing of it until I checked my bank account yesterday to find I had been charged the £80 for the shop! I rang up customer services and they said they couldn't get through to the store but they had left a message with Crewe ASDA to refund my money. They wouldn't give me a number for the store but said I could look it up on the internet.

This made me fairly cross and eventually I managed to speak to someone at ASDA who said he would look into it but I should get it back by Friday and I would DEFINATELY get a call back today.

Surprise surprise I have not had a phonecall nor my money back. I have also complained on twitter and they said it should be back in my account in 7-10 working days!

My question is do I have to take this on the chin? I have a 5 month old baby and my wife is on maternity leave so money is stretched as it is. Surely they cannot just take £80 off me for 3 weeks? It is very hard to speak to anybody of rank as they never seem to be around! Is it something I could take up with trading standards?

Thanks for reading and for any advice! I just wanted my money back but should I expect compensation for the time I have wasted (and the interest on the money they have taken from me!).

redfox

we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

alanq

Has ASDA actually taken the £80 or just reduced your available balance by £80? It is common for payees to tell you to wait until the reservation times out in a week or so instead of them doing what they should do and removing the reservation immediately.

Normal ASDA policy is that it takes the full cost of an order and then refunds for any missing items or substitutions with items of lower value (or charges extra if the price at the time of delivery is greater than when ordered.) In my experience under normal circumstances the funds are refunded on the same day that they are taken.

wealdroam

balloonatic wrote: »

My question is do I have to take this on the chin? I have a 5 month old baby and my wife is on maternity leave so money is stretched as it is. Surely they cannot just take £80 off me for 3 weeks? It is very hard to speak to anybody of rank as they never seem to be around! Is it something I could take up with trading standards?

Where does this "3 weeks" come from?
Have you forgotten to tell us something?

From Asda's T&Cs:

3.3.6 On the day of Delivery or Collection, we will request a pre-authorisation for the amount of Your order at the time it was checked out, which is the amount shown to You when You confirm Your online order. 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.

3.3.7 We will debit the total value of Your checked out order once it has been Delivered or Collected. However, if there are differences between Your checked out order and the contents of Your Delivered or Collected order, an adjustment will need to be made to the amount debited from Your debit or credit card. In the event the total value of goods Delivered is less than the checked out order amount (for example if an item was unavailable and removed from Your order or due to price changes in accordance with 3.3.1 above), You will be refunded the difference. In the event the total value of goods delivered is more than the checked out order amount (for example if the price of weighted items differs from the amount specified in Your order in accordance with 3.3.2 above or due to price changes in accordance with 3.3.1 above) You may see a separate charge on Your credit or debit card statement. The total amount payable by You for Your order (following any adjustment required) will be the amount shown at the bottom of the Delivery note given to You at the time of Delivery or Collection. Any required adjustments will be processed on the day of Delivery or Collection and may appear as a separate line on Your credit or debit card statement. However, the adjustment may take up to 5 working days to appear on Your statement depending on Your card issuer.

Note the last couple of sentences there which I have emboldened.

If you want to take this up with anyone, the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline is the place. There's a phone number on their website.

dj1471

If they've actually taken the money contact your bank and request a chargeback for non-delivery.

You can ask Asda for a goodwill gesture but you're not due any compensation.

wealdroam

dj1471 wrote: »

If they've actually taken the money contact your bank and request a chargeback for non-delivery.

...which can also take several days.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like its quicker to go and get the shopping yourself with all the time you've had to spend on this.

If I was short on money, I'd never want to risk Asda taking the money for whatever reason 'to assure themselves its there'. No problem with them taking the money when the shopping's being delivered.., but not before.

ARandomMiser

This is how the supermarkets work - they 'reserve' the money at point of order and then take it when despatched. Many other companies do this as well but you maybe do not notice.

It is something that people need to take into consideration when doing home shopping and if things are "tight" where this causes you a problem then maybe home shopping is not for you.

ripplyuk

I think there's some sort of problem with Asda's system recently. I've been using them for online grocery deliveries for over 5 years with no issues at all.

In the last 2 months, they've failed to refund 3 times. Small amounts but still annoying. They keep saying they have and my card company keep confirming they haven't. It happened with George clothing too. The money has still never showed up from them but my card provider refunded me.

Hope you get it sorted out OP.

PasturesNew

Just be grateful you had enough spare money to order more food from a different shop. When cancellations etc occur people are often stuck without food or money ....

You'll be inconvenienced and annoyed.... but the delay is what happens to a lot of people.

Just think "Annoying s0ds ...." and enjoy your weekend.