LLoyds Bank and Unautherised Payment

MissGraham118

Hi,
I am not sure if this post comes under the correct thread, if not I apologize in advance.

So one year ago I purchased a website from a company called WIX.COM.I paid in full for the website ect and as set on the invoice it states that I had paid in full and Lloyds have confirmed that this payment has been taken. This evening I looked at my account and can see that a payment has been taken from my account today, using my card details, in which I did not authorize.

Upon my finding, the first thing I did was check the wix account and can see that they have signed me for an automatic renewal.So I made contact to LLoyds bank this evening, the first adviser was not helpful at all and basically said it was not their problem and to contact the company direct. Well, this was at 11.45 at night and the only contact number I have is their office number in which they are based in Canada. So I have emailed them and will call them tomorrow.

But what was more interesting was, was when I called them back. Please note wix had taken the payment today. Originally when I made my first purchase from Wix, this was last year.
Please note that In recent times, Maybe three weeks ago I ordered a new bank card. So my question was to the adviser how did wix obtain my card details because I surley had not provided these to wix in recent times. The advisor was very confused by this and went to speak with his manager. On his return, he informed me that apparently, Visa can automatically update merchants payment details on the customer's behalf. I said are Visa allowed to do this as surely this goes against data protection as I have not authorized for my debit card details to be passed on to any third parties and unfortunately he could not answer.

So tonight I am at loss of £145 and only have £29 in my account till payday as LLoyds bank could not assist me further in obtaining my money back although the transaction was still pending. They have stated that I have to wait for the transaction to complete and to get a failed response from the company arghhh before they can look at the issue as a dispute.

Please, can anyone advise me if this is correct banking practice both from LLoyds Bank (Not stopping a pending transaction that I had not authorised and Visa (In relation to updating/passing on my new card details to wix).

Thank You

PeacefulWaters

They can't stop a pending transaction.

But you can now ring up and say "this is an unauthorised transaction please reimburse me immediately".

Although you probably agreed to a continuous payment authority when you signed up.

dj1471

All standard practice. You agreed to the automatic renewal when you signed up and failed to cancel so the transaction isn't unauthorised. You need to talk to Wix about a refund.

IanSt

MissGraham118 wrote: »

On his return, he informed me that apparently, Visa can automatically update merchants payment details on the customer's behalf. I said are Visa allowed to do this as surely this goes against data protection as I have not authorized for my debit card details to be passed on to any third parties and unfortunately he could not answer.

This will have been covered in the copious number of terms and conditions that you will have accepted when signing up to your bank account. Probably something about sharing details with other interested parties.

Imagine the number of complaints from people that would occur if details were not auto updated and they suddenly find that their subscriptions etc stopped unexpectedly.

agrinnall

It's almost certainly an entirely valid transaction so I would suggest you stop using that as a reason when speaking to your bank. In fact, there's little point speaking to your bank at all (other than to ensure the CPA is cancelled for the future), it's WIX that you need to appeal to in order to try to get a refund.

sheramber

You will lose the paid for services you have if you cancel.

dunstonh

This evening I looked at my account and can see that a payment has been taken from my account today, using my card details, in which I did not authorize.

Yes you did. You authorised it when you bought it. You would also have been informed when they sent the renewal out.

And for reference, using z in authorise is the American spelling. We use s in the UK.

So I made contact to LLoyds bank this evening, the first adviser was not helpful at all and basically said it was not their problem and to contact the company direct.

Being told the correct information is helpful. It may not be what you want to hear but it doesnt make it unhelpful.

Please note that In recent times, Maybe three weeks ago I ordered a new bank card. So my question was to the adviser how did wix obtain my card details because I surley had not provided these to wix in recent times. The advisor was very confused by this and went to speak with his manager. On his return, he informed me that apparently, Visa can automatically update merchants payment details on the customer's behalf. I said are Visa allowed to do this as surely this goes against data protection as I have not authorized for my debit card details to be passed on to any third parties and unfortunately he could not answer.

Sadly, banks do not train their staff like they used to. For CPAs to continue, they do not rely on it being the same card and the dates do not matter. It goes by the account. in most cases, the middle number remains the same.

Data protection is not an issue here as it is part of the payment services agreement.

Please, can anyone advise me if this is correct banking practice both from LLoyds Bank (Not stopping a pending transaction that I had not authorised and Visa (In relation to updating/passing on my new card details to wix).

Yes. Lloyds are acting correctly and everything that has happened is normal.

You can dispute the transaction with Lloyds. However, Wix will be asked to provide details to confirm whether it is you are or not that made the transaction. They will provide the agreement and the CPA and the renewal letter which shows it to be a valid transaction. So, you would expect a disputed transaction request to fail. You need to deal with wix

Zanderman

If you 'buy' a website you're buying a domain and/or hosting for one year (sometimes multiples but most basic deals start at one year).

So if you still have the website and expect it to continue you should expect to pay, otherwise you cease to have a website!

On the assumption that this is what you bought a year ago (sounds like a hosted website if the renewal cost is £145) then I don't see why you're surprised at paying again this year. Websites don't last forever!

As for authorisation, you must have authorised it, as the bank couldn't pay otherwise. The fact that you have had a new card recently and payment has still been taken suggests a CPA arrangement, fairly normal in the circumstances.

As others have said, your argument is with Wix, not the bank.

But if you want your website to continue you don't have an argument with Wix either.

Edited to add: Wix hosting package 'ecommerce' is £10.10 per month which, plus VAT, comes to £145.44 per year. I suspect this is what you might have and have just been billed for. You'll have paid less last year as they generally give 50% discount in year 1.

mt99

Yes I think I have to agree with most of the posts on this thread no matter how annoying it may be

when you signed up for the websites you almost certainly agree to continue paying an annual fee until you cancelled

the only query I have really is quite often they will email you a couple of weeks before renewal just to remind you that renewal is coming and this is the price

not sure if that happened or not

anyway what you have to do is decide if you want your website for another year in which case just leave everything as it is. if you don't want it then you can contact Wix and say you didn't want to auto-renew and they might just might refund you but of course they don't have to

Don80

dunstonh wrote: »

And for reference, using z in authorise is the American spelling. We use s in the UK.

How is this relevant? Was the OP's meaning unclear?

In any case, we don't always use "s" - both s and z are valid in the UK, the Oxford dictionary even has the z version as the primary listing.
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/authorize?q=authorize

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/authorize

Perhaps we could stick to helping people with their questions rather than nitpicking spelling. My partner is dyslexic and finds this kind of thing quite upsetting. If the meaning is clear, lets just help?

Zanderman

mt99 wrote: »

the only query I have really is quite often they will email you a couple of weeks before renewal just to remind you that renewal is coming and this is the price

not sure if that happened or not

anyway what you have to do is decide if you want your website for another year in which case just leave everything as it is. if you don't want it then you can contact Wix and say you didn't want to auto-renew and they might just might refund you but of course they don't have to

Agree - they may not have emailed for an auto-renewal or, if they did, it may have just been one email which may have been dismissed by the OP as unimportant.

This is why, for the various websites I run (several, across three different hosting companies) I always turn off any auto-renewal. This makes them write to me, about 6 weeks before each domain or hosting renewal, to coax the money from me, and then they write another 3 or 4 times over a month or so until I finally pay.

That way I'm always reminded of the costs and, for under-used sites/domains, I ask myself whether I actually want to renew.

Doesn't help the OP now, but might be worth bearing in mind for next year!