Debit payment not pending and went through 8 months later

Racing2

Hi All,

So I've decided to ask the question here as most of my searches led to this forum but none of the answers seem to cover my situation.

I stayed in a hotel overseas for a period of time last year (from September to December) when I checked out, I went to use my debit card (chip and PIN) but the payment was declined. I had enough funds in my bank to cover the amount (£4880 odd), but it was still declined, I put this down to the amount of the transaction at the time.

I then requested that the company I was contracting for make the payment (as they were going to pay eventually anyway through expenses), I was told the payment was all good. Then on the 8th of August 2018, the payment was suddenly taken from my account - on my statement online it showed the payment date of the 21st December 2017 and the transaction date of 8th August 2018. In the meantime, the cash was not set aside or pending in my account.

This put me overdrawn as I had no idea this amount was going to be taken (I thought the company had paid already). To be fair to my bank, they have frozen all charges and are now investigating this, however, I'm still nearly £5K down and the bank said it can take up to 8 weeks to investigate.

I've read somewhere that the retailer (or Hotel in this instance) has got 6 months to process the transaction? I haven't got an issue with paying the sum, but something doesn't seem quite right here. Also my card was stolen (the one I used to make the hotel payment) on the 1st January 2018 so I was issued with a completely new card with a new number etc, so it seems unlucky that the hotel only just put it through?

Any help and information would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Paul

JuicyJesus

Chargeback, late presentation, open and shut.

Bear in mind that you'll still owe the hotel money and they can pursue you for it by other means.

deadendwaterfall

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Chargeback, late presentation, open and shut.

Bear in mind that you'll still owe the hotel money and they can pursue you for it by other means.

If the hotel was in a country we have little or no treaties with, what's the chances of them successfully pursuing them for it and getting what they are owed?

jonesMUFCforever

deadendwaterfall wrote: »

If the hotel was in a country we have little or no treaties with, what's the chances of them successfully pursuing them for it and getting what they are owed?

If they accept Visa/Mastercard then they abide by their rules.

I would check if the company actually DID pay the hotel.
If not then starting a chargeback will be a waste of time because the OP owes the money.
If the hotel was paid then it is an open and shut case.

Racing2

Thanks for the info, I don't have an issue paying them (although now I will have to go through the process of trying to claim it back), but what confuses me as I was using a debit card is

A. Why didn't it show on my bank as a pending payment?
B. How could the payment go through (being a debit card) when I didn't have sufficient funds in my account at the time?
C. If they presented the payment in August using the card details, how did it go through when this card had been cancelled?

Someone from the bank suggested it went through due to the floor limit, but I've since read this is only the threshold for authorisation. The card was initially declined so it must have been higher than this threshold!

I guess it's a case of having faith in the banking system and how this sort of thing can happen, especially in a digital world where fraud is becoming more of an issue

agrinnall

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Bear in mind that you'll still owe the hotel money and they can pursue you for it by other means.

Not if this happened as the OP was told.

I then requested that the company I was contracting for make the payment (as they were going to pay eventually anyway through expenses), I was told the payment was all good.

meer53

If an authorisation was taken when you checked in, this would cover any amount which was due at the time of departure, regardless of whether you had the money to pay or not at the time the transaction is debited. Authorisations on a card which is subsequently lost or stolen are still honoured.

If you have no issue paying the amount, why not pay it now ? You still owe the hotel if your company havent paid them already.

Racing2

Hi, it has been paid, that what's sent me overdrawn - I was just confused how after 8 months it suddenly went through - kind of inconvenient as I had no idea it was going to be taken out when it was. It's also not ideal as I now have to contact the company I was working for and now try and get it back on expenses - so not ideal all around really.

I would've preferred it had gone through at the time as I had more than sufficient funds in the bank to cover it.

Racing2

I have also contacted the hotel in question regarding the payment but as yet no reply. They're 10 hours ahead of UK time so this also confuses the matter - and speak very little English!!

I'm just very confused by the whole thing as I thought by using a debit card, this sort of thing couldn't happen.

agrinnall

Don't get hung up about them taking the money after 8 months, the only payment method guaranteed to happen immediately is cash. Any card payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons, and while the authorisation should be renewed by contacting you first after 6 months its not unusual for delays of that length to go through anyway.



The key to how you can get the money back is if the company you were contracted to did in fact pay it as you were told or not. If they did then a Chargeback should work, if they didn't then an expense claim will be required.

nyermen

I've had this happen a few times - but normally clearing within a month or two. One was a BP garage near guildford for example.
In all cases, the payment date was the original date, and the transaction date the future one. It's pretty obviously therefore based on the original transaction / authorisation, not a "new attempt".

Best to (urgently) find out if it was paid, and then talk to your bank.