Is there anything I can do about a mistaken overdraft?

Kanakashi

Hi all, sorry in advance if all this is difficult to follow, but I'm having a spot of bother with a recent issue and im wondering if someone can point me in the right direction. basically, what's happened is that:
- I ordered an item for £250 from Next on the 4th October, 2018. The money left my account and it was back to 0.
- Since the item wasn't in stock, the amount of 250 was kept in pending, until they were able to charge me at dispatch (which was in the early morning of today, the 8th January)
- now my bank account has an overdraft of £250. (There was nothing in it the day before)
- I contacted RBS asap and they told me to speak to next and see if theres anything they can do about it. Next are saying what's happened is that my money was kept in pending and it was "stuck in the middle" until today when they dispatched it, so I should be able to tell RBS this new information and they can resolve it.
- I told RBS this and they're saying I can
1. pay off the overdraft or
2. return the item and be refunded so my overdraft is paid off. I called Next again and they said theres no point since I was charged way back in October and that maybe my bank could do a goodwill gesture. I haven't called RBS since, as I'm so tired of speaking to 3 different departments, being put on hold for 30 mins at a time and getting nowhere.

Now I'm stuck. Should I do what was recommended by the bank, orrr? I sincerely doubt anyone at RBS would understand what I'm saying and I'd be put back to square one. hopefully this might've happened to someone else and they could share how they got it resolved? thanks in advance.

SnowTiger

Kanakashi wrote: »

Hi all, sorry in advance if all this is difficult to follow, but I'm having a spot of bother with a recent issue and im wondering if someone can point me in the right direction. basically, what's happened is that:
- I ordered an item for £250 from Next on the 4th October, 2018. The money left my account and it was back to 0.
- Since the item wasn't in stock, the amount of 250 was kept in pending, until they were able to charge me at dispatch (which was in the early morning of today, the 8th January)
- now my bank account has an overdraft of £250. (There was nothing in it the day before)

Bits missing from this story.

I doubt £250 was pending for three months.

What really happened? You spent the £250 on something else? You've been charged twice?

Terry_Towelling

Actually sounds like they've charged you twice for the same purchase.

If the money was taken in October 2018 then it was a cleared payment, not a pending payment.

Tell Next they've charged you twice and if they don't refund you, tell your card issuer and they will arrange a Chargeback for you.

Kanakashi

Hmm.. it doesn't look like I've been charged twice. Looking deeper into it, there was never a transaction of £250 on the 4th of October on my statement but the transaction details for the overdraft that was done today is this: "(last 4 digits of card) 04OCT18" with no further information.

Only after contacting RBS's fraud team did they tell me Next charged me. is there a chance that I was only ever charged now and I probably spent the 250 before? (even though I recall it leaving my account).

SnowTiger

Kanakashi wrote: »

Hmm.. it doesn't look like I've been charged twice. Looking deeper into it, there was never a transaction of £250 on the 4th of October on my statement but the transaction details for the overdraft that was done today is this: "(last 4 digits of card) 04OCT18" with no further information.

Only after contacting RBS's fraud team did they tell me Next charged me. is there a chance that I was only ever charged now and I probably spent the 250 before? (even though I recall it leaving my account).

Can't you check your statement, online banking, app or telephone banking?

It seems likely that either you spent the money (or transferred it elsewhere) or Next has charged you twice.

jonesMUFCforever

Ok: if no transaction was debited to your account in October 2018 - check a few days after 4th as it takes 2/3 working days for transactions to go from pending to actually being debited - then it is simple - send the package back to Next and ask for a refund - problem solved.
If you want to keep whatever you ordered you need to find £250 to pay off your overdraft.

londoninvestor

Kanakashi wrote: »

2. return the item and be refunded so my overdraft is paid off. I called Next again and they said theres no point since I was charged way back in October and that maybe my bank could do a goodwill gesture. I haven't called RBS since, as I'm so tired of speaking to 3 different departments, being put on hold for 30 mins at a time and getting nowhere.

You could take this back up with Next and point out that they need to honour their own terms and conditions: link

Next wrote:

Returns Via Courier

You may return most items in a new and unused condition and wherever possible in the original packaging. If you want to cancel/return your order you must tell us within 14 days (beginning on the day after the day you receive the goods), and you then have 14 days to return the items. To return large Home items see Sofa And Funiture Returns And Cancellations below. To return Beaverbrooks products, see separate heading below. Some items may not be returned or cannot be returned to a store. For all the details see EXCEPTIONS TO THE RETURNS POLICY section. Most returns collected by Next from your home are charged at £1 (£2.50 in Northern Ireland only) per collection. This charge is applied per collection even if you return multiple orders via one courier collection. If you paid for the order by credit/debit card or PayPal, any charges will be deducted from your refund. If you paid for the order using your Next credit account, this charge will be applied to your account on receipt of the return. If you return the whole order the £3.99 delivery charge will be refunded. Items bought in store using a Next credit account cannot be returned via a courier and must be returned to a store.

So it shouldn't matter when you placed the order - the returns clock only starts ticking when you receive the goods. If they were only dispatched today, there's no way you are too late to get a refund!

Terry_Towelling

Kanakashi wrote: »

Hmm.. it doesn't look like I've been charged twice. Looking deeper into it, there was never a transaction of £250 on the 4th of October on my statement but the transaction details for the overdraft that was done today is this: "(last 4 digits of card) 04OCT18" with no further information.

Only after contacting RBS's fraud team did they tell me Next charged me. is there a chance that I was only ever charged now and I probably spent the 250 before? (even though I recall it leaving my account).

Still not making a lot of sense and it sounds as if you rely solely on the 'available balance' figure in online banking instead of checking what's actually happening to your cleared funds - apologies if that's not true or if you think it sounds insulting.

If the £250 was not cleared from your bank account by Next until recently, then you must have moved it yourself or spent it on something else in the interim.

Only you can know whether you did any of these things. Why don't you do the obvious thing and check your account statements back from now to Oct 18.