Credit Card Payment Not Appearing on Statement

KRLS

Help please....

Whilst on holiday in May 2018, I made several chip and pin purchases using my credit card (Mastercard). The transactions were authorized and I was given the products I purchased and off I went.

However, these transactions never actually appeared on my credit card statement and hence I have never actually paid for the products I bought (other transactions during the holiday did show and the statement subsequently cleared / paid).

My questions:

1 - is there still time for these transactions to appear on my statement?
2 - is there a cut off period?
3 - when can I close off the credit account as I no longer use it? I don't want to close it then 'they' try and take the money and it causes issues with my credit history.

I appreciate I signed the receipts (which I have subsequently lost) and I will pay when / if they appear on my statement, but it's been 8 months now, surely this can't carry on indefinitely?

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks

molerat

Where were these purchases made, was it all in one establishment ? Card rules usually mean the authorisation is valid for 6 months but the debt, in England and Wales, exists for 6 years. If there was a valid system failure the card company could just debit the card. How much were these purchases ?

KRLS

Thank you for your reply.

I should have clarified, these purchases were made in South Africa at the same establishment (I live in London / UK National)

Two separate purchases, for the total amount of approx £600.

jonesMUFCforever

So far so good - you have had a freebie.
The transactions might appear in the future they might not - put the money aside in case they do.

Terry_Towelling

Retailers and their processing banks have a limited amount of time to process transactions. If they miss that limit and still present the transaction, a right of Chargeback will exist for 'Late Presentment'. However, it may not be quite that simple as a way for you to avoid paying - not that you are trying to do so.

Your issuer must attempt to collect payment from you and, only if they can't (because your account is a bad-debt - or long closed, perhaps) can they issue this Chargeback. They aren't raising the Chargeback for your benefit, they are raising it to recover an uncollectable debt where there has been a contravention of card processing rules.

Having said all that, I am long out of the cards industry and, around the time I left, I think there was a change to the rules that would allow this Chargeback to be used if the transactions were over 6 months old regardless of the account status.

In your case, that is true and I suspect, even if they were suddenly processed, you could well object to them and have them charged back for Late Presentment. I'm sure there will be someone along soon who can give a more up to date view of the applicable rules and, don't forget, this sort of chargeback has nothing to do with consumer-protection and it would be down to the discretion of your issuer whether they would make the Chargeback (if it came to it).

I suspect if you closed your account now, you'd almost certainly get away with it but, don't forget, just because a card transaction can't be processed, or ends up being charged back, that doesn't necessarily mean you aren't still liable to pay the company and they could potentially pursue you through other channels to obtain payment.