Carphone Warehouse took payment, now holding as they think it’s fraudulent

Jessie83

My husband ordered (online) a new handset from Carphone Warehouse on his 0% card, £749 debited on 21st Jan saying delivery in 24hrs available. This morning we’ve chased up the order, only to be told they’ve cancelled it as their fraud team decided it looked suspicious. No refund has been received to our credit card and even though the first person we spoke to was able to confirm security clearance with all our order details to explain the situation, he then transferred us to customer services to arrange the refund and the girl there kept asking my husband to repeat our postcode - he has a Scottish accent but not a thick one and we didn’t know why she kept asking. She then said the details he was giving don’t match the order so he’ll have to take 2 forms of ID into a store to get a refund!! We asked to speak to a supervisor and she said none was available. We requested a manager to call back and she said she would arrange it but was clearly just paying lip service with no sincerity in her voice. My husband’s a busy sole trader working in the countryside, that’s why we placed the original order online. It’s going to take weeks for him to be able to get a break in his work to visit a store.
Can they really do that??? Aside from the appalling customer service, treating us like fraudsters, it feels more like Carphone Warehouse being dodgy as they get to hold on to our £749 until we can go out of our way to get it back!!! I’m appalled :mad: Please can anyone offer any advice, so we have any rights here?
I’ve already contacted the credit card and they said we have to do what the retailer says and then if we can’t get a refund, refer it to their disputes team. I hope it wouldn’t get to that

mobilejunkie

You could send them a LBA threatening legal action. CPW usually takes notice of that, but being a fraud issue it may be less effective (or not). There are plenty of CPW stores around so it would be easier to find a store he's passing.

[Deleted User]

It sounds like whoever signed up online got the postcode wrong, unfortunately due to DPA you've tied CPW's hands.

It’s going to take weeks for him to be able to get a break in his work to visit a store.

Sorry, but that's complete nonsense.

grumbler

It sounds like whoever signed up online got the postcode wrong, unfortunately due to DPA you've tied CPW's hands.

Tied? Really?
Even with returning the money to the card it was taken from? What does this have to do with the notorious DPA?

[Deleted User]

grumbler wrote: »

Tied? Really?
Even with returning the money to the card it was taken from? What does this have to do with the notorious DPA?

Yes tied, they can't even access let alone make any changes to an account until you've passed the increasingly strict guidelines. I come across it all the time at work where someone in the household has set up an account in their name and then their other family members get annoyed that I can't discuss the account with them.

Of course the solution for the OP's husband is simply walking into any of the 1,100 stores in the UK & Ireland with proof of ID. That should take all of 30 minutes of his time.

Since when was your data protection "notorious". Ridiculous comment.

grumbler

If they have any doubts they have two options:

• contact the customer and clear their doubts,
• cancel the transaction and return the money (they don't need any permission for this).

They have chosen to do nothing - and you explain this by the notorious DPA.
Notorious - because it's used left right and centre by all CS, that know very little about it and use it just to justify their actions that have nothing to do with DPA.

pmduk

Once a caller has failed security, you cannot, in a call-centre, even open the account without breaching the DPA. Since GDPR, the fines for the business are huge, and there are individual fines and penalties for the member of staff involved. (Plus it usually leads to dismissal for gross misconduct in reputable companies.)

grumbler

Just an example.
For years we were told that a bank can't tell us whether a particular account (sort code + number) belongs to a particular person or not - allegedly because of the DPA.
From this year (soon) you'll be able to check this easily - https://www.moneywise.co.uk/news/2018-10-18/new-name-check-rules-will-alert-bank-customers-if-they-transfer-money-to-fraudsters.
And the DPA wasn't changed.

Jessie83

I already stated that we passed security with the exact same details with the first call handler.

And to the guy who doesn’t know the location, nature or schedule of my husband’s business but says my comment is nonsense: Hmmm - not worth glorifying with a rise.

Jon_01

Once an acc has a fraud flag on it the call center staff can't do anything with it. Only the fraud team can work on it (10 years working in the fraud dept of one of the networks).
Once the request(s) of the fraud team have been met the acc will be release and the call center agents can work on it again.

[Deleted User]

Jessie83 wrote: »

I already stated that we passed security with the exact same details with the first call handler.

And to the guy who doesn’t know the location, nature or schedule of my husband’s business but says my comment is nonsense: Hmmm - not worth glorifying with a rise.

Without being privy to the conversations perhaps the first call should have failed and the agent was incorrect to continue? The requirements for them and the refund section they passed you too would be the same so something certainly put up a red flag for the 2nd agent. Can you get into an online account BTW? If so what details do they show?

That wasn't designed to "get a rise" so apologies if that's how you read it but I can't see how even Theresa May couldn't spare 20-30 minutes to sort out a large refund for "weeks".