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

techquest

Sad as it might be Jessie83 as soon as the word fraud comes to light on any thing to do with online purchases then the fraud team gets involved. It can even be triggered by the amount involved in the deal. Had it happen to me once and it was my cc fraud team who decided it looked suspicious, due to the amount involved, and they failed to tell me anything about it. It then took time to get them to reverse their decision.

As for your cc company, you have not received goods for which you have paid for, I'm not so sure they can just wipe their hands in it.

However if the store visit is the only way, according to them, to get it sorted then which ever way you look at it that is the only action open to you or your husband.

[Deleted User]

You will get the money back - just follow what they said and go to a store. Until then you will just have to wait.

Jessie83

Many thanks for all your helpful replies.

My husband cancelled work today to go in to a store with the 2 forms of ID requested - he took his passport and driving license. The store staff could not see why they could not then proceed with the transaction but called the fraud team who said his ID could not be accepted as one needed to be an original bank statement or utility bill.

I’m at a loss to understand this reasoning because, say my husband wasn’t who he said he was and had managed to steal a credit card in someone else’s name... and that person’s passport and driving license with photos matching the man presenting himself... how does a bank statement or utility bill then serve as definitive proof that he is indeed the real Joe Bloggs? I must be missing something here because I’m thinking that even if it was a fraudulent transaction, caused by someone burgling our home and stealing the card, passport, driving license... they could also have grabbed a bank statement and then they’d be able to reclaim the money. How does one extra bit of paper make better proof than his passport and driving license, for goodness sake?!! And aside from all that, the money would be refunded to the card, that wouldn’t give a thief cash in his pocket, or affect him using the card elsewhere, it’s got thousands left on the credit limit.

So now, all of our utility bills and bank statements are paperless and the fraud team said they also wouldn’t accept a print-off of a statement. They want an original sent from the bank/supplier and say can tell the difference. So that’s going to waste more time waiting for the original to be issued. And again... worst case scenario: if a burglar has been able to access all of someone’s documents, surely they’re also likely to be sophisticated enough to hack their online or phone banking to contact the bank and request a statement?? I can’t fathom what kind of real life situation this helps. It’s like we’re on the wrong side of a bad film plot. I don’t have faith anymore that if he bothers to get the original document and return to the store, they’ll issue the refund. He’s not been given any direct contact with the fraud team; it just feels like they’ll move the goal posts again without any apology or acknowledgement that we’re genuine customers and they’re treating us like criminals.

d123

Sounds like you need to get your bank involved now, inform them that CPW are being unreasonable, you’ve been instore and they won’t accept government ID, maybe time to ask for a chargeback to be started.

Jessie83

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

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".

Thanks for your reply. Your original tone came across as condescending, so I appreciate the sincere follow-up.
The site didn’t offer us to set up an account during the transaction but I will certainly go back to it and see if I can view the details. I imagine the fraud team would have locked it down though, surely?!

With regard to your second comment, to be honest that only suggests you don’t know many people with non-9-to-5’s or who live in the countryside. My husband is a sole trading farrier, working on farms and yards across East Anglia 8am-6pm, 6days a week and with work booked up on a 3-6week cycle. He’s not in towns and it damages his business to postpone clients as horses’ care and welfare is at stake. So today he took a 2hr detour and let down 2 clients to address this - and yes, he was only in the store for 15mins of that time. Teresa May has minions to manage her phones and such like.

techquest

Jessie83, I agree with d123's point. They can't keep changing the goal posts and they will have to refund, come what may.

I had a transaction go pair shape 5 weeks ago, with Tesco Mobile, the fraud department decided I was not who I was saying I was! They insisted my surname was actually my middle name as they had got this on a search they did whilst my transaction was going on online. Never ever had this happen before. The transaction got through in the end, after I supplied details of my driving license. Its amazing what they are doing , and can check.whilst you're on line doing the deal, things you are completely unaware of. And yes they are hard to shift once they have started

But don't get worn down by them and try keeping your head up.

grumbler

As suggested above:

Don't waste your time on dealing with pinkertons from the 'fraud' department.
Call your bank and ask them for chargeback - Visa, Mastercard & Amex Chargeback

Jessie83

Thank you @grumbler, @techquest and @d123, we’ll call the credit card first thing in the morning.

pmduk

To prevent anything like this in the future, check all the CRAs, make sure your address is shown identically on each.

It may sound obvious, but slight variances can cause problems, the mobile phone industry is considered high-risk for fraud these days with higher value handsets.

NB I'm not accusing the OP of fraud!

Jon_01

grumbler wrote: »

As suggested above:

Don't waste your time on dealing with pinkertons from the 'fraud' department.
Call your bank and ask them for chargeback - Visa, Mastercard & Amex Chargeback

Auctioning a chargeback on an acc with a fraud investigation on going could create all kinds of problems going forward. The Op should be aware of that. . .