Void payment taken from account

bobblebob

Few days ago i bought a few drinks in a pub with contactless. For some reason it got declined and i was given the void receipt which says declined by card. I tried to pay again and it went through fine.

Both payments were showing as pending but i expected the void payment to drop off and not actually be taken from my account. Ive just checked my balance now and both payments have been taken (the voided one and the one that went through).

How is this possible if i have a receipt showing that the first payment was declined and void? Also if i went back in the bar with the void receipt and showed them the money was take, is this something they can easily sort out?

Zero_Sum

I think you need to contact your bank & theyll investigate

bobblebob

Yea i will do. Im not even sure how they can take the payment if they didnt get an authorisation code (which they shouldnt have when the card was declined initially

Migster

If it was low value contactless, it may not have gone online for an authorisation.

bobblebob

Im assuming it did as it showed as pending as soon as it got declined.

18cc

That shouldn't happen - ever.

Could it be that it wasn't the void one that was taken, but that when you came to re-try the payment it was put through twice?

bobblebob

I dont think so.

She showed me the terminal when it got declined that said "void" or something similar and gave me the void receipt. Then she reentered the amount, i checked the amount and paid on contactless again which went through.

Only odd thing if i check the details on Halifax app its showing as a debit card transaction. Usually it shows as a contactless card transaction but not sure why that is

bobblebob

Also how do you mean put through twice? I only tapped my card once for the void and once to retry

jonnygee2

It happens fairly frequently, it's not uncommon at all. It's just a mistake from the terminal which has registered this payment, then failed to delete it from the presentment list.

I wouldn't actually contact your bank yet because there's not much they can do. Go to the pub and ask for a refund.

If for some reason the merchant refused to refund, eventually the bank could start a chargeback, but that's a last resort and the merchant has to be given a chance to refund first.

Im not even sure how they can take the payment if they didn't get an authorisation code

If there was a pending payment then there was an authorisation code.

bobblebob

Thanks i will, although i guess they could easily claim i had another beer and thats the 2nd charge, not the void one. She did say at the time the machine was playing up that day, but not sure if she was just saying that to stop any potential embarrassment on my part for my card being declined

Its not so much the money as its only a small amount, just the first time this has happened where its not dropped off

jonnygee2

Thanks i will, although i guess they could easily claim i had another beer and thats the 2nd charge,

The time on the payment should match the void receipt though, and be just before the successful one. It'll be pretty obvious what's happened, I don't think you'll struggle. But, if you do, just get their opinion in writing and then contact your bank to start a chargeback.