Iceland to overhaul online payment system after shoppers hit with multiple 'pending' charges

MSE_Laura_F
MSE_Laura_F Community Admin Posts: 1,433
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edited 11 June 2020 at 4:47PM in Food shopping & groceries

Our news story is now live:

Iceland to overhaul online payment system after shoppers hit with multiple 'pending' charges

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/06/Iceland-to-overhaul-payment-system/

Comments

  • grumbler
    grumbler Forumite Posts: 57,760
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    edited 11 June 2020 at 7:59PM
    What's more, while an amount is ring-fenced it cannot be spent or used to cover other debits from an account, which means some have then been pushed into their overdraft when other payments have come out of their account.
    This essentially means that a pending payment can make an account overdrawn.
    Hard to believe that this is true, but if it is, then IMO it's the bank to be blamed, not Farmfoods.
    We are born naked, wet and hungry...Then things get worse. :(

    .withdrawal, NOT withdrawel ..bear with me, NOT bare with me
    .definitely, NOT definately ......separate, NOT seperate
    should have, NOT should of
    .....guaranteed, NOT guarenteed
  • [Deleted User]
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    edited 12 June 2020 at 9:22AM
    Probably a neo bank that classifies authorisations (ring-fencing of funds) as an actual transaction.
    P.S. Grumbler ~ Farmfoods definitely isn't to blame  ;)
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Forumite Posts: 6,304
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    We've had a few orders from Iceland in recent weeks but had no idea this was going on. We pay by credit card and, fortunately, have a significant available credit balance so have not noticed any problems.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • Steve_L
    Steve_L Forumite Posts: 338
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    edited 12 June 2020 at 2:03PM
    Another reason why amending home shopping orders is a bad idea,
    The supermarket / credit card combination I use changed how they accounted for any "unavailable" items and items sold by weight a few weeks ago.
    "Life is much/far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it." Oscar Wilde, in "Vera; or, The Nihilists” (much), then "Lady Windermere's Fan" (far).

  • miller
    miller Forumite Posts: 1,530
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    I take it the Iceland T&Cs allow for this (in as much as some hotels do to hold rooms or ensure incidentals can be paid for). If not, then I would complain to the bank for a refund of overdraft charges as the additional authorisation holds are unauthorised. Sainsbury's Petrol Filling Station Pay at Pump can put through a hold of a £1, then correctly use that authorisation code to put through the correct amount as one transaction and retailers can cancel authorisation holds themselves. It's not the customer's fault Iceland's systems are poor.
  • Stompa
    Stompa Forumite Posts: 8,334
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    Asda do this all the time with credit card payments, I don't know if the same applies with debit cards.
    Stompa
  • KxMx
    KxMx Forumite Posts: 10,377
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    From reading the article they are reverting to charging on day of delivery. 
    They moved away from that early 2019 and I guess it didn't work! 
  • MrsStepford
    MrsStepford Forumite Posts: 1,155
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    After I was scammed without the card ever having been used in actual shops, my bank advised me unofficially, to use PayPal online. I have used it for a couple of Iceland shops recently. Both times, when I edited the order, I got a message at checkout, that my card had been refused, though I was using PayPal. It even suggested that I used PayPal as an alternative ! I contacted Iceland online and got a generic email about debit cards, which was useless. I took my  changes (extra products) off and hoped for the best. The original order turned up and I was charged correctly. I suspect that their whole payment system was wonky. 
  • Bacman
    Bacman Forumite Posts: 537
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    I always pay by PayPal wherever I can especially with sites i've not used before; as then the company concerned do not get your card details for payment so if they are dishonest, or their lack of security allows a hacker to get card details from a website, they will only have your name and address (which they need to ship your order to), no card details. PayPal payments are safer therefore. If you don't have credit on your PayPal account, you can still use that as your payment method by selecting your credit card as payment via PayPal option.

    I used Iceland a few weeks back for online delivery, used PayPal, went smoothly no problems and correct amount taken from PayPal.
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