Credit Refund from M&S Mastercard has gone against my credit card limit as a spend? Help!

Redtriumph

I obtained a refund for a holiday that i could not take due to covid using chargeback on my M&S credit card. The credit was granted early in July but when my July credit card bill came in, later in July, the credit on this card account was not used to pay the balance (I pay in full each month) and the money went out of my direct debit from my bank as it there was no credit existing.  I called M&S and was told that the only way to get the holiday credit back was to transfer it to my bank account, which on checking there was no fee, I did as i wanted the money back.  Then i went to book another holiday using the same card and got a text informing me that my credit card was at 90% of my limit.  I was shocked and on looking, it seems the as the refund of credit to my bank account has gone against my credit limit on the card. This means i have to pay the money back next month i think.  I called M&S again and the adviser was a bit opaque on this point and said that i should have left the credit on the account as moving it to my bank account created a debit that i will have to pay back?  I am so so confused about this. I said to him that i moved the money into my bank account on the advice from his colleague previously as i understood it was the only way to access the money, my money, the refund from my holiday - at no stage did the adviser say it would actually be classed as a spend on my credit card.  I have told M&S i want to complain but i'm quite upset, i just don't get this situation. Can anyone help or give me a steer? TIA x

SpreadableToast

The only way I can see you being in debit in this situation is if either the refund has been taken back or the direct debit has not been credited to your account yet.  That being said both of these possibilities should be obvious to anyone looking at the current statement.

Edit: I suppose one other possibility is that whoever processed your refund did it twice, or refunded you too much, but again this should be obvious looking at your transactions.

phillw

Redtriumph said:

I said to him that i moved the money into my bank account on the advice from his colleague previously as i understood it was the only way to access the money, my money, the refund from my holiday - at no stage did the adviser say it would actually be classed as a spend on my credit card.  I have told M&S i want to complain but i'm quite upset, i just don't get this situation. Can anyone help or give me a steer? TIA x

How did you move the money? That could be relevant. It may show on the statement how it was done.
A credit balance refund and a cash advance are going to be treated completely differently.
If it's a credit balance refund then their system has given an incorrect warning and they've then given confusing advice.
If it's a cash advance and they did it then it's so much easier as you can argue that they put you in this position, if you did it then you'll need to complain that the advice they gave wasn't clear enough and their systems should warn if you try to get a cash advance when you have a credit balance. You really don't want a cash advance as it will attract interest.
If you asked for the money and the refund was still pending, then they might put up a fight. You could try saying the first person you spoke to should have checked before advising you.
But as always, criticize the organisation, advice and training. Don't take it out on the people "it's unacceptable your company would allow me to get into this position" but you need to try to understand what situation you are in. If you can't figure it out from your online banking, then complain about that too.

born_again

Who moved the money?
M&S or did you do it online?
Have you got the credit in your bank account?

daveyjp

Very difficult to provide any meaningful response without the paperwork, amounts dates etc.  You need to be aware of every transaction and when it hits the account.

 A credit card isn't like a bank account where debits and credits provide a rolling balance.  Everything is done within statement periods and timing of transactions can be critical.

Miss a statement date and the transactions will be accounted for the following month.

Go back and check the dates of all the transactions, start and end date of statements and dd payment dates.  Statement cross over period could well be why this appears confusing.

Redtriumph

phillw said:

Redtriumph said:

I said to him that i moved the money into my bank account on the advice from his colleague previously as i understood it was the only way to access the money, my money, the refund from my holiday - at no stage did the adviser say it would actually be classed as a spend on my credit card.  I have told M&S i want to complain but i'm quite upset, i just don't get this situation. Can anyone help or give me a steer? TIA x

How did you move the money? That could be relevant. It may show on the statement how it was done.
A credit balance refund and a cash advance are going to be treated completely differently.
If it's a credit balance refund then their system has given an incorrect warning and they've then given confusing advice.
If it's a cash advance and they did it then it's so much easier as you can argue that they put you in this position, if you did it then you'll need to complain that the advice they gave wasn't clear enough and their systems should warn if you try to get a cash advance when you have a credit balance. You really don't want a cash advance as it will attract interest.
If you asked for the money and the refund was still pending, then they might put up a fight. You could try saying the first person you spoke to should have checked before advising you.
But as always, criticize the organisation, advice and training. Don't take it out on the people "it's unacceptable your company would allow me to get into this position" but you need to try to understand what situation you are in. If you can't figure it out from your online banking, then complain about that too.

Thanks for replying. I have not got the August statement yet but online, the transaction is lined up under the 'debit' column and says 'refund by bank transfer'.  On the June statement i see the holiday was a credit and the reference says 'credit disputed transaction'.  There is no way i would have agreed to a cash advance and at no time did the adviser at M&S say that this would go against my credit card as a 'spend'.  I also have a letter from M&S dated 27 july saying confirming that my bank account would be credited with the sum (for the holiday.) This letter doesn't mention anything about it being treated as a cash advance either?

Redtriumph

born_again said:

Who moved the money?
M&S or did you do it online?
Have you got the credit in your bank account?

Hi  - I called to ask why the credit on the account (creditied in June) hadnt been used to pay off the balance which had been taken from my bank account by direct debit. The adviser said oh the only way to use that amount of money is to have it transferred into your bank account. I said - can i do this? Do i not get a percentage fee if i do this? She said no it was free and she would arrange for the credit to be put into my account within 2 working days. This happened and i got a letter confirming that my account would be credited with the sum.  At no time did anyone at M&S say that this would be classed as a 'spend' on my credit card..

SpreadableToast

Redtriumph said:

phillw said:

Redtriumph said:

I said to him that i moved the money into my bank account on the advice from his colleague previously as i understood it was the only way to access the money, my money, the refund from my holiday - at no stage did the adviser say it would actually be classed as a spend on my credit card.  I have told M&S i want to complain but i'm quite upset, i just don't get this situation. Can anyone help or give me a steer? TIA x

How did you move the money? That could be relevant. It may show on the statement how it was done.
A credit balance refund and a cash advance are going to be treated completely differently.
If it's a credit balance refund then their system has given an incorrect warning and they've then given confusing advice.
If it's a cash advance and they did it then it's so much easier as you can argue that they put you in this position, if you did it then you'll need to complain that the advice they gave wasn't clear enough and their systems should warn if you try to get a cash advance when you have a credit balance. You really don't want a cash advance as it will attract interest.
If you asked for the money and the refund was still pending, then they might put up a fight. You could try saying the first person you spoke to should have checked before advising you.
But as always, criticize the organisation, advice and training. Don't take it out on the people "it's unacceptable your company would allow me to get into this position" but you need to try to understand what situation you are in. If you can't figure it out from your online banking, then complain about that too.

Thanks for replying. I have not got the August statement yet but online, the transaction is lined up under the 'debit' column and says 'refund by bank transfer'.  On the June statement i see the holiday was a credit and the reference says 'credit disputed transaction'.  There is no way i would have agreed to a cash advance and at no time did the adviser at M&S say that this would go against my credit card as a 'spend'.  I also have a letter from M&S dated 27 july saying confirming that my bank account would be credited with the sum (for the holiday.) This letter doesn't mention anything about it being treated as a cash advance either?

What about the direct debit payment they took in July?  Is that showing in this month's transactions?

Redtriumph

SpreadableToast said:

Redtriumph said:

phillw said:

Redtriumph said:

I said to him that i moved the money into my bank account on the advice from his colleague previously as i understood it was the only way to access the money, my money, the refund from my holiday - at no stage did the adviser say it would actually be classed as a spend on my credit card.  I have told M&S i want to complain but i'm quite upset, i just don't get this situation. Can anyone help or give me a steer? TIA x

How did you move the money? That could be relevant. It may show on the statement how it was done.
A credit balance refund and a cash advance are going to be treated completely differently.
If it's a credit balance refund then their system has given an incorrect warning and they've then given confusing advice.
If it's a cash advance and they did it then it's so much easier as you can argue that they put you in this position, if you did it then you'll need to complain that the advice they gave wasn't clear enough and their systems should warn if you try to get a cash advance when you have a credit balance. You really don't want a cash advance as it will attract interest.
If you asked for the money and the refund was still pending, then they might put up a fight. You could try saying the first person you spoke to should have checked before advising you.
But as always, criticize the organisation, advice and training. Don't take it out on the people "it's unacceptable your company would allow me to get into this position" but you need to try to understand what situation you are in. If you can't figure it out from your online banking, then complain about that too.

Thanks for replying. I have not got the August statement yet but online, the transaction is lined up under the 'debit' column and says 'refund by bank transfer'.  On the June statement i see the holiday was a credit and the reference says 'credit disputed transaction'.  There is no way i would have agreed to a cash advance and at no time did the adviser at M&S say that this would go against my credit card as a 'spend'.  I also have a letter from M&S dated 27 july saying confirming that my bank account would be credited with the sum (for the holiday.) This letter doesn't mention anything about it being treated as a cash advance either?

What about the direct debit payment they took in July?  Is that showing in this month's transactions?

no - it doesnt seem to be.  Its really odd as the balance M&S were due to take in July (set out in the june statement) was 2394 but they only took 2159 and there are no credits for the difference - only the credit for the holiday which was 2580. Do i need to take this to an accountant? I dont know who to ask for advice.

[Deleted User]

Redtriumph said:Do I need to take this to an accountant? 

God, no 

It will sort itself out. The transfer to your account is a debit but the refund will offset it. 

You really are worrying over nothing.

daveyjp

I still suspect confusion over rolling balances and statement periods.

The best way to let this sort itself is to not spend on the card at all for the next couple of months.  It is then far easier to track what is going on.