Charged £300 due to 'system error'. How long is reasonable to wait?

arthurfowler

Hi there, I have searched online everywhere and can't find an answer to this anywhere so hoping someone can help. 
I will cut a long story short as it has been quite painful dealing with Samsung. 
2.5 weeks ago I was charged £300 by Samsung Electronics. I thought it was fraud so called my card and asked them to cancel the card. 
Upon investigating, Samsung charged me £300 due to a 'system error' from a previous order. 
I called card company and told them to close fraud case. 
Over the last 2.5 weeks I have been on the phone, twitter and email with Samsung who first told me the refund was actioned 10 days ago, to now being told it is still not actioned by their finance team. 
I keep being told to be 'patient'. I feel I have been patient until now, but it is now 2.5 weeks since this charge from a system error and it feels like there is nothing I can do about it. 

Can anyone offer advice?

jon81uk

Maybe go back to the bank and see if they can speed things up?

Were_Doomed

As above, go back to your card provider and initiate a chargeback for an unauthorised transaction.

born_again

Were_Doomed said:

As above, go back to your card provider and initiate a chargeback for an unauthorised transaction.

There is no chargeback for "unauthorised transaction"
Bank could only help OP if they have written proof that they are being refunded. Amount, date & last 4 of card.

arthurfowler

born_again said:

Were_Doomed said:

As above, go back to your card provider and initiate a chargeback for an unauthorised transaction.

There is no chargeback for "unauthorised transaction"
Bank could only help OP if they have written proof that they are being refunded. Amount, date & last 4 of card.

So my only option is with Samsung to refund me?

Supersonos

I would say 28 days is a reasonable amount of time to wait.  For companies as large as Samsung I can imagine it can take a long time for this sort of stuff to work through the system.

jon81uk

born_again said:

Were_Doomed said:

As above, go back to your card provider and initiate a chargeback for an unauthorised transaction.

There is no chargeback for "unauthorised transaction"
Bank could only help OP if they have written proof that they are being refunded. Amount, date & last 4 of card.

What happens when a card is stolen etc then, I guess the bank takes the hit instead?

DiddyDavies

born_again said:

There is no chargeback for "unauthorised transaction"

What about these?

Barclaycard:

V83 Fraud – ‘card absent’ environment – the cardholder denies participating in or authorising the transaction that was undertaken in a ‘card absent’ environment.

Mastercard:

 Reason Code 4837 UK—No Cardholder Authorisation

cymruchris

It may be that they've charged 10,000 people the exact same thing, without knowing the scale of the problem, it's difficult to know how long they'll take to resolve it. It may be you were the only one charged incorrectly. I would also suggest 28 days would be sufficient to bring the problem to a conclusion. Do you have it all in writing from Samsung?

born_again

DiddyDavies said:

born_again said:

There is no chargeback for "unauthorised transaction"

What about these?

Barclaycard:

V83 Fraud – ‘card absent’ environment – the cardholder denies participating in or authorising the transaction that was undertaken in a ‘card absent’ environment.

Mastercard:

 Reason Code 4837 UK—No Cardholder Authorisation

V83 is based on Fraud. Not "unauthorised transaction"
4837 is where the retailer has not gone for Authorisation.

But feel free to go to your card provider and say I want a "unauthorised transaction chargeback" and see what they say.
I know the answer the customer will get from me. 

May seem pedantic, and just a play words. But asking the wrong thing can mean front line will just say no.

Shame the OP stopped the fraud case as that would have seen the refund the same day as reporting and the bank claiming the money back from Samsung.
But I get why they did, as it was not really fraud in the true sense, that banks deal with fraud (unknown 3rd party using the card).
Just a shame the retailer is dragging their feet on refunding. Perhaps chase them up asking why it is taking so long and that it is now costing you interest & will they pay that?

@jon81uk This covers your question as well.

arthurfowler

Supersonos said:

I would say 28 days is a reasonable amount of time to wait.  For companies as large as Samsung I can imagine it can take a long time for this sort of stuff to work through the system.

I would argue that's not reasonable. If it were related to a purchase for that amount and you were waiting to be refunded, then that user has already accounted for that amount and 28 days is somewhat reasonable.

A random amount being taken due to a system error, potentially resulting in missed bill payments (thankfully that is not the case for me), and then waiting 28 days is alarming.