Amazon 5 x Monthly Payment Option - Full Amount Taken Instead!

saintscouple

Orders is stated as purchased using monthly payments in my account, product dispatched, and the full £499 debited from my card instead of the 1st payment of £99.80!

Amazon on phone and live chat saying they are aware and looking into a fix, and will email me in due course... Nothing more they can do.
I contacted my bank, and they say they have to give Amazon 15 days to rectify, only after that can they intervene.

Whilst i wait for Amazon to get back to me, is there anything else i can do in the meantime? 

I think it's pretty shoddy to charge customers the incorrect amount as agreed at time of ordering, and then not to act swiftly to rectify the issue. 
As i say in my account, under order history, it shows I've purchased the product using monthly payment option. 

Thanks

MattMattMattUK

There has been an issue, mistakes happen, the supplier has said that they are sorting it, that will take a bit of time, what do you realistically expect them to do, when taking into account that things do take a bit of time to resolve. 

saintscouple

MattMattMattUK said:

There has been an issue, mistakes happen, the supplier has said that they are sorting it, that will take a bit of time, what do you realistically expect them to do, when taking into account that things do take a bit of time to resolve. 

For one, put the money back in to my account and compensate me for any unauthorised overdraft fees. 
Admitting they have taken the money in error i don't understand the delay in correcting that.... the where and where-for's can come later.
I'm sure they have the ability to recall the transaction, or to refund me.... when i return an item to amazon they generally initiate the refund once Royal Mail have scanned the return label and the monies back in my account the next working day. 

custardy

saintscouple said:

MattMattMattUK said:

There has been an issue, mistakes happen, the supplier has said that they are sorting it, that will take a bit of time, what do you realistically expect them to do, when taking into account that things do take a bit of time to resolve. 

For one, put the money back in to my account and compensate me for any unauthorised overdraft fees. 
Admitting they have taken the money in error i don't understand the delay in correcting that.... the where and where-for's can come later.
I'm sure they have the ability to recall the transaction, or to refund me.... when i return an item to amazon they generally initiate the refund once Royal Mail have scanned the return label and the monies back in my account the next working day. 

Then return it. This is a massive organisation.
Returns are near automated through Amazons processes, whereas your issue will likely require human intervention and is out of the norm.

saintscouple

When i saw the £499 as a pending transaction in my bank account, I contacted Amazon to confirm they would be only charging instalments. They confirmed this was the case and that the pending transaction was an authorisation charge to ensure my payment card is still active.
I don't see why i should bend over in returning the product to get my money back, and then reorder once they refund me, when they have taken money from my card that i did not authorise. 

MattMattMattUK

saintscouple said:

For one, put the money back in to my account

That will take time, Amazon are not just going to send £499 to your bank account on your says so, they will have to verify that the mistake was made and that amount was actually charged to your card, that will take a few days. The 14 days is the standard limit on these things, but generally they are resolved far quicker.

saintscouple said:
and compensate me for any unauthorised overdraft fees. 

How do you know they will not do this? I have always found Amazon's customer service to be very good, they usually resolve issues quickly and often offer compensation for issues even when not asked, I would be incredibly surprised if they do not cover an overdraft fee caused by an error if they made it. 

saintscouple said:

Admitting they have taken the money in error i don't understand the delay in correcting that.... the where and where-for's can come later. 

They are not going to "admit" something just because you have phoned them, they will need to verify what has occurred, then act, that will take a few days. 

saintscouple said:

I'm sure they have the ability to recall the transaction, or to refund me

It depends how they process card transactions, I do not have knowledge of how they operate at the scale that Amazon conduct them, but I would imagine that there is not a simple "recall" button someone can press, nor would they press it without making sure what you have said has happened has actually happened. They are not going to refund you whilst you still have the goods and without the credit agreement being in place, it is daft to expect them to.

saintscouple said:
when i return an item to amazon they generally initiate the refund once Royal Mail have scanned the return label and the monies back in my account the next working day. 

As custardy mentions above, if you are that bothered then you can always return the shipment.

Fixing issues sometimes takes time, usually just a few days, sometimes a week or two, but it is rare that things take that long, it is churlish to expect action to be taken instantly, based on your unverified statements, things have to be confirmed first so rectifying action can be taken, to expect otherwise is irrational. 

MattMattMattUK

saintscouple said:

When i saw the £499 as a pending transaction in my bank account, I contacted Amazon to confirm they would be only charging instalments. They confirmed this was the case and that the pending transaction was an authorisation charge to ensure my payment card is still active.

So you have not even been charged, yet you threw your toys out of the pram and expect them to refund you? Had they taken the course of action you wished you would now have a new laptop and have not paid anything, it is a good job that they have proper procedures in place to give them time to verify things before acting.

born_again

saintscouple said:

When i saw the £499 as a pending transaction in my bank account, I contacted Amazon to confirm they would be only charging instalments. They confirmed this was the case and that the pending transaction was an authorisation charge to ensure my payment card is still active.
I don't see why i should bend over in returning the product to get my money back, and then reorder once they refund me, when they have taken money from my card that i did not authorise. 

So to be clear here, as it makes a major difference.
Is the £499 a pending transaction (just taking up available balance) which does not incur any charges.
Or has it fully debited your account, so you can see a debit of £499 to amazon on your bank statement?

saintscouple

MattMattMattUK said:

saintscouple said:

For one, put the money back in to my account

That will take time, Amazon are not just going to send £499 to your bank account on your says so, they will have to verify that the mistake was made and that amount was actually charged to your card, that will take a few days. The 14 days is the standard limit on these things, but generally they are resolved far quicker.

saintscouple said:
and compensate me for any unauthorised overdraft fees. 

How do you know they will not do this? I have always found Amazon's customer service to be very good, they usually resolve issues quickly and often offer compensation for issues even when not asked, I would be incredibly surprised if they do not cover an overdraft fee caused by an error if they made it. 

saintscouple said:

Admitting they have taken the money in error i don't understand the delay in correcting that.... the where and where-for's can come later. 

They are not going to "admit" something just because you have phoned them, they will need to verify what has occurred, then act, that will take a few days. 

saintscouple said:

I'm sure they have the ability to recall the transaction, or to refund me

It depends how they process card transactions, I do not have knowledge of how they operate at the scale that Amazon conduct them, but I would imagine that there is not a simple "recall" button someone can press, nor would they press it without making sure what you have said has happened has actually happened. They are not going to refund you whilst you still have the goods and without the credit agreement being in place, it is daft to expect them to.

saintscouple said:
when i return an item to amazon they generally initiate the refund once Royal Mail have scanned the return label and the monies back in my account the next working day. 

As custardy mentions above, if you are that bothered then you can always return the shipment.

Fixing issues sometimes takes time, usually just a few days, sometimes a week or two, but it is rare that things take that long, it is churlish to expect action to be taken instantly, based on your unverified statements, things have to be confirmed first so rectifying action can be taken, to expect otherwise is irrational. 

Thank you for your reply, 
They have admitted i have been incorrectly charged and given the reason of a technical issue, and they will email me in due course.
I would understand if like you say, they need to investigate and confirm the incorrect charge, but that has been admitted. 
So what i don't understand is, having confirmed there is an error and that i've been charged for a sum a did not authorise, why can they not say how they will rectify this, and when i can expect the money to be returned. 
They would not comment on bank charges, going back to the answer of they will email me in due course. 

I'm guessing from the replies thus far, that when a retailer charges you an amount that you did not authorise, they have a couple of weeks at least to rectify the error? I should have explained myself better on reflection, I just wanted to know where i stand and what my options are. i.e if 2 weeks go by, is it the bank, or is there anywhere else i can turn to make a complaint. 

saintscouple

born_again said:

saintscouple said:

When i saw the £499 as a pending transaction in my bank account, I contacted Amazon to confirm they would be only charging instalments. They confirmed this was the case and that the pending transaction was an authorisation charge to ensure my payment card is still active.
I don't see why i should bend over in returning the product to get my money back, and then reorder once they refund me, when they have taken money from my card that i did not authorise. 

So to be clear here, as it makes a major difference.
Is the £499 a pending transaction (just taking up available balance) which does not incur any charges.
Or has it fully debited your account, so you can see a debit of £499 to amazon on your bank statement?

Sorry, it was pending, hence i contacted them and they assured me it was an authorisation charge and i wouldn't be debited. 
This information was incorrect and 2 days later i was charged, with it showing on my bank statement as fully debited. 

Barny1979

saintscouple said:or is there anywhere else i can turn to make a complaint. 

The Amazon Ombudsman.