MASTERCARD PAYMENTS TO ONLINE GROCERS

Allan319

I have recently experienced having my John Lewis Partnership MasterCard Credit Card being declined by Tesco for online grocery shopping. As I have had no problems using the same credit card with any other purchases, I contacted John Lewis Financial Services for an explanation; when it happened the first time on the 18 April 2021. I was told that there was a known issue between MasterCard and some online retailers; particularly grocery retailers. I assumed at the time that the problem would be short-lived, but it happened again with our Tesco online grocery shop on the 25 April 2021. On both occasions I had to provide Tesco with an alternative method of payment to secure our deliveries on those days; and was told by them that they had no explanation for for my payments being declined. I then made a complaint to John Lewis Financial Services (JLFS), as the provider of the MasterCard, about the problem. To cut a long story short JLFS effectively washed their hands over the problem. Apart from giving me 500 points on my account as compensation, they laid the problem at the door of MasterCard. It seems to be ridiculous to have to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service so, before doing so, I though I would enquire on this Forum whether anybody else has experienced this problem?

[Deleted User]

Yes, just about everyone experiences this occasionally. System glitches at retailers or within the card platform are not uncommon.

You're right that it would be ridiculous to refer a Mastercard technical issue to FOS.

But a good reminder to have more than one card available to you.

Mnoee

Handy tip for the future: You can change which payment card is used for Tesco right up to the day before delivery - sometimes I've had issues with my normal card, used my backup, then changed it to my normal one before delivery. Hopefully this helps next time it happens. 

Mrs_Ryan

I don’t know if this is particular to Mastercard credit cards but I’ve never had an issue paying for online grocery deliveries with my Debit MasterCard. 

JamesPeter

I have noticed this situation occur if when doing your online order, you keep ‘checking out’ with your card, then you amend the order to add an item or two and check out again, then do the same again (and so on) all within a short period of time. It occurs at Tesco and Sainsburys (the two online supermarkets I use). I have to then use another card to check out.

I think it maybe some form of anti-fraud prevention.

Either only ‘check out’ once per day, or wait until you have ordered all your items before checking out.

GSDMum

Have been using my RBS Mastercard for years through Tesco's website, and I can't remember having a glitch, until recently. When the payment transaction is passed to RBS for authorisation, there's been times when the authorisation has been 'timed out'. I just put down to the RBS system being busy.

Last evening I ordered a click and collect from Morrisons, it was the first time of doing so, therefore I was a little nervous when the timeout 'thing' happened about 3 times. Morrisons website did warn that if there was a problem, just to reorder again. 

I've been thinking the problems have been glitches, and not that my card has been rejected. 

Allan319

Thanks to everyone that have responded to my query. There are a few pointers there that I'll give a try, and see how I get on!

brianposter

JamesPeter said:

I have noticed this situation occur if when doing your online order, you keep ‘checking out’ with your card, then you amend the order to add an item or two and check out again, then do the same again (and so on) all within a short period of time. It occurs at Tesco and Sainsburys (the two online supermarkets I use). I have to then use another card to check out.

I think it maybe some form of anti-fraud prevention.

Either only ‘check out’ once per day, or wait until you have ordered all your items before checking out.

If you can find a way of doing so, it might be helpful if you could report your experience to the IT departments of both supermarkets.

Gerry1

It may be the unintended consequences of anti-fraud measures.  I noticed that Asda often made a test purchase of £0.01 when an online order was placed, and that there could be a series of small refunds / small purchases when items turned out to be unavailable, had increased in price or weight or additional items had been added.  These activities could easily look like a thief making test purchases to see whether a card was valid.

There was a similar problem with some Mastercards at Asda petrol pumps.  It was a known issue: my Aqua card was always refused at the pump but worked fine at the kiosk and in the store.  Again, possibly due to the pump seeking pre-authorisation before any petrol had been dispensed, something that doesn't happen if you choose to pay at the kiosk.