please help

JJ_Egan

Not even a UK company that one .

pbartlett

I don't know which site you went to (it wasn't the .gov one) but if the site genuinely said £14 charge then they cannot take more than this so go back to the bank, tell them the debit charge was £14 and that they have taken more and ask for a refund.

Before you do this, be sure of your facts ie which website you went to. I would bet the aforesaid chocolate eclair and even raise two chocolate eclairs that the fee was clearly stated.

cymruchris

Do you know how to get into your internet browser history ? Go back to the day you paid, and look at the list of websites you visited - that’ll quickly tell you exactly who you paid your money to and through which website. (It won’t be the gov.uk site - I guarantee it) 

Manxman_in_exile

johnny_donnie said:

I am distraught! I wanted to pay for my licence renewal and typed in the DVLA website on the renewal notice...

I bet you didn't type it in the address bar of your browser, though.  I suspect you typed it into Google or some other search engine.

I got my renewal letter from the DVLA back in April.  If you actually go to the website address they give you, it takes you to the right place.  But if you don't do that, and just search for that address and then follow the first link that comes up without checking it's still the same address, you could end up anywhere - and about £80 poorer.

johnny_donnie

unfortunately I did type it in to Google so lesson learned.  The bank do say this happens regularly so it comforting to know I'm not the only one although I also wish others weren't dealing with the same thing.  I'm unfortunately not very tech savvy and my husband is trusting me to use his computer for the moment!

Manxman_in_exile

johnny_donnie said:

unfortunately I did type it in to Google so lesson learned.  The bank do say this happens regularly so it comforting to know I'm not the only one although I also wish others weren't dealing with the same thing.  I'm unfortunately not very tech savvy and my husband is trusting me to use his computer for the moment!

As pbartlett said above, if you can demonstrate to your bank that you only authorised a payment of £14 and not £94, your bank ought to refund you the £80.  

You could try replicating the renewal with dummy details and confirm whether the site in question clearly tells you that you have to pay £80 on top of the DVLA £14 fee.  (You may need to check your history to see what site you paid.  Whatever you do, don't end up repeating the mistake!)

Aylesbury_Duck

It tells you on the first page it's £94 for a renewal.  If you enter dummy details, you then get this on the "Payment" page:

Government processing fee £14

An additional charge of GBP 80 will be added if the check is successful and processed.

I wasn't going to go any further of course, so it would be interesting to know if the charge shown on payment confirmation is £14, with the extra £80 being charged later once the user has logged off.  That's what the wording above seems to suggest.  If that is the case, then the bank may have to refund OP because OP only authorised the £14 and didn't authorise the company to use her card details a second time for the £80.

OP - can you confirm, are there two separate transactions on your statement, one for £14 and another for £80, or is it one transaction for £94?

What is also of concern (aside from the unnecessary £80 cost) is the fact that OP has handed over her name, address, mother's maiden name, her birth name, date of birth, place of birth, passport number, passport expiry, driving licence number, email address and phone number, and lots of other details as well as card details, of course.  Basically, anything and everything anyone would need to spam, scan or hack, given to a company in Estonia.

OP - As a priority, change all your important passwords and turn on multi-factor authentication wherever you can.  Also keep an eye on your bank/card statements diligently for the foreseeable future.

johnny_donnie

i'm looking into all above and just want to say a massive thank you to all who have helped so far

johnny_donnie

I spoke to the bank again (a very long call) and although they were sympathetic and receive these calls all too often, they told me absolutely that there was nothing they could do. This was after a previous call asking me to email the company and see if I got a reply. Indeed I did and they pointed out all the wonderful things I was benefiting from (which believe you me was a lot of nonsense) but as a gesture they offered me £16!! I wrote back questioning their morals and yes, again I am aware of my own stupidity in all of this, I was so upset that I thought it best to hold tight on their offer and for me to calm down.  But wait...low and behold, what do I see in my bank this morning, not only the £80 but the £14 credited also!!!!  It just says its from a third party, not the bank or the company but still, it's there. I think it's safe to say I am one of the lucky ones, I'm not going to question it but now move on. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about my child's birthday tomorrow! Thank you again to everyone x

Manxman_in_exile

Well that's good news.

Remember if you are going to a govt website to renew something (like a licence or passport etc) always type the whole address into the address bar of your browser to take you straight to the site - NEVER put the address into a search engine and NEVER click on links.  Always double-check you are on the right site.

Good luck in future and get your daughter something nice for her birthday!