Halifax credit card fraud

spencergate

I saw a transaction on my account in mid November for £87.77 which I didn't recognise and queried with Halifax customer support. The agent passed me over to Fraud and they cancelled my card and credited the amount (including transaction fee back to my account). I then received an email yesterday from their Fraud team saying they'd contacted the merchant, Goldstar Central, a car rental company in Spain to which the merchant had supplied my Name and Billing address, so this allowed them to conclude that I had done the transaction and if I still did not recognise the payment, then I should contact the retailer directly and that they (Halifax) would be taking the temporary refund from my account in 10 days.

I did hire a car from Goldstar in Girona, Spain on 12/09/2021 14 months previously and although I'd booked online and paid through a broker HolidayAutos, when I went to pick up the car at the desk in Girona airport I used my Halifax credit card to add my wife as a named driver. They had all our details (driving licence, etc as well as the rental agreement forms), which had names and addresses. The transaction on my statement references Goldcar Alicante; I've never been there and certainly I wasn't in Spain around 17/11/22. which is the date on the transaction. I rang Halifax after receiving the email and re-iterated this but to no avail, if I wanted to follow up with the retailer then I could do that.

Where do I stand legally, I did not authorise this transaction and as far as I can see from the email from Halifax, they are quite happy to take the word of the merchant because they could supply my name and address.

eskbanker

It seems highly likely that the charge will relate to your hire with Goldstar last year - their registered address does seem to be Alicante even if that's not where you were.  When you hire a car you are typically authorising the company to take later payments from the card you supply if deemed necessary, and that can be quite a while later, if, for example, they're contacted by law enforcement authorities to trace drivers for speeding tickets or the like.

As Halifax say, you need to contact Goldcar and ascertain what the charge is for, and take it from there.

spencergate

Apologies, that should be Goldcar not Goldstar. That may be the case, but I'd have thought that over 14 months is somewhat of a long stretch even for a speeding ticket offence. It couldn't have been for any damage caused as that would have been taken much sooner and when I returned the car there were no problems picked up by the rep who checked it back in. I'll try and ascertain from Goldcar what the charge relates to. Thanks

eskbanker

Yes, it does seem a long time after rental to be levying additional charges, but in itself that doesn't make it fraudulent, given that their terms entitle them to take subsequent payments for a range of potential charges without an end date specified - however, they do commit to notifying the customer, which sounds like it hasn't happened here:

Any amounts arising from such items shall be charged by Goldcar directly to the customer using the electronic payment or equivalent system used to hire the vehicle, with the customer expressly authorizing the acceptability of Goldcar making such charges.

In all cases, Goldcar shall immediately report the charge that was made and the reasons for it, giving the customer all the information possible.

spencergate

I have never been informed by Goldcar of any speeding offence or other incidents that would allow them to deduct these funds. I don't know about Spain but in France they will usually reduce the fine if paid within a certain time frame.
Unfortunately, getting someone in Goldcar to give me an answer seems to be beyond anyone's capabilities. Many thanks.

brianposter

If you have tried all the normal methods of contact without success, you could use the "complaints book".

You can discharge the form from this page

https://www.tuexperto.com/2019/12/12/descargar-hoja-reclamaciones-online-pdf/#Descargar_hoja_de_reclamaciones_de_Catalunya_en_PDF

You follow the instructions on the form - send the form to Goldcar, Girona - in theory they have 10 working days to reply. If you do not get a reply after 2 weeks send the form to the authorities (address to follow) and Goldcar then have 3 months to reply.

Have you tried Holiday Autos for an answer ?