Debt card used at 6am on bus, not by us, bank no help?

Jon_01

sheramber said:

TheBanker said:

ForumUser7 said:

Brie said:

I would simply tell them you want to raise a complaint about a poor customer service experience when you notified them of fraud on her account.  Tell them firmly it wasn't possibly her using the card nor anyone else in the house "borrowing" her card to use. 

And if anyone at the bank has the temerity to suggest it's a trivial amount then simply state if it's that trivial they won't mind crediting that to her account along with a suitable extra for your/her time they have wasted.

^This

Also, although it was a trivial amount this time, it is the fact that it happened too that is concerning - they need to figure out how this occurred

I understand the concern, but do they really? The bank have presumably reimbursed the customer.

Fraud is a crime and crimes should be investigated by the Police. Good luck getting them to do anything...

What makes you presume that?

OP  has not indicated it.

You are correct, Halifax flatly refused to credit back the (very small) amount, saying the card MUST have been used to make the transaction. . .

We are trying to contact the bus company (First Great Western) to try to get some info from them, but their customer service number has a huge wait time.

I'll update after we've spoken with them.

MSE_James

First Great Western is a train company, not a bus company. (These days branded Great Western Railway, but the legal name is First Greater Western)

What EXACTLY is the merchant name on the bank statement?

ForumUser7

MSE_James said:

First Great Western is a train company, not a bus company. (These days branded Great Western Railway, but the legal name is First Greater Western)

What EXACTLY is the merchant name on the bank statement?

It's possibly this merchant that OP is referring to ~ https://www.firstbus.co.uk/

robatwork

SacredStephan said:

Jon_01 said:

My wife had a transaction pop onto her phone last night. Her card had been used on a bus (tap on tap off) at 6am last Monday, the bank holiday.

We were both in bed at that time and the card was in her bag.

My bank recently issued me with a new debit card despite the current card having many months to go before expiry.

The new card was ready to use without needing to be activated.

Is it possible that your bank has posted out a new debit card to your wife but it has been intercepted or delivered to the wrong address and is now in the hands of a stranger?

The token would be different with a physically different card albeit the same number. So it can't be that, if we believe the bank.  As the OP is highly unlikely to be mistaken or lying, and the bank aren't saying the debit is a mistake, taken at face value the card or at least the information has been cloned.

As this would have a pretty chilling effect on the banking system, expect to never hear the actual truth about how this happened. 

I'm also in the "formal complaint then take my business elsewhere" camp.

born_again

heatleader said:

Ah the "I see no ships" approach.  Is this not a bit like saying the water companies don't need to bother fixing leaks.  It's also in the bank's self interest to tighten up or change procedures where appropriate, and if I'm not mistaken some banks have their own department dealing with fraud etc do they not.  

Yes they all do. But that is only to deal with customers. As someone else said Police do any investigations. Banks do not have any authority to do so, can not request CCTV etc, or the staff to do it.

TheBanker

sheramber said:

TheBanker said:

ForumUser7 said:

Brie said:

I would simply tell them you want to raise a complaint about a poor customer service experience when you notified them of fraud on her account.  Tell them firmly it wasn't possibly her using the card nor anyone else in the house "borrowing" her card to use. 

And if anyone at the bank has the temerity to suggest it's a trivial amount then simply state if it's that trivial they won't mind crediting that to her account along with a suitable extra for your/her time they have wasted.

^This

Also, although it was a trivial amount this time, it is the fact that it happened too that is concerning - they need to figure out how this occurred

I understand the concern, but do they really? The bank have presumably reimbursed the customer.

Fraud is a crime and crimes should be investigated by the Police. Good luck getting them to do anything...

What makes you presume that?

OP  has not indicated it.

I assumed incorrectly, based on a subsequent post. I made this assumption because the bank I work for would have refunded the transaction in these circumstances, unless the customer had a history of making similar claims (which I do not believe the OP does).

So on the basis the money has not been returned, a formal complaint is valid. 

Jon_01

MSE_James said:

First Great Western is a train company, not a bus company. (These days branded Great Western Railway, but the legal name is First Greater Western)

What EXACTLY is the merchant name on the bank statement?

My apologizes, it wasn't First Great Western, I was misremembering and my wife wasn't here for me to check.

The Statement says:

---------------------

FIRST WEST OF ENGL

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

------------------------

And that it was a contactless payment.

The fraud agent at Halifax told us that, from what he can see on the backend info, is that it's a catch all acc for First Group used for bus travel in Bath?

My Wife uses First Bus on Saturdays to attend a course and that shows as:

-------------------

FIRST BUS - MOBILE

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

--------------------

That's a transaction using the First Bus app.

We live in South Gloucestershire, on the edge of Bristol. We have never used a bus in Bath ever, or for that matter a First Bus anywhere outside Bristol.

PloughmansLunch

Jon_01 said:

MSE_James said:

First Great Western is a train company, not a bus company. (These days branded Great Western Railway, but the legal name is First Greater Western)

What EXACTLY is the merchant name on the bank statement?

My apologizes, it wasn't First Great Western, I was misremembering and my wife wasn't here for me to check.

The Statement says:

---------------------

FIRST WEST OF ENGL

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

------------------------

And that it was a contactless payment.

The fraud agent at Halifax told us that, from what he can see on the backend info, is that it's a catch all acc for First Group used for bus travel in Bath?

My Wife uses First Bus on Saturdays to attend a course and that shows as:

-------------------

FIRST BUS - MOBILE

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

--------------------

That's a transaction using the First Bus app.

We live in South Gloucestershire, on the edge of Bristol. We have never used a bus in Bath ever, or for that matter a First Bus anywhere outside Bristol.

First West of England isn't just Bath though - it's also Bristol, outer Bristol (Kingswood etc merging into South Glos), South Glos itself and bits (maybe all?) of Somerset & Wiltshire.

It's been a while since I caught a bus in the area but checking back on my bank statements the payments are usually FIRST BUS - MOBILE like you say but I also have a few FIRST BUS as well so not consistent. Does the payment amount match or differ from the usual Saturday amount?

retiringtoosoon

so it is a valid transaction then, the OP just "forgot" that his wife uses the service

Jon_01

PloughmansLunch said:

Jon_01 said:

MSE_James said:

First Great Western is a train company, not a bus company. (These days branded Great Western Railway, but the legal name is First Greater Western)

What EXACTLY is the merchant name on the bank statement?

My apologizes, it wasn't First Great Western, I was misremembering and my wife wasn't here for me to check.

The Statement says:

---------------------

FIRST WEST OF ENGL

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

------------------------

And that it was a contactless payment.

The fraud agent at Halifax told us that, from what he can see on the backend info, is that it's a catch all acc for First Group used for bus travel in Bath?

My Wife uses First Bus on Saturdays to attend a course and that shows as:

-------------------

FIRST BUS - MOBILE

Bus Lines, Charters, Tour Buses

--------------------

That's a transaction using the First Bus app.

We live in South Gloucestershire, on the edge of Bristol. We have never used a bus in Bath ever, or for that matter a First Bus anywhere outside Bristol.

First West of England isn't just Bath though - it's also Bristol, outer Bristol (Kingswood etc merging into South Glos), South Glos itself and bits (maybe all?) of Somerset & Wiltshire.

It's been a while since I caught a bus in the area but checking back on my bank statements the payments are usually FIRST BUS - MOBILE like you say but I also have a few FIRST BUS as well so not consistent. Does the payment amount match or differ from the usual Saturday amount?

The 'FIRST BUS - MOBILE' is the app and is what has shown on the statement for as far back as those trips go (over 18 months).  And the Saturday charge is correct.

The 'FIRST WEST OF ENGL' is the 6am charge last Monday (the bank holiday) and can't have been made by her as she was in bad at that time and the card was in her handbag.

I take the point that the transaction could have been made the day before and only shown then First's accounting process caught up at 6am that morning, but we didn't leave the house on the Sunday and neither did the card!  But the transaction is flagged as 'contactless' which I can't explain?