Argos double-charging (legal?)

overload99

My elderly parents recently placed an order with Argos online. It wasn't until they received their bank statement 16 days later that they realised they'd been double-charged. We've tried contacting Argos several times by phone and online chat but we're getting nowhere. It's now been a month since they were double-charged.

What's concerning is that when you try to call Argos, they have a pre-recorded message saying, 'there was an issue during your payment. This may mean you see a pending payment in your bank. Rest assured payment won’t be taken. We’ll automatically cancel the pending amount within 24 hours. There's nothing you need to do. We’ll resolve this for you and the money will be back in your bank within 5 days depending on your card issuer.’

Obviously this is not the case for my parents because they were double-charged at the beginning of September and have still not received a refund. 

Does Argos double-charge so many of its customers that it needs a specific pre-recorded message on their main phone number?! 

We did speak to someone online on 26th September and they told us that the payment was refunded on 19th September. Clearly this was false information. The way I see it is that they have taken over £100 from an elderly couple without authorisation. They have left them out of pocket for over a month and totally stressed as a result of the whole saga. 

Can anyone please advise if what they have done is legal and what we can do about it.

Many thanks!

MattMattMattUK

ruthieb77 said:

My elderly parents recently placed an order with Argos online. It wasn't until they received their bank statement 16 days later that they realised they'd been double-charged. We've tried contacting Argos several times by phone and online chat but we're getting nowhere. It's now been a month since they were double-charged.

What's concerning is that when you try to call Argos, they have a pre-recorded message saying, 'there was an issue during your payment. This may mean you see a pending payment in your bank. Rest assured payment won’t be taken. We’ll automatically cancel the pending amount within 24 hours. There's nothing you need to do. We’ll resolve this for you and the money will be back in your bank within 5 days depending on your card issuer.’

Obviously this is not the case for my parents because they were double-charged at the beginning of September and have still not received a refund. 

Does Argos double-charge so many of its customers that it needs a specific pre-recorded message on their main phone number?! 

Double charging is different to a pre-authorisation, an authorisation will never show on a statement. The recorded message is not about what your parents are experiencing, it is due to the many people that misunderstand what authorisations are. 

ruthieb77 said:

We did speak to someone online on 26th September and they told us that the payment was refunded on 19th September. Clearly this was false information. The way I see it is that they have taken over £100 from an elderly couple without authorisation. They have left them out of pocket for over a month and totally stressed as a result of the whole saga. 

Was this a credit card or debit card? Have you double checked subsequent online accounts to see if it has come through since or are you relying on paper statements? In theory a refund is usually processed in around five working days, but it can take up to two weeks. 

Contact them again, in writing. You could also request your card provider conduct a Chargeback on the duplicate payment. 
https://help.argos.co.uk/help/complaint/how-do-i-make-a-complaint-to-argos

Jonboy_1984

There can be very occasional glitches in the way these large retail chains process payments in bulk that result in many payments being taken twice in one go. Once they fix it and issue the refunds it can take up to 10 days for the banking systems (argos to their merchant bank, to visa/master, to your parents bank, to their account to process a refund). This is the same as any refund.

After this long I would get your parents to ring their bank and request a chargeback (If this then overlaps with the actual refund landing simply keep the funds safe until argos catch-up it sorts itself out).

overload99

Thank you both.

We've checked online banking and there's definitely still no refund. They paid by debit card so we'll contact the bank and ask them to do a chargeback. 

I know the recorded message relates to something different but it's still very confusing for someone who has actually been double-charged - especially when that someone is in their 80s. As my parents have been double-charged rather than just pre-authorising, is what Argos has done legal? Can they just double-charge people and then remain impossible to get hold of? What would have happened if my parents hadn't checked their bank statement for example?

user1977

It depends what you mean by "legal". They haven't committed a criminal offence, unless you think they are deliberately doing it. They owe the refund.

DullGreyGuy

ruthieb77 said:

Thank you both.

We've checked online banking and there's definitely still no refund. They paid by debit card so we'll contact the bank and ask them to do a chargeback. 

I know the recorded message relates to something different but it's still very confusing for someone who has actually been double-charged - especially when that someone is in their 80s. As my parents have been double-charged rather than just pre-authorising, is what Argos has done legal? Can they just double-charge people and then remain impossible to get hold of? What would have happened if my parents hadn't checked their bank statement for example?

If its an authorisation then there wouldnt be a refund, just the authorisation would simply drop off and this does confuse some people because they look for a refund transaction and dont spot that the original transaction line has simply disappeared. 

Clearly Argos are not intentionally double charging customers (as an organisation) as that would be theft. The reality of life however is that mistakes happen and so you aren't going to see their CEO in handcuffs on the 10pm news tonight. The challenge with odd mistakes is that they can be difficult to spot and most call centre agents are as deskilled/deauthorised as possible and so aren't given the tools to identify the problem nor the authority to deal with it if they do find it. Getting hold of someone that has the tools to help is a nightmare and hence often a chargeback is a much easier solution  

born_again

So to be clear here. Are there 2 debits showing on their bank statement, as any authorisation from the beginning of Sept would have dropped off long ago (14 days)

TBH, unless Argos are aware of this & it will be a glitch on their system or someone at their merchant bank has run a tape twice & run all the payments again. Their staff will have little idea what is going on.

neerod

My son has just been double charged putting him into an unauthorised overdraft, how can such a large company just get away with it.
My son has also been told it will get refunded.

RefluentBeans

neerod said:

My son has just been double charged putting him into an unauthorised overdraft, how can such a large company just get away with it.
My son has also been told it will get refunded.

Companies have humans working for them. Humans can make mistakes. It’s not a systemic issue - given how many transactions Argos does - a handful of double charges will occur. Like you said, this is being resolved by Argos. 

As for the unauthorised overdraft charges - you may ask for Argos to cover them, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that. More likely to get a goodwill gift card or something along those lines. And the cost of taking them to court is going to be higher than the charges. 

You can also call the bank to tell them that you’re waiting for a refund and they may stop any charges. 

born_again

neerod said:

My son has just been double charged putting him into an unauthorised overdraft, how can such a large company just get away with it.
My son has also been told it will get refunded.

Often it is not the retailer. It is their merchant bank who has run the daily tape twice.

Get him to contact his bank, advise then of the situation & they can ensure no charges due to the error. May also give him a temporary refund till Argos refunds.