Unexpected/unauthorised online payment fee - is this allowed?

friolento

Who is the bank?

born_again

Jonx999 said:

My wife just paid a council invoice using a debit card and the council's Capita-powered online payment system. We anticipated a possible charge for using a credit/debit card so carefully checked the invoice, the council website, and each page in the payment process. There was absolutely NO mention of fees, and the figure shown on the final payment page was *exactly* the amount on the invoice.  My wife was texted a six-digit code by her bank to enter to authorise this payment.

After the main payment was taken from her bank account, however, an additional separate payment of £3.95 was taken. This extra fee does not appear on the council payment receipt she received by email.

It's only a small amount, and I guess isn't worth complaining about (apart from have a whinge here), but it was unexpected, unauthorised, and it just feels wrong.  Shouldn't such fees be clearly indicated before payment is taken, and at least appear on the receipt?  

Why did you think that?

Which council & is this a UK bank card?

phillw

I would contact your bank's customer services and ask them what the payment was for, if it was an extra charge then I would dispute it as an unauthorised charge and get them to reverse the transaction. The originator can dispute the reversal, so watch out for that.