Debit card refunds issue.

swingaloo

Can anyone advise on this please-

An item is taken back to a shop for a refund and you present the card you paid with and the shop assistant processes the refund and gives you a print out from the card machine which shows a refund has been made.

3 weeks later that money has not gone back into your account.

Who do you go back to, the shop or your bank?

Googling says first point is to go back to the shop to check they have processed the refund but as you already have the card machine slip showing the refund has been made what else can the shop do?

Is the liability for a refund then with the shop or the bank?
Thanks

p00hsticks

I'd say the shop, as the transaction chain will go retailer - merchant acquirer - card company (Visa/ Mastercard) - card issuer (bank). So it needs to be tracked to see where in that process it has got to or an error has occurred. 

swingaloo

p00hsticks said:

I'd say the shop, as the transaction chain will go retailer - merchant acquirer - card company (Visa/ Mastercard) - card issuer (bank). So it needs to be tracked to see where in that process it has got to or an error has occurred. 

Thanks for the reply. I work in the shop and processed the transaction. The customer came back to say the money had not returned to their account.

Looking back at the daily processing on the till and on the balance sheet printed at end of day it shows the transaction as a refund to the customers account and the customer has a receipt from the card machine showing the same thing.

Other than look at that there is nothing I can do as regards checking.

The reason I ask is because the same thing has happened twice now over a period of 7 months (both customers use the same bank). Both times I have rung our head office  and been told that the customer needs to bring in a bank statement to show us for proof (I'm not really happy asking a customer for that)  and that if they refuse they must contact the bank as it is 'Nothing to do with us'. 
Would just like clarification really as to the correct way handle this.

born_again

swingaloo said:

Can anyone advise on this please-

An item is taken back to a shop for a refund and you present the card you paid with and the shop assistant processes the refund and gives you a print out from the card machine which shows a refund has been made.

3 weeks later that money has not gone back into your account.

Who do you go back to, the shop or your bank?

Googling says first point is to go back to the shop to check they have processed the refund but as you already have the card machine slip showing the refund has been made what else can the shop do?

Is the liability for a refund then with the shop or the bank?
Thanks

Your bank so long as you still have the receipt. As they can start a chargeback for refund not processed.

Liability is with the shop, as bank get it back from them.

zagfles

swingaloo said:

p00hsticks said:

I'd say the shop, as the transaction chain will go retailer - merchant acquirer - card company (Visa/ Mastercard) - card issuer (bank). So it needs to be tracked to see where in that process it has got to or an error has occurred. 

Thanks for the reply. I work in the shop and processed the transaction. The customer came back to say the money had not returned to their account.

Looking back at the daily processing on the till and on the balance sheet printed at end of day it shows the transaction as a refund to the customers account and the customer has a receipt from the card machine showing the same thing.

Other than look at that there is nothing I can do as regards checking.

The reason I ask is because the same thing has happened twice now over a period of 7 months (both customers use the same bank). Both times I have rung our head office  and been told that the customer needs to bring in a bank statement to show us for proof (I'm not really happy asking a customer for that)  and that if they refuse they must contact the bank as it is 'Nothing to do with us'. 
Would just like clarification really as to the correct way handle this.

So what happened in the first case 7 months ago, did the customer return with a bank statement? Could be the customers were trying to defraud you and did actually get a refund, and were trying it on hoping you'd give them a cash refund? 

p00hsticks

In that case I'd tell the customer to do a chargeback. 

It's a while since I worked in card processing, but when I did this is how it worked.

At some point during the day - either straight away or in bulk at the end of the day - details of all the card transactions made by the till should be being sent to the 'merchant acquirer' that your business uses to handle their card payments. They'll pick up all the transactions, sort them into Visa, Mastercard, Amex etc and send them on to the relevant processing company. Visa / Mastercard etc then sort the transactions into individual card issuing banks and then send the details on to them for your account to be debited .

So someone in your business should have a means of getting in touch with the merchant acquirer to report that the transaction appears to be missing. When the customer requests a charge back the bank will raise it with VISA / Mastercard who will pass it back to the chargebank team within the merchant acquiring company to deal with. 

swingaloo

Thank you for the replies. To answer the questions- In both cases they were not large sums, one was £10, the other £3.

In the first case the customer came in after a week and we asked her to wait a little longer and then check again. She came back 16 days after the refund was done and brought in her phone happy to show the account number and her online banking which showed the payment being taken out but no trace of it going back in. 

At the end of the day the till has a report which is printed off showing cash and card transactions. The cash is then banked and the figures for total cash and card are inputted on screen. Each of our branches have the same system and do exactly the same thing.   Once they are sent off it goes to 'Retail Office' and I don't know who does what from that point onwards.

Hoenir

Here's the NatWest guidelines as an example. 

What should I do if my refund doesn’t credit my account?

While there are no set timescales for how long a refund will take, if you are waiting for a refund we must allow 15 days for it to show on your account.

If it hasn't been 15 days yet and you have concerns, we recommend that you discuss your concerns with the retailer.

If you haven't received a refund after 30 days from the date on your refund receipt, we may be able to help.

We will require a few things from you to enable us to review your dispute:

• A written summary of your dispute including confirmation of how you have attempted to resolve with the company and details of any response given.
• A copy of the refund receipt showing at least the last 4 digits of the card being refunded, the date and the amount of the refund. If you do not have a refund receipt, we would be unable to help and you would need to raise your concern with the company.

born_again

swingaloo said:

Can anyone advise on this please-

An item is taken back to a shop for a refund and you present the card you paid with and the shop assistant processes the refund and gives you a print out from the card machine which shows a refund has been made.

3 weeks later that money has not gone back into your account.

Who do you go back to, the shop or your bank?

Googling says first point is to go back to the shop to check they have processed the refund but as you already have the card machine slip showing the refund has been made what else can the shop do?

Is the liability for a refund then with the shop or the bank?
Thanks

Pass the customer the ARN (acquirer reference number) which is unique for every card transaction. They can pass that to their bank to trace the transaction.
Not working in retail, you might have to contact your merchant bank for it.

p00hsticks

swingaloo said:

At the end of the day the till has a report which is printed off showing cash and card transactions. The cash is then banked and the figures for total cash and card are inputted on screen. Each of our branches have the same system and do exactly the same thing.   Once they are sent off it goes to 'Retail Office' and I don't know who does what from that point onwards.

The production of that till report (a 'Z' report ?) will probably also result in an electronic file being sent somewhere if card transactions aren't dealt with immediately when they are made. The card processing will require the individual card transaction details including the amount and card number, so there has to be something more than entering a total figure for all card transactions, although the front line retail staff may not be aware of it.