Mystery overcharge

Daisylover

First post so not really sure what I’m doing.

We went into a local shop on 31st. March and bought two items, £1.50 plus £2.00, so a total of £3.50. It’s small shop that sells just about everything from a bath plug to a bag of sweets to a small tin of paint. They don’t scan items or give a receipt.

My partner paid with his card for which he always has to use his pin so he wouldn’t have noticed anything odd. However, when his bank statement arrived, the amount we had paid was £174.50 ! It really isn’t the sort of shop where anyone would be paying anywhere near such a large amount.

He has been into the shop twice and has also contacted Barclays but they say there is nothing they can do. At the moment we are waiting for a decision from the shop owner.

How on Earth has this happened? Is there anything we can do should the owner not refund the overpayment?

Thank you.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667814/mystery-overcharge

The ultimate course of action would be to sue the shop owner, but hopefully it won't come to that. Wait and see what the owner says.

My guess is that a previous transaction wasn't completed properly, and your partner's £3.50 was added to a previous transaction of £171. Your partner then completed the aggregated sale without checking the amount on the terminal.

eskbanker

If attempts to resolve the matter with the retailer are unsuccessful, then Barclays should initiate a chargeback on your behalf, on the basis of the incorrect amount being debited.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994416#Comment_81994416

I thought that would be the case, but Barclays appear to have declined to help.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994417#Comment_81994417

Yes, I wonder if that was because the cardholder is expected to try to resolve with the retailer before going down the chargeback route - OP, can you clarify exactly what Barclays said, as there does appear to be a valid chargeback claim in these circumstances?

flaneurs_lobster

Are you saying that the card-reader display showed the correct amount?

Is the £174.50 debit definitely due to the card transaction in the shop? Is the description unambiguous?

What does the retailer say?

Okell

Isn't the problem here that the OP's partner used his PIN so the bank's view will be that he authorised the transaction?

Does chargeback apply where the claimant has been careless/negligent/reckless in authorising the payment?

I know it's too late for the OP's partner but always check the transaction amount before authorising payment and ALWAYS get a receipt.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994416#Comment_81994416

Couple of problems here.

OP has no receipt stating £ 3.50 & as a PIN tranaction (same with contactless), you check & approve transaction. So sadly for OP no chargeback in this case.

So OP only way is with the retailer.

How these happen is easy, simply wrong amount entered by person on till & failure by person paying for not checking amount.

eskbanker

I was assuming that this was a discrepancy between authorisation and settlement amounts, but yes, if OP's partner did authorise the higher figure then there isn't anywhere to go…

Daisylover

Hello again, everyone. Thank you for all your replies. It means a lot.

My partner is elderly and a little challenged. We use this shop frequently but usually pay with cash as the amounts are small. He doesn’t remember exactly what happened but I assume that he didn’t check the amount as we are so familiar with the shop. The actual owner of the shop was not in attendance that day.

He has spoken to the shop owner on two occasions and has shown his bank statement but the owner has said that wants to check his own statement. I suppose this is understandable. 🤔 My partner has been asked to return in a few days. Everyone has been very kind and we are prepared to put this down as a bad experience and a lesson learned if necessary. Barclays can’t do anything as he authorised the payment with his pin. We understand this.

MobileSaver

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81994543#Comment_81994543

No help to the OP but it does surprise me how this far into the 21st century there are still so many shops that have fancy tills that scan barcodes and total orders correctly but then they have to manually enter the payment amount into a card reader - it's such an obvious and avoidable point of failure.