Mozillion "Kill Your Bill" app declined voucher purchases, but purchase went through 6 times

Smith2001uk

Hi, I have used AI to draft this so I don't ramble and only state the facts in a clear and concise manner.

I'm looking for some advice regarding a problem with the Mozillion "Kill Your Bill" app.

I wanted to buy £35 of Sports Direct vouchers to help pay for some boots. The app repeatedly told me the transaction had been declined, so I tried again several times out of frustration:

• 5 attempts using my current account
• 1 attempt using my Asda credit card

On one of the later attempts, my bank even sent a fraud check text asking if I recognised the transaction. I replied "Yes", and the bank responded with wording along the lines of "try again and it should work."

I tried again, but the app still showed the transaction as declined. I then tried with my credit card and got another decline. Assuming none of the purchases had worked, I gave up and simply bought the boots using my bank card directly. I also never got a push notification from my bank, which i do for every transaction i make using that bank card or the CC.

The next morning I checked my email and found 6 separate emails from Mozillion, each containing £35 of Sports Direct vouchers (7 x £5 vouchers per email), totalling £210.

The vouchers have to be claimed via a link, and I have not clicked or used any of them.

I phoned Mozillion immediately. The customer service agent was sympathetic, took all the details, and said he would raise it with their accounts team. Later that day I received an email saying their system only showed one fraud flag, they asked whether I had screenshots of the declines, and essentially said the vouchers were valid for 12 months and could still be used. that transaction has still not been refunded.

I have since submitted a formal complaint, arguing that:

• The app repeatedly showed the transactions as declined.
• It is unreasonable to expect customers to take screenshots every time an app fails.
• Common sense suggests nobody intending to buy £35 of vouchers would knowingly purchase the same vouchers six times within minutes.
• Had the app worked properly, I would never have made multiple attempts.

Interestingly, I've since used the app again for an Asda purchase (low amount in case it failed) and this time it included an in-app security/code verification process that wasn't present during the Sports Direct transactions, and that purchase worked correctly.

My questions are:

1. If the app told me the transactions were declined, do I have grounds to dispute these charges?
2. Does consumer law offer any protection where a retailer/app appears to have malfunctioned and caused duplicate purchases?
3. Should I consider a chargeback through my bank/credit card if the complaint is rejected?
4. Has anyone experienced similar issues with Mozillion or digital voucher purchases?

Any advice would be appreciated.

born_again

Declines could easily be a timeout issue in retailers system. Which is why you see the debits, but the transaction still goes through.

As you have received the vouchers, you have no recourse through your bank.

Smith2001uk

Understood. So the declines caused by their app timeouts that then processed in the back ground are their fault. Any suggestions other than a complaint on how to remedy that?

I appreciate I now know not to bother chasing the bank for a charge back.

Aylesbury_Duck

Where is Mozillion based? UK? Threaten to sue them for £175 unless they refund you that money, stating that you will not use the vouchers so they can remotely invalidate them and return your money.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129003#Comment_82129003

Time out can be down to network connection out of their control, in the links between you bank & them.

Smith2001uk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129297#Comment_82129297

And when it was between two different providers? my bank and then credit card company? all within the same 5 mins?

Smith2001uk

they are based in brighton actually so yeah that option is available.

Alderbank

My questions are…Does consumer law offer any protection?

Yes it does.

You purchased a number of vouchers online and they are still unused. Regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 gives you the right to cancel any or all of those vouchers within 14 days of having received them. You don't have to give a reason, all you must do is tell the seller that you are cancelling the contract. The seller must then refund you in full within 14 days.

Does the app explain these rights of cancellation that you have? That is a requirement of the regulations. If the app does not explain your rights to cancel (and also probably display a click box or form to tell them you are cancelling) then the 14 day cancellation period is extended until 14 days after they tell you your rights.

The right to cancel is enshrined in law and Mozillion can't change or remove it by anything in their app's T&Cs or EULA.

Don't worry about those inter-banking shenanigans. They don't affect your rights.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129404#Comment_82129404

Timing on a approval & decline is seconds. So a slow connection on the internet is enough to trigger wrong call.

See this lot.

Advise to people, is if you get a decline. Check you bank account. If you available balance is down the amount of purchase, check with retailer to make sure before doing it again.

Smith2001uk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129745#Comment_82129745

thank you for this. i will formulate a reply to mozillion citing this information. I'm sure it will all be fine.

Ergates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129846#Comment_82129846

Be careful using AI to create such a response - sometimes it gets things wrong.

If you are unsure - you can post your response in here before sending it and someone here can review it. (remove any identifying info like names etc)