Major lasercard transaction problem

galwaydude18

Hi I put a tv on the christmas club in an electrical store last November. Paid off part of it and then I got tax money back to paid the remainder in full with my laser card. The problem I now have is that the bank have almost €380 of my money on hold for the electrical store I bought the tv off.. I never checked my account to see if the transaction had gone out as I always have notice once I have paid for any item with the laser card it is takin off my account balance straight away and then shows up on my account two to three days later.

The issue I face is that I now only have €160 in my bank account instead of near €600 that should be there. I have no money now to get to work this week and no money to pay the bills either. They are now looking for money that should have been takin out of my account almost seven weeks ago..

I only found out what happened yesterday morning when I checked my bank account online and then rang customer service who informed me that there is almost €380 of my money on hold and that a letter has been sent out about it that I have not recieved as of yet.

I'm wondering where do I stand in relation to all of this? There was over €2000 in my account at the time I paid the remainder of the tv with the laser card.

I bank with AIB if that is of any help. I don't know what to do about this situation I'm now in.. The transaction went through in the electrical shop no problem at all.

drunkmonkey

What do you mean they have the money on hold? Do you still owe the money or is the telly already fully paid for?

I'm not sure what your hoping to find out, sounds like the money was never taken from your laser card and you didn't notice but now the money is been taken but you've already spent it.
There's not much you can really do by the sounds of it as you owe the money and have to pay for it.

galwaydude18

I have no problem with paying for it. I just want to know why It has taken so long for the money to be taken out? I cant understand why it would take the shop or the bank seven weeks to look for the money when the money was in my account to pay for it at the time I paid for it with the laser card. It's extremely bad to let it lapse for so long and then to put money from my account on hold.. I rang the electrical shop in question yesterday and they said that the money is takin out straight away once it has been paid for by laser card. Is it a mistake on behalf of the bank or the shop? Do I not have any rights to pay this off to bank in a few installments as I cannot afford for this to happen this week..

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

OP - I know that it can take shops a while to batch up transactions and clear them with the bank. I recall a recent post where someone was hit for many transactions at a local petrol station several months after paying for them with their Laser card.

galwaydude18

Thank you

bennyob

Happened to me recently where i paid for a €450 for a camera and it took the shop a month to process the laser transaction. I made sure that I viewed the balance in my account €450 less that what it showed as I knew it was coming.

galwaydude18

Did the bank put money in your account on hold? Is it legal for a shop or a bank to leave it that long to put the transaction so long after the purchase? What is the point in having a laser card if they dont take the money straight away like they should...

rainbowtrout

As was said some shops take a while to process transactions. You bought a TV, the bank authorised the transaction. Money was taken from your account, albeit 7 weeks later. It's not the banks concern how you manage your money or what bills you have to pay for. If I pay for something like that I keep an eye on my account online to see when it comes out and if there is a delay in the transaction being processed I take it that the balance currently showing should be (in this case) 380 less.

If you gave someone a cheque as payment and they didn't cash it for 2 months, would you go back to them and complain and say 'Sorry I didn't budget for that this month, can you put the money back in my account and i'll pay it off bit by bit once my other bills are taken care of???'

You had the money when you paid for the TV, you have to take responsibility for your own finances and check your bank account to see what transactions have been made on it. Bank haven't done anything illegal. Nor have the shop.

galwaydude18

I didn't say they did anything illegal. I simply asked is it legal for them to take so long. Why can the bank authorise a sale and not take the money for seven weeks? It makes better sense to just withdraw the money out of an ATM instead of using the laser card instore if that is the case.. Any time I have ever used my laser card and checked the balance afterwards it always tells me the balance less what I have just spent on the laser card even though it doesn't tell me what the transaction was until two or three days later..

wmpdd3

All you can do is ask the store if they batched their sales on the day you did the sale, if they did then you could complain in writing to the bank, as it looks like it was their fault if the store did batch ASAP.

I suppose the most you could ask for is a free overdraft for 1 week while you work this out. It would be a risk but you could ask for an overdraft then write the letter of complaint asking for all costs to you to be refunded.

Can't see any other resolution.

On a side note I have noticed minor delays in laser transactions hitting my account in the past 3 months only. These are transactions by large supermarkets and dept stores that batch religiously before 11.59pm everyday.

So much so I have stopped using the laser card. Maybe the infrastructure is not there to handle the increase in transactions that happened when some banks automatically replaced bank cards with laser cards.

bennyob

galwaydude18 wrote: »

I simply asked is it legal for them to take so long.

Yes, its legal.

galwaydude18

Thanks wmpdd3. I will ask the bank tomorrow for a free over draft for a week or two as I have a child to feed and need to be able to get to work and feed her. It costs me €170 a week to drive to work and back from galway to dublin and back each day.

I cant belive that the bank would authorise a laser card transaction and take so long for them to go for the money and when they do they leave me stuck to feed my child and get to work to provide for my family. I have no problem paying what is owed but I only started back in work last thursday and have had no work so far this year hence why they have left me in such a bad situation this.. I'm complety stressed and worried over this as the money was there in the beginning when the transaction went through..

Piss poor on the banks behalf to be honest.

galwaydude18

Fair enough then if it's not illegal but it's piss poor on their behalf and bad customer service also...

testicle

It isn't a problem with the bank, it's a problem with your lack of ability to look after your own money. Did you think you had gotten a free TV or something?

Retailers have 6 months, I believe, to process card transactions.

galwaydude18

Ah no I didn't think or believe either that I had gotten the tv for free. I'm not that stupid.. Anyhow testicle your post is not helping out.

dudara

The question here (as I see it) is whose side caused the delay? Was the store late in batching their transactions, or did the batch promptly but the bank took ages to process?

galwaydude18

That is most definitely a question I would like to get an answer to. According to shop they reckon they take the money straight away once the transaction goes through. Not good customer service on either the bank or the shop if it is one of their faults or both their faults!

BuffyBot

I'd advise everyone to keep the posts constructive and non-personal