Pre-Authorisation Questions

foggy_lad

Firstly I'm not sure if here or Consumer issues is the best place for my questions, could Mods please move if it is in the wrong place.

My "money manager" account with the EBS has a hypothetical balance of €100 but the cleared balance is only €10, I have been told after ringing that there is a hold on €90 due to an amazon.co.uk order(which was cancelled before dispatch on 16th).

Now it gets tricky, Amazon tell me that because it was a debit card transaction the pre-authorisation should have dropped off the account within 24hours and they even sent an email stating that I would not be charged this amount for forwarding to the EBS Card Services section who had requested this in order to remove the pre-authorisation. I forwarded the email and waited, and nothing. The pre-authorisation is still there keeping my money on hold and the EBS have all gone home for the weekend.

My question is how long should it take a pre-authorisation to drop off a debit card when the retailer releases it? Is it about 24hours as stated by Amazon.co.uk? EBS Card Services have told me that the amount could be held for 21 days if Amazon didn't release it but how long more will it be held now that Amazon have released it since the 16th?

coylemj

OP, I recently opened a moneymanager a/c with EBS and made my first ATM withdrawal last Tuesday at a BOI ATM. It took three days before the balance was adjusted to show the withrawal. In the meantime, I had a balance (the pre-withdrawal balance) and a 'cleared balance' which was the balance post ATM withdrawal.

This is a new phenomenon to me - two balances on an account. Bottom line is that even an ATM withdrawal in Ireland is taking three days to show up on the EBS moneymanager statement.

Nervous Wreck

A pre-auth will stay in place for 7 days. Amazon are taking a guess but they are not your bank so they really don't have a say. The only way they can release it further is to have their merchant bank contact your bank to release the funds. If your bank says they will release this to you due to the email then I'm sure they'll do so on Monday. But yeah, amazon is wrong on this.

nlgbbbblth

Ten working days max.
The pattern is the same.
Retailer blames bank.
Bank blames retailer.
Customer suffers.

foggy_lad

I rang my branch again this morning as the pre-authorisation has still not been cleared from my account despite Amazon having confirmed by email that the payment would not be sought as the order had been cancelled, the Card Services Section have this email since lunchtime Friday and have not acted upon it. They could offer no explanation as to why the amount had not been cleared off my account and have said they will investigate and contact the card services section and get back to me. I have raised this as a complaint in the local branch, I am starting to regret moving from Ulster bank despite their monthly €4 fees.

Delta2113

You did the right thing moving from Ulster Bank but yes I can understand your frustration.

foggy_lad

I got a call from my branch this morning and it has finally been sorted out.