Online order problem with Brown Thomas

j4vier

I purchased an item Wednesday night from their website, paid by Visa debit.

Today I was told that the item is not available so I contacted customer services to figure out the reasons.

I was told that due to the large number of orders, an item can go out of stock between time of ordering and time of pick up which was this morning.

I was told no money was taken as this is a pre authorization but this is not true, the money has left my current account.

Is this even legal? It reads to me like someone else bought the item even though I actually paid for it

L1011

Pre-authorisations done on debit cards cause the money to appear to leave your account. It doesn't. It'll lapse back in but how long this takes is down to your bank and solely your bank - not the retailer.

This is why you don't use debit cards for purposes designed for credit cards.

j4vier

L1011 wrote:

Pre-authorisations done on debit cards cause the money to appear to leave your account. It doesn't. It'll lapse back in but how long this takes is down to your bank and solely your bank - not the retailer.

Thanks, didn't know that debit cards worked like that

CeilingFly

The pre-auth is a visa/Mastercard option. It wasn't available on the old laser cards.

As for the out of stock issue. Can easily happen when buying from an online store that also has a physical store. Stock systems probably update overnight.

Grab All Association

Basically the bank is holding the money for BT to take. It should drop off in the next few days. It’s still frustrating though.