Cancelled Debit card Transactions

DonalB1

Hi all,

Just a quick question. I hired a car abroad, done so through a broker and it turned out that the car hire company had shocking reviews. Upon car collection they tacked on extras (€200) and if I chose not to authorise then they’d cancel my rental. I needed the car so this wasn’t an option.

To cut to the chase, I’ve since read reviews online and this company consistently rips off their customers and typically a week or so after returning the car they add on an additional €100-€200 charge for a scratch, missing spare tyre, damage to underside of the car etc. I’ve a feeling that I’ll be met with the same fate as every experience I had with them was negative. I’ve hired cars on more than 20 occasions and this is the first time I’ve had a negative experience.

What I’m wondering is if I cancel my debit card now, can they will withdraw more money? They don’t have a deposit

L1011

Yes, they have a pre existing authorisation. Cancelling a card hasn't worked around this ever.

DonalB1

But the pre existing authorisation was for the payment of the car. There was no deposit. How can they then make another transaction if it’s not authorised by pin by me?

longrunn

Had a similar experience years ago but rather than a car rental agency it was a travel agency and it was a credit card not a debit card, but I cancelled my card and they couldn't charge me. Cost me a fiver to replace the card but saved me getting scammed for hundreds, and I did get some pleasure out of them emailing and calling me constantly asking for new payment details (they actually got angry and aggressive, which made it even better).

Might not work for you due to some circumstances being different, but you could just ring your bank and ask.

DonalB1

This is what my thinking is also. Obviously don’t want to go to the hassle if it’s not going to work but there’s no pending transaction from the rental company and they didn’t put any amount on hold.

I’m not sure of the workings and what they can access but you would assume they won’t be able to withdraw any more funds if the card is cancelled ?

DonalB1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726780#Comment_119726780

I’ve rented cars a few times. Typically there’s say €1,500 put on hold until you return the car. The it’s released back provided the car is as you received it.

This time I got the fully comp cover and it was a total of €455 for the week. There was no excess cover out on hold.

Theres no pending transactions on my card so I’m wondering can they still put another charge of that card is cancelled?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119727210#Comment_119727210

Yes, they still have a standing authorisation to charge you. The pre-auth is just making sure you had the money; this is different.

DonalB1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728077#Comment_119728077

Thank you for that.

That makes no sense to me if I’m being honest. So if you purchase something from a vendor, they have standing authorisation to charge you after that also?

Your only recourse then is to argue it with the bank?

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728882#Comment_119728882

You agreed to it when you hired the car, it's in the rental agreement you signed, so why are you complaining about it afterwards.

Lots of businesses keep your details in case they didn't charge you enough, most will inform you if they are making an extra charge but some don't as you've already said that they can charge you.

DonalB1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728933#Comment_119728933

I don’t even understand how they can charge me. The only thing they have is my card details, if that card is cancelled then how do they still have access to funds in my bank account?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728945#Comment_119728945

The banks payments systems will provide them with the new ones when the old one is cancelled. This is in the agreement you signed when you got the card.

You may have noticed you don't need to tell every firm you have a recurrent or stored card with your new expiry date these days either.

DonalB1

Ok, so if I cancel my card and I don’t have another one issued to me they won’t be able to access any more funds?

The account in question is wiyh UB who are closing anyway and it’s a joint account my wife and I share.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729384#Comment_119729384

Call the card issuer and get advise from them. Cancelling a card does not mean that a transaction can't be processed against the account, it just means that that card can not be used for future transactions.

Been there, done that, have the T-Shirt.

DonalB1

Appreciate all the comments and help.

I must say I am very confused. If I call UB and inform them that I want my card cancelled, no new card issued and that I fear there will be additional unauthorised charges on my account, so to block any transactions, That the rental company will still be able to make these transactions?

That doesn’t make any sense or seem very safe from fraudsters.

Car rental was paid for and fully comp insurance taken. AlL paid for upfront. Not sure how additional charges can be made

walterking

Have you already hired the car and handed it back and now reading reviews and thinking you "may" get hit by extra charges?

If so, this is a totally hypothetical situation. And you are adding bells and whistles to it and then bringing in "fraudsters" in a gigantic jump (there are huge safeguards out there these days)

If you have not yet hired the car, take a full video of the car at every angle. Let them see you doing this. Take a new video when leaving it back. Let them see you doing this.

Also when hiring and returning, check the spare tyre, check any other item they have in the car and let them know you have checked it.

DonalB1

I have left the car back and have all the above despite not needing it wiyh the full comp insurance.

The reason I think they will do this is because of all the reviews. Literally hundreds a week and those reviews tally up with what I experienced at the counter when collecting the car. We brought our own baby seat, but they wouldn’t allow us to take the car until we purchased theirs (never had this before when renting a car). Although we had paid extra when booking for an additional driver they required an extra amount to action this.

As mentioned I have rented cars before and it’s always straight forward, this time was awful and since reading the reviews I can feel the additional charges coming

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729770#Comment_119729770

Every company that does business with the public racks up negative views and everyone that writes a negative review describes the situation in terms most favourable to their situation. The fact remains that nothing has happened. How long ago did you return the car?

DonalB1

They have a terrible rating in comparison to all other car hire companies. There’s Facebook pages about them scamming people.

I may be jumping the gun, but once they action it there’ll be damn all I’ll be able to do. They were terrible to deal with which is what prompted me to check their reviews in the first place.

I’d rather get out ahead of this rather than give them any more money after they charged me an extra €200 for no reason.

So if my card is cancelled, and I’ve asked my bank to not send another will that stop them from being able to retrieve funds?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729668#Comment_119729668

The word 'unauthorised' is the issue here

It won't be an unauthorised charge, it will have been authorised with the hire documents. This allows them to charge a replacement card.

If the bank account still exists they'll get the money. If the bank account has nothing in it, they will probably send you some nasty letters - but note that some countries have much stricter/stronger rules on unpaid debts than Ireland does.

jamesf85

Let me guess? Goldcar? If so they claimed we had lost/stole a head rest. Charged us €220 for it.

The same as you, we only realised what we were dealing with after the damage was done

DonalB1

Yes, the very one. At the airport I couldn’t believe what they were doing. Told me I couldn’t have the car without paying for the additional baby seat regardless of the fact I had my own with me and the manager confirmed this. Obviously I just paid it wiyh a family in tow.

Did you end up disputing it?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730741#Comment_119730741

thank you for your replies. I’m probably coming across ungreatful, and I’m certainly appreciative for the advice I suppose I’m just annoyed at the situation.

If no replacement card is issued will they be able to get access to the account? I need to shut it down in the next couple of weeks regardless

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730823#Comment_119730823

I've used GoldCar a few times without issues. As said earlier the horror stories are most likely from people who did damage and thought they'd get away with it, like RyanAir once you follow their rules you have no issues.

The charge is against the account and the account holder not the card. They can charge the account after you've cancelled the card but again in Ireland it's nearly impossible to get money from people who won't pay, but you make never get a credit card again as the companies can share information on people who don't pay their debts.

jamesf85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730858#Comment_119730858

I can assure you that we didn’t steal or lose a headrest and it was 100% there when we returned the car. While I agree with your regarding Ryanair, I don’t understand the issue with them. With goldcar they blatantly lied about the headrest and with my cousin they claimed he had taken the spare wheel, which he obviously hadn’t done as it wasn’t used on the car and had no use for a spare tyre on the Balearic Islands. So while your experience may have been ok, I have first hand experience of their fraud along with thousands of others online, which doesn’t follow other car companies

DonalB1

Thanks again for the input everyone but I feel we’re going a little off topic here.

What I want to know is if my card is cancelled and no replacement card issued then can they take money from my account? I’m not really concerned if they try and chase my for some fraudulent made up claim after the fact

if so then how? They shouldn’t have my account details only my card details

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730963#Comment_119730963

You are going around in circles and this thread has run it course, all people can given you are opinions, which you have received. Either you are concerned enough to do as I said a while ago and call the card issuer for a definitive answer or you are not as concerned as you appeared to be initially, it's up to you.