What to do when a shop forgets to charge you?

[DAS]

Say you go into a travel agent to buy £150 worth of Turkish Lira. Having reserved the cash online, you go into the branch, use your debit card, have a nice chat with the cashier then you exit the shop with your money. You enjoy a week in Turkey, come back home to continue with your life, then receive a letter from the travel agent a month later.

The second class letter from a Sales Consultant says, "Please can you contact us, regarding a currency transaction that took place on 24/June/2009. Either by coming in the store, or phone us on 0845...". Intrigued, you check online banking and see that no money was ever debited. You decide not to call after all.

A week later, another letter comes through, this time sent first class and from the Branch Manager: "It has come to light that the £150 worth of Turkish lira that was put through on your card had actually declined. Can you contact us immediately upon receipt of this letter so that we can take another form of payment from you, as our record show that you have received money that was not paid for. We have contacted our Legal Department who are fully aware of this situation and so our first point of contact is via a letter. If we do not receive the unpaid funds, we will have no option but to send this amount to our Litigation Department".

What would you do?

- What rights do I have? I used a debit card, not a credit card. Was the transaction "completed"?
- Even if they tell the truth in saying the card was declined, it was still due to their incompetence that they authorised the transaction - are they not liable?
- Is there any obligation for me to pay back the money? After all, how do they know I haven't spent the last penny to my name on the understanding and good faith that I have no outstanding payments?

[Dr Lobster*]

i don't think you've got a leg to stand on: when you entered into this transaction you (implicitly) entered into a contract to pay the travel agent £150 for an equivalent amount of turkish lira, you haven't paid and so you've breached the contract.

i'd pay it before they send the debt collectors round and bugger up your credit rating.

[DAS]

What credit rating though? They have my name and contact details, and I appreciate that address data forms part of a credit rating, but no credit account was used. Had I walked in off the street instead of reseve the cash online, they wouldn't have been able to contact me.

[cdd]

The main question, I'd think (given that there's no doubt that you haven't paid) is whether they can prove you (both "a person" and also "you, DAS, as opposed to some other bod who walked in" received the money.

They probably can, so you should pay up. And you'll get a nice warm glow from knowing it's the nice thing to do. Going to a restaurant and keeping quiet when a drink doesn't appear on the bill is one thing, but knowingly not paying for £150 of currency is theft and even if you won, it would probably come out of the pocket of the cashier on duty.

I'd say you're obliged ethically, and you'd get caught legally eventually if you didn't. If you really want to play hard ball, though, you could announce that you don't remember who you purchased your currency from and tell them to prove it.

[DAS]

The main question, I'd think (given that there's no doubt that you haven't paid) is whether they can prove you (both "a person" and also "you, DAS, as opposed to some other bod who walked in" received the money.

They probably can, so you should pay up. And you'll get a nice warm glow from knowing it's the nice thing to do. Going to a restaurant and keeping quiet when a drink doesn't appear on the bill is one thing, but knowingly not paying for £150 of currency is theft and even if you won, it would probably come out of the pocket of the cashier on duty.

I'd say you're obliged ethically, and you'd get caught legally eventually if you didn't. If you really want to play hard ball, though, you could announce that you don't remember who you purchased your currency from and tell them to prove it.

They can indeed prove it was me as they ask for ID - I think I used my driving licence.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not refusing to pay outright, I'm just considering what my response should be. I think I'm frustrated that, having been away for a few days and received no phone calls from them, I get a letter asking me to call THEM for no specified reason, and a follow up a few days later saying they'll get the boys involved. To say the card was declined is nonsense - it's a debit card. I'd have a different reaction if they said "Look, we didn't hit the button, please pay up and as a goodwill gesture we'll give you a tenner off" rather than "Give us your details or we'll come and see how you are".

I think my response will be to ask for verification of which bank and/or account was used so that I can check myself, and how a transaction would be authorised on a declined debit card anyway. It would be nice to know if I could make them say please first though!

[Gavin Scott]

Did you get a debit card receipt with an authorisation code?

[DAS]

Mr Scott - why didn't I think of that? I did indeed get a receipt but interestingly it doesn't have the auth details. After the exchange info it says:

Total: 152.29
Total From Customer Today: 152.29
Visa Debit Card - FE 152.29

[Gavin Scott]

Mr Scott - why didn't I think of that? I did indeed get a receipt but interestingly it doesn't have the auth details. After the exchange info it says:

Total: 152.29
Total From Customer Today: 152.29
Visa Debit Card - FE 152.29

In which case, you should write to their head office ("complaints handler") demanding to know why they did not immediately attempt to resolve the fund transfer at point of sale.

Tell them you are aware that it is a breach of the Data Protection Act to retain your card details for longer than is necessary.

You were not providing your card for continuing payments, i.e. monthly billing, you were presenting it for a one-off transaction. Unless you consent to the retention of this data in writing, or it appears in their written terms of trading, they are in breach of the law.

Ask them to explain why they were retaining your information beyond the point of your visit to their premises, ask how this was stored, and what their policy is on data retention and destruction.

Tell them they have seven days to respond in writing or you will address your concerns to the Information Commissioner's Office to be investigated.

As a footnote, express your alarm at the threatening correspondence you received, when this error is clearly theirs, enclose a copy of their letter, and tell them that you feel you should be compensated in some measure.

Then see what happens.

[tvmercia]

Mr Scott - why didn't I think of that? I did indeed get a receipt but interestingly it doesn't have the auth details. After the exchange info it says:

Total: 152.29
Total From Customer Today: 152.29
Visa Debit Card - FE 152.29

In which case, you should write to their head office ("complaints handler") demanding to know why they did not immediately attempt to resolve the fund transfer at point of sale.

Tell them you are aware that it is a breach of the Data Protection Act to retain your card details for longer than is necessary.

You were not providing your card for continuing payments, i.e. monthly billing, you were presenting it for a one-off transaction. Unless you consent to the retention of this data in writing, or it appears in their written terms of trading, they are in breach of the law.

Ask them to explain why they were retaining your information beyond the point of your visit to their premises, ask how this was stored, and what their policy is on data retention and destruction.

Tell them they have seven days to respond in writing or you will address your concerns to the Information Commissioner's Office to be investigated.

As a footnote, express your alarm at the threatening correspondence you received, when this error is clearly theirs, enclose a copy of their letter, and tell them that you feel you should be compensated in some measure.

Then see what happens.

no prizes for guessing who grew up watching too much lynn faulds wood

[Gavin Scott]

no prizes for guessing who grew up watching too much lynn faulds wood

I did do. I stay sharp watching Judy Sheindlin.

Actually its all quite fresh in my mind - as I had a similar scenario with a company who sent a snotty demand letter and got my address wrong. I was able to argue that it arrived beyond their "deadline" for legal proceedings, and had been opened by a neighbour.

When I called to make the payment, I expressed my anger about this. The call handler was incredibly rude, and said, "your neighbour should be apologising, not me", and when I said I wanted to make a complaint she said, "put it in writing".

So I did.

She picked the wrong man there.

The reply was satisfactory. I'll leave it at that.

[iSon]

Mr Scott - why didn't I think of that? I did indeed get a receipt but interestingly it doesn't have the auth details. After the exchange info it says:

Total: 152.29
Total From Customer Today: 152.29
Visa Debit Card - FE 152.29

In which case, you should write to their head office ("complaints handler") demanding to know why they did not immediately attempt to resolve the fund transfer at point of sale.

Tell them you are aware that it is a breach of the Data Protection Act to retain your card details for longer than is necessary.

You were not providing your card for continuing payments, i.e. monthly billing, you were presenting it for a one-off transaction. Unless you consent to the retention of this data in writing, or it appears in their written terms of trading, they are in breach of the law.

Ask them to explain why they were retaining your information beyond the point of your visit to their premises, ask how this was stored, and what their policy is on data retention and destruction.

Tell them they have seven days to respond in writing or you will address your concerns to the Information Commissioner's Office to be investigated.

As a footnote, express your alarm at the threatening correspondence you received, when this error is clearly theirs, enclose a copy of their letter, and tell them that you feel you should be compensated in some measure.

Then see what happens.

If ever any of my indiscretions end up in court - you're doing my defence!