Word of Warning If You Buy Foreign Currency With A Debit Card

[BelstarBomb]

Just a word of warning for anyone who may be about to buy foreign currency with their debit card.

 

Last year, I bought Euros at the Post Office using my cahoot debit card. The following day, I had a transaction decline and was suprised as I thought I had plenty of cash in the account. On checking the account, I worked out as well as seeing the Post Office transaction on my statement, there was an equal amount pending.

 

I contacted cahoot who at first said it the Post Office's fault. The Post Office said it wasn't. I was then sent from pillar to post before it actually dawned on me that if I had only entered my PIN once, I have effectively only given permission once, so what was cahoot doing taking it twice and telling me that I had to wait until it dropped off.

 

When I approached them with this fact, they went away and came back saying sometimes on currency transactions, the amount is duplicated to cover for currency fluctuations and this is what happened.

 

They extended my overdraft to cover for the amount and I thought nothing of it.

 

Until this week, when after buying currency last week again using my cahoot debit card, exactly the same thing happened. Except that it completely cleaned out our account when the systems updated on Saturday evening leaving us with no money over the weekend.

 

To say I was spitting feathers is an understatement and a strongly worded email to them elicited an apology, a further extension of our overdraft and a further payment of £150 to say sorry.

 

They gave exactly the same reasons as they did last year which would give me the impression last year wasn't a one off and that this is the norm.

 

They have told me to double check my account the next time I do any transactions like this and if the same happens again, they will make the funds available so I am not out of pocket.

 

I will be getting back to them to make sure that they don't charge me interest on the additional overdraft that I didn't ask for and will still write to the FOS as this seems bang out of order but thought I would flag this up to other CAGgers so that you don't find yourselves in the same situation as I did this week.

 

I don't know if buying with a credit card gives you the same problems but buying currency with a credit card is effectively the same as taking cash out on it so you will probably be hammered with cash withdrawal charges as well as currency conversions.

 

I suppose that this another way that the banks a making profits!

 

Be warned!!

 

Bel