Who is at fault - RBS or retailer? Bit of a puzzle.....

[jackieandwayne]

29-8-2012 I paid £6.00 for petrol at local gas station, one of the malthurst Group. Plenty of cash in account, no worries, forgotten all about it.

 

I was checking the accounts on Monday, (1.10.2012) when I noticed my current account was £6.00 overdrawn. This is odd as I do not have and do not want an overdraft facility. If I tried to use my card when there were no funds in the account the card would be rejected, simple as that.

 

When I looked to see what had caused this, it is the £6.00 I spent on 29-8-2012, only just put through for payment now! And of course it had to be when the account was empty didn't it?

 

I checked with the bank straight away, they say this is quite common and sometimes accounts aren't debited for up to 6 months later. I rang the garage and spoke with the manager who assured me that everyday at 12 noon, a list of all receipts is e-mailed off to whoever for clearance/whatever it is they do.

 

I am stuck in the middle here, this is unfair as I did not know that my £6.00 hadn;t been taken on 29-8-2012, and in any case when it came in late the bank ought not to have paid it as it caused an overdraft. I know its only £6 but it could have been £60 if I'd filled the car up that day, and anyway its the principle of the matter.

 

Can anyone shed any light on what might have happened here? I've been hit for another two lots of £6 as the daily charge on being overdrawn. I've cleared this £6.00 now, and the other charges come later in the month.

 

Willing to have a go at whoever's fault this is, but I cannot fathom out whose fault it is!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

This happens a lot, the One Stop Convenience stores are notorious for this, yes a branch may clear the transactions off,but they go to a head office I think for processing.

Not much to be done about I'm afraid.

[jackieandwayne]

That's so unfair, do you know I wish I had filled the car up and then opened a new bank account - they'd be boogered then wouldn't they?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

It must be happening that way as this scenario is not new and is widespread.

[Surfer01]

I happened to us recently. We purchased about £45 worth of fuel from a BP station in Bromsgrove in mid August and after 2 -3 weeks you forget about it and you account is debited unexpectedly. Luckily we had enough money in the account at the time to cover it, but it left us short that week.

We have an account with Nationwide and if you use your card, the debit shows up as pending until it is paid out of the account. In this case it did not show for the 4 weeks when out of the blue the deduction was made. Quite annoying.

[jackieandwayne]

Grrr! Don't believe it, should have known better really, but paid out for petrol yesterday, same station, used debit card. Check bank last night, they've swiped my card twice. Just popped up now, saw the same guy, who has just told me "tough!". Oh dear.

 

Trouble always comes in three's and I have a lot of shopping to do today - so lets see who tries to do it to me next!

 

Unauthorised transactions team this morning I think.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

You should contact the owner/franchisee of the petrol station to make a complaint, get the bank to do an immediate charge back.