soozieq
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2007
- Posts
- 3,210
- Likes
- 20
A quick warning for anyone in the UK with a credit card.
I just discovered 2 x £30 transactions on my Visa card from O2, allegedly for a 'top up'. As 'Orange' has always been my phone provider and I've never used O2 before, (except 2 months ago when I bought some concert tickets), an alarm bell went off. So I contacted my bank, HSBC to query it. I also 'Googled' it and found several others had also had these payments taken from their cards. HSBC unhelpfully advised it could take up to 3 weeks to investigate, and that they would refund my card only if it was 'proved' I hadn't authorised the transaction. When I suggested that they instead provide me with proof that I had authorised the transaction, they quickly put me through to Norbert
... a supervisor from another help desk.
Norby was even more 'helpful', and also added that if I didn't pay the minimum amount due by my next statement date, I would incur charges. But he was unable to explain why it would take up to 3 weeks to establish: "Yes, she authorised it" - "No, she didn't". And also unable to explain why HSBC had debited my card without FIRST CHECKING I had authorised the payment.
Now, not only do I have to wait up to 3 weeks to prove the transaction was unauthorised, I'm also expected to pay some of it off in the meantime. What sort of salt-in-the-wound crap is that??
I'm really pi**ed off.
And to add insult to injury, dear Norby didn't see fit to cancel my card and issue me with a new one, until it was 'proved' I hadn't authorised the transaction! The stupid thing is, that all my top ups (using that card), have been made to 'Orange'. I told him to check, which he did, and he agreed that for 5 years, I've only ever topped up with 'Orange'.
So the moral of this story/rant, is: KEEP AN EYE on your credit card statements, as once they've taken the initial payment, it seems to become a regular thing
I just discovered 2 x £30 transactions on my Visa card from O2, allegedly for a 'top up'. As 'Orange' has always been my phone provider and I've never used O2 before, (except 2 months ago when I bought some concert tickets), an alarm bell went off. So I contacted my bank, HSBC to query it. I also 'Googled' it and found several others had also had these payments taken from their cards. HSBC unhelpfully advised it could take up to 3 weeks to investigate, and that they would refund my card only if it was 'proved' I hadn't authorised the transaction. When I suggested that they instead provide me with proof that I had authorised the transaction, they quickly put me through to Norbert
Norby was even more 'helpful', and also added that if I didn't pay the minimum amount due by my next statement date, I would incur charges. But he was unable to explain why it would take up to 3 weeks to establish: "Yes, she authorised it" - "No, she didn't". And also unable to explain why HSBC had debited my card without FIRST CHECKING I had authorised the payment.
Now, not only do I have to wait up to 3 weeks to prove the transaction was unauthorised, I'm also expected to pay some of it off in the meantime. What sort of salt-in-the-wound crap is that??
I'm really pi**ed off.
And to add insult to injury, dear Norby didn't see fit to cancel my card and issue me with a new one, until it was 'proved' I hadn't authorised the transaction! The stupid thing is, that all my top ups (using that card), have been made to 'Orange'. I told him to check, which he did, and he agreed that for 5 years, I've only ever topped up with 'Orange'.
So the moral of this story/rant, is: KEEP AN EYE on your credit card statements, as once they've taken the initial payment, it seems to become a regular thing
