Well result after many phone calls between the halifax and tesco by myself i have now got the £91 back into my account , still going to be writing into head office as for the distress this has all caused

.... hopefully you wont get to this stage but the last option if you want to dig your heels in and don't want to pay or play ping-pong is to clear everything off the credit card (or bank account) except £91, explain why and don't pay. This is only an option if you are up for it. There is a good chance of it working as long as you keep up communications, don't stop putting your case and laugh in the face of anyone telling you "there is nothing we can do".

You certainly should not let them make you feel that it is your fault because they didn't give you a till reciept.

louisa254:

i entered my pin twice and no i don't have the receipts for both i have one receipt ...

Trying again.... Have you got a receipt which says "Void (or cancelled)"?

Unfortunately this is a really difficult issue to deal with. You will be treated like a ping-pong ball by Tesco and Halifax.

Though I don't mean to allege it, what happened at the Tesco end is indistinguishable from cashier fraud. However I have had a similar experience with a Tesco point of sale terminal being unable to provide a "void" receipt when the transaction failed after the input of my PIN. I was shown a printout from the back-office which indicated no money was collected, and no funds were ever collected or reserved. (Come to think of it something similar has happened to me at M&S). I guess the systems are not as foolproof as the banks claim.

Another reason why it's difficult is that although your contractual relationship is with Halifax only, the payment processing is performed by a third party. This makes it difficult for your Halifax branch staff to get hold of the transaction data but without which they are in no position to judge.

I have only one piece of advice. Because the Halifax as a financial organisation must have a written complaints procedure, timebound at 8 weeks by your right to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, I suggest you make a formal complaint to Halifax strictly in accordance with their procedure. Though I can't guarantee that the FOS will automatically uphold your complaint I think the FOS would take a dim view if Halifax does not produce third party processor transaction data which clearly describes what happened.

Independently make a formal complaint to Tesco. Harder, and you will be ping-ponged between store and head office without the benefit of a written procedure.

i entered my pin twice and no i don't have the receipts for both i have one receipt ... the halifax have also go tthe information maybe i could ask them to forward it to me it is them who have told me the first time pin was entered it was ok the second time it was declined through lack of funds .. had the funds been there on the second attempt they would have had that money as well !!!

louisa254:

On Friday 23/10/09 i went grocery shopping at tesco when all put through the checkout the cashier informed me my card was declined and she resent it through that too was declined...

How many times did you enter your PIN and did you get a till receipt confirming any declined or void transactions?

many thanks for that advice as never had this problem before

You need to keep a record of the times and dates of conversations and phone calls as this could get a bit messy. You also should not take the "nothing we can do" statement without making a fuss. Often, if you are making a full in full view of other customers, a shop will make a special effort to cool things down.

If you feel that things will not get anywhere with Tesco, you should contact your bank again and exlain what has happened. You should ask them to start their disputes process. If it was a credit card, the terms/guarantee is usually quite clear in that, if you don't receive the goods, you don't pay. With a debit card, you should still be able to dospute the transaction. The bank has the power to reverse the payment.

It would be worthwhile confirming things in writing to your bank. This can be done by filling in a form that they send (keep a copy) or by putting the details of what has happened into a letter after you have made the next phone call. You may also wish to write to Tesco explaining what steps you are taking.

On Friday 23/10/09 i went grocery shopping at tesco when all put through the checkout the cashier informed me my card was declined and she resent it through that too was declined... I contacted my bank Halifax on saturday morning as when i checked online i had nothing left in my account ( weird) .. the bank informed me that tesco had taken the £91 for my grocery bill yet i had not taken the goods!!!!!

The halifax advised me that on the first transaction the card was accepted which is why the money was taken !!!

I went back to Tesco's as the bank advised me too and ask them to cancel the pending transaction .. they advised me there was nothing they can do and they also cannot give me a timescale as when i will receive this money back is there anywhere i can write to or any advice to help me get the money back which i feel they should not of had as i had no goods they kept them

hoping for some help