Switch Card Story

[percival]

I discovered this morning that I had -£103 in my bank account. At first, I thought that somebody had siphoned off my salary and withdrawn something close to £1500 pounds - that happened to a colleague. But then, when I went to the bank to get my statement, I found out that there were only two dubious transactions totalling £350, both made last Friday at 1pm,
and that the salary had not arrived yet.

Later today, the bank phoned me. Apparently, this has happened to lots of Europcar customers - these were the bills for car rentals I'd arranged in MID OCTOBER, one of them for the niece's christening, one for Christmas. And they charged me the money NOW at the end of the month. Three hours of hassle and running around. I thought that the money had been paid, but since I only check whether the debited sums on my statement match my payment records, and not vice versa, I hadn't realised that the money for those rentals hadn't actually come off yet. That's what I use debit cards for: the money comes off your account straight away!

(Still, please check your bank balance regularly - there is a gang operating in Scotland that replicates Switch cards, but the same might happen in other parts of Britain.)

Comments

[tefkas.livejournal.com]

wibble!

That's terrible...

*much hugs*

[perceval.livejournal.com]

It turned out to be OK in the end. Europcar billed me last Friday for car rentals I'd arranged in October, and my salary hadn't come through yet. That's the reason for the unexpected minus.

percival

[cynthia-black.livejournal.com]

Oh Perce, that's a horrible thing to have happen! :-( I do hope the bank sorts it quickly for you.

[perceval.livejournal.com]

well, since my salary hadn't gone in, the loss was much less than expected. In fact, the two remaining dubious transactions were from Europcar, who'd billed me now for car rentals arranged mid October.

still, that's a relief.

[jennlee2.livejournal.com]

What an awful thing to have happen! Boo to the bank for not reimbursing you right away.

[perceval.livejournal.com]

well, turns out they were right not to do that, because after I'd gone to the bank to check my statement, I found out that
a) I hadn't received my salary yet (pay slip had come last friday)
b) a car rental company had chosen to debit my account for two car rentals that I bought on October 11 and 14 last Friday. I thought that money had been paid, but since I only check that the debited sums match my payment records, and not vice versa, it had slipped from my mind that the money for those rentals hadn't actually come off yet.

[piperx.livejournal.com]

Wow -- I can't believe they waited so long for a debit card. I've never had a transaction take more than 3 days.

I had something similar happen once with an automatic withdrawal I had set up. The company took out something like 5 times what they normally take out each month. It turned out there were some extra charges I was not aware they would be charging but of course I didn't find out about them til they took the money. It was a very unpleasant surprise.

[piperx.livejournal.com]

Oh, forgot to say... I'm very glad it wasn't fraud!

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Me too. I'd almost reported those transactions to the police, especially since both were billed to have taken place last Friday at 1pm. Teaches me never to let debit or credit payments go unchecked ...

percival