Car recovery company charged more than authorised

baldshin

Hi folks, had to get my car towed last night and delivered somewhere today. Driver said it would be €100, and again this morning the lady in the office called to say it would be €100. I said that's ok, I'll call a few mechanics and let them know where to deliver. Called back a while later and gave them mechanics details. Lady asked for my card details and took payment. Now I've noticed on my account they have charged €180.
I called about this and was told there was an extra charge due to the distance it was to be delivered, which I was not told when making the transaction, and they are refusing to refund the charge and keep hanging up when I call about it.
Where should I go from here??

green123

so they quoted you a price of 100 euro without knowing exactly where the car was going ?
you just asked for a rough quote ?
was the final delivery area a little bit further away than you had initially discussed ?

fl4pj4ck

Chargeback for unauthorized transaction, then pay in cash, request invoice for e100 as promised.

TheBoffin

Call the bank and inform them of an unauthorized charge on your card. The agreement was for €100 to be debited. The company had a responsibility to inform you of any extra charge prior to carrying out the service and charging for it.

baldshin

Paid by visa debit, not sure chargeback is possible is it? What's grinding me is I was told twice delivery was €100, and although the delivery area is a little out of the way(15 minute drive), I was not told of the price increase.

TheBoffin

Chargeback does exist on a visa debit. Laser cards did not have chargeback

This site might help

fl4pj4ck

ring the bank, I'm quite sure you can do it with debit card

bumper234

Small claims court but your word against theirs by the sound of things.

JustAddWater

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

ring the bank, I'm quite sure you can do it with debit card

yes, if it's visa debit as the OP pointed out

This is where laser is a serious pile of garbage. Anyone who still has one, especially round the Christmas period, needs their head examined!

fl4pj4ck

bumper234 wrote: »

Small claims court but your word against theirs by the sound of things.

what for?

baldshin

Just off the phone re a chargeback, and was told unless I have it in writing that they said it was €100, they can't do the chargeback. I am seriously stuck now financially!

green123

baldshin wrote: »

Paid by visa debit, not sure chargeback is possible is it? What's grinding me is I was told twice delivery was €100, and although the delivery area is a little out of the way(15 minute drive), I was not told of the price increase.

i think you were given a rough quote of 100 before you told them exactly where the car was going.

green123 wrote: »

was the final delivery area a little bit further away than you had initially discussed ?

baldshin

I am not arguing that they may charge extra due to the delivery area, what I am arguing is I was never told this, and never authorised that €180 be taken from my account.

fl4pj4ck

baldshin wrote: »

Just off the phone re a chargeback, and was told unless I have it in writing that they said it was €100, they can't do the chargeback. I am seriously stuck now financially!

It has nothing to do with the bank, request a chargeback because of unauthorized transaction, period.

green123

baldshin wrote: »

I am not arguing that they may charge extra due to the delivery area, what I am arguing is I was never told this, and never authorised that €180 be taken from my account.

so you knew that the 100 euro wasnt going to be enough to cover it.

you should have asked for a price when they knew the exact delivery area.

getting a rough quote for 100 euro for a shorter distance was your mistake

TheBoffin

It has nothing to do with the bank, request a chargeback because of unauthorized transaction, period.

+1

baldshin

green123 wrote: »

so you knew that the 100 euro wasnt going to be enough to cover it.

you should have asked for a price when they knew the exact delivery area.

getting a rough quote for 100 euro for a shorter distance was your mistake

No I didn't, I assumed that since they didn't inform me, that I would be charged €100.

TheBoffin

so you knew that the 100 euro wasnt going to be enough to cover it.

you should have asked for a price when they knew the exact delivery area.

getting a rough quote for 100 euro for a shorter distance was your mistake

Regardless of what the OP knew or didn't know, an obligation exists where the merchant (towing people) must inform the customer of the total amount prior to charging a card, especially a CNP transaction.

green123

baldshin wrote: »

No I didn't, I assumed that since they didn't inform me, that I would be charged €100.

the 100 euro quote was for a shorter distance.

why did you ask for a quote for a shorter distance ?

why did you not ask for a quote for correct distance ?

fl4pj4ck

the only question her is: why the merchant didn't inform he will be charging more than previously agreed on. in other words: this transaction hasn't been authorized by the customer

baldshin

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

the only question her is: why the merchant didn't inform he will be charging more than previously agreed on. in other words: this transaction hasn't been authorized by the customer

That's what I will be arguing. However, I feel that without written proof I will get no where.

green123

i think that you were trying to pull a bit of a fast one on the recovery company by getting an initial quote for a shorter distance.

and it has backfired on you.

baldshin

I think you should maybe stay out of this thread and not slander my character. The last thing on my mind when my car I can already barely afford broke down, was that I should con a company helping me out.

TheBoffin

think that you were trying to pull a bit of a fast one on the recovery company by getting an initial quote for a shorter distance.

and it has backfired on you.

Did you ever stop and think that the company might be pulling a fast one by not following proper procedure and informing the customer of the amount prior to a CNP transaction.

Just curious, did they retain your card details and charge later without updating you? If so, I wonder if they are sufficiently insured and covered by DPA for doing so or is your card number scribbled on the back of a newspaper somewhere in the office

baldshin

No idea if they retained the details, I'm pretty sure they processed the charge right after the phone call. Ulster bank say the funds are on hold at the moment, and there's nothing they can do until the money is actually taken.

TheBoffin

No idea if they retained the details, I'm pretty sure they processed the charge right after the phone call. Ulster bank say the funds are on hold at the moment, and there's nothing they can do until the money is actually taken.

Yea that is normal. Whats happening here is the card payment was pre-auth for €180.00, and added to the batch. The batch will process on Monday night (assuming it was taken today) as Batch days are usually Mon-Thur unless a bank holiday then Tue-Thur. The funds will reconcile and go into the merchant account on Tues and then cleared in the company account on Wed. This is why (if you are AIB customer) you see Pending transactions

If a charge-back was to be set up, It would either cancel the pre-auth if done today before 5pm or if later than 5pm it would be retracted on Wed and end up in your card on Friday.

Jayop

They hang up on you when you call to complain?? Disgraceful. Regardless of the fact the quote was soft or firm, they should never charge your card more than the discussed amount without first running it by you. No advice for you but I sympathise.

foggy_lad

baldshin wrote: »

That's what I will be arguing. However, I feel that without written proof I will get no where.

Your bank must act on your instructions(otherwise they are acting in favour of a third party) but you will have to go into the branch to get the chargeback as they will usually require your signature.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

emeldc

baldshin wrote: »

Just off the phone re a chargeback, and was told unless I have it in writing that they said it was €100, they can't do the chargeback. I am seriously stuck now financially!

I'm glad at last that someone has dispelled this myth of chargebacks. It would be ludicrous to think that the bank would refund any transaction that was completed over the phone just because the customer said they were overcharged. By all means fill out the forms. You have nothing in writing. In my opinion you haven't a hope of a charge back.
As an example, I hired a car in France a few years ago, paid by Cr card and was charged €180, no problem there.
Three months after I came home the hire company charged me again. Luckily I had kept the contract and all the relevant paper work. It still took nine months to get my money back. I'm not saying they all take that long, just that chargeback is not as easy as some posters would have you believe and without proof it's non existent.

fl4pj4ck

well, I've used the cb facility something like 10 times already and was never refused or questioned. usually money back within 2-3 working days