Double charge with Visa Debit card - refund process

Ravelleman

Dear BOI staff,

On Saturday (17th Oct) I bought train tickets from a ticket machine in Madrid using my Visa Debit card. I entered my PIN and payment was accepted but before the tickets were printed the transaction was cancelled due to the closure of the platform. This occurs two minutes before departure and prevents customers from buying tickets that they wouldn't have time to use - I imagine this is the same in Ireland. This cut-off occurred during my transaction. 

Immediately after this I proceeded to buy the tickets for a later train, at the same price. Given that the transaction was cancelled I assumed that the charge/refund process would be straightforward. The machine gave me no receipt or reference number for the cancelled transaction as some do in other countries. Without being able to access my 365 Online account to check the details, I carried on with my business.

Despite the automatic cancellation of the transaction I have yet to be refunded the price of the first transaction. I certainly can't be the only person to experience this across the Spanish rail network or in similar situations elsewhere.

My question is therefore how long should I expect to wait for this refund to appear? If it does not occur, is my first point of contact with Bank of Ireland or with Renfe, the train network in Spain?

The transaction appears as a duplicate on my 365 account but with no further information, which is normal, but I wonder if I should be actively doing something to recover this money. I only have one ticket stub from a total of four as I didn't expect there to be difficulty. As I said above, there is no other physical evidence of this transaction. I'm not really sure how I can justify my complaint other than showing the two transactions for the same amount of money, with the same vendor, three minutes or so apart on my 365 statement.

Thanks for your attention.

Bank of Ireland: Evie

Good Morning Ravelleman,

Thank you for getting in touch with us on Boards.ie this afternoon.

This happens in situations such as the one you have described to us here, whereby your PIN was entered but the transaction was cancelled before completion. Within five working days this transaction should disappear automatically from your account history and your balance should adjust to the correct amount.

In the rare event that both transactions fully process, it would be necessary for you to contact the Spanish train company directly to request a refund.

If you do have any other concerns however, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Thanks,

Evie

Ravelleman

Dear Evie,

Thanks for your explanation. I will continue to follow how it develops in my 365 account.

All the best.