Anyone had an order refused by John Lewis?

[wildingtree]

Yesterday I ordered a few new devices (ipad and phone) from them totalling £1600.
I received no email or confirmation of my order so planned to call today to check up. I did check my bank balance and the money had left my account.

Prior to phoning them today, I received an email telling my my order could not be processed due to security reasons. So I phoned them up. The line was awful and the discussion wasn't helpful but I was told my order was refused due to it being 'a large sum of money'.

This strikes me as odd, as have purchased sofa's, appliances and computers there before, some orders totalling quite a bit more than that. All of my details checked out fine, so no idea what to think, but am pretty fed up as I will have to wait for the refund to be processed now and can't just go and buy my things elsewhere.

Is this common? it has put me off purchasing there again, not to mention the attitude on the phone line was one of 'doing me a favour', or perhaps suspicious of me. I'm just a bit WTF.
I appreciate that it is a decent sum of money (relatively speaking), but hardly unusual for shopping at JL.

I should imagine that those kind of high ticket items are usually bought on their own and not 2 or more bought together in the same transaction which flagged something their end.

We tried to buy an expensive item for our DD who lives at the other end of the country. We wanted it delivered to her local Waitrose. It was declined. Seems they did not like the geographic distance between the point of ordering and subsequent collection. It was not a shipping issue as the item was in stock in DD’s area. Not sure why it flagged as a risk??

I dont think it is so odd to purchase a basic ipad and an iphone 13 though! It must happen daily, surely?

I missed a Klarna payment in 2017ish (I assumed it was automatic but it wasn't) and haven't been able to process big ticket items on JL ever since. Utter pain.

Sounds irritating. Did they take the money though? I wouldn't be as annoyed if they'd paused to do the security check prior to accessing my bank account.

Surely it's going to lose them customers? If there might have been a financial issue wouldn't that have been the bank flagging it? We've had extra security checks for credit card for eg if we've spent a biggish amount at an previously not use store.

Thing is, I don't think these days this is a high sum*. Why are they selling high cost appliances and tech if they don't trust someone ordering it?
I would just move on and shrug if they hadn't taken the money out of my account. If I was a risk, why take my money? I can't say I'm eager to make orders in the future. I would imagine JL rely on large/expensive purchases to thrive, tbh.

*I appreciate it is a large sum to many.

I don’t think the money had left our account but the order initially went through like normal. Later that day it was cancelled by JL. In the end we gave DD money and she “bought” it herself. I still don’t see what their risk was.

Have you spoken to your bank and what did they say about where your money is?

I have when buying something expensive. It's absolutely ridiculous

This is likely to be the way the payment went through. Did it ask you to do any additional identification before purchase?

I’m guessing something was flagged that made it look fraudulent ie. IP address different to home/shipping location.

Someone used my credit card on Argos for several hundred quid when they realised it went through they did it again. Poor old Argos lost £500 and whatever products the fraudsters got away with. For high value stuff it’s presumably not worth it if it “could” be fraudulent.

Taking the money out of account is very weird unless it's that the money gets taken out of the account immediately but not transferred?

And yes people must spend tonnes on tech, white goods, furniture etc.

Thanks. No security questions at checkout.
No issues with IP address and bank card.
In my bank app it says the money to JL is pending, so not available to me at this time. I am presuming it means they've taken my money or are in teh process of doing so.

It's bloody infuriating as I was excited about my new ipad, but not the end of the world. I chose JL in the first place as thought I would get a better deal than Apple. Not worth the hassle just to save £20.

Hilariously, I might add, a few hours after placing the order yesterday, I went back and made another order, a few hundred or so for my DP's birthday present.

They have just now confirmed that order and told me it's on its way! Interestingly, no money has left my account for that one!

maybe I am trapped in some sort of alternate John Lewis themed reality, where the madhatter chuckles as my £1600 dances over my head in a million tiny pieces, neither here nor there or anywhere really

Theses items are notorious for fraud and scams thats why they will of flagged up.
With credit card fraud the fact the payment went through ok will mean nothing it won't be any reassurance to JL.

Every time I buy something in the Apple Store my bank won’t let it go through until they’ve contacted me and done a security check over the phone.

Argos are a gold mine for card thieves. Their terminals aren’t linked to real time bank channels and are offline

a friend her card stolen and it was used several times. I found and somehow used an expired cancelled credit card to buy something from Argos and got hammered for unauthorised fees and going over my, zero, credit limit

I don’t get how if the payment went through with with your provider they still cancelled the order. Hopefully the pending payment will clear soon.

What's the connection?

Ex-JL employee here (online not store)
With orders over a certain amount and for certain items, they do stringent security checks. The money is ringfenced for JL but stays with your bank until JL confirm the order is going ahead. If it is not accepted, or fails checks, it should be refunded by the bank but you may have to nudge them for it. If you do another order, make sure your addresses all match (bank, PayPal, JL account).

Could it be that your bank is refusing the transaction, because it’s out of line with your usual spending pattern?

I’ve had this several times with JL. Also when picking up a click and collect order they wouldn’t hand over the £30 camera (until I made them call over a manager) because my email address (something like fangydinosaur@xxx) ‘didn’t match my name on my debit card’.

Ok this might be the reason. There is new legislation about online payments which is basically stronger authentication for the payment.

I can’t say for certain (I work for a bank rather than a retailer) but it is possible they’ve breached their own guidelines which will be declining payments like this left right and centre.

Thanks everyone.

My money is back, it only took them a day, so I presume it never actually left my account. It was pending but not taken, iyswim?

I made 2 orders after this and both were fine, delivered today.
I must have just been unlucky there.

For my new ipad and phone I plan to ring Apple and order direct, I do need to ask some questions about RAM as I earn a living via ipad software.

For those who asked, my bank did not refuse or question the transaction. I still have no idea why it didn't go through as I have made similar purchases from this address and this bak account in the past. Just bad luck I think.

The sad thing was the customer service call. The poor guy had hardly any grasp of English and sounded stressed. Fuck JL.

I had the most appalling customer service last I ordered from them, put me right off. Certainly makes me think twice about ordering from them again.