I see at pay at the pump petrol that the garage will often want £99 preauthorised before you fill up.
I get that as you are filling up before paying.
However, I can see on my banking app that Argos have a pending £1205 on my card for a £5.75 hot water bottle I paid for and collected Wednesday. WTF. My bank assure me that this will fall away and reflect the £5.75 in a few days when it becomes a completed transaction and told me that retailers often preauthorised a "slightly" larger amount but they could not explain to me why this was the case nor how the larger amount was calculated as this bears no relation to the item cost.
Shoezone have also preauthorised £25 for a £15 item.
I am a bit stunned by this.