to advise you that Tesco are liars and have stolen my money....

[SweetSeraphim]

A warning for you all.

My card was declined on Tuesday night in Tesco, which I was puzzled about, as I knew I had the funds. Luckily my partner was with me to pay whole I stood red-faced at the till.

Once I got home, I discovered that they had actually taken the money from my account, to the tune of almost £100.

I called the store within half an hour of getting home, and nobody would help me. I tweeted their customer care team, who were great on Twitter, but 2 days later, and they still have not returned my money.

My bank have told me all the details that Tesco need to fax them to get the money released - I have told the various people that I've spoken to, all of this information, yet still, they will not help me. They have refused to provide the information required, promise me calls back that I don't receive, and are completely useless.

I've spent more than £20 on phone calls to them trying to sort this out, and still my money has not been returned to me.

How's it going OP??

Did they call?

This happened to me. Tesco will be holding the money and it will go back in to your bank automatically when the system see's that it is an error. It took a week for mine and whilst i know it is a pain i don't think there is anything tesco can do to speed the process up, that's just how long it takes. You will get your money back but i know how much of a pain it is.

I'm bloody glad I've recently switched to Sainsbury's.

I asked for £50 cashback the other week, got chatting to the assistant and both she and I forgot about it. I only realised I hadn't got the money when I went out for something else about 5 hours later.

Went to Sainsbury's customer service desk, showed them my receipt - they took down the transaction & checkout number and my contact details and handed me my 50 quid! I was gobsmacked that it was so straightforward.

Hope you're on the phone and getting it sorted now OP!

Still waiting for my call... You see, this is what pisses me off. After all this, KNOWING how angry I already am, promising me a phone call at a certain time (the same as they did yesterday morning) and then not calling - is just going to wind me up even more, isn't it?

Goats - while I see your point - if I can make an immediate transfer of funds from my bank account to someone else's.... Why can't they?

Never shop in Tesco again if you can manage that. If that isn't possible, cash transactions only.

This is obviously not an isolated case. They have all these cash amounts sitting in their banks for 7-10 days and the money they fraudulently get then never refund.

Stuff like this boils my piss.

I won't ever shop there again, Dappy - I only went in there the other night to go to the late pharmacy - and then ended up spending a load of money on some bits for Christmas. I can't tell you how much I wish I hadn't!

We don't shop there anymore either, haven't done for over a year, unless it's an absolute emergency, even then it wouldn't be a big shop, and would only use cash. They are useless, when they messed up with the car insurance it was the last straw.

I cut up all of our clubcards and that was that, i don't miss them at all.

Tesco will be holding the money

They are not holding the money, they have no access to the money. The bank is holding the money.

REPEAT

TESCO ARE NOT HOLDING THE MONEY. THIS IS THE BANK. TESCO CANNOT TOUCH THE MONEY

Am so sorry the situation isn't getting any better.

I must admit I was very loyal to Tesco until about 6 months ago, when I needed a 'middling' shop and cba to go there when Sainsbury's is slightly easier to get to.

I put what I thought (based on previous Tesco shops) was about £70 of shopping through the checkout and it came to about £48 which was a bit of wake-up call to say the least.

Still have my car insurance with them though, as they are the only ones that will actually insure our 12 year old, imported crate of a people carrier!

Do you have any insurance policies with a legal advice helpline? I had an issue once before and used one of these. The legal bod I spoke to suggested I inform the other party that I had taken legal advice and allowed me to quote their name which got them shifting pretty sharpish.

Might be worth looking into. Given that you are now looking at going over the weekend without your money back I think an phonecall or email to someone fairly high up the chain, mentioning legal advice and the possibility of small claims to recover the wasted time and money on phone calls might be an idea too.

But surely Tesco can authorise their own bank to release the money back into OP's account?

My parents and I have been rearranging some financial stuff recently and everything transferred while we were sat there watching it in the financial advisers office!

It can't be that difficult can it?

I had this at Sainsbo a few months ago.

I spoke to the manager, I called the bank. It was all sorted out after two weeks (!)

I called and was upset and worried, but there is nothing you can do other than sit and wait.

Getting some nitwit to call you back, who then does not, is not going to make a difference.

You should have a refernece number from your bank and a date for when the money should be back in your account.

I donot think getting worked up and calling everyone and spending hours on the phone is in any way conductive, sadly...

Really annoying, isn't it?!

They just called. Only an hour later than they said they would.

They are allegedly going to send the fax to the bank again now, with the full card number on it that the bank have asked for, and the correct authorisation code. And they're going to send me a copy of the fax to my email address.

I still don't trust them. I don't believe for a minute that the money will go back in today. Then it's the weekend, and nobody will do anything until next week.

I'm so fucking sick of it.

bruffin, I don't care whose responsibility the money is, it's mine, and I want it back.

Between the two organisations, this has just been one fuck up after another, and I don't know who is telling the truth and who is lying. I just want my money back.

Chandon, I know what you're saying too - but why should I sit and wait? These massive corporations just take the piss out of all of us, and we're just expected to take it.
If it was my error, fair enough - I'd have to toe the line. But it's not. This money could be the difference between being able to feed my children and not! And nobody gives a shiney shite.

I know, it is the power and indifference of the big corporations.

Let us take our business to small independent shops! Seriously, Tesco is only so big because everybody keeps going back.

But surely Tesco can authorise their own bank to release the money back into OP's account?

No because it is the bank that has the money in limbo. The money is not in Tesco's bank, it has not left the OPs bank, they are sitting on it.
As I said above a friend was trying to buy a mobile phone on the internet. Banks dont like this and more often than not will decline the payment. Friend tried 3 times and card was declined 3 times. The money was taken from her account 3 times. It was put back after a few days. But all this is a banking problem not to do with the sellers.

Am on the phone to the bank now, and they are telling me that information is incorrect, bruffin. That they cannot release the money back to me without the input from Tesco.

Your bank isn't Santander is it?

WOOHOOO! I have my money back - but it was the fraud dept at my bank that helped me, not Tesco. They have even given me an extra tenner for all the trouble I've had, and phone calls I've had to make.

NEVER shop at Tesco, people. They are a shower of shite, and I have learned a very important lesson! Thanks for listening to me rant!

Good news indeed.

Glad to hear it

Thank God for that!