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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu or is Amazon?

17 replies

strawberrysalsa · 14/07/2017 07:38

Okay I am needing some outside perspective because I seem to have entered an alternative dimension and am loosing my sense of reality.

I ordered a camera and lens from Amazon. They authorised the sale with my bank both as the whole order and in the two parts...it was sent in two parcels. Because the purchase was authorised twice I had a heart attack when I checked my bank balance as it showed £700+ in pending that I wasn't expecting.

Just to clarify I could see what had happened and had no worries the money would be taken twice, it was just that my bank, not being psychic didn't know, so had both lots of money on hold waiting for Amazon to take it. Which meant I had less than no money as all my funds were held in pending.

Hope you are following so far....I contacted Amazon, getting no joy they have a script and still to it with more tenacity than Mormons!...I also contacted my bank who were able to sort it out so I could access my money.

Thinking Amazon would want to know they had authorised a purchase twice and that this would cause problems for customers....after all who has that kind of money spare!...I contacted them. This is where we enter an alternate reality.

Amazon keeps sending the most patronising emails...one even had the wrong name!...telling me its a problem with my bank and definitely not a problem at their end. Authorising a large purchase twice is a real problem and if my bank hadn't been so helpful...thank you Halifax...I would have had no money at all until it because apparent the only one purchase was being processed and my funds were released.

Honestly all I wanted was for Amazon to say 'sorry, thanks for letting us know'. But I am now getting into a spiral of getting ever more irate as I get the next patronising communication from them all utterly refusing to comprehend what I am saying.

Is it just me or is Amazon being ignorant?

OP posts:
RainbowPastel · 14/07/2017 07:44

Your bank should be able to cancel it their end.

HaudYerWheeshtBawbag · 14/07/2017 07:44

Have you contacted the bank, if it's held in a pending transaction it means the bank it holding it.

I believe amazone is correct, it normally takes 5 working days for it to be sorted out.

SorrelSoup · 14/07/2017 07:46

Love these two responses.

SoupDragon · 14/07/2017 07:47

The bank have sorted it out!!

SoupDragon · 14/07/2017 07:48

X Post there - I know! Talk about not reading the whole thread, even when it's just one post 😂😂

TipBoov · 14/07/2017 07:48

The first two posters obviously haven't RTFT.

OP - YANBU, but it's sorted now, so I wouldn't waste any more time on it. It's not something that happens often.

StormFrontage · 14/07/2017 07:49

They're class, Sorrel, aren't they? Grin

Original poster
strawberrysalsa · 14/07/2017 07:50

Luckily for me my bank managed to sort it the same day so I could access my money the following day, otherwise I'd have had absolutely no money at all...there is no way I budgeted for an extra £700+ to be 'out' of my bank account.

What I am unhappy about is that Amazon casually authorised such a large purchase twice with no concept that it might cause the customer any problems. I mean if it had been for £70 not £700 I might not have noticed and certainly wouldn't have bothered. It was just because it was such a large amount and could have caused me real financial problems.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 14/07/2017 07:50

OP, I do think Amazon are perhaps being a bit odd. Although perhaps it wasn't a problem there end but was actually a glitch at the bank's end.

Annoying.

SoupDragon · 14/07/2017 07:50

their end

WeAreEternal · 14/07/2017 07:52

I had a similar problem, large purchase, Amazon 'held' the money before the purchase so the funds were pending twice in my account.
I live chatted Amazon, they gave me a transaction code that I was able to call my bank with to get them to 'unhold' the money, it was all sorted out in less that an hour.

It sounds like you have found a seriously awful customer service agent who has taken offence to you and is trying to drive you up the wall, id complain about them.

Original poster
strawberrysalsa · 14/07/2017 07:54

I'm now on a mission to get Amazon to understand why I was annoyed and actually apologise!

I obviously need a life, WORKzilla and shagzilla need to do something batsit again so I can fill my days reading all the updates instead of obsessing about Amazon's inability to say 'sorry'.

OP posts:
Original poster
strawberrysalsa · 14/07/2017 07:56

To be fair I've previously had nothing but good customer service from Amazon but this is just so bad.

I think the email getting my name wrong was my favourite!

OP posts:
AutoCat · 14/07/2017 08:12

Amazon aren't the only company that do this. There is a list of companies that I don't order multiple items from unless I can afford to temporarily lose access to double the cost of them for a week. Amazon have only done it a couple of times to me (out of the hundreds of orders I must have placed), the others do it regularly.

They authorise the whole amount at the time of ordering but if for any reason they need to despatch separately or an item is out of stock they then authorise each part as they send it out. If the part authorisations happen close together and the amount tallies up to the original amount the bank seems to realise it's the same transaction and cancels the extra pending amount but if they don't it stays there for a week.

I was once caught out for a large amount with Amazon and like you went back and forward between my bank and Amazon. Eventually I spoke to a really helpful person at Amazon who sorted it out and the pending amount disappeared the next day.

Other companies haven't been so helpful. My bank won't do anything without a code from the company and some companies are not willing to give that and just tell you to wait a week.

bruffin · 14/07/2017 08:27

Its notbthe companies fault it is the banks.. they are not comprehending what you are saying, because you dont understand how the system works .
I work for a dealership and we have been in a similar position where the bank takes the money and puts in a holding account. The customer no longer has the money, but we dont either. £10,000 was in limbo.This happens when a transaction is rejected as well, especially with mobile phone companies as banks dont like them and reject the card My friend had the same amount taken 4 times.
It does get sorted within a few days.

MuddyMoose · 14/07/2017 08:43

You've had the money back (thanks to the bank). Yes, it could of left you up shit Creek but it didn't & it was sorted the very same day.

When you're emailing Amazon you are speaking to one (maybe two) people out of thousands that work for Amazon. I really don't think your persistent emailing to see the word 'sorry' wrote out in text is going to make a blind bit of difference. Move on.

bruffin · 14/07/2017 08:47

The money is held by the bank not anazon, so its not thanks to the bank its their systems fault in the first place

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