My son (12) was walking to the local park over the weekend with two friends. He has a debit card so stopped at a corner shop type convenience store to buy a drink and a chocolate bar.
He used his card via chip and pin and on the hand held card reader it said 'approved' but the man serving in the shop said it hadn't gone through and he was told to do it again. He did it again and again he saw 'approved' on the machine but the man claimed it hadn't gone through so his friend paid the £2.19 for him.
As they turned to leave the shop, an aggressive older lady came out from the back of the shop and demanded (shouting) they 'turn out their pockets, she had seen them on camera from the back of the shop stealing chewing gum from the counter'. All 3 boys were mortified and turned their pockets out and she realised her error and just sort of shrugged and the boys walked out.
My son called me straight away as he was very upset and explained what had happened and my husband then went to the shop straight away to find out what on earth had gone on. The man who was serving in the shop insisted both transactions had failed and that the woman had simply made a mistake in accusing the three boys of stealing. My husband advised them they should be more cautious in accusing customers of stealing.
I went into the bank today as being under 16 he isn't allowed internet banking (bank rule) They printed me off a statement from the computer and there is the 2 x transactions to this shop one after the other for £2.19 each debited from his account.
I went into the shop today to show them the bank statement and the transactions proving his card had been charged and asking why he wasn't given a receipt if the transactions had failed as the man claimed. I also said I was upset that aside from this, he and his friends were falsely accused of stealing and had been made to turn their pockets out. The woman was very defensive and aggressive towards me and started ranting and shouting and said she is sick of kids stealing from her, went into story after story of how people come into her shop and steal, the police do nothing, they have been told they have the right to get people to turn their pockets out as 'police won't come'. Even minors I asked as I had suggested it would have been better for them to call the police or parents as the children felt threatened and intimidated. Having experienced her wrath and anger this evening I have a very good idea of how she behaves in her shop.
When I showed the transactions had gone through she refused to accept it, saying he must have been in there 3 x and bought other things and she wanted to see times as just the date was not good enough. It was like talking to a brick wall and she was shouting and telling me to 'shut up'. When I asked to see the gentleman who had served my son and see what he had to say, he said there must be something wrong with the machine as the transactions didn't go through. The son of the couple came down and was trying to pacify the situation and was more reasonable and gave me the £4.40 out of the till.
I have left there feeling like they are fraudsters and preying on youngsters going into their shop (it is used a lot by school children as it is on a senior school route) Possibly the incorrect change here and there or like in my son's case, telling a minor his card hasn't gone through thus repeating transactions. He had ended up paying for a drink and a chocolate bar 3 x over.
Maybe they think all young people who use their shop are thieves and they have a right to claw back some of their stolen stock, who knows what they are thinking. The more I think about it, if it was a genuine mistake and it has 'never happened before' as they claimed to me today, and there must be a 'problem with their machine' some sort of receipt should have been printed or given to show a declined transaction. I have no idea about these hand held machines small businesses use. As an adult we would be more savvy with this and request it, kids do as they are told by adults so they are taking advantage of this I now feel in hindsight.
I am unsure whether to let it go as we got the money back out of the till or whether to make a report to Action Fraud or to Barclays as they may be doing this to lots of youngsters and it's not nice and to be honest their attitude was horrible.
Sorry for the long post!