To ask what my options are? Unauthorised payment from my bank account

[Ubereatswhat]

N/c but regular user

We ordered an Uber eats the other day totalling just under £40. We had a £40 gift card which is Uber money on the app.

I chose to pay via this gift card, and the payment went through. To my surprise the following day there was a pending charge in my bank account for minus -£39.

Uber has a whole section on their website about how they take an authorisation fee for the order total, I guess a little bit like pay at the pump at petrol stations. Logged on to my online banking this morning and the payment has actually gone through so they’ve removed nearly forty quid from my bank account without my permission to do so.

Of course it’s not a huge sum but I also can’t afford to just wave goodbye to £40. We would never usually get a takeaway, it was a treat as someone had bought us the gift card as a present. Selected that option on payment page and everything.

My bank can’t help because the order turned up. They have said they’d only be able to recall the transaction if the goods didn’t arrive.

Uber keep repeating on their live chat that I can use the £40 gift card again in the future, but that’s not good enough - I don’t dare place another order in case they take my money again rather than using the gift card as specified. All the call centres are overseas and I’ve spoken to 4 representatives now, most can’t seem to understand and the one that did just kept repeating that they would ‘note my concerns’

What can I do? I never consented to them charging my debit card. They have pulled the info from the app as you have to put
your card details in in order to make an account.

If anyone could help or advise that would be fab. I’m really cross!

How is it a mountain out of a molehill, sorry?
They’ve charged me for something with bank details that I didn’t consent to them using. I don’t want to order again in case this happens again.

What have you name changed for this?

Why does it matter? Maybe I dont want the people who would recognise my usual username to know that I’m relying on that £40?

I would go back to the bank and reiterate you did not authorise or make that payment.

I'm surprised that your bank couldn't help with a chargeback via your debit card as this was essentially an unauthorised transaction for this specific order. Might be worth going back to them to stress that the order arriving is irrelevant as you didn't want to pay via debit card and didn't give permission. You might need to follow the complaints process if they're unhelpful which I appreciate isn't necessarily quick.

You must have authorised the payment via card rather than selecting the credit option.

Are you sure you applied the gift card properly?

Positive. It even says so.

I didn’t, it definitely went through on gift card.

I've got a dejà vu..
I read this exact same thing last year..
Must be an occurring thing.
I'd put an email in .. usually get more response.

Oh no, really? Tbh trustpilot GB reviews are awful. I wish I’d read it before but with it being a big company I guess I just blindly trusted.

You can't have paid by both credit and your debit card, what does the receipt say?

It doesn’t say anything, oddly.

Did you get an email receipt? What does that say?

Sorry, I was too slow asking!

Can you remove your bank details now you have created the account and then use the gift card so at least you know you can’t be charged on your card next time?

No as they insist on doing their pre authorisation charge.

There must be a way to get a receipt with payment method on. People will be using them for expenses, they need to include that information.

If it says you paid via Voucher/Credit then they'd have double charged you and you could point that out to the bank

Social Media is also a good way to approach them, they don't like to look bad on there

This is definitely a case to raise with one of the high profile consumer rights journalists. I approached them when I had an issue with M&S and didn't even need to let them print my story in the newspaper. They told me exactly what to say and that they had said to say it. Money reimbursed immediately. Try Anna Tims at The Guardian or Katie Morley at The Telegraph.

Tell them what you said here - that you had no budget for a takeaway - it was a treat due to the gift card and their mismanagement of processing it has left you without necessary funds and their advice to spend more with them isn't satisfactory in case they make the same mistake again.

They'll sort it quickly.

It's annoying but I'm not seeing the issue if you've still got the £40 on the gift card to use another time. It's not like you're out of pocket.

This Definitely!

The thing with this is, as your card company will have said, you HAVE authorised them to use your card details because you have provided them, and your agreement is within the terms and conditions you have to have agreed to in order to create an account.

Has happened to a few of my friends, it is what it is basically.

FYI Uber taxis have a similar function and we got stung by it before Christmas. We used Uber to get home from an event and the next day found £100 gone from my account. £20 was the fare and he had applied £80 as a “cleaning fee” and had told Uber we had made a mess of the car! I’m 8 months pregnant so it certainly wasn’t a drunken sloppy trip and thankfully we had enough to prove we hadn’t made any mess (photos) so we ended up getting £80 credit back from Uber, but I was baffled they could just take that amount from my card without any authorisation! Then you look at t’s & c’s and find very cleverly, you HAVE to agree to these things to have an account.

You won’t get your £40 back but at least you have the voucher.

That's not quite right. Cash in the bank could've been earmarked for something else, a voucher for one retailer can't be used to pay the milkman or for a school trip.