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!

That’s horrifying. £80!!

But she is out of pocket. She needed to pay for the meal with the gift card, not her money in her account.

That's just terrible. I've just seen that they do this for both Uber the taxi and Uber Eats. Can you ask to escalate it past live chat? Normally larger issues can be pushed up the chain to Care Ops managers rather than live service agents.

Does your receipt from Uber Eats say you were charged via gift card?

Not sure what else to suggest. I know you had the Uber Eats voucher, but in future switch to Deliveroo; their authorisation charge is £0.00!

But the OP is out of pocket!
She wouldn't have ordered if not for the gift card.
It may not seem that much money to you but it is a lot others.

Yep! It’s all in their terms and conditions, the only way your bank can help is if food doesn’t arrive.

Your email receipt will 100% clarify the payment method used. It’s listed on the email, the PDF receipt you can download for expenses (or any other reason) and within your account order history.

Yup.

I suspect that OP didn't press the credit option during payment.

You consented when you entered into the unspoken contract (by accepting the T&C) of Uber. That the full sum of money is taken from your account.

You still have the gift card. It's annoying that something went awry at the entering of the gift card part of the transaction, so out of goodwill they might be prepared to take the card payment and then refund the cash payment, but I doubt they're obliged to.

Yes, I think so too.

Because the company seem like they've manipulated the situation to get 2 sales. And OP says she wouldn't normally get a takeaway. You would accept marks and Spencer or another high street store charging you rather than using a gift card so why should you accept it from Uber?

I'd tweet them or do it on Facebook- they might respond more if it's public. Don't worry about being shown to be needing the money, even if I was rich I'd be pissed off about this because it's very cheeky.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m just stressed as there’s nothing my bank can do.

I feel so stressed, I am cross that they can just use my card whenever they want??? How can that be ok??

I've had this type of thing happen so now I keep different bank accounts and transfer the money if I'm using the debit card, it's extra faff but at least no one can take money 'accidentally' !

I just dont understand how it’s even allowed!

Hit the ‘freeze card’ button in your banking app so it rejects a transaction while you order and use the gift card balance. Essentially this will prevent a recurrence. once the goods arrived, unfreeze your card.

They can’t use it whenever they want, but because part of the sign up for Uber involves giving them permission it means there is no real come back for this.

Check your receipt as others have said, it’s possible that you haven’t checked out correctly because it can be fiddly to apply gift cards at the end.

You really don't see the problem? The gift card isn't fungible. Money's tight, but OP can't use the gift card to pay for groceries or fill up her car.

They have resolved it (finally).

If anyone comes across this in the future the way I sorted it was via the Uber eats UK instagram account. Seemed to be the only channel relevant for dealing with the problem as the main Uber Eats page is US based, probably hence the misunderstanding. I told them I’d be contacting trading standards and then they refunded me, accepting the mistake. Really relieved.

Well done!

I can't believe they refunded you for your mistake.

The fact you said the receipt doesn't say anything says it all to be honest.

How was it her mistake?!

I've had this happen too, as well as Uber (taxi) take money as a tip I didn't authorise, and Airbnb taking money they weren't entitled to.

I think there's a real problem with these big companies taking money from cards without proper authorisation.

The amounts are small enough that people often don't pursue it.

And they're allowed to get away with it because everyone says 'oh chill out' or 'it must've been your own fault'

Well done for persevering, OP.

Also, Watchdog are interested in this type of thing - I had a researcher contact me but I couldn't be bothered to go through it all with them.

Edited bc I thought it was just eat

I refuse to use Uber any longer due to how hard it is to rectify any problems. I tried countless times to sort an issue out last year and it was an absolute waste of my time. Never again.

This is one of the reasons I've never used Uber, and would caution people against setting up an account with them.