Hair salon alleging I haven’t paid

[wellbugger]

Posting here purely for traffic.

I had my hair done last weekend. Their card machine was down. The stylist charged me over the app. I checked my bank in front of her and showed her that the money had left my account.

They’ve called me today to say that on their end, the money hasn’t come through. I’ve sent a screenshot of my bank which clearly shows that the money due has left my account and gone to them.

AIBU to think this is their issue now? I’ve paid, if they’re having issues with their app that’s not my problem

Contact your bank, and ask them

1. what the authorisation code relating to the card payment was, and the associated transaction reference if there is one.
2. to confirm whether the payment has definitely been taken, or a hold has just been put on the money until the transaction has completed

If the money has been taken, you can pass the identifying details that the bank has provided you with so that the payment processing people can track down what's happened to it. If the bank has just put a hold on the money, you can ask them what needs to happen to get that hold released so you can make the payment again.

Why are you even contemplating paying twice?
this is clearly an issue with fresha. Fresha has their money, they need to pursue it from fresha.

I would delete your card details off fresha though as they can take payment directly via that. My nails are all paid via fresha and I don’t have to okay anything, it just comes straight out after my appointment, same if I get my makeup done. So I would delete the details incase they try to take it again.

Stop panicking OP. Wait for their reply to your screenshots

its completely unreasonable for them to expect you to pay another £221. Ask them what Fresha said when they took it up with them?

You have clear evidence you paid…by the means THEY insisted on and there has been a delay. Not your fault

And if they threaten to call the police (I doubt they will) then just say, great! I’ve got clear evidence I’ve paid so am happy to show this to the police if they attend.

Youve done absolutely nothing wrong here

It’ll get rejected lol even with my £50 overdraft I’ve not got £220 🤣

I agree, if they haven't even responded to the screenshots then don't run away with yourself. You're inventing scary scenarios where they demand you pay twice or call the police. They may well just respond to say they'll contact fresha.

Not the point, I know.
Why do you need a second appointment if you’ve just spent £221 on your hair?
I’m not surprised you can’t afford to pay twice.

That's how it works, I'm afraid. I don't make the rules. It's a fault of the banking system who can hold money in limbo, so neither the customer nor the shop has it. So in effect, the customer has paid but the shop hasn't got the money. And until the shop has the money, the customer hasn't paid as far as they are concerned.

Why haven't you just rang your bank to find out exactly where the money has gone and if it is being held anywhere? I don't get why you're just sitting here panicking and not finding out exactly what has happened from the bank.

my thoughts exactly. What did they do for £221?
If they're having problems just offer to bank transfer for the second appointment or bring cash.

It’s a free appointment to check on extensions.

They’re insisting now that they don’t have the money so I haven’t paid

It might be normal in your experience but why is the onus on the custom to be out of pocket, potentially in their overdraft incurring charges? If it's a well known issue why isn't the standard expectation to wait until payment has been returned and then for the customer to pay again?

I think you’ve given them plenty of proof that it’s left your bank account.
They need to sort it out with Fresha app because that’s how they chose to be paid since their card machine wasn’t working that day .
Since you need to go back in for another appointment I’d show them proof again.
Also let them know that if for some reason it’s been pending and is returned to your account, you will make sure they do get the funds as soon as possible / practical .
If they are genuinely making you feel uncomfortable about this then I’d find a new salon

Refer them to Fresha. It’s not your fault they used a shitty ‘middleman’ app.

Have you asked them if they have contacted fresha??

Don't shoot the messenger. I'm an underpaid retail worker who has to deal with irate customers over this all the time, I'm not a bank employee who has any power to correct the system.

Ring your bank and ask them to trace the payment for you. They may be able to request a return from wherever it went.

Double down on the fact they have taken the money as per the screenshots so you won’t be paying twice as you don’t have the funds. Tell them this needs to be taken up with fresha and tell them you can ring your bank and ask them for a transaction ID to provide to their bank if they’d like. The transaction ID will help their bank locate where the money is.

This is the fault of Fresha not yours. Ask them what Fresha have said when they’ve asked them? The money has left your account so not up to you to chase. If they want it so bad they can do it.

And this, along with the Section 75 protections, is why you should always put transactions over £100 on a credit card rather than a debit card. These kinds of double billing fuck-ups are fairly common, so if it does happen to you, at least if you've put it on a credit card then you've got more time to sort out what's gone wrong before you have to pay.

Not now. I'm with Nationwide as well and it used to be the case thst I needed the card reader for a first time payment, but you can now opt to get a text sent with a pass code instead.

If Fresha is showing the money has been paid, as well as your bank showing that, then it's something they need to take up with Fresha! Not sure why they can't understand that, and I'm sure them putting pressure on you doesn't make you want to keep going there.

Did you read the OP?

I used to get food shopping delivered from Asda until it happened more than once that Asda didn't deliver because my payment was held in limbo so they said I hadn't paid, they tried to take it again and I had no money available, and I had to wait a week for it to come back into my account. This was when I was a single parent on tax credit so it left me fucked. Only Asda did that - something to do with their system not talking to the bank's system quickly enough.

Any possibility you’ve paid a different salon with the same name on the app?