Kindly shared by H. Goldsmith
What happened
I had an online grocery shop with Asda for delivery on 1st December. The total cost of the shopping was approximately £490. As per their procedures, Asda pre-authorised my debit card the day before but for some unexplained (although I have asked repeatedly) reason they pre-authorised my card twice. Once the shopping was processed on their end they completed the payment for one of the pre-authorisations but this left a pre-authorisation of £467.12 outstanding. As a result, my available balance is now impacted by a significant sum of money. I spoke to Asda customer services on the 2nd December when I realised that the pre-authorisation was still on my card. Asda said that they reversed it on the 30th November and "please take the issue up with your bank - thank you and have a good evening" in the cheeriest voice you could imagine. I spoke to my bank who said that Asda had not removed the pre-authorisation (bear in mind these contacts with various customer service centres had taken in excess of 2 hours by this stage) and that Asda need to release the hold or the money will remain ring-fenced for up to 7 working days. The reduction in my available balance was now causing me financial hardship as I had bills coming out on direct debits that would now bounce as a result of the insufficient available balance. Every time I contacted Asda customer service I was told that they "have refunded you the money - so it is ok" and "the process will take 3 - 5 working days to release the pre-authorisation" and always followed by how thankful they are for me shopping at Asda and to have a good evening! Eventually, I managed to make someone understand that this has to be escalated to Head Office and I will not just speak to an advisor reading off of a script and was finally passed to someone in UK Head Office. Sadly this person was also no help and maybe could have been more helpful if he had just read off of the script. He just repeated the - "We have reversed the authorisation" it is your bank's problem - which translates to - go play ping pong between your bank and us eventually it will be resolved and we won't have to deal with this. I have now spent over 4 hours on phone calls to both my bank and Asda and I am still without access to that £467.12 and have had charges from both my bank and my credit cards for direct debits that have been returned due to insufficient funds as a result of an error that Asda has made. Regardless of whether the process takes time to reverse pre-authorisations my issue is they should never have pre-authorised the funds in the first place! Not once has anybody at Asda been able to offer me any kind of practical help with this - apparently, it is my issue to deal with as I am the one impacted and therefore I should be the one chasing around trying to deal with this and spending time and more money on phone calls and online chat robots. To add insult to injury, my online shopping was completely messed up and I had to have over £30 refunded to me from Asda due to tins being smashed, several items not being delivered and other random items being delivered that I did not order. So I just have to ride it out and wait until the Gods of the banking system decides enough time has passed and therefore I can once again have access to my money and not one person other than myself gives a hoot - although I am told by everyone that I have spoken to both at my bank and at Asda how sorry they are that this has happened to me, and they all hope I enjoy the rest of my day - how kind!
What I wish had happened
I would have liked Asda to take responsibility for the fact that they have caused me serious financial hardship as a result of their error and at least tried to make it right instead of making it my problem to deal with.
Where this happened
On the Internet
Asda Customers
Most talked about by Asda customers
How this makes Asda customers feel
Annoyed
Disappointed
Furious
Frustrated
Let down
Unsatisfied
Disgusted
Unhappy
Offended
Uneasy
Disheartened
Surprised
Anxious
Annoyed
Furious
Disappointed
Disgusted
Let down
Frustrated
Unsatisfied
Disheartened
Anxious
Surprised
Offended
Saddened
Let down
Furious
Frustrated
Annoyed
Disappointed
Disgusted
Anxious
Unsatisfied
Unhappy
Scared
Uneasy
Let down
Disappointed
Unhappy
Annoyed
Frustrated
Furious
Unsatisfied
Disgusted
Anxious
Let down
Furious
Annoyed
Frustrated
Displeased
Insecure
Uneasy
Unhappy
Offended
Annoyed
Frustrated
Unsatisfied
Disheartened
Disappointed
Uneasy
Anxious
Annoyed
Furious
Disappointed
Unsatisfied
Frustrated
Frustrated
Let down
Annoyed
Furious
Scared
Anxious
Insecure
Unhappy
Uneasy
Disappointed
Annoyed
Frustrated
Let down
Unsatisfied
Unhappy
Disappointed
Disgusted
Furious
Miffed
Unhappy
Anxious
Scared
Furious
Uneasy
Insecure
Let down
Frustrated
Disappointed
Furious
Disgusted
Supermarket Customers
Most talked about by Supermarket customers
How this makes Supermarket customers feel
Annoyed
Disappointed
Frustrated
Let down
Unsatisfied
Displeased
Unhappy
Saddened
Uneasy
Disheartened
Put out
Furious
Confused
Disgusted
Anxious
Indifferent
Other
Insecure
Surprised
Scared
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Unsatisfied
Let down
Unhappy
Displeased
Furious
Disgusted
Put out
Uneasy
Saddened
Disheartened
Confused
Offended
Anxious
Surprised
Insecure
Annoyed
Disappointed
Unsatisfied
Displeased
Unhappy
Let down
Frustrated
Uneasy
Saddened
Disheartened
Disgusted
Other
Confused
Put out
Furious
Surprised
Miffed
Sad
Insecure
Indifferent
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Uneasy
Let down
Displeased
Unhappy
Insecure
Saddened
Unsatisfied
Confused
Disheartened
Other
Furious
Indifferent
Offended
Surprised
Disgusted
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Uneasy
Unhappy
Let down
Unsatisfied
Saddened
Insecure
Displeased
Disheartened
Other
Furious
Anxious
Confused
Indifferent
Scared
Offended
Put out
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Unsatisfied
Let down
Unhappy
Uneasy
Displeased
Furious
Disheartened
Disgusted
Put out
Confused
Other
Insecure
Saddened
Offended
Anxious
Surprised
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Let down
Unsatisfied
Displeased
Disheartened
Unhappy
Confused
Saddened
Uneasy
Furious
Disgusted
Put out
Indifferent
Insecure
Other
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Saddened
Let down
Unhappy
Insecure
Disheartened
Uneasy
Unsatisfied
Displeased
Furious
Put out
Scared
Anxious
Other
Confused
Offended
Disgusted
Annoyed
Disappointed
Let down
Unsatisfied
Frustrated
Displeased
Insecure
Uneasy
Furious
Unhappy
Saddened
Anxious
Sad
Disheartened
Put out
Other
Annoyed
Frustrated
Disappointed
Let down
Unsatisfied
Displeased
Unhappy
Put out
Saddened
Disappointed
Frustrated
Annoyed
Furious
Let down
Unhappy
Unsatisfied
Anxious
Disgusted
Annoyed
Let down
Frustrated
Unsatisfied
Saddened
Disappointed
Unhappy
Uneasy
Surprised
Displeased
Confused
Put out
Happy
Grateful
Delighted
Pleased
Satisfied
Special
Other
Annoyed
Frustrated
Unsatisfied
Disheartened
Disappointed
Displeased
Uneasy
Saddened
Confused
Unhappy
Let down
Happy
Grateful
Delighted
Pleased
Satisfied
Special
Other
Grateful
Happy
Pleased
Satisfied
Delighted
Special
Annoyed
Frustrated
Furious
Anxious
Disappointed
Unsatisfied
Disheartened
Let down
Put out
Happy
Satisfied
Other
Delighted
Grateful
Satisfied
Delighted
Grateful
Special