M&S Money - Website Currency

[NeilDrum]

Tried buying US$1000 last night from Marks & Spencer Website but they declined the payment.

I immediately called my bank as I assumed they wouldnt authorise it given the amount but they said they had authorised it immediately and it was M&S that had declined it.

I spoke to M&S and they told me their bank had declined the transaction but could offer no explanation and refused to call their bank to find out why!!

However, the amount has left my account as M&S have 10 days to claim the money!!!!!!!! I am now left with nothing to show for £527.00. I have to wait 10 days for M&S not to claim the money before it shows back in my account and therefore, I have to wait 10 days before I can buy my holiday money!!!

Knowing my luck the rate will drop!!!

M&S have been extremely unhelpful - customer service non existance!!

Just wanted to warn people.

Claire

 

[florida sun]

Oh Claire

Thats terrible customer service, I ordered money via the Marks and Spencer website quite a few times this year for my trip this past October, with no problems at all. Did you get intouch with Marks customer service via the phone?? Maybe it would be worth you sending an email to Marks and Spencer customer service asking for an explanation, or do you have a local store that you can pop into with an exchange bureau so that you can speak to somebody face to face. I had a problem with a different matter with Marks and Spencer last year and when I tried to phone I was put through to a call centre in India, who were no help at all, I went into my local Marks and Spencer and sorted out the issue with them face to face and got a gift voucher for my trouble.

I hope you manage to sort this out.

 

[Ware Bears]

How awful. I have just looked at the M&S website and it explains about this in the Questions and Answers Section no. 14 here ~ apparently the money should be available back in your account within two working days.

I always buy my currency from them and even when it was stolen from the postman they reissued it immediately ~ I always recommend them to others so feel terrible you've had a bad experience.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Hope its sorted soon, personally I would rather go into a store with exchange facilities and do a transaction face to face. You can be promised all sorts on a telephone and then the person at the other end just doesn't bother following things up.

 

[NeilDrum]

It just gets better!!!!

I ordered some more dollars with an online company called Online FX. The order seemed to go through ok last night however, this morning they rang to say the transaction had been declined by my bank!!!!

Here we go again I thought. I explained to them what had happened with Marks & Spencer and she confirmed that it wasn't her company that was declining the transaction it was my bank.

I spoke to Barclays and the overseas call centre put me straight through to the fraud team in the UK.

Apparently, my account had been passed to the fraud team due to 'unusual' transactions on my account.

When I explained to Barclays what had gone on, he told me that M&S had attempted to take £527.00 from my account yesterday. They were concerned with the amounts, etc and as such, my acount had been passed to the fraud section and frozen. This is why my payment for my travellers cheques had been declined.

So once again, M&S have stopped me from getting my holiday money and I am now furious!!!!

Spoke to M&S about it and they totally deny it. They just say someone must have hijacked my account. Back to Barclays and they are saying my account has not been hijacked it is definately M&S. Talk about piggy in the middle.

Spending more time on the telephone on my day off !!!!!!

 

[Ware Bears]

What a nightmare......

Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[florida sun]

Now im getting a bit confused, Marks and Spencer were trying to take the £527 that you had to pay for your dollars, which is what should have happened in the first place I think, however when they went to take the money, your bank Barclays froze the account because they thought it was unusual activity, even after they told you yesterday that they did not decline the transaction, and it is Barclays that has handed the account over to the fruad people. I think the fault is with the Bank and not Marks and Spencer if im reading this correct.

I do hope you manage to sort it out, how very frustrating.

 

[yzma79]

The money will probably return to your account within 4 working days. The transaction was probably processed as a cash advance and most banks place a £500 per day limit on cash advances. You bank should really have explained this to you. At the bank i worked for if this happens they will accept a fax from the retailer to confirm the transaction will not be processed and they void the transaction and credit the funds back to the account.
M&S have a great exchange rate at the moment, hope it stays that way until your balance returns to normal!

 

[NeilDrum]

Sorry if I confused you.

M&S tried to take the money (which is what they should have done in the first place) after they had told me they had declined my order. M&S actually told me I may have the same problem if I tried to order with them again and could not guarantee that they would accept payment from the same card. They ended by saying there was absolutely nothing they could do.

My bank is aware of the 1st problem as they confirmed that they authorised the first transaction to them.

Why are M&S trying to take money from an order that they declined and told me there was absolutely nothing they could do?

Because M&S did this on a couple of occasions, when I placed my order with another company, my account was frozen by the bank.

If M&S had not attempted to take the money several times then my account would not have been frozen and my order with another company would have gone through.

I have written a letter of complaint to M&S so will see what happens.

Claire