East Coast Radio - Catch Up Consumer Hacks with Wendy Knowler

Declined at the till? Believe the machine, not your phone

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You pay by card, your phone pings with a notification from your bank confirming the payment, but the cashier says it didn't go through and asks you to pay again.

Who's right?

Generally, the shop's card machine. Sometimes the bank's approval doesn't reach the machine because of a timeout or network glitch, so the machine declines the transaction, and your bank should then reverse that first payment.

So insist on the slip showing the error, and pay again.

If you later find you've been charged twice, take your bank's proof of both transactions back to the store and ask for a refund.
29 Oct English South Africa Education · Self-Improvement

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