Refund from Family Food Centre - Al Sadd
I recently had an experience at FFC in Al Sadd, and would appreciate any advice please. I paid for my weekly shopping, and the first transaction by debit card was declined. The assistant assured me this was declined, so he tried the same card again, and this time the transaction was successful.
I paid for the goods and left.
When I received my bank statement, the money has been debited twice. I showed this statement to the store, who flatly refuse to refund me and told me 'this is your banks problem'. I called the bank and was told 'this is the stores issue and they should refund you'.
I'm at a loss for words... and very angry, as the amount is about GBP 100 sterling. Taken twice, the statement clearly shows it is a duplicate transaction (both taken within one minute of the other!!).
What are my rights and how do i go about getting my money back?
And if there is little recourse - i'm advising you all to use cash in these stores from now on. Bunch of thieves!!!
I would have spoken to the manager, had he even been in the store!!!! of course i asked, but 'madam he is back at 5pm'... stock reply - i went back, surprise surprise he was not there.
I have a job here, and frankly cannot stalk out the joint to see his comings/goings and throw myself upon him!!?
I was asking for advice on recourse - i'm not so thick that i wouldn't have tried the most logical thing, and talked to the manager before posting on this forum!!
And i did talk to the bank, but having a UK bank follow this up - as i used my UK debit card, is not as easy as having a local bank in Doha where i might have been able to go in and talk to someone.
I really do appreciate most of the responses on here, but there seems a very small minority intent on making people with problems (me) feel utterly stupid. You're not helping - so why bother to type a message. ??
FFC store is one of the best..
why didn't u meet the manager of this branch..
stuff there are very helpful..
believe me if u the problem is that u may talk to the wrong person in FFC ...
I don't think FFC (or any other store) intends to take customer's money in such blatantly obvious manner ! The problem for the stores usually is that if the first transaction seemed to not go through, they have no easy way of getting the customer to come in and pay for that invoice again at a later date.
So they would typically insist that the customer make the payment again, and if this indeed becomes a duplication, the bank would refund it later to the customer. This is how it has been done for ages, except that recently, some banks started sending customers back to the store to sort it out, which results in extreme frustration for the customer.
If you personally visit the bank, they will sort it out for you. I guess this is a small price to pay for the convenience of using charge cards, caused by network/equipment glitches/timing.
This happend to me twice in FFC.From my experience - when ever u find there is a duplication in the transaction, immediatly alert the store manager or contact, FFC central accounts office situated in Al saad ( i thnk ).If this issue is brought to notice of the store manager, then he will instruct the accounts to produce only one invoice to the bank. Some times it will be reverted automatically. Pls check ur bank statement for this matter for that particular month and see if any + and - are there. ( Eg:- a cancelled transaction will be stated as - amount
+ amount.
Debit will be stated as - amount ONLY ).chk the statement
or Pls tally ur credits and debits in the bank statement and confirm if u ve made any double payments or loosing any money. Dont take the sms's as final.If u find that there is a duplication thn u can approach the store manager to make the refund and they will do it.
usually the banks reverts automatically.
This problem happens bcoz of the bank's network error.
Automatic correction is possible frm the bank's end only.if payment duplication is confirmed it can be manually corrected from the store end only.
Pls investigate. This is usual problem, especially on bc week ends when the network traffic is too much.
Im sure u will not loose any Money... Good luck
My dear friend, pls give a written/signed "transaction dispute" form to the bank. They will (have to) take up the matter with the merchant and sort out the issue. Though it may take some time, you stand to gain the refund.
(was that a PIN entry transation-? have they given you the declined trn. receipt for the first one which they said was not successful ?. If both were PIN entries, a refund is unlikely)
Thank you - Thank you - Thank you!
I think the Ministry will be my next stop! I am going to give the bank one week to sort this out, if no joy, I will head to consumer-affairs at the Ministry.
You are a very very helpful group of lovely people!!
Mucho gracias!
;o)
There is no such a thing for no refund and if the manager won't refund it call this # 4945260 in the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Consumer Protection Dept. and they will be more than happy to help you
I too had a same problem. I went to the bank and the bank refunded the amount. Please go to your bank personally and sort out the matter.
CALL BELADIYA ON-4348888& COMPLAINT, GOOD LUCK.....ARABIC KNOWLEDGE IS PLUS POINT...
I had the same problem with FFC, Al rayan branch.
As I usually receive an sms on my mobile for any debit on my card, I stayed there in the supermarket, telling the manager I would not leave before they refund me : they did it!!!
don't give up
Thank you for your replies. I am just in shock I think! I'm from the UK and frankly speaking, if that happened there it would be dealt with a lot quicker and more appropriately especially when it is obviously a duplicate transaction.
I will wait for the bank to contact in their usual slow-as-a-snail 'seven days madam' ways... and then most probably get back on here and moan at you all again...
Sorry in advance!!!
Ohh that is so sad and should have not happened.
I don't know whom did you talk in FFC .. but I think
you need to see a senior manager and show your bank statement. If still no soluation, then you better go for a legal action and submit a complaint with police station or any legal authority.
im sorry for what ever happened to u but seriously i like the way u said BUNCH OF THIEVES HAHAHA
Did you talk to manager of the store? same case happened to me at the same FFC but but at airport branch.However in my case the money was reverted back to my account by the bank itself.So I think it is bank who should refund your money,if it is a false transaction then bank can always revert it back to your account.
Final say by the bank upon many many arguments... was that they 'cannot guarantee to refund the money as the store has the right not to produce the original bills/vouchers to support this being a duplicate transaction'.
Ridiculous stance no???