Three have just taken money from my debit card without permission

Pencil

04-04-2015

I thought I would sign up to Three this evening as I'm going to Spain in a couple of weeks and thought I would take advantage of their Feel At Home deal and buy a £15 add-on.

I add my debit card details and without warning, authorisation, notice, confirmation, anything at all really, my account has been topped up by £10. I was doing this through my iPhone. I've checked my internet banking account and confirmed the money is missing.

I'm annoyed the money has been taken without my permission and obviously I'm concerned they could take more. So I go through the process of removing my debit card information though Three's website and conveniently that isn't an option. That means my options are limited to calling Three's famously bad customer service department, which judging by the reviews won't get me anywhere or putting up with it.

Surely, what Three have done is illegal? Three's website says they don't refund top-ups and I'm not sure that contacting my debit card company for a refund is an option.

So, I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they did about it?

Thanks.

d123

04-04-2015

Originally Posted by Pencil:
“I thought I would sign up to Three this evening as I'm going to Spain in a couple of weeks and thought I would take advantage of their Feel At Home deal and buy a £15 add-on.

I add my debit card details and without warning, authorisation, notice, confirmation, anything at all really, my account has been topped up by £10. I was doing this through my iPhone. I've checked my internet banking account and confirmed the money is missing.

I'm annoyed the money has been taken without my permission and obviously I'm concerned they could take more. So I go through the process of removing my debit card information though Three's website and conveniently that isn't an option. That means my options are limited to calling Three's famously bad customer service department, which judging by the reviews won't get me anywhere or putting up with it.

Surely, what Three have done is illegal? Three's website says they don't refund top-ups and I'm not sure that contacting my debit card company for a refund is an option.

So, I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they did about it?

Thanks.”

I'm pretty sure that it tells you that to register requires a £10 payment the first time you do it. I haven't done it for quite a while but I do remember there being a info pop up or page telling you that it was about to charge £10 and you have to click to complete. Perhaps you missed it?

Edit
It does, this is one of the PAYG pages.

Quote:
“ Your card needs to be registered to the same address that you’ve registered with us.
Make sure your card hasn’t expired.
Check you've entered your security code correctly.
Make sure your card is registered to your UK address.
When you register a card, we automatically take £10 and add it to your account, so make sure you’ve got enough funds.”

And the home page for registering:

Quote:
“Registering a card to buy top-ups.
The easiest way to top-up is to register your credit or debit card using your My3 account either on your computer by going to three.co.uk/my3 or on your phone by going to mobile.three.co.uk in your phone's browser. This will let you top-up straight away.

You’ll need to register your My3 account so that you can register a card to your account.

Then to register a card on your computer:

Log in to your My3 account by entering your phone number and password
Click Add card and follow the onscreen instructions
Once you’ve registered, we’ll automatically take £10 from your card and add it to your account as a top-up
Or, to register a card using your My3 account on your phone:

Select Planet 3
Select My3 Account
Under the Your details section, select Registered cards
Follow the onscreen instructions and Save
You can register up to two credit cards and one debit card as long as they’re all registered to the same address. Your card’s billing address needs to be the same as the address you’ve registered with us.
”

http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Pay_As_You_Go
Click 'Registering a Card'

sills

04-04-2015

On the page where you add your card details it says:

"When you register your card we'll take a payment of £10 to verify the card details. We'll use this £10 to credit your 3 account immediately."

artnada

05-04-2015

I've just this minute registered a card for my PAYG and it told me at least TWICE that they will take £10 right away to verify the card and they will automatically add that £10 to my account.

Another case of user error. Click, click click.

Read what's in front of you in future OP.

prking

05-04-2015

I'm not sure what the issue is anyway OP, you wanted to buy a fifteen pound add on. So why not top up another £5 and buy it?

artnada

05-04-2015

And now my card is temporarily blocked lol

Three take a £10, and then you try and do a £5 top up, it never worked. Apparently my bank auto stopped it.

That's the easiest way for thieves who have stolen a card to test if they can use it.

The bank's fraud unit are calling me back at 9am to confirm my details etc lol.

Oooh what a palaver.

Thine Wonk

05-04-2015

Originally Posted by artnada:
“And now my card is temporarily blocked lol
Three take a £10, and then you try and do a £5 top up, it never worked. Apparently my bank auto stopped it.

That's the easiest way for thieves who have stolen a card to test if they can use it.

The bank's fraud unit are calling me back at 9am to confirm my details etc lol.

Oooh what a palaver. ”

This does happen from time to time, if you have your mobile number registered and do online banking then often banks will text you if they block a transaction, you can text back to say it was you making the transaction, then wait a few minutes and it goes through.

It depends who you bank with and if you've got the correct details in your bank profile, working mobile number etc.