I'll take the risk of digressing into the realms of banking practice if I may as it seems to me that the core problem posted by Kat at the outset very much revolves around banking procedures.
Kat stated in her first post that she noted her balance had been reduced. She therefore assumed the payment had been processed as a result of WSH's request for such.
David, in his post assures Kat that no refund is required as funds were never requested. He said:
The purpose of this post is to clear up the confusion that in these cases, including this booking, no refund is necessary, because no money has ever been taken. In the case of this particular booking, both the card company involved and our credit card authoriser, Protx, have confirmed this.
He also said:
When bookings fail in this way (no contact with supplier), the deferred transaction is automatically aborted/voided at our end notifying the card company / bank that the funds are not required and we will not be returning to collect them, which then leaves our customer's card company or bank responsible for removing the pending transaction from the customer's statement.
I would conclude from these statements and from your info. SMa, that the technical problems lie with the bank. Kat stated later in the thread:
I also have a mini statement from the cash point stating the amount was not avail from my account as it was on its way to you
She may have mistakenly assumed the reduction in her balance resulted from the request from WSH and as David suggests, the bank is responsible for amending their statement when the transaction is voided. It appears this happens only after 3-4 days although the bank is able to adjust the balance on such statements instantly upon receipt of the first "enquiry" by WSH for availability of funds. By reducing the "available" balance Kat's account clearly has less money in so far as any atempt to spend beyond this now reduced available balance will incur overdraft and penalty charges.
I would be asking my bank (were I in Kat's place) to confirm that the reduction in the available balance in no way affects interest earned on the account.
I'd also be asking for clarification as to the real-time date and time that both the initial transaction from WSH and their abort transaction hit the bank. I would expect no more than 3-4 minutes between the two. Should there be a greater period of time the implication would perhaps be that a booking was accepted at the outset, a request for money processed, a realisation that rates were incorrect and the abort transaction then sent some time thereafter.
I wonder if the problem here is one of shifting rates between the hotelier and WSH. When the rate increases (from the Hotelier) there's a need to immediately update the web system otherwise WSH run the risk of selling at below cost.
This can be likened to a supermarket shelf-edge/till price display. When prices are reduced you update the till first and shelf-edge second.
When prices are being increased the opposite applies. Until supermarkets have fully electronic shelf-edge displays this presents a time-lag issue not dissimilar to Kat/WSH and the Bank's problems.
Check with your bank Kat - ask them for the transaction history of activity on your account - giving true dates/times of receipt of request/abort transactions.
).
) to cover the extra cost of accommodation for Kat would, I think, raise that company's profile considerably on this forum - inexpensive advertising really.
.
, but I think the point is an important one and needed clarification.
