Refund delays frustrate Afterpay customers
New Zealand users of laybuy service Afterpay have been left frustrated by reimbursement delays after money was wrongfully taken from their bank accounts.
Users of the ‘‘buy now, pay later’’ service were overcharged on August 28 after a processing error with a third-party payments company resulted in shoppers being charged twice.
Afterpay allows shoppers to make purchases at the same price and pay for them in four equal fortnightly instalments.
A New Plymouth woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she had been waiting more than a week to be reimbursed for two payments that should not have been processed.
The woman said she was owed $73 from Afterpay after she was overcharged on August 28 for two Trade Me transactions she made using the service. ‘‘It might seem like a trivial amount but I want my money,’’ she said.
She said she was told the money would be refunded within seven days but that did not happen. She then spoke to Afterpay, who blamed the problem on another party.
She was also told to phone her bank, Westpac, which said it was not responsible for the error. ‘‘Nobody is taking ownership.’’
Another woman said she contacted Afterpay after she was incorrectly charged a duplicate transaction. She had to wait six days before it was refunded.
An Afterpay spokeswoman said the error resulted from a problem with Cybersource, a third-party payments gateway.
‘‘We are aware of the issue, which was caused by Cybersource and is not specific to Afterpay,’’ she said.
A Cybersource spokeswoman said a processing error led to some customers being charged twice for transactions made on August 28.
‘‘Cybersource is working to promptly reverse the transactions and refund customers.’’
Afterpay, an Asx-listed company, does not require customers to enter into a loan facility. As long as payments are made on time there are no extra charges.
Afterpay charges a $10 late fee per payment and, if the payment is not made within seven days, a further late fee of $7 is charged.
In the year to June late fees from shoppers accounted for 24 per cent of its A$114 million (NZ$125 million) total revenue.