Family had no electricity after food bill error
IT SHOULD have been a normal weekly shop. But a mum-of-three was left with no electricity and unsure how she could afford her son’s christening after being charged twice.
Jenna Lee-McCaffrey, 32, was told her card payment for her £77.33 food bill had been declined after shopping at Asda in Pontprennau, Cardiff, last Tuesday.
But after her card was charged for a second time, she found two payments had been taken.
Jenna, from Rumney, said: “The second payment went through so I went to my car and just thought I would check.
“The first payment had gone out and the second was still pending to leave my bank account.
“I told the lady on customer services and she said as the pending payment was floating it would take three to five working days to get it back.”
On Sunday, Jenna and her family were left without electricity due to the time it took for the money to be refunded.
As a result, she said she has had to throw out a full freezer of food that defrosted.
She said: “My electric went off because I was £100 down which would have saw me over to this week.
“I went shopping last Tuesday and paid my gas and electricity which was £15 each. That was supposed to last me until Friday or Saturday but luckily it went until Sunday. On Sunday evening we had to sit in the dark. I had to get them ready for school without ironing their uniform because I had no electricity.
“I had to go up there on Monday and was there two hours trying to get something. I came away with £15 just to be able to get something for my kids for tea.
“I spoke to three managers and they said there was nothing they could do. There was absolutely no sympathy – I had my young baby with me.”
For Jenna, the time it took to get the money back caused her to worry about her youngest son’s first birthday.
She said: “It’s my son’s first birthday this Sunday and it’s his christening so I’m finding it difficult to pay for anything.
“I don’t get any child benefits for him as he was born after the third child barrier so everything I get for him I have to work for.
“This sent me over the edge. I was in tears over it. My family shouldn’t be seeing me stressed because of all of this.
“I’m not looking to gain anything from this or an extra shop, I just wanted it to be dealt with in a compassionate way.”
Jenna said the money was returned to her account yesterday morning, eight days after her food shop.
She said: “When I went up, there was another lady there having the same problem.
“This could have happened to an elderly person or a single mother using her last £5 to buy her baby some food.”
Asda said the first payment wasn’t taken from Jenna’s account but was “ringfenced” by her bank. The supermarket has apologised for the “inconvenience”.
A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Lee-McCaffrey and her family for the inconvenience caused.
“We are glad her money was refunded by the relevant service provider and that she accepted a gesture of goodwill from us.”