Soft touch with a contactless card?

ONE reader had to wake up and smell the coffee after he had been paying twice for his morning brew.

Michael travels to work by train every day and as part of his usual routine he goes into a coffee shop in the morning where he buys a cappuccino.

He told me he doesn’t usually carry cash and uses his contactless credit card because “it’s a really easy and quick way to pay”.

And, like so many people, Michael never checked his credit card statement thoroughly.

Instead he jumped straight to the total amount payable and made the payment.

Shocked

But in November Michael did carefully examine his statement because he was looking for details of a payment he had made.

He was shocked to find that on most days he had been paying for his coffee TWICE.

He checked statements for six months before this and again found that on many occasions the shop, in London, charge him twice.

Michael contacted the card provider to explain what had happened and to seek a refund.

They refused, claiming it was not their responsibility. MY ADVICE Michael needs to contact the coffee shop and show them his statements and ask for a refund. It’s an open and shut case. If they refuse to give him his money back he can take the case to a small claims court.

An alternative approach would be to pursue the credit company further and ask them to refund his losses.

They will undoubtedly say: 1) He should have read his statements each month and therefore spotted earlier that there was a problem. 2) The double charging occurred thanks to his negligence and he should have been more careful. Everyone should check their card statements regularly.

However, in relation to who is to blame for the double charging, there could be a credible argument that it is far too easy to double pay with contactless cards and the fault for this lies with the card provider who has supplied the technology not with its customers.

Finally, of course, could this be a scam by the coffee shop?